Page 83 of Playing Hard to Get

Raising my chin, my eyes locked on his, issuing a challenge I didn’t have to voice. For this mission, we did things my way. This time, I was protecting the kid. Lee’s slight nod was almost imperceptible. He waved me off without another word. Turned back to the SUV and climbed inside.

Barnes and Macevoy were still gawking at me when I turned to the team. Weston was rubbing the back of his neck, looking like he wished he could be anywhere but here. I clapped him on the shoulder, then stepped off toward my SUV, where Cael stood waiting for me.

Vinny’s voice guided me over the comms, down a gravel road and into a copse of trees. Cael and I exited the vehicle and traveled on foot across a deep ravine, staying in the band of trees until we reached the back of Davidson’s property.

The dreary day would only help us, keep us from sticking out against the open expanse of field leading to the house. Waist-high grass hid us from view as we crouched and rushed forward.

We were the breeze in the weeds.

The darkness encroaching on the stronghold, ready to take it over.

A light sweat coated my forehead by the time we reached a barn that sat fifty yards behind the house. I pressed my back into the peeling red paint on the wall and peeked around the corner. No lights were on, no movement could be seen at any of the uncovered windows. I pulled back and hit the button on my headset.

“Bravo team in position.”

Through the earpiece, I heard Lee’s gruff reply. “Alpha all set and ready to go.”

“Okay, hang back,” Vinny said through the comms. “The cloud cover is interrupting our view. Once this one clears, we’ll take a look and make our move.”

I glanced over at Cael to see how he was holding up. He stood there with his back to me, his gun trained on the space behind us. Just like I would have done if I were in his position. Keeping an eye on our tail.

Over the comms, Barnes’ voice grated on my nerves. “Why all the firepower and stealth?” he asked, his fuck-it-all attitude shining through. “Why not just go up there and knock on the door? See if he’s in there?”

“Barnes—” Lee spit out before he was interrupted.

“Why don’t you go ahead and do that,” Vinny said, his disgust unmasked. “And I won’t bother to tell you about the rumors of Davidson speaking to a dealer at a gun show who has a reputation in certain circles for selling assault rifles on the black market. I also won’t tell you about the emails Davidson’s parole officer has sent his buddy talking about Davidson’s slipping grip on reality. Why don’t you go ahead and knock on that door, Barnes, and let me know how that turns out for you.”

Silence reigned. Ten minutes passed where there was nothing but faint static across the comms. I would have given almost anything to be a fly on the wall at the front of the house. To be able to see the effect Vinny’s words had on Barnes firsthand. To hear the words Lee was no doubt throwing at the man who had needed for so long to be put in his place.

The tone of Lee’s voice told me he was at his breaking point. I’d only heard that sound once before, years before Barnes joined our unit and became the pain in our ass that he was.

A burst of static pulsed in my ear before the voice of Angel came across the comms. “Okay, cloud cover is gone, I see you all there. Two warm bodies inside. Go ahead and make your move.”

I turned my eyes to the rear of the house and took a deep breath. The sounds of tires racing across gravel bounced off the buildings around us. A burst of gunfire echoed through the air. I glanced at Cael, heard another burst of gunfire and the yelling of men at the front of the house. With a short nod, I turned and ran across the open space between the barn and the house.

Cael joined me at the back door. I tried the handle and found it unlocked. Slid it open nice and slow in case it squeaked. But the noise at the front of the house covered any sounds the rickety old door made. Bursts of machine gun fire and the pounding of bullets against Masonite covered the sounds of our boots across the old wooden floor.

Inside the kitchen, there were two doors. I motioned to Cael to stay put as I went through the one on the right. I searched the first floor of the house, room by room, finding empty rooms and a small bathroom with nothing hiding inside. Back at the kitchen, Cael motioned to the front of the house. There was a slight lull in the gunfire, and only bursts from outside, bullets hitting the siding, could be heard. We split up, Cael going left as I made my way back through the right. The long hallway I ended up in led to the living room and the front door.

I got eyes on Davidson. Saw him trying to reload his rifle as he knelt below the front window. The pane was raised, the strong wind blowing through the opening and making the ratty old curtains dance through the air. Cael entered the living room from the other side, slow, cautious, silent. The sudden creak of a floorboard halted us both in our tracks.

Davidson looked up at Cael. Dropped his rifle and pulled out a handgun. Got off a shot before Cael could leap back out of the room, before I could stop him. But I slammed the butt of my rifle down on Davidson’s head a second later and he dropped to the floor.

I kicked the handgun out of Davidson’s reach. Pulled the rifle out from under his unconscious body and kicked it across the room. Hit the button on my comms and said, “Davidson’s down,” as I rushed to Cael.

My heart was in my throat as I found him slumped against the wall. He had a thick smear of blood across his forehead and was clutching his arm in his hand.

“Cael’s down,” I shouted as I dropped to my knees in front of the kid. To him I said, “You’re hurt.”

He looked at me with a grimace on his face. “Just a graze,” he said through clenched teeth.

“Your head,” I responded as I reached out to the blood that trickled down his face.

He reached up with his injured arm, touched the streak in the middle of his forehead. “Hit it on the baseboard when I dove for cover.”

My shoulders dropped and I sagged against the wall. I shook my head, then pulled Cael’s hand away from his arm. And the kid was right. It was just a graze. A smear of blood that looked worse than it was, though by the look on his face, it was painful.

Footsteps pounded across the floor as voices called out. Macevoy stopped beside me and reached for Cael’s wound.