Lucky SEAL (Lucky Devil #2) (17 page)

Water splashed over Jennifer’s face, and she sputtered and coughed. Wide-eyed and gasping, she was pulled to her feet. “It’s time to wake up. Your fiancé will be ecstatic to see you.” Craggy bent and scooped her up, hanging her over his shoulder. His shoulder drove into her belly with every step he took; driving the air from her lungs and making her feel even more nauseous. Worse than Jennifer’s physical discomfort was the sure knowledge that Evan MacGraff was out there waiting for her. 

“This is not a good idea,” said Tommy from somewhere to her left, but Craggy didn’t reply and continued his steady, rapid pace away from the road and into the desert. Jennifer couldn’t see a thing between the hair hanging over her head and the blackness of the night, so she closed her eyes and hoped the queasiness would pass. Her upside down position combined with the ache in her brain and the shoulder in her gut worked against her efforts not to vomit.

The distinct sound of more than one diesel engine reacted Jennifer's ears. Craggy’s steps slowed. “It’s about to go down. We’re right on time. Move in slow so we don’t startle anyone,” Craggy instructed Tommy in a quiet tone.

Conversations came to a stop when Craggy approached the rumbling vehicles. He bent over and allowed Jennifer’s weight to slide from his shoulder. The world spun. Her legs gave out, and Jennifer ended up sprawled out on the desert floor staring up the clear night sky. Tommy rushed over to help Jennifer slowly to her feet. “Are you okay?”

Jennifer swayed and clutched at Tommy to steady herself. “I’ll be okay.” She released Tommy and brushed the mass of her wild, blonde hair out of her face. Eight men were standing nearby. She recognized all of them from her time in Evan’s home. These were Evan’s enforcers. His security team of thugs. They were all looking at her with expressions that ranged from amazement to pity.

“Here they come. Everybody get into position. I want this transaction . . .” Evan moved into the group from the far side of one of the two trucks. He was mid-sentence when his eyes landed on Jennifer, and he halted in his tracks. Evan’s men, however, went into motion, taking up their stations around the trucks and withdrawing their weapons.

“Jennifer, what the hell has happened to you?” he asked and strode quickly to her side. Jennifer backed away and thought of making a run for it into the desert night. She’d take her chances with animals. She backed into Craggy, who gripped her upper arms and thrust her back at Evan. “Where are your clothes?” Evan asked Jennifer and glared at Craggy and Tommy.

Jennifer looked down and was mortified to see she was still wearing the jersey she’d borrowed over her panties and nothing else. Her palms and knees were skinned from their rough contact with the concrete storeroom floor.

“We found her hiding in a church basement in North Vegas, just like the rumors suggested,” Craggy gloated.

Evan took in this information and latched onto the part that suited his sense of male pride. Forgiveness and understanding flowed from him as he brushed tender fingers over her bruising cheek. “Naturally, she was hiding in a church. My Jenny is a good Christian woman. She was frightened by the gunfight and ran for her life. She’s not used to violence. She’s been waiting for me to come find her when it was safe, weren’t you, Jenny?”

Jennifer’s mouth fell open, but no noise escaped. The man was a fucking lunatic. It was better to remain quiet than to say something that caused him to pull the nasty looking pistol she could see harnessed under his open jacket.

“Look at her. She’s in shock,” Tommy added helpfully.

Over Evan’s shoulder, a cloud of dust was moving closer to them. Was this was the big deal he’d been waiting for before she got away? Everyone was tense and ready.

“How did she get these bruises and scrapes? She looks like hell,” Evan asked the men since she was speechless at his insanity.

“She was frightened when we arrived to rescue her in the dead of night, sir,” Craggy explained, going along with the insane assertion that Jennifer had been hiding from the people who tried to kill Evan and just waiting for him to come save her. “She must have expected you to come in person. It became necessary for me to take her down and restrain her when she tried to flee. Poor thing must have thought we were the bad guys,” Craggy finished.

