Page 50 of Wicked Obsession

“They were. I think they figured out I was listening in.”

Which meant they’d gone radio silent. “How far behind you are they?”

“I laid a false trail. It won’t fool them for long, but it should buy us a few extra minutes. Here,” he handed Ryder one of the assault rifles he’d brought in. “They’re carrying SCARs and I saw some AK-74s.”

“I didn’t expect anything else.” Ryder turned to look at Langley again. She’d put on her own vest. It was big on her, but better than nothing.

“No kidding. This is the tip of the iceberg.They are seriously outfitted, dude.” Stony pulled out a smaller automatic rifle. “Can she shoot?”

“Yes, she can,” Langley interrupted.

There was some life in her voice and Ryder was damn glad to hear it. He took the weapon Rowland handed him and let out a silent whistle. Holy fucking shit. “How’d they get their hands on this?” he asked aloud, but it was a rhetorical question.

“Better give her a high-level course on how to fire that,” Stony said.

“I can shoot.” Langley enunciated each word carefully and that told Ryder she wasn’t happy with Rowland.

“I wasn’t denigrating your skills, ma’am,” Stony said with as much neutrality as Langley had used. “This is an Israeli weapon, new enough that it hasn’t been out in the wild for long. It doesn’t have much kick, so it should be a good one for you.”

Ryder handed Rowland his phone. “I think they’re jamming us. Want to see if you can get a text out to the ambassador? He’s in my contact list.”

Bringing the rifle over to Langley, Ryder ran over what she needed to know to use it. He finished by saying, “Rowland is right about there being very little recoil. A six-year-old child could fire it.”

Langley frowned, but instead of commenting, she lifted her chin toward Rowland. “Why’s he texting my dad?”

Well, he’d wanted Langley back to normal and that meant questions. Ryder sighed, but his voice was thick from relief as he said, “We can’t call the police because they’re jamming our phones, but we need help. It’s better if your dad smooths the way anyhow. The cops are not going to be thrilled with the situation and that doesn’t mean only the mercs. We’re technically on leave, but—”

“But Special Forces can’t operate in the US. I know. Mercenaries, a sniper, a small Special Forces team, an ambassador’s daughter, a traitor, and at least two dead bodies. I’m not sure even my dad can explain this chaos to the police and gloss it over.”

So Langleyhadpicked up on the fact that Rowland had killed a couple of men. “He’s a diplomat, but as long as the ambassador gets us some backup, we’ll deal with the rest.” Unable to stop himself, Ryder reached out and smoothed the hair back from her face. Damn, she was special. Nothing could happen to her. He wouldn’t fucking let it.

“Can a text get past a jammer?”

Considering what Harp and company were armed with, Ryder wasn’t sure they’d be successfulin getting any messages out, but they had to try. “It depends what they’re using.”

“Obviously not the top-of-the-line jamming equipment,” Rowland said. “Message delivered and SOS received.”

Ryder closed his eyes for an instant. Now they needed to hold out until the cavalry arrived. “I’ll take the side with the bushes, you take the other one,” he ordered. “Hellcat, can you watch the front?”

“You’re trusting me to handle that?”

“Do I trust you? Yes. Do I want you to be an active part of this mission? Hell, no.” He didn’t want Langley handling anything. Ryder wanted her tucked away safely in some shielded spot while he and Rowland took care of everything, but there was only two of them and they had to keep an eye on the rear in case someone managed to sneak past their flank undetected. Or found another way to reach the rear that hadn’t been obvious in his quick scan. The mercenaries probably wouldn’t try a frontal assault. It would be too risky.

“You better ask her the big question, Ski,” Rowland said quietly. “We need to know before things heat up.”

“Fuck,” Ryder muttered without inflection. Stony was right. Keeping his expression blank, he asked, “Could you shoot a man if you had to? Can you shoot to kill?”

Chapter 21

Ryder watched a number of expressions cross Langley’s face, but he was only able to label a few of them—surprise, consternation, deliberation, and finally resolve. He knew what she was going to say before her shoulders went back and conviction settled on her features.

“Yes, I can shoot to kill. I’ll do whatever you need me to do.”

Everything he saw as he looked at her supported her words. Ryder had a flash of their time in Puerto Jardin, the way she’d gone for his temple with that rock. She could have killed him with that blow and she’d known that. And swung anyway. Maybe shecoulddo this.

But battle was a completely different ball game. She had the determination now, but whenthe men actually showed their faces, could she squeeze off a few rounds?

What would they do if she couldn’t?

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