Page 44 of Her Sensual Protector

Leo waited for thirteen heartbeats after his team was in the cave, then watched as each of the three terrorists who had been talking were taken from behind, their mouths covered as a knife silently dispatched their lives.

The longer the team could go without using their guns, the better off they were.

Leo jerked ever so slightly as he heard the first gunshots being fired from an assault rifle. So much for silence. Leo took out the guy right above the cave. He heard Ezio fire. Leo had his rifle trained on the man who had just woken up, and he killed him. All the while, he heard screams and loud spurts of assault fire over his receiver.

“Fuck!”

“Goddammit!”

It was Cullen and Nic. Had they been shot?

He saw headlights at almost the same instant as his teammates had started cursing. It had probably blinded them in their goggles. An engine roared to life. More rifle fire continued in the cave.

He heard a grunt of pain come over his receiver. It was one of their team, but who?

Leo didn’t have time to give a shit, they had bigger fish to fry as a truck with a canvas covering on the back came barreling out of the cave and headed toward Ezio and Leo’s hiding spots.

“No doctor,” Max said over his mic. “He could be in the truck.”

“Gotcha,” Ezio responded.

“Tires,” Leo told Ezio.

“Agreed.” They didn’t want to take out the driver for fear of an immediate wreck, so they’d go for the tires to begin with.

“Left side,” Ezio said.

“Right side,” Leo responded.

Shooting out all of the tires at once was the best way to ensure the truck didn’t end up on its side or upend itself. Leo spotted a driver and someone in the passenger seat. With the back covered, they had no idea how many were in the back.

As the truck got closer, Leo called out, “Now.”

They took their shots and the tires exploded. The driver kept driving. It was going slow. Perfect time to take out the people in the front seat. Leo took out the driver and Ezio took out the one in the passenger seat. The truck was closest to Leo. He jumped down off his rock, leaving his sniper rifle and pulling his M4 assault rifle off his back. He kept it in front of him as he moved in to see what he was dealing with in the back of the truck.

In the distance, he saw one man running toward him from the cave. “Coming your way,” Nic said.

“On the other side,” Ezio breathed into the mic.

“On the count of three,” Leo said as softly.

They came around the opposite sides and threw back the sides of the canvas tarp. Four men were in the back. Two were obviously unconscious but were held up anyway, as human shields. One had a gun to his head, the other a knife to his throat.

The one who held the knife screamed in Dari, “I’ll kill him.”

He was holding Daisy’s father.

Leo had no doubt in his mind that he was willing to kill his hostage.

“Siraj Haqqani will not be happy if you kill him without his permission,” Leo said calmly in Dari.

The man’s eyes widened. “What do you know of him?”

“I know that he would kill you and your family if you were to take the life of the doctor without his permission.”

“You will kill me anyway, so what’s the point?”

“I promise not to kill you. You and your friend release your hostages, and you will be taken alive.”