“I see.” Evan looked over his shoulder. The approaching trucks came to stop just yards away. “I have business to deal with now, Jenny. I need you to be a good girl. Stay quiet, and I’ll straighten this out as soon as we’re finished here.” Evan kissed the top of Jennifer’s head. He said to Tommy, “You stay with Jennifer. If anything goes wrong, you protect her with your life.”

“Yes, Mr. MacGraff,” Tommy agreed. Evan calmly strode to the suited men who were there to do business with him. Crime must pay, because not many people who were making an honest living dressed as expensively as Evan and his peers.

“Stay still and be quiet. This could go bad fast. If you hear any shots fired, hit the dirt. I’ll cover you.” Tommy stood next to Jennifer. He looked into her eyes and went on quietly, “Remember what I said. Don’t run. It’s almost over.” Tommy winked at her. He fucking winked. They were all insane.

Jennifer stood silently behind Evan and several of his men and watched Evan speak to the newcomers. She was shivering in the chill night breeze. Gooseflesh rose over Jennifer’s body in waves, and she longed for the baggy jeans that went with her man’s costume.

The boss for the opposing team was an Evan look-a-like in his tailored suit with his perfect hair, gleaming white teeth, and regal bearing. Clearly, he was a man used to being obeyed. For a drug deal, it was all very anticlimactic. If it weren’t for the fact that they were meeting in the desert in the wee hours of the morning to exchange drugs and money, Jennifer would have though the transaction was like any other business meeting held in a conference room in any ordinary office.

Polite words were exchanged. Several briefcases were produced by one of Evan’s men, and the contents were inspected by one of the men from the other side while Evan and his counterpart chatted about their golf games and the odds of the upcoming championship-boxing bout at The Mirage. The other man did look Jennifer over a few times. Seeing a half-naked woman with a fresh black eye who was missing skin from her knees must be an unusual happening for a major drug deal. The third time the man looked at Jennifer, Evan stepped into his line of sight, and that was that. Who could care about the safety of a stranger with so much money on the line?

Once everyone was happy that the terms had been met, the two men shook hands. The man who’d inspected the suitcases and found them full of cash spoke into his phone. In the distance, a truck fired up and ambled into view. The product on the new truck was quickly and quietly transferred to Evan’s truck by men from both sides. It was done in no time. The two bosses parted congenially. The other man was in his vehicle and driving away with no lights on into the predawn darkness of the desert. Evan’s truck, now laden with some unknown illegal substance, rolled off in the opposite direction. The rest of Evan’s men were standing by awaiting instructions.

Evan stood staring into the nothingness of the night. He turned slowly and gave Jennifer a more thorough head to toe inspection. She was a sight, and she knew it. Evan withdrew the pistol from under his jacket. Jennifer’s heart leaped into her throat. It seemed her death would come faster than she’d expected. She was terrified. She didn’t want to die, but neither would she submit to Evan. It was better to get it over with, right? That’s what she tried to tell herself as she watched Evan pop the clip out of his gun, check its contents and pop it back in. This was it.

In one swift motion, Evan brought up his weapon and fired twice. The percussion of the discharging weapon echoed in Jennifer’s head. Warm wetness covered the front of Jennifer’s shirt and splattered over her legs and face. Jennifer prayed that God would forgive her sins. She thought of her parents and her brothers and how her death might affect them. Her heart then cried out for Rourke with the painful lurch. She loved him so much. He should have been her world, her everything. She should have been his future. Now he would mourn her, and Jennifer hated that idea the most. She never wanted Rourke to hurt for anything, not even her.

Sheer heartbreak and loss made Jennifer’s legs give way. Tommy grasped her arms from behind, breaking her fall. She slumped against his legs. Jennifer closed her eyes and waiting for the pain of being shot to hit her, but it never came.

“Jenny, did Tommy hurt you during your rescue?” Evan’s voice stunned her into opening her eyes. Evan stood in the same spot with his gun arm still extended, aimed at the head of the man who supported her. The man who’d done his best to help her more than once.

