Final Target (SEAL Team Blackout), page 15
She huddled against the back of the helicopter to give the men on either side of her as much room as possible. Their bulky biceps, shoulders and thighs pushed into her tiny chink of space, but that was okay. She didn’t expect in-flight movies and hot towels for her face, and besides, their size offered her a feeling of safety.
She threw Crew a look. He was sandwiched between Frost and Lena. While he wasn’t staring directly at her, his gaze was fixed somewhere around her knees. His chiseled jaw was set and the lines etched around his eyes would unnerve even the toughest of men.
A shiver ran through her.
Her man was freakin’ hot as hell. Every time one of his teammates called him Mustang, her body perked up and begged to experience firsthand a bit of that wildness he was known for.
As soon as people stopped trying to kill them, she was going to make it all up to Crew. She carried a lot of guilt for the breakdown of their marriage. She thought of the times she lied to him and said she didn’t answer her phone because she was in the middle of a difficult translation and couldn’t get distracted. The times she left the country and her phone behind in her apartment so he couldn’t find her with that tracker app.
Sure, he’d kept things from her too. All that was going to end. She hadn’t told him yet, but she’d thought hard about her future. And she was finished with these missions. If the government still wanted her to crack codes for them, she’d be doing it on her terms—from the safety of her own home. She wouldn’t be traveling to foreign countries to make any exchanges. Never again would she risk being nabbed by the bad guys.
Lena said something to Crew, drawing him from the moment he’d been caught in. He lifted his head and looked at her. They shared a laugh and then performed a fist bump.
The moment made Teigen smile. Everyone loved and respected Crew so much. Seeing him with the SEALS showed her something she hadn’t noticed before.
They were a family.
All of a sudden, she envisioned how it must be for Ramsey’s wife and son, belonging to such a unit. The Blackout team might not be bound by genetics but they were connected by spilled blood. They fought, and came through the fiery flames.
They’d lost men like Bridger. She wished she had a chance to know the man Crew replaced. But she was honored to know each and every man and woman on this Blackout team.
Crew caught her eye. His intense stare burned through her, leaving her feeling as though he’d stripped off her clothes and licked every inch of her skin. She returned the look, sending him silent, dirty promises.
I can’t wait to get you in the shower, Mustang. To take your thick, hard cock in my hands and jack you off nice and slow before I drop to my knees and show you exactly what kind of woman you married.
The corner of his lips quirked as if he’d heard every word.
A small smile tipped her own lips. For a moment, she felt as if they were the only two people in the chopper—in the world.
And everything was going to be all right.
Frost nudged him from the side, breaking Crew’s concentration. Frost signaled to his ear, and Crew touched a finger to his comms device. Lena did the same.
Sparrow must have been giving them orders for when they reached the ground. She watched the SEALs tense and shift in their seats. The guys around her grew restless too. A big boot that looked to be even larger than Crew’s slid past her own small foot. If ever she felt useless and out of her element, it was right this minute.
Clearly, they were all being briefed on the plan of action and she was left in the dark. In the end, Crew would ensure her safety, but she didn’t like being the weak link.
She didn’t even have a weapon. Why hadn’t she thought to ask for one? She was trained.
Remembering the vest she wore, she dipped her head and sniffed at it. It didn’t exactly smell like her husband, but it was his vest and she’d take what comfort she could from it. Just like wearing his favorite Navy T-shirt or a pair of his sweats that were far too big for her and she had to roll at the waist several times to keep them up.
A longing for those comforts of home—of married life—rose inside her. She clung to them while the helicopter changed directions. She didn’t know what was coming but braced herself.
She couldn’t see where they were headed or what was coming at them. She was truly flying blind.
The Blackout team knew, though. Hands gripped weapons tighter. Jaws locked in determination.
Crew captured her gaze and gave her a nod. She threw him a questioning look. He pointed a finger at his chest and then at her.
Relief made her head swim. She was with him. He’d take care of her.
