He frowned and then lunged toward her. She squeezed the trigger, and a moment later, he dropped to his knees holding his arm and wearing a bewildered expression.
“You shot me.”
“Well, duh.” Moron.
She turned and fled, making damn sure she kept a tight hold on the gun.
“Shea, wait! Don’t go!”
The man was insane. She was tempted to shoot him again, but the rest of his goons would be after her. She turned and sprinted down the street wondering where she was and how the hell she was going to get back to Nathan.
CHAPTER 35
THEY surrounded the house in the darkness. Nathan was on edge, his unease growing with every minute he was separated from Shea. He worried that his continued efforts to reach her would only weaken her, so he’d controlled the urge to continually call out to her.
Donovan had gone on a rampage and called in every favor ever owed to him in an effort to track Resnick down.
Steele and his team were in position. P.J. and Cole were in two of the oak trees on the edge of the property with their sniper rifles. Swanny, Nathan and his brothers were taking the front. Steele and the remainder of his team were taking the back.
It took all of Nathan’s restraint and military training to sit back and wait for the command to go in. Everything inside screamed at him that his woman was in danger. That these assholes had her. That he should go in and take down everything in his path until he had her back.
Joe put a hand on his shoulder, a silent gesture of support. Nathan stood there in the dark, seething, readying himself to kill.
His nostrils flared and his grip tightened on his rifle when Sam held up his hand in silent readiness. Sam gave the silent countdown and then gave the order to go in.
Much like the onslaught Nathan and Shea had suffered when they’d gone to her parents’ house, KGI went in with the sole intention of overpowering the occupants. Several flash grenades went off. It looked like a staccato of strobe lighting going off throughout the house.
There were three men in the kitchen surrounding another man sitting in a chair. Resnick. Nathan stared at the blood smeared down Resnick’s arm and felt his stomach bottom out.
Swanny, Ethan and Joe broke away to clear the rest of the house, while the others blew into the kitchen like a hurricane.
“Down! Down! Down! Get down!” Garrett yelled.
The three men hit the floor while Resnick merely raised his arms toward the ceiling. A sound from behind Garrett alerted Sam and he leveled his rifle over Garrett’s shoulder. Garrett and Donovan kept their rifles trained on the men on the floor.
“Don’t even think about it, Phillips,” Sam growled. “Stand down. This isn’t worth getting your ass shot over.”
The young Marine’s lips thinned but he lowered his weapon and Sam went to collect it.
“What the fuck, Phillips? Who the hell are you taking orders from these days?”
“From me,” Resnick said wearily. “Goddamn it, I need a cigarette.”
Donovan motioned for the three men on the floor to stay down while Sam went around behind Phillips and patted him down. He then directed him to put his hands behind his head and leave them up where they could be seen.
Swanny, Joe and Ethan burst into the kitchen just then.
“Rest of the house is clear,” Ethan said.
Sam directed him over to cover Phillips and then Sam stalked toward Resnick.
But Nathan was there first, fury boiling in his veins. Sam stepped in between him and Resnick and shot Nathan a meaningful glance. Yeah, it meant calm his ass down, but it was easy for Sam to think that. If it was Sophie in danger, Sam would be batshit insane.
“What the fuck, Resnick?” Sam thundered when he turned back to the other man. “Nathan wants your ass on his wall and I’m tempted to let him have at you. I’d be very careful what you do and say over the next little while because he wants to kill you. I want to let him.”
“Where’s Shea?” Nathan demanded. “Tell me where she is, and if you’ve hurt her in any way, so help me God, you’re a dead man.”
“She’s not here,” Phillips said from behind them.
Nathan whirled around, his gaze finding the younger man. “Where the hell is she then? It was you who tossed her over your shoulder and made that dumb-ass jump into the helicopter. You could have killed her!”
“If my orders were to kill her, she’d be dead,” Phillips said evenly. “My orders were to deliver her safely. I did that. There was never a question of her safety.”
“Fucking Marines always think they’re such bad-asses,” Ethan muttered.
Garrett raised his eyebrows at his younger brother but let the insult pass.
“Where is she?” Nathan bit out again. “I don’t give a shit what your orders were. I only care about where she is now.”
To Nathan’s surprise, Phillip’s cheeks colored and he fidgeted. Suddenly he didn’t look like the supercomposed, always-follow-orders badass. He looked…embarrassed.
“She escaped.”
Seven mouths fell open. Joe stepped forward and stared at Phillips. Then he smirked. “She kicked your ass, didn’t she?”
“Fuck you,” Phillips muttered.
“Look, she freaked out when she came around,” Resnick interjected. “I thought we had more time. She came to, Phillips was supposed to see to her, and she escaped.”
Sam quirked up his eyebrow as sudden understanding flashed across his face. “Is she what happened to your arm?”
Resnick nodded, his expression still tight with pain. “She shot me when I tried to prevent her escape. Hell, she jumped out of a second-story window. I was worried she was hurt. She basically told me to fuck off and then shot me before she ran like a damn jackrabbit.”
“Fierce!” Garrett crowed. “I knew I loved that girl. You deserved everything you got, Resnick.”
“Did you send someone after her?” Nathan asked in a deadly quiet voice.
Resnick shook his head. “Look, it just happened. I was just sending the men out to find her.”
Nathan moved in close and stroked the barrel of his rifle down the column of Resnick’s neck until Resnick broke into a sweat. “Your next move is to back the fuck off. Then you’re going to tell us what the fuck you were doing in Shea’s parents’ house. You’re also going to tell us why you’re so goddamn interested in Shea and Grace Peterson. And then you’re going to forget you ever knew anything about either of them.”
