Lucky SEAL (Lucky Devil #2) (18 page)

Rourke untucked his shirt and used his knife to cut most of his undershirt away to use as a bandage for Jennifer's shoulder. She was looking pale, and her eyes were drifting shut.

"Stay with me, baby." Rourke gave her a little shake. Jennifer's eyes popped open, and she nodded.

She was definitely awake when he wrapped the strip of fabric around her shoulder and under her arm. He tied it in the front so the knot would put pressure on the wound. Tears filled Jennifer’s eyes, but she didn’t complain.

"Can you stand?"

"Yeah. I'm good," Jennifer whispered.

She was looking around at the wounded or possibly dead men Rourke took down when he lost his shit and fired at everything that moved between him and her when she was shot. Rourke hopes the side of him that didn't mind spilling blood when it was warranted would scare his sweet debutant turned showgirl away.

“Did you get Evan?” she asked in a tiny voice. Rourke wished he had now. She was still terrified of the man.

“I hit him in his gun arm,” Rourke admitted. “He’s not dead.”

Rourke lifted Jennifer off the ground and held her until he was sure she could handle her own weight. "Let's get out of here, baby. It's a bit of a hike to reach help."

Rourke was frankly surprised the feds hadn't swarmed the area yet. Something fishy was going down. He would hike back to the local police command position with Jennifer on his back. The helicopter waiting there would be the fastest transport to a hospital. Rourke released Jennifer and reached for his gun.

"Touch that and you die," an angry voice crept out of the darkness.

Rourke froze. Jennifer gasped, and he knew by the frightened look on her face that Evan had returned. "Turn around slowly with your hands up."

Rourke obeyed, slowly turning around and at the same time putting himself between Evan and Jennifer. However, he did not put up his hands. Evan had his sidearm in his one good hand aimed directly at Rourke’s chest. His other arm was tucked against his chest protectively. He’d pulled off his tie and wrapped it tight.

“You should have killed me. It's a shame Tommy took the hit. I really liked that kid. Sanchez should have given you better information. You knocked off my man instead of me.” Evan shook his head at Rourke as if he were an idiot. “Now, I’m going to let Sanchez deal with you. A quick death is too kind. I’ll send you back to him so he can make you pay for your failure.”

Jennifer stepped closer to Rourke and placed her free hand on his back. She was shaking.

“Jenny, come to me now,” Evan demanded. Jennifer didn’t move from her position behind Rourke, so Evan shouted, “Do you want to see this asshole die today, Jenny? I know you don’t like the sight of blood. Do you want another man’s brains splattered over you? I was going to let him live to send a message to Sanchez. He thinks he can double cross me. Well, I have a surprise for him.” Evan was frothing at the mouth. “I knew that fucker was looking at you for too long. He thought he would take back his product and steal my fucking woman. He’s going to pay for this dearly. Come to me now, or I’ll kill your new friend.”

Rourke assumed the man Evan had just done business with was Sanchez, aka Bogie one. Evan still hadn’t realized he was under surveillance by the feds. Why would he, when Rourke was the only party crasher? Rourke wore all black with nothing to identify him as law enforcement because he wasn’t. Rourke was just a man in love. But Evan assumed he was a hitman for Sanchez.

And Jenny? Rourke couldn’t imagine calling his graceful yet artsy Jennifer, Jenny. She would never be Jenny. Rourke would bet Jennifer hated the nickname, too. 

Jennifer slowly began to edge around Rourke. He was going to spank her ass when they got out of this. Did she think Rourke would ever put his life before her safety? She was distracting Evan, though, so Rourke let her take a couple of slow steps.

“Look at you,” Evan shouted at Jennifer. “Why did you make me shoot at you?” Evan appeared horrified by Jennifer’s unkempt appearance. “I wish Bigs were still alive, so I could kill him again for touching you.” Evan, like the nut he was, turned his gun on the corpse that rested nearby and fired another shot into the lifeless body.

Rourke used the opportunity to pull the glock from his second back holster. He fired once to knock the gun from Evan’s hand. Evan cursed and scurried backward, falling in the process. Rourke moved in on the injured lunatic. His heart screamed at him to kill the man who’d done so much damage to Jennifer. His brain, however, reminded him that their every move was being watched. He hesitated, and Evan lunged at Rourke. Rourke tripped over the body Evan had just shot, and they both went down. Rourke and Evan rolled on the ground, wrestling over the gun. It was a short struggle due to Rourke’s superior skill and size.

