Page 34 of Black Bay Protector
Grunts and nods met that statement as the General took over once more. “Let’s get planning. Smooth and easy. You get in and you get everyone out. No body bags.” He pointed up toward the ceiling. “And since they know we know, or at least suspect, the eyes in the sky will be watching, just waiting for a fuck up they can nail us with.”
“Not a whisper, General,” Jace promised. “Staying under the radar is what we do best. They’ll never know we were there. And last I checked you can’t be court-martialed without proof.”
The General let out a grunt. “You let me worry about my ass. You worry about your own. Watch each other’s backs.”
Nods and a few murmurs met that statement before the General clapped his hands loudly. “Let’s get to it. We’ve got a rescue mission to plan.”
“How are you doing?”
Paige nearly jumped out of her skin. She hadn’t seen Jace approach. Clamping a hand over her heart, she shot him a speaking glance. “You nearly gave me a heart attack,” she whisper-hissed.
His expression was sheepish but amusement glittered in his yellow eyes. “Sorry.”
With a sigh, Paige stepped into him, comforted by his masculine scent and the heat of his body. Jace immediately put his arm around her and she welcomed the warm, supportive weight.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
Paige nodded. “I will be.” Pulling back slightly, she looked up into his eyes. “I did a lot of thinking.” She grimaced. “I’ll never be okay with what was done to Grady, but he’s alive. That’s the important thing. As long as there’s life there’s hope. That’s what I need to focus on.”
Jace let out a rough growl and hugged her up tight. “So fucking strong,” he said against her hair. “God, I love you.”
Paige’s fingers unconsciously dug into Jace’s back and wonder bloomed in her chest. “You love me?”
Gripping her chin, he lowered his head until they were eye to eye. “How can I not? Just look at you. You’re amazing.”
Her heart was racing madly in her chest and her voice was breathy when she told him, “You’re amazing too.”
“Jace!”
Upon hearing that bellow, they both turned.
“Canoodle later. We’ve got a plan to make.”
Grinning, Jace broke the embrace, walking backward so he could keep looking at her. “We’ll talk more later.”
Nearly bursting with emotion, Paige nodded and let him get to work.
But there would be no conversation with Paige later. Once the plan was hammered out and everyone knew their role, they were ordered to load up. They were going to go in full stealth, hit them hard, hit them fast. Don’t give them time to react.
He barely even got a chance to say a decent goodbye, the General barking at him to get his ass in gear as he hugged Paige tightly to him and promised, “I’ll bring him home to you.”
She squeezed him for all she was worth. “I know you will. Be safe. Come back to me.”
Jace shot her a grin. “I’ve never been so motivated to come home.” And it was true. While he’d always appreciated the sanctuary Black Bay afforded him and his people, he’d never been in a hurry to get back. He could spend days, weeks, longer on a stakeout and never feel any pangs of homesickness. Knowing Paige was here waiting for him changed everything.
With one last longing look at the woman he was leaving behind, he jumped into the back of the Jeep and they headed toward the tunnel.
Knowing the higher-ups would likely be keeping an eye on them, watching for them to go rogue, they were taking a circuitous route on this mission. No one wanted to see the General in trouble for letting them do this, so they were taking every precaution to make sure that didn’t happen.
Instead of taking the helicopter that could be easily tracked, they were taking Jeeps through the tunnel access and heading for a private airstrip in Virginia Beach. There, they were meeting up with an old crony of the General who had already filed a flight plan that would take them halfway to their destination. At that point, the General had called in another favor from a long-haul trucker he’d once served with who’d take them the rest of the way.
Then, it was a matter of getting past the guards, using the retinal scan Lark had cloned from Doctor Dietrich along with the recording of her voice, ID badge, and the PIN codes provided.
That was the easy part.
Getting out was going to be tough. According to Doctor Dietrich, the upgraded soldiers were kept in stasis pods, and while she’d given them detailed instructions on how to safely move them, it wasn’t going to be a quick snatch-and-run deal. If they didn’t follow the directions precisely, they risked killing the soldiers. The extra time spent meant more time for someone to discover what they were up to, and they couldn’t afford even a whisper to hit the media. The General’s ass was on the line.
Chapter Eighteen
