Page 67 of Baby One Last Time
“Here’s the situation,” TJ said, and if he was explaining IT, it meant Alder and Jensen were scrambling to deal with something shitty. “There’s a jamming frequency inside the house that will block our channel. We’re looking for another one.”
“Which we’re not finding,” Alder said.
“Fuck me,” TJ said for all of us.
Yeah, we were all channeling Jensen. Not a good sign on so many levels.
Movement along the perimeter caught my eye. The four guards converged near one of the garden lights. I went more still than I already was. One of them was pointing toward the front of the house. Probably not about Mai and me, then. I watched their body language and the talking guy’s hand motions.
“It’s time to abort,” TJ was saying. “Kessler, Lee, meet us—”
“TJ,” I whispered. Everyone else on the comms went silent. “Something’s up. Something big.”
“They just pulled two vans out of the garage,” Bond said. She was in charge of situational awareness around our mobile headquarters unless and until we needed her medical skills.
“They’re going to run,” Mai said.
I nodded, but I couldn’t speak. What did that mean for Derek? Had things gone south? Had they realized he was an imposter? Were they running from a crime worse than arms dealing? Had they—I wouldn’t let myself finish my thought, because my hands were already shaking and spots were forming in front of my eyes.
“Fuck me,” said Alder, and when she channeled her crewmate, shit was bad. “Can they go in without comms?” she asked TJ.
“We have to,” I said.
I’d go in alone if it came to that. Mai could retreat. The team could withdraw. The rest of the world could go to hell. But I was not leaving that house without Derek.
Without him, there was no team for me. Without him, I didn’t give a flying fuck about the rest of the world.
Before I could tell them that, Mai tapped her comms. “We’re going in.”
She gripped my shoulder.I have your back,she was telling me.
I pressed my lips together and gave one nod.I know you fucking do.
I shouldn’t have doubted her for a second. Leaving without Derek that morning had cut her to the cut her to the quick almost as deeply as it had me, because she was breaking both HEAT’s most important unwritten rule as well as Mai’s strict military code that was already etched into her soldier bones.
“Ok, without comms, we have to count on synchronized timing,” TJ said, “but if you get pinned down—”
“I pulled two buddies out of a burning house while surrounded by enemy snipers with our comms down,” Mai said. “We’ve got this.”
I turned off my comms and whispered to Mai. “Is there anything you haven’t done while surrounded by enemy snipers?”
“Not much.” She grinned. “The stories I could tell.”
“Save those for when this mission’s over. Derek and I will want to hear them.”Have BOTH our backs, was what I really meant.Make sure we ALL get out alive.
She nodded her understanding.
“Security cameras in the hallways are down now,” Alder said. “You’re clear to enter on TJ’s signal.”
“All right, Tactical,” TJ said, “two minutes after you enter the house, Alder will start working on the cameras in and around the room where they’re probably holding Wilder. Assume it will take her a full minute. Do not enter before that. Both of you, set your watches. 2236 and…20 seconds.”
We followed his command, then I tapped my comms back on and Mai and I both said, “Roger that.”
“Tactical, it’s go-time,” TJ ordered.
Mai opened the door and we entered, sharpshooter first. We crept along the large, terra cotta tiles that lined the back hallway. The wall to our right was floor-to-ceiling windows. In a fucking hallway. In Florida, where air conditioning runs 24/365. It was like these bastards had never heard of global warming. One more reason I itched to take them down.
It was a distraction, of course. All of it was a distraction, every careful step and silent breath, just a way to not think about the worst possibilities. When I slipped and let my mind go to Derek’s fate for a nanosecond, my chest constricted and I nearly panted with fear. Panting and clandestine ops do not mix.