And that was all she needed.
When the whine of the helicopter changed pitch, she knew they were setting down. But where?
Without any windows, she couldn’t make out any surroundings. For all she knew, they were landing on top of the White House. Unlikely, yet after running around with Blackout, her mind was good at coming up with action scenarios. Nothing would surprise her at this point.
Crew nodded at something spoken into his comms device. She watched his lips form the word: “Copy.” Then he looked at her.
He was getting an order about her. Nerves kicking up, she bounced one knee. The action drew the notice of the SEAL next to her, and he gave her a brotherly nudge with his elbow.
Seconds later, the man jumped up and threw open the door. Blackout started piling out of the helicopter, but Crew came straight for her. What happened next, she never could have prepared for.
He threw a piece of cloth over her head and bundled her out of the aircraft. She sucked in a breath and tasted air through the fabric. A scream tore from her throat but the noise of the helicopter drowned out the sound.
Crew’s strong arms picked her up and carried her. Confusion warred with panic in her brain. What was happening? She didn’t even know which direction was up until he planted her feet on the floor and ripped the cloth off her head again.
Her hair zapped around her head, electrified from the abuse. She blinked at the dark room she suddenly stood in and made out not one but several women clustered around her, each of them throwing her sympathetic looks.
She whirled in search of Crew, but he was already gone.
“It’s all right. Mustang will be back,” said a petite woman with oversized glasses balanced on her pert nose and her dark hair in an updo.
“Where am I? What was”—Teigen waved a hand—“all that?”
Another woman stepped forward with a black T-shirt in hand. She was taller than the first, with glossy black hair and the most expressive brown eyes Teigen had ever seen. They looked like the deepest pools of chocolate that under any other circumstance would have her going on a hunt for a chocolate donut or the richest hot cocoa in the city.
She held out the shirt that had been tossed over her head. “Mustang had to do it. I’m very sorry, Teigen.”
She jolted at her name. Fight-or-flight took over, and she took a step backward, throwing glances to each side in search of an escape route.
“Now you’ve gone and scared her to death. Poor woman.”
She whirled to look at a third brunette behind her.
Now that her eyes had adjusted, she made out that the room held equipment—a lot of computer equipment. Monitors blinked with numbers that had the codebreaker inside her taking notice.
“You’re at Blackout headquarters,” the woman said to Teigen. “My name is Gia.” She waved at the shorter of the two women. “This is Kit. And Indika. She works with the team behind the scenes sometimes.”
None of this explained her situation. Teigen was even more confused.
“Headquarters? What city?”
“We aren’t supposed to tell you that,” Kit said.
“Kit…she can probably guess. She was on that helo with the team,” Indika spoke up. She looked pointedly at Teigen. “You’re in DC.”
Teigen nodded. “And the…shirt over my head?” Remembering that her hair was still crackling around her face, she reached up to smooth it down.
“Mustang used the shirt as a blackout hood. It’s usually a real hood, but this was the best Mustang could do under the circumstances. No one is allowed to see the location of HQ,” Gia said.
“Where did the team go? I can’t stay here! I belong with Crew.”
Gia put a hand on her arm. “Let’s get you a drink. You have to be parched. Flying always makes me feel dehydrated. Come with me.”
Teigen started to say that she wasn’t going anywhere without answers, but a huge man walked into the room and severed the connection between her lips and brain. He was enormous and layered with muscle. He wore a dangerous black beard and his eyes glittered with menace.
“Oh my god!” Kit slapped a hand over her mouth.
Gia’s eyes bugged out. Slowly, she swung to look at Indika, who stood frozen. Her expression was so blank it frightened Teigen, and she didn’t even know the woman.
His deep voice rumbled through the silence. “Indika. Just who I was looking for. I need you to come with me.”
“Apollo!” Kit burst out.
Gia and Kit exchanged wide-eyed stares of shock.
Teigen had no clue what was going on. She only cared about her husband’s whereabouts.