Rourke loomed over Evan. His gun hand steady. The man in him wanted to kill Evan for what he’d done to Jennifer, but the operator in him wouldn’t let him fire on an unarmed man. The report of a gun behind him had Rourke moving off Evan, but he kept his gun on the worm. Jennifer screamed. Rourke feared she’d picked up a gun to help him and accidentally shot herself. He was wrong.

“My next shot won’t miss. I don’t want to shoot her, but I will.” Tommy snarled, “Put the fucking gun on the ground and back away.”

The young man who’d covered Jennifer with his own body had fired a shot at her feet, making her scream and dance. She was trembling. Jennifer was either going into shock or just terrified. Neither was acceptable.

“Tommy?” Jennifer looked at the younger man with betrayal in her eyes. Tommy stared back coldly.

Rourke believed Tommy. He would kill Jennifer to save his boss. Rourke threw his gun off into the bushes. He didn’t want Evan grabbing it easily.

“Jennifer, baby, don’t move,” Rourke instructed her. Tommy was looking unstable. He rolled to his feet from the ground surprisingly uninjured. He’d been playing possum the entire time. There wasn’t a scratch on him. Just blood from being pressed against Jennifer.

“Good man, Tommy! Again, you save my hide. There will be a massive bonus for you this round, son. You’ll be getting Bigs’ cut.” Evan smiled triumphantly.

“I can’t let you kill him. I’m sorry, Jennifer. Evan MacGraff needs to pay for the lives he’s ruined and the crimes he’s committed.” Tommy was almost apologetic.

Tommy turned his gun on Evan. The smile ran from Evan’s smug face. Tommy brought his arm up to his face and spoke into his watch. “Move in. I’ve got MacGraff and all the evidence we’ll need to put his ass away for a very long time.” Now, Tommy was the one smiling.

“What the fuck, Tommy?” Off in the distance, the sound of sirens could be heard swiftly moving closer. Evan wasn’t looking so confident any longer.

Tommy spoke to Rourke without taking his eyes off the piece-of-shit his firearm was aimed at. “I’m sorry, man. I know you want him dead, so do I, but there’s more at stake here than one man’s revenge. I’ve been undercover for over a fucking year. We finally have enough to make a conviction stick.”

“You’re a fed?” Rourke asked, but he already knew the answer. It was a good damn thing Rourke hadn’t killed the agent.

“DEA,” Tommy confirmed.

“Motherfucker! I will kill you, you rat fucking bastard!” Evan was spitting mad again. He promised death for Tommy and his entire family, including the ones already dead, whom Evan planned to revive so he could kill them again. His rage had shifted from Sanchez to Tommy the DEA agent who’d been living under his nose, gaining Evan’s trust, and gathering information for over a year. Tommy didn’t look worried in the slightest.

Several all-terrain vehicles rolled in from over the ridge toward the desert, kicking up dust. A few more pulled into view from the direction Evan’s shipment of drugs had gone. The rest of Evan’s men couldn’t have gone far before the DEA had them pinned down.

Jennifer collapsed with relief. She just crumpled straight to the ground. She had to be in pain as well. Rourke used Tommy’s slight distraction to scoop up a gun lying discarded near the corpse and fired at Evan. Evan fell to the dirt with a scream of anguish. He clutched his shoulder with the injured hand Rourke hit to disarm the woman-beating piece-of-shit who now had a bullet hole to match the one he’d given Jennifer.

“Fuck!” Tommy cursed.

“I didn’t kill the prick. He doesn’t need the use of that arm to go to trial. Jennifer deserved at least that much. He should die for what he did to her.” Rourke wasn’t in the least sorry for taking the wind out of Evan’s crazy ass sails. Tommy was cursing about explaining that to his superiors.

Rourke engaged the safety, wiped his fingerprints from the gun and tossed it back to the ground. He went to Jennifer and knelt behind her, protectively wrapping his body around her bedraggled and inadequately clothed form, while agents swarmed the area checking on the injured men. She melted back into Rourke, letting him take her weight.

