Page 48 of Freeing Hawk
Together, all of us dressed for war. We went over the plan again and again. We went over the floorplan we could find repeatedly and by the time we piled into the vehicles, my heart was threatening to jump out of my chest.
As we rumbled through the broken roads, I reached across to take Hawk’s gloved hand.
I wanted so much to hold her, to kiss her, to feel her hot against me. But it was too late for that now. The ball had started rolling downhill and it was impossible to stop it.
“Okay, everyone.” Tex’s voice came through the speakers in our ears. “Any last minute questions? Comments? Concerns? Speak now or forever hold your peace.”
I shook my head, but no one spoke up.
“Okay—you take care of my monster,” Eris said.
“Don’t worry.” I replied. “He’ll be back to you and baby in no time.”
“I’m a big boy.” Ghoul pouted handsomely.
“I love you.” Eris told him.
I saw the moment he melted.
“Love you too.”
“One minute to Romeo drop.” Cadmus called from the driver’s seat.
“Roger.” Romeo replied and extended a gloved fist to me like he always did before starting a mission.
I tapped one of mine to his and he nodded.
“Infrared images are coming in.” Tex told us. “There are quite a few bodies there now. It’s like the roosters have come home to roost.”
I groaned. The mission would be hard enough without additional people.
The minute ticked away too quickly. Romeo soon hopped from the back of the slow-moving vehicle and took off at a sprint in the dark. I kept my eyes on him until he was completely gone.
He needed time to find higher ground, set up his rifle and get into position. Our next job was to hide the transport then make our way through the darkness toward a central point. We then split up—Hawk and I headed to rescue Kingston while Dude and Cadmus turned their attention to Keegan.
Sure, he wasn’t a part of the original workup, but we couldn’t just leave him there to die. It wasn’t his fault his father was a sorry waste of skin.
I glanced over at Hawk, but she moved beside me, steady.
Our first encounter were two men watching over the door. I took down one by slamming my foot into his knees to bring him down to my level, covered his mouth with one hand and jabbed my knife into his neck with the other.
Hawk did the same.
We rolled the bodies off into the darkness and let ourselves in through the first set of doors. It was hard without using our guns. But we wanted to keep the element of surprise.
The battle through the place was a pain in the ass. I kept my eyes on Hawk but a part of me knew I didn’t need to.
She held her own, silently taking down figures in the dark.
When we finally got to the level where we could see Kingston, I could feel her excitement. I reached out and touched her elbow and she nodded. We split up to enter the space from different positions.
“You guys wanna move it?” Romeo’s slow voice came through to us. “Took out three just now.”
I glanced to where Hawk was but didn’t reply to Romeo. I could barely make her out in the dim light. For a brief moment, I stared, allowing my eyes to become accustomed to it.
A man entered the space where Kingston was tied to the chair and hunched down in front of him. He was barking something to the cop in Spanish. When Kingston didn’t reply, he was backhanded across the face.
I knew Hawk wanted to do something about what was happening but footsteps coming toward us, halted her. I made my way to a nearby door and as the man walked by, I grabbed him—one hand around the throat, another over his mouth.