Resnick shook his head, his eyes determined. “I can’t do that.”
“Why the fuck not?” Nathan snarled.
Resnick’s head dropped and he let out a weary sigh. “Look, Donovan, can you patch me up here? This arm’s hurting like a son of a bitch and I need to be able to use it. I’ll tell you everything I know while you work.”
Nathan shook his head. “Hell no. You don’t get shit from us until you tell us what the fuck is going on. I don’t give a fuck if your arm rots off. Shea is out there scared to death and unable to communicate with me. I’m not leaving her a minute longer than necessary. I’m going after her and you’re going to arm me with everything I need to know about what I’m walking into.”
“Christ. At least give me a goddamn cigarette.”
Garrett reached for the crumpled pack on the kitchen counter and tossed it along with a lighter in Resnick’s direction. Resnick tore half the packing off as he dug out a cigarette. Using his good arm, he shoved the end of the cigarette into his mouth and then raised his hand to light it.
A moment later, he inhaled deeply and then exhaled a long plume of smoke.
“So Shea can communicate with you?” Resnick asked Nathan. There was intense interest in his usually inscrutable gaze. “Can you talk to her or does she have to open the channel?”
His curiosity only served to piss Nathan off more. And Resnick knew it.
“Fuck you,” Nathan said in a deadly voice. “She isn’t some goddamn lab rat for you to poke and prod on.”
Something dark flickered in Resnick’s eyes, giving him a haunted look. “Shea was never in any danger from me. Not me.”
“Really?” Nathan asked coolly. “You could have fooled me.”
“Why weren’t you straight with us?” Donovan demanded. “You clammed up the minute I asked about Shea. And you knew, goddamn it. You knew about her and you used the info I gave you to move in and snatch her. That’s bullshit and you know it. Is this how it’s going to work from now on? We can’t trust anything that comes from you?”
“It’s a goddamn different situation!” Resnick seethed. “This is personal. I was protecting her, okay? I knew you guys had no idea what you were dealing with. How could you? I was doing what was best for Shea. There are people after her who don’t give a damn who lives or dies as long as they get what they want, and they want her and Grace. Suddenly she surfaces on your radar? What the hell? You have no idea what we’re dealing with here.”
“And you damn sure didn’t do anything to change that fact,” Sam growled.
“What people and why are you so involved?” Garrett barked at Resnick. “What’s your stake in this? It’s not like you to get personal about anything. You’d hang your own mother out to dry if it furthered your purpose.”
Resnick’s lip curled back into a snarl and he glared Garrett down. “You don’t know anything about me, so back the fuck off. Just because we work together or I throw you a job here and there doesn’t mean you know shit about me or what matters to me.”
“So explain it to us,” Donovan said impatiently. “We’re wasting time here, Resnick. Spill it or I’ll goddamn shoot you in the other arm, and you know I’m just pissed off enough to do it. What you did was bullshit and you know it.”
“Fuck him,” Nathan spit out. “Let’s go. I don’t have time for this shit.” Then he turned to Resnick and got into his face until they were nose to nose. “Don’t you ever come near Shea again. You don’t even say her name. You forget she ever existed.”
“Fuck you,” Resnick snarled back. “There’s a goddamn possibility that she’s my sister. I’m not leaving her safety to chance and definitely not to KGI. You guys are good. I get that. I wouldn’t have you do work for me if I didn’t think you were the best. But you don’t know what you’re dealing with here, and I didn’t have time to debrief you. I had to move and move fast because Shea and Grace were running out of time. As it is, Grace has dropped off the map. But I could save Shea and I did what I had to do.”
“She’s your what?” Nathan demanded. What the fuck? This just got more twisted by the minute. “Wait a goddamn minute. Shea told me how she was born. Or rather how she was created. You’re full of shit, Resnick.”
Resnick’s eyes grew shadowed and suddenly he looked so much older than he was. “I’m not full of shit. I was born in that same goddamn lab. Shea and Grace could both be my sisters. And even if they aren’t my blood, I feel a kinship to them that can’t be removed just because of genetics. I have to make this right for them once and for all. I don’t give a damn what it takes.”
CHAPTER 36
EVERYONE stared at Resnick like he’d just admitted to being a terrorist. Maybe that wasn’t far off the mark. Nathan glanced sideways at his brothers to gauge their reactions. They didn’t have time for this shit. Evidently Resnick agreed.
“Look, we don’t have time for this right now, but I swear to you, I’ll explain everything. I won’t leave out anything. But you have to go after Shea. Bring her back.”
“Oh, so now you trust us to track her down after she kicked your guy’s balls in,” Sam drawled. “How ironic.”
“What the fuck did you do to her?” Nathan demanded. “Why can’t she communicate with me? Why would you take that away from her? I’d know where she is right now if you hadn’t fucked with her.”
“It’s only temporary,” Resnick said warily. “I did it so she wouldn’t have you on our asses.”
Ethan cleared his throat. “And how’s that working out for
you?”
“You better hope it’s temporary,” Nathan seethed. “And you better hope I find her quick and that she’s okay. I’ll hunt you down, Resnick. There isn’t a place you can hide from me.”
Joe put his hand on Nathan’s shoulder. “Come on, bro. I’m with you. Let’s go find Shea. We can take Steele and company, leave everyone else here to sit on the trash so we can take it out later.”
Nathan turned to stare into his twin’s eyes, saw answering resolve there. Always looking out for each other. It was as it should be. Nathan hadn’t been the best at guarding Joe’s back over the last months, but Joe had never stopped standing at Nathan’s. Not even when Nathan was doing everything he could to push his twin away.
