SEALs of Summer 2: A Military Romance Superbundle (116 page)

Team members stationed around the outside of the fence began to sound off in order of their assigned spots. At post five, there was a long silence. Then, “Post nine, here.”

Jackson grabbed a weapon and stuck his head into the interrogation room. “We have company.”

Alejandro’s mouth curved into a slight smile.

If he’d had the time, Jackson would have lifted him from his chair and slammed him into the wall, but he didn’t.

“I’ll take care of him,” Teague said, “Then I’ll radio for reinforcements.”

Jackson slammed out of the building at a run, keeping his voice calm as he gave orders to the men scrambling around the camp. Everyone had their pre-assigned places in case of an attack. But now they had a hole in their defenses to the north. “Deke, Mac, Jave, we have a breach in the north side of camp.”

“Already there,” Deke said, his voice low. “Don’t see anything yet.”

“Fence is cut,” came Mac’s voice. “Tracks from maybe three men.”

Jave didn’t respond.

The north side fence faced encroaching jungle. A great place to infiltrate once the guards were taken out. Jackson kept on task, skirting buildings with his weapon raised, ready to fire if anyone looked out of place.

As he drew closer to the last buildings near the north fence, he tightened his jaw and went into fight mode. Every sense on alert. He couldn’t let himself think about Suri. She probably had no clue, and when gunfire erupted she’d be scared, but the only way to keep her safe was do his job.

The wind whipped
up, lifting the tin roof of the hut and slapping it back down. The sound was like the crack of a rifle. Another clap made her jump, and she edged off the bed. She’d sit with the guard. Maybe he was feeling as edgy as she was and could use the company. But she went to the bathroom first, relieving herself then washing her hands, looking at her face in the mirror and wondering who that woman was. Since when did Suri McAnnally hang out with ex-SEALs in the middle of a Mexican jungle? Her routine life in Austin felt very far