Tommy didn’t move. He stood steadily at her back, keeping Jennifer from sprawling in the sand. At Jennifer’s feet lay the body of Craggy. There was a large hole in the back of his head. His blood, bone, and gray matter were splattered over Jennifer, who’d been standing behind him when Evan fired his gun, hitting Craggy once in the face and once in the chest. He was dead. And now Jennifer felt a sense of guilt for never having learned the actual name of the craggy-faced criminal who had threatened, ogled, and bullied her for weeks.

Something protective and numbing lunged to the foreground of Jennifer’s mind. She was coated in gore. She was covered in another person’s very life. A wall came up between her and gruesome scene before her eyes. Instead of feeling the full brunt of the murder perpetrated so near that she’d been sprayed with the evidence of it, Jennifer felt as if she were watching from a distance through someone else’s eyes. An interested but unattached spectator of a gruesome show.

“Jenny, I asked you a question.” Evan drew her attention away from the corpse. His face was a mask of rage. His weapon was still trained on Tommy. Her answer would save or damn the man.

“No, Tommy has never hurt me,” Jennifer heard herself say from a distance. Tommy didn’t deserve to die. Neither had Craggy. Evan lowered the gun. Tommy relaxed infinitesimally at her back. 

“Let that be a lesson to anyone who thinks to touch my wife without expressed permission from me. I will kill you where you stand.” Evan had started out speaking calmly but ended on an angry snarl. His chest was heaving. His nostrils flared with every breath. He was a fucking lunatic. The remaining members of his security force stood stock still, hoping not to draw Evan’s attention.

His wife? His wife? That’s right. Evan wanted Jennifer to be his wife. Her thoughts were scattered and disconnected. Her heart was pounding in her chest. She knew she was in shock and not behaving like herself. No matter, though, because she knew for sure she would never be Evan’s wife. She would be Rourke’s wife and no one else’s. With her sense of reality askew and the rest of her life looking like a nightmare, Jennifer got to her feet. Tommy helped her up, releasing her as soon as she was steady so as not to risk having his head blown off. Who could blame him?

She stood there staring at the gun Tommy had carelessly holstered under his jacket when the drug deal was over, and it looked like the danger was over. The weapon was resting loosely and unsecured in its holster. It seemed like a mean thing. Jennifer was afraid of guns. She’d never touched one in her life. There was a first and last time for everything, right?

“I’m sorry,” Jennifer apologized to Tommy and hoped her actions wouldn’t bring about the young man’s death along with her own. Tommy was a good person at heart, and Jennifer hoped he would find a way to crawl out from under Evan’s shadow. Jennifer was going to get out tonight, one way or another.

“It’s not your fault,” Tommy said, and he looked overhead to see what his boss wanted him to do next. Evan was watching Jennifer with avarice eyes. As if she were a prized possession he’d acquired and craved.

Jennifer snatched the gun from Tommy’s holster and spun to face Evan. Her only thought was to end the nightmare. She had to stop the madness.

“No,” Evan shouted, but it was too late.

Time slowed to a crawl. Jennifer ran at Evan and pulled the trigger hoping Tommy hadn’t engaged the safety. He hadn’t. Jennifer fired again. Evan raised his gun and fired in self-defense, just as Jennifer had expected he would. Her shots both went wide, as she had no idea how to aim the damn thing. Evan’s single shot struck Jennifer in the shoulder. She crumpled to the ground. The pain she’d expected earlier arrived in spades. Being shot hurt like a son-of-a-bitch.

She watched in fascination as blood bloomed across her jersey to mix with the blood already coating the fabric. Evan shouted in anguish. He tossed down the gun and lunged for Jennifer, but never reached her. The world exploded. Gunfire rang out from the darkness of the desert taking down Evan’s men one by one.

Rourke listened to the conversation the helicopter pilot was having with his superior officer over the headset and tried to get an idea of what the fuck was going on while he checked and rechecked his weapons. The police personnel in the chopper with him watched curiously as Rourke pulled out each of his guns for one more thorough once over before they touched down in the desert.

“Fuck, man, how much heat are you packin’?” a baby-faced cop asked Rourke.

