Page 95 of Lion’s Den

A noise caught Cam’s attention. He watched the mirror, perfectly positioned to give a view of the entire length of the hallway. From the room with the hole in the wall came a mercenary, weapon up and tracking. As the stranger passed through the dim moonlight streaming through a dirty window, several places on his belt and vest gleamed and pinpointed his location nicely for Cam. Had to love it when your target did most of the work for you.

The stranger stopped in front of each room, threw open the doors, turned on the lights, and surged inside, only to wander back out and repeat the same sequence at the next room.

Cam shook his head. Really? Where was the man who hired this mercenary getting his recruits? The back of graphic novels? Anybody with common sense knew you didn’t turn lights on and off. That ruined your night vision long enough that someone could easily get the drop on you.

He waited until his quarry was across the hall, testing the doorknob. This door was locked, much to the chagrin of the mercenary. Cam had locked the door to slow down enemy soldiers tasked with searching the building room by room.

Fortress Security had definitely not trained this man because picking the lock to check the room took ten long, boring minutes.

He waited for his quarry to come to him. From the sounds inside the house, The Thunderhawks and M Team were taking down the enemy one at a time. Every few minutes outside the building, Elliot fired his sniper rifle.

When the mercenary reached inside the room across the hall to turn on the lights, Cam shut his eyes and turned his head. Those few seconds of his eyes not having to adjust were worth his weight in gold. He narrowed his eyes to slits and waited.

Mercenary cursed bitterly, turned off the light, and turned toward the last room where Cam had hidden Sedona.

He waited until Mercenary reached for the light switch. Cam slipped up behind him, wrapped his arm around the stranger’s neck, and squeezed. Although Mercenary fought against the sleeper hold, Cam compensated for every maneuver the man tried. Finally, the lack of blood flow to the brain did the trick, and he slumped against Cam.

He grunted as he hauled Mercenary across the room to a small bathroom. Cam dumped the bruiser on the floor, used zip ties to cinch his wrists together, slapped a piece of duct tape across his mouth, removed all his weapons, and called it done.

After putting the weapons on the floor in front of the window seat, Cam raised the lid and looked down at Sedona’s beautiful, pale face. He tapped his earpiece. “Report,” he murmured.

As each man reported room by room that the building was clear and the perimeter secure, Cam reached into the box and helped Sedona from her hiding place. “Are you okay?”

She nodded.

Cam wasn’t convinced. He wrapped his arms around Sedona and held her close. “Tell me.” Yes, he knew the rest of the men could hear whatever she said. Still, he had a feeling this was important for all of them to know. “Please.”

“Don’t worry about me. It’s silly.”

“Sedona, there should always be truth between us.”

She sighed. “Promise you won’t laugh.”

“I promise. Talk to me.”

Sedona’s cheeks turned pink. “Inside the window seat was dark.”

“I didn’t know you were afraid of the dark.”

“I wasn’t until I ran for my life in the woods with little light.”

“Kind of like tonight.”

“At least you had a tiny flashlight. That’s more light than I had.”

“If you had used the flashlight app on your phone that night, you would have pinpointed your location for the men hunting you.” He hugged Sedona. “I’ll make sure you aren’t in the darkness again.”

“I’ll be fine. Do what you have to do.”

“Focus,” David snapped over the comm device.

“Yes, sir. Thunderhawks and M Team, report. Any sign of the boy?” When the reports were all negative, he glanced at Sedona and saw the grief in her eyes as she listened to the reports through her earpiece.

“I might have something,” Owen said. “Someone forgot to take out the trash.”

“And?”

“They left behind part of a map of the area near Dunvale Quarry.”