Indika threw her shoulders back. Her slight form seemed to tremble. Then she walked right up to the man who had a foot of height and a good hundred pounds on her and slapped him across the face.
The crack must have stung. The sound bounced through the room, over the hum of electronic equipment.
Kit and Gia sucked in loud gasps. Teigen’s eyes flared wide as she stared on.
The man shook off the slap that left surely would have left red fingerprints on his face if his bushy beard hadn’t cushioned the blow. “I deserve that. But you can tell me off later. I need your help, Indika. This is about Abubakar.”
As if the request to take down a terrorist outweighed her anger with this man who’d appeared out of nowhere, Indika gave him a nod. Then she looked to Gia and Kit.
Without another word, she went with the man called Apollo and the pair walked out of the room. Heavy metal doors slammed in other parts of the building.
Teigen wrapped her arms around her middle. “What the hell is happening?”
Gia rushed forward. “Oh god. I forgot about you. I mean, I didn’t forget about you. It’s just that…Apollo is dead. Or he was supposed to be. Everyone thought he was dead, but then he kept being spotted. For that matter, the CIA believes you’re dead too.”
Teigen let out a loud gasp. “They do?” Her head whirled. Now she wouldn’t have to talk to her handler and tell him she was finished. She could just fade into her life again.
Kit placed an arm around Teigen’s shoulders and led her to a sofa at the side of the room. “You’re making a mess of this, Gia. Teigen, sit here and we’ll bring you a drink. Are you hungry? There’s always food here.”
She shook her head, dumbstruck after the whirlwind meeting of three women and…a dead man? And they were after the terrorist too? Crew had tossed that shirt over her head and carried her into a building she wasn’t supposed to see while he went off to save the world?
She raked her fingers through her hair and sat back as Kit thrust a bottle of water into her hand.
Gia and Kit dragged chairs over to face her.
“You’ve got to be confused. Let’s start at the top.” Kit spoke with so much enthusiasm that Teigen wouldn’t be surprised if the woman broke into a musical number.
She took a sip of water and tried to gather her scattered knowledge of the world. “Yes. Please start at the top. First, I need to know why Crew brought me here.”
Kit and Gia both smiled at her—genuine smiles that she needed right now more than she even knew.
“Because he knows you’ll be safe here,” Gia said.
Kit’s smile spread. “We always knew the woman who married Mustang must be tough. Welcome to Blackout, Teigen. We’re so glad you’re here.”
* * * * *
Teigen was going to be irate with Crew. He couldn’t blame her after what he did. He didn’t have any choice, though—the order to get her into Blackout headquarters without her seeing their location in the city came straight from Sparrow’s mouth.
And even though she knew she was in Crew’s arms, she’d still put up a fight. She even screamed as he carried her down the stairs running from the rooftop where the helo landed.
The other ladies would take care of her. Gia and Kit were part of Blackout, both through the men they loved and by helping the team in various supporting roles. Kit was a mastermind computer hacker, and Gia worked for the FBI before making the switch to Blackout.
His mind spun ahead to what they knew about the situation unfolding here in Washington. Teigen broke the code about an attack on the nation’s capital, and though they didn’t know what they were looking for, the entire district was on lockdown.
The streets were crammed with first responders. Firetrucks and police cruisers blocked off intersections and traffic was rerouted to other parts of the city that were also barricaded.
“This feels too much like getting out of Egypt for my comfort,” he muttered.
At his side, Lena nodded. She looked at the rest of the team. “Does anyone know if the funeral for the twin has wrapped up?”
“It hasn’t,” Bishop responded at once, mouth tight. “It’s no coincidence Abubakar planned a strike at this time. He thinks it will look like he’s too distracted by his brother’s death to be behind this.”
“What is this?” Crew asked. “Are we talking strikes by air? More armed drones? Biowarfare?” He looked at Lachlan, who’d almost lost his life when he became contaminated with an engineered substance not long ago.
