Talon: Combat Tracking Team (A Breed Apart) (35 page)

“It’s some kind of messed-up insanity. Wasn’t this supposed to be an easy mission—get in here, find the man who’d been lost?” Candyman sat on the end of the table, his boots on a chair. “And now, we got ambushes with no personnel, a missing dog handler, and a spook about to go rogue.”

“Spook?” Timbrel straightened and looked at Candyman. Then Cardinal.

“He’s referencing your insinuation that I’m not who I say I am.” Cardinal lifted the water bottle and took a nice long guzzle.

“I swear, Markoski, if you hurt her…”

“Hurt her?” Cardinal laughed. “Timbrel, I wouldn’t be willing to get my head blown off if I wanted her hurt.”

“I didn’t say what you
wanted.”
She jutted her jaw. “I know your type. And she’s too sweet to get it.”

“Okay.” Candyman hopped off the table. “Let’s get this show on the road.”

“Agreed. Keep your eyes and ears open. See what you can figure out.” Cardinal huffed.

“Don’t worry. I intend to find answers.” Watters had a rare type of steel running through his veins.

“Time to play decoy with the dummy.” Candyman grinned, and how he didn’t end up with a mouthful of facial hair, Cardinal didn’t know. And right now, he didn’t care. His only concern was Aspen.

“Ready?” Watters’s eyes seemed to sparkle with the thrill of what they were about to do.

With a nod, Cardinal looked to the others. Adrenaline thrummed through his blood. Creating a diversion so he could slip through the barriers was risky. They didn’t want anyone getting hurt, but they also had to make this significant enough to draw eyes off the perimeter fence on the southeastern side. He’d bolt to the water and swim his way to safety. Grab some dry duds from a street vendor then check in at the hotel. That should be high-profile enough to attract some attention. Get his name on radars. He just prayed—and if he could find a chapel he would pray, honestly and truly—he could get a location on Aspen before someone put lead between his eyes.

They left the room a few at a time, going in different directions. Two here, two that way, one on his way to the cinema. Nothing that attracted attention…that is, unless someone looked close. Bulk could be deceptive, but anyone who did a double-take would figure out he had a second layer of clothes on. They ducked behind the first row of stacked CLUs then scurried to the fence.

Squatting at the perimeter behind one of the cement dividers, Cardinal adjusted the flak vest. Choked back the memory of Aspen’s frightened blue eyes when he’d told her not to trust him. A stupid move. Showing his hand. But the thought of her trusting him when he was nothing she believed him to be…

He shouldn’t care. Shouldn’t be concerned with what happened to her at the end of this mission. But he was. In fact, he couldn’t get away from the thoughts of the moment she discovered he was not Dane Markoski. Watters crouched beside him with the wire cutters, setting up a rerouter for the electrical current so it wouldn’t attract the attention of the MPs.

“If you find her, get word back to us.”

Cardinal nodded.

“Hey.”

The hesitation, the softer tone, pulled Cardinal’s attention to the captain.

“Candyman told me…about you and Aspen.” Watters held his gaze strong, firm. “I don’t care if you have a thing going on, but don’t let it get in the way. Because I’ll come after you for compromising me and my team, and our target.”

He’d never had someone be direct with him like that, in such a friendly but threatening way. Well, he’d had those who were going to cut his heart out if he double-crossed them. That was evil. This was…justified.

“I have one goal, Captain,” he said, meeting the guy’s intensity, “to get her and her brother back, even if I have to die to do it.”

“Good to know.” Watters smirked. “I think her friend would prefer it that way—with you dead.”

“Good thing my fate’s not in her hands.”

Something flashed through the captain’s face. “Whose is it in?”

Cardinal felt like this was one of those defining moments. One of those—admit you’re weak and then you get killed moments—and he wasn’t sure he wanted to face it. “I’d like to hope God’s got it.”

“He will if you let Him.”

Cardinal gave a slow shake of his head. “Not sure it’s quite that simple.”

“Sure it is.” Watters patted his shoulder. “We humans are the ones who make it difficult and complicated. Surrender is the only way.”

Crack!

