Page 26 of Her Sensual Protector

Kane did one last quick check on everybody’s commlink, then they put on their night vision goggles and headed out.

“I’m proud of you, Bubba,” Leo heard Cullen telling Asher.

“Go fuck yourself.”

“Seriously, you didn’t puke all over Wilma’s Blackhawk. You’re such a big boy.”

Everybody but Nic was able to keep from laughing out loud.

“Can it, Lyons,” Kane whispered after they went over the first big rise. This was pretty much how all their missions started—Cullen being a smart-ass until Kane or Max shut him up and that’s how they knew that they were on radio-silence.

They had five kilometers of hills and rocks to get over before he and Ezio would start looking for the best points for them to set up. They’d agreed ahead of time, it would be good to try to get no more than fifty meters apart and no less than twenty meters for the best sniper coverage.

Wouldn’t you know, the sandstorm had pretty much died down as soon as they’d touched down. Now they were heading to the cave at a steady but quick pace. Asher and Max were taking the lead, scouting out for anyone who might be on watch.

After three kilometers Leo eased closer to Ezio and pointed to a high peak. There was another one a little lower that was forward and to the right. Ezio gave Leo a thumbs up. They started to move faster, wanting to determine if these spots had a view of the cave—according to Kane’s coordinates, they should.

They caught up with Max and Asher and pointed to the peaks. Max nodded. Ezio headed toward the higher on the left. Leo started toward the one on the right, with every footstep he started to get in the zone. He mentally saw himself setting up his rifle, training his scope on his target, taking a breath, depressing the trigger.

By the time he got to the edge of the peak, he was ready. He took a look over. In the gloom, he couldn’t make out much, even with his night-vision goggles. He got out his rifle scope. Then he saw the mouth of the cave and only one truck.

Fuck.

“Only one truck,” he whispered into his mic.

He would bet his bottom dollar that the doctor had been moved, but they were going to have to try. Maybe they would get lucky and find a clue, or better yet, somebody they could get to talk.

“Stick to the plan,” Max whispered.

Leo used his scope to search out Ezio. He was already planted with his rifle, ready to take on all-comers. Leo was late to the game. He got set up fast. Once he was, he could see Max and Archer creeping up like shadows to the perimeter of the cave area. Max made a hand motion and Cullen and Nic immediately came up from the shadows. Nic and Cullen went to the left side of the cave where the truck was, Max went to the right side.

Kane came up beside Leo, his computer at the ready as he looked over the ridge with his binoculars, then back down at his open computer.

Raiden was the last to the party. He got into the bed of the truck, ensuring it wasn’t booby-trapped. “It’s clean back here,” he said. Well, at least they hadn’t departed and left us with some sort of parting gift. Raiden joined Max.

Asher was already underneath the truck, planting bombs of his own. He scrambled out from beneath the truck then he ran to Cullen and Nic.

“Three, two, one,” Asher breathed into the mic.

The explosion shot outwards, away from the cave, just as Asher planned. It was less than twenty seconds before the first man ran out from the cave. Max grabbed him and yanked him back, out of sight of the mouth of the cave. The man lifted his pistol, then Max shot him. Three more men exited the cave, all shooting. Leo aimed and shot one while two more went down by others.

As expected, nobody else came out. Instead, shots fired outward from inside the cave.

Max hit the ground and peeked around the edge, his gun ready. He wasn’t going to take any indiscriminate shots, in case either the doctor or the reporter were inside. Leo moved, turned his rifle barrel, and saw that Cullen had done the same thing on the left side of the cave. He could see that Cullen was taking shots.

“They’re down,” Cullen said.

“Affirmative,” Max said.

Nic and Raiden went in as Cullen and Max continued to cover them.

Leo hated this. He trusted his teammates—they were fucking indomitable—but still, he wanted to be the one taking the risks, not them. And if he couldn’t be taking the risks, then he wanted them to be giving him a play-by-play of what was going on. Instead, it was dead quiet.

After what seemed like an eternity, there was a shot.

Then another.

Another.