“As much as it takes,” Rourke replied.

He was much calmer than he was just an hour before, a least outwardly. Rourke retrieved his beloved bike from a local garage that stored and maintained it for him while he was away. He was sitting on the Indian motorcycle, ready and waiting for Luc to call him with the possible location of where Evan’s cronies had taken Jennifer when they dragged her out of the church. He was getting back his woman, right after he laid waste to anyone who stood between himself and Jennifer. When the call finally came, Rourke roared with impotent rage. Luc’s source in the LVMPD was able to follow the progress of the car carrying Jennifer through traffic cameras until it reached the outskirts of town, where the traffic cameras stop. Then, he lost them.

Luc’s contact believed he knew where they might have been taking Jennifer, though. Luc had paid through the nose for the little information he was given, and for Rourke’s current ride-along in the police helicopter. The cops didn’t know who he was or why he was tagging along. The cops were under the impression Rourke was a fed who needed a last minute ride to the scene. The scene of what, Rourke had no idea. He couldn’t ask the officers around him either unless he wanted to answer about who was and why he didn’t already know where they were going. Rourke was going to owe Luc for the rest of his life. Luc had called in so many markers to get Rourke onboard. There was no way he’d be able to repay the favors.

The current situation was worse than Rourke had expected. Infiltrating the home of a crime boss to retrieve Jennifer could be done. There would be bloodshed, but Rourke would do whatever it took to have Jennifer safe in his arms again. Things became substantially more challenging when law enforcement got involved. Rourke would need to watch his every step if he didn’t want to end up in jail for attempted murder or worse.

Evan MacGraff fucked around and got himself tangled up with the feds. His operation had gone unnoticed for the most part. Evan could pay off the locals to keep things under wraps, but somewhere along the way, he’d become overly ambitious. Rourke’s guess was Evan had fucked over the wrong person one time too many on his way to the top and got fingered as a source of illegal substances.

Rourke didn’t have any reliable details, though. Luc could only get very vague information. What little Luc had learned scared the shit out of Rourke. He’d been afraid many times in his service to his country. Every time he went down range, Rourke knew it could be the last. It was a reality of life as a SEAL. It was a risk they all took willingly in defense of their homeland. What he couldn’t willingly do was accept the risk to Jennifer’s life under any circumstances. That scared him more than the prospect of capture, torture, or even death had ever frightened him.

From what Rourke could piece together from Luc’s scarce details and conversations he’d overheard since he boarded the chopper, there was a sting about to down out in the Mojave. The feds were running the show. The Vegas police were hanging back in case back-up were needed. Jennifer was going to be in the middle of a very dangerous situation between two crime families that would be further complicated by the arrival of Uncle Sam with guns blazing. Rourke needed to be there when it all blew over. He didn’t trust anyone to ensure Jennifer’s safety.

If the deal went bad, Rourke had to pray Evan’s obsession with Jennifer would keep her out of harm’s way. Why the fuck Evan would take someone he supposedly cared for into such a volatile meeting, Rourke couldn’t comprehend, but he didn’t possess the mind of a lunatic. Rourke could only hope Jennifer would be left out of sight and off the frontline.

The chopper’s thumping blades spun overhead as Rourke and the rest of the passengers disembarked into the desert night. Rourke crept around the rally point silently, trying not to be noticed by law enforcement. He was dressed in night gear and blended in with the small crowd for the most part. He reconnoitered just long enough to learn the expected position of the massive drug deal about to take place and when it was expected it to go down.

He learned the feds were stationed in several other spots in the area surrounding the planned drop point. The group Rourke flew in with was well in the rear and out of the way just waiting for the call. They all believed it would be a quiet night for them. The locals were at the ready, but it was rare for the feds to need their assistance. Rourke would need to be careful to avoid those forward positions. It wouldn’t be a problem. With all due respect, the federal officers were no real match for the Special Forces unless they had some veterans in their ranks. Rourke would just slip around them unnoticed to get in close to the scene. He wanted to locate Jennifer and be ready to swoop in and extract her as soon as the deal was done. One more agent escorting away a person of interest from the scene could be easily overlooked while feds got their men.