It appeared Tommy wasn’t the only one faking a more serious injury. None of Evan’s thugs was willing to stand by him once the bullets started flying. Not after he’d gunned down Bigs in cold blood for following orders and handling Jennifer no differently than Evan himself had in the past. One wasn’t injured at all. He’d just hit the dirt when Rourke began unloading clips into the clearing.

Evan was being secured with his injured hands and shoulder at his front.  He was glaring at Tommy. “This isn’t over. I’ll be out by morning.” Evan smiled. “There won’t be a place on earth you can hide from me.”

Tommy blinked innocently at his former employer, completely undisturbed by the threat. “Shucks. Does that mean I won’t be getting my bonus?” The smartass agent asked with a grin.

“Oh, you’re getting a bonus, alright, boy. I can’t wait to deliver it myself.”

Evan shifted his attention to Jennifer, who watched the scene wordlessly with wide, confused eyes and dilated pupils. She needed to get to a hospital now. Rourke feared she was going into shock. Rourke was so proud of his woman. She’d been through hell and back, and she hadn’t gone into hysterics. She was stoically dealing with the situation. 

“Jenny, baby, don’t be afraid. I’ll be out by morning, and I’ll come for you. I have the honeymoon all planned.” Oddly, that didn’t sound like a threat. The nut was still planning to marry Jennifer. “I’ll send some of the boys to watch over you in the meantime. This whole thing was just an unfortunate mishap. I’m sorry I shot you, but in my defense, you did fire first,” Evan shouted back to Jennifer as he was being dragged away walking backward.

While Evan watched, Tommy turned his gun on Rourke. Jennifer flinched.

“Hands behind your back,” Tommy ordered Rourke in full on DEA mode. “Your boss has already been taken in, man. Don’t fight me, and things will go easier for you.” Tommy faced them, and he gave Rourke a wink. Jennifer saw the gesture and relaxed. He whispered as he leaned over Rourke, “This fuck thinks you’re with Sanchez. He doesn’t know who you are, and neither do I. Let’s keep it that way.”

Rourke didn’t fight Tommy when the agent tugged his arms behind him and pretended to secure Rourke’s hands behind his back. Tommy had no cable ties, but Evan couldn’t see that. Tommy hauled Rourke up to his feet, or he tried to. Rourke did most of the work to make it look as if Tommy was dragging a bound man to his feet. Rourke was twice Tommy’s size. The younger man never would have been able to manhandle Rourke. That was the last thing Evan would see before he was stuffed into the back of a waiting truck and driven away for medical attention, then he’d be off to lock-up to await arraignment.

Rourke waited for the truck’s taillights to disappear before dropping the pretense of being arrested. He returned to Jennifer, lifting her from the ground and cradling her to his chest. Agents were crawling all over the scene, collecting evidence and taking pictures. Jennifer clutched his shirt.

“I need a medic, now,” Rourke barked.

“There’s a medivac in route.” Tommy paused. “What’s the eta on that medivac?” he asked one of the nearby agents who then tapped the device in his ear and repeated the question.

“I don’t like airplanes. I don’t know about a helicopter,” Jennifer had lifted her head to tell Rourke.

“Are you kidding me? Birds are awesome, babe. I jump out of them all time.” He smiled softly at her and joked to relieve the worry in her face, but it didn’t work. After the night she’d survived, Jennifer was finally starting to break down just a little. The good news was that she was talking again. Rourke hadn’t liked it one bit when she’d drawn back into herself. “It’s going to be just fine, baby. It’ll be a short trip. I’ll be there before you know it.”

“I want to stay with you,” Jennifer told Rourke, and his heart swelled. He understood the feeling. He never wanted to be parted from her again, either.

“I love you. This is all over now. Evan is gone. You’re going to the hospital. I’m going to follow you because they won’t have room on the bird. You need the flight nurses more than you need me right now. When you’re all patched up, I’m taking you home.” He kissed her gently. “We have big plans to make, you and I. Okay?”

“Alright,” she agreed unhappily. She kissed him and jostled her shoulder in the process. She hissed. Rourke wished he could shoot Evan in his other shoulder.

“The medivac is ten minutes out,” said the other agent. “The Vegas PD is about to lift off to make room for the other bird to land.”

That explained the sound of a chopper nearby. The LVMPD must have moved to a forward position in case they were needed. If Rourke wanted to get back to Vegas with Jennifer, he’d need to be on that bird.