“Abubakar and his group have tried to take us out using a lot of different methods, but we’ve always beaten him before,” Bishop said.
“And we’ll do it again,” Lena spoke up in a hard tone that stirred Crew’s fighting instincts as much as any order from a general.
“Damn straight we will,” he agreed.
The Blackout SUV barreled up to a police barricade. Sparrow jumped out and walked up to one of the officers. Two more guys in SWAT uniforms spoke to him for a long minute. Then Sparrow jerked his head for Ramsey to continue driving through the blocked street.
“This is it.” Crew could feel it. Tension mounted inside him, and a hit of adrenaline surged into his veins.
“It looks like the cops and SWAT know something.” Lena leaned forward in her seat to get a better look.
Ramsey parked and cut the engine. All the doors were yanked open, and the team climbed out. Sparrow angled his way through the milling group of men in various uniforms to reach the team.
“The K-9 unit located explosives,” he announced.
Crew looked at him sharply. “Where?”
“The Library of Congress.”
“Fuck.” Crew turned his head to look at the building.
“It’s been evacuated. But if it’s wired, it could bring down the whole block.”
“Is the bomb squad in there now?” Ramsey shifted his weapon to his other hand as if preparing for the war to come.
“They sent in a robot to destroy it.”
“This has to be a decoy. Abubakar’s much smarter than this. He wouldn’t plan out a strike with anything less than his entire arsenal and an army.”
Just then, Crew caught movement from the corner of his eye. He turned his head to look and his stomach dropped. Sparrow was still talking, but he pointed at the man walking their way—along with a very familiar woman.
A woman Crew left Teigen with not an hour ago.
Blood freezing to ice, he broke away from the team to meet Indika—and Apollo.
“Jesus Christ,” Lachlan bit off. “I knew I didn’t see a ghost back in Paris.”
In seconds, the team surrounded Apollo, the lost man from Team Charlie.
Sparrow walked right up to him, chest to chest and nose to nose. “What the fuck game are you playing? Whose side are you on?”
Apollo’s brown eyes remained calm. Not the eyes of a man who’d turned traitor and worked with the terrorist they’d been hunting for years. “There isn’t time to explain. I know some of the attack plan, and we have to act now. I brought Indika because she can assist us.”
“Why should we believe you?” Sparrow didn’t back down. When he breathed, his chest bumped against Apollo’s. The man didn’t step away or break eye contact.
“He’s telling the truth,” Indika spoke up in a voice loud enough for them all to hear. “We don’t have time. In three minutes, suicide bombers will be popping up all over the capital.”
“How many we talkin’?” Sparrow’s voice adopted a harder edge.
“Hundreds,” Apollo stated. “An army’s worth. They intend to die today, and to take as many US citizens, political figures and military as possible down with them.” Apollo gripped Sparrow’s shoulder.
A heartbeat passed before their commanding officer reached out and grabbed Apollo’s in turn. Then at once, they released their holds.
Sparrow barked an order. Crew and the others jolted to action. Hundreds of suicide bombers scattered around the city. Fuck, they could be anywhere, hidden in plain sight. They could be wearing a police uniform.
A deafening blast came from a few streets over. Screams and shouts echoed. Then Crew heard the roar of a building falling.
Sirens cut through the air. Sparrow waved a hand, and the team ran for the blast. The air was clogged with thick black dust and people were running in all directions away from the explosion.
“Where the hell is Abubakar right now? We need to put a bullet between his fucking eyes and end this once and for all,” he bit out.
The answer came into his ear through his comms. The voice didn’t belong to any of the guys on his team, but to Apollo.
“He left Egypt before his brother’s funeral. He’s somewhere in this city, and today we’re going to hunt him down and kill him.”
The hair on the back of Crew’s neck prickled at the statement. Apollo seemed to know where to find the terrorist, and Sparrow was allowing him to take point, which meant the Blackout team followed in a state of blind trust.