Rourke checked his watch. He had plenty of time. All were ready well ahead of the expected arrival of the criminals. He ghosted into the background, melting into the moonless desert night. He hiked for miles over the rugged terrain in this part of the Mojave. It was like an alien landscape at night with a variety of cacti, creosote shrubs, and rock formations dotting the land. Rourke kept a sharp eye out for snakes and other nocturnal creatures. A run-in with a coyote or a Mojave-Green would not be a good thing. The Mojave rattlesnakes were the most venomous in North America. So, yeah, he was watching his step. Rourke heard the denizens of the deserts rustling around in the brush and caught sight of a coyote in the distance, but he luckily didn’t make any new friends.

When Rourke came across the feds waiting silently undercover, he knew he was close to finding Jennifer. They were positioned at the top of a rise. The action had to be forward from that location. One of the feds spoke softly into his communications device.

“It’s done. No shots fired. We captured everything. Our boy inside was spot on with the local. Bogie one is moving out. Team one, prepare to intercept. Bogie two is packing up. The shipment looks like it will be exiting before the bogie. Team two, be advised, there is an unknown female with Bogie two. She looks to be injured. Somebody roughed her up good. I repeat. Keep your eyes peeled for an injured blond innocent. We are extracting to the rally point. Good lucky, guys. Over.”

Rourke’s heart stuttered. Jennifer was hurt. He had to get to her before Evan moved out. Judging by what he’d overheard, any moment, the feds would move into his location. His chance to reach Jennifer without involving both of them in this legal mess would be gone. Rourke moved stealthily past the retreating agents toward the valley below their observation point.  

BANG. BANG.

Two gunshots rang out in the night. Rourke moved faster. The deal was over. Evan’s people were the only ones left. So who the fuck was shooting down there? He heard the agent’s voice again, louder than before.

“Shots fired! Shots fired! What the fuck? Be advised. Boogie two has unloaded. Two down. One of his and the female. I repeat. Two down. Proceed with caution.”

Rourke no longer cared if the agents saw him. He leaped up from his covered position and hauled ass toward the location of the shots. They said Jennifer was down. That fucker had shot his Jennifer. That didn’t mean she was dead, Rourke reminded himself. He’d been shot twice in the line of duty and had survived with only scars after the healing was done. Either way, Rourke was going to jail for murder, because the feds would have Evan MacGraff’s execution on film. That was just fine with Rourke. Life without Jennifer would be useless. He loved her, dammit! This couldn’t happen! They’d just found each other!

He slowed his approach when the shape of two SUVs came into sight. With his heart pounding and shaking his entire body, Rourke forced himself to stop and take inventory of the situation with his own eyes. There were eight people in the clearing. One sprawled on the ground that wasn’t Jennifer, four armed men scattered around the outskirts, a couple standing close to each other, and one more armed man standing near the corpse.

Rourke hunkered down and moved in closer. His heart slowed just a bit when he saw Jennifer. She was standing. She was alive and standing. If she took a bullet, it wasn’t fatally. He just had to get to her without getting her killed. Rourke was trying to decide who to shoot first. He stared down his sights, uncertain if the man supporting Jennifer was Evan. It was too dark, and Rourke didn’t want to fire on that guy until Jennifer was clear.

While Rourke watched, the man released Jennifer, and she stood on her own. He breathed a sigh of relief. She would be okay. Then, everything went to shit. Jennifer jerked an unsecured weapon from the guy’s holster and spun around with the gun raised. She ran at the man who Rourke now assumed was Evan. Evan’s gun was still in his hand. Evan and Rourke both shouted, “No!”

Time froze. Rourke could do nothing to stop what happened next. Jennifer fired and missed. Evan’s gun discharged at the same time Jennifer shot once again. Both of her wild shots missed. Evan’s shot did not.  The bullet hit Jennifer in the chest. The force of the hit stopped Jennifer’s forward motion. She staggered backward and crumpled to the ground.