The first indication of their plan igniting—literally—pounded through his chest. He and Watters gave nods of affirmation that said
this is it
.

Boooom!

Just a little longer…
Sirens wailed.

Watters cut a hole in under fifteen seconds. “Go!”

Cardinal folded himself through the fence. Once he made it through clear, Watters should bolt back. Double-checking the base conditions and Watters, Cardinal turned. The spot Watters had occupied sat empty. As Cardinal whipped back around, he caught the hulking form of the captain in his periphery, skimming along the barriers back toward the CLUs.

On my own
.

He eyed the guard hut and saw two guards pointing toward the explosion Timbrel and Candyman had created with a vehicle. He bolted across the road and over the field.

A crack of gunfire pierced the hot day.

Dirt spit up at him.

His pulse amped up. They’d spotted him. Ten seconds to the water. He pumped it hard, pushing to safety. Feet beating a quick path.

A blazing heat whipped across his ear. He sprinted, darting left. Then right, doing his best to make it impossible for them to get a bead on him.

Five seconds. He freed the first buckle of the vest.

Four.

Water erupted in several distinct spots.

Three.

He ripped an arm free of the vest.

Dove for the water.

Like a lead fist, a tremendous weight pounded into his back.

    Twenty-Four    

N
eil! Neil, hurry!”

He bolted out of the bathroom in the run-down apartment they’d rented with cash. “What?”

Lina stood at the window, peering through a razor-thin slit in the triple-layered cloth he’d nailed over the hole. “Look!”

At her side, he angled his head to see through the skinny space.

The street bustled with the normal gaggle of women carrying infants and toddlers in slings, guiding other children down the streets as men hurried here and there. “I don’t see anything. What?”

She extended her arm and pointed up the street. “Past the bank.

Watch the shadows.” Lina smelled fresh, even though the shower was anything but. Not for the first time did he consider her beauty, both inside and out. “Not me, out there.”

He grinned and slipped an arm around her waist as he once again checked the ground from their second-story apartment. “I’m still not—”

Something moved, this time north of the bank. He leaned forward a little and shifted toward the window.

Lina held his shoulders as she peered over his left. “Is it…?”

He spied blond curls and yellow fur running beneath the balcony of a two-story shop. “Crap!”

How had she found them? This was unbelievable!

A distant pop froze him.

She slipped into an alley.

His heart stalled. “Someone’s chasing her.”

“Doesn’t that work better for us?”

“Yes, but what if they miss?” He grabbed a ball cap and started for the door. “Lock it. Don’t let anyone in and don’t go anywhere till I get back.”

“What are you going to do?”

Neil hesitated. He knew. Knew beyond a shadow of a doubt but couldn’t tell her. She wouldn’t understand.

Aspen slid around the corner, hauling Talon with her.

Plaster from the arches spit at her. She ducked but kept moving. Talon had kept up with her, but he was limping. They needed a break. Needed rest. Had to find a place. A safe place.

Scanning doors and alleys, she didn’t stop. Couldn’t afford to. Her legs felt like pudding, heavy yet jiggly. Her heart pounded so hard, she struggled to breathe. And Talon, God bless him, continued without complaint.

Not that she could just let him keep going. The dog’s heart was one of the most loyal, going and loving and doing whatever it was to make her happy, but he would let her run him straight into the ground. She had a responsibility to find a place to give him rest.

God, help me!

Feet pounded behind her. The men’s shouts as unrelenting as their pace. Didn’t they need to breathe? And who was it exactly? She didn’t know the people chasing her. How did they know her? How had they known about the coin?

Why had she thought this was a good idea?

Because you always want to rescue people
.

Plaster leapt at her.

She yelped, shielded her face, and banked right.

Two feet in, darkness dropped on her. About the time her mind registered the dead end, a form emerged from the shadows. “Back!” she snapped.

“Here,” the man said in a hushed whisper. “Hide in here.” He pointed to the side.

Aspen stopped. “You’re helping me?”

With a nod, he lifted a panel and waved her into the spot. “Hurry!” As he bent forward and waved, his dark hair dipped into the light.