Rourke’s world imploded. He fired round after round into the clearing, hitting several piece-of-shit criminals before the rest scattered and took cover. Rourke continued to fire to spit the return fire whizzing by him and thudding into the ground of the incline. It was too dark for Rourke to be seen but the muzzle flash from his gun gave away his position. Shots stopped coming Rourke’s way. The fuckers were either dead or taking cover. He had emptied two guns and pulled a third from his back holster as he descended the rest of the way down the slope and entered the clearing. The man nearest to Jennifer had leaped forward to cover her body when the bullets began to fly. The other four men were either dead or hiding. He’d hit Evan in the arm to prevent him from firing on Jennifer again. He’d leaped for cover before Rourke could hit something more vital.

With his gun at the ready, Rourke scanned the area for movement as he made a straight line for Jennifer. A fool thing to do when there was still the possibility of armed tangos, but he couldn’t make himself take caution after seeing Jennifer take a round to the chest.  She could be alive, and she needed him. Chest heaving, mind spinning, and at a complete loss of every bit of training he’d ever received, Rourke dropped his weapon and knelt next to Jennifer. He rolled the man who’d thrown himself over Jennifer body away. The man was bloody and unconscious.

Jennifer’s eyes were open, staring up at the night sky, and for a split second, Rourke was sure she was gone. He’d been too late to save her. She would never know how much he loved and needed her. Then, Jennifer blinked and looked into Rourke’s grief stricken face.

“Rourke, baby.” She reached out a hand and touched his face.

“I’m here, Jennifer.” His heart started beating again. “I love you, baby.” Rourke kissed her quickly. He scanned the area for Evan before turning his attention to ascertaining the extent of Jennifer’s injuries. “I thought you were dead.” Rourke didn’t mean to snarl, but she’d scared years off his life.

“I thought I was dead. I won’t go with him. Not again.”

He began to return to himself as soon as he heard the sweet sound of Jennifer’s voice. He got his first good look at her and was horrified by the amount of blood. She was wearing the jersey he’d found her in earlier that night and the underwear he’d peeled off of her before they made love. Christ, had that only been hours ago? The long shirt was covered with blood and gore.

“I love you, too,” Jennifer told him with a weak smile. She was smiling, and Rourke looked like a man ready for Bedlam. Jennifer peeked down at her body. “It’s not all mine.”

Not hers? “Where are you hit?” Rourke had to remain composed to keep Jennifer calm, but it was a lot of fucking blood. Blood didn’t bother him at all. He just didn’t want to see this much of Jennifer’s blood.

“Shoulder. The rest of it is his.” She pointed in the general direction of the person who was missing a large portion of his head.

Rourke had seen shoulder wounds. Jennifer was still speaking, so it wasn’t likely the bullet struck an artery. He retrieved his weapon and scooped Jennifer into his arms. He bent low and carried her to the nearest SUV for cover. Nothing had moved. All was silent, and Rourke began to wonder at the lack of federal agents when he knew they were nearby.

After easing Jennifer to the ground and resting her back against the truck, Rourke pulled the knife from his boot and cut her shirt at the neck so he could get a look at her wound. There was a jagged hole in Jennifer’s shoulder. He probed the hole lightly. Jennifer hissed and flinched away from him. He could feel the bullet. It hadn’t gone too deep, but it might be lodged in the bone. It would hurt like hell, but she wasn’t gushing blood, rather it was slowly oozing. It was a good sign.

“I’m sorry, baby, I know that hurts. I needed to see how bad your injury was before I try to move you.” Rourke looked around again. It was far too quiet. “I desperately want to end that motherfucker for this and a hundred other crimes, but getting you to a hospital is more important." Rourke kissed Jennifer quickly. His life had changed in the short time it took him to reach Jennifer after watching her be gunned down. He thought she was dead. Nothing had ever hurt so deeply. He now knew what it would feel like to lose her, and he was going to do what he had to, to ensure that never happened. If she would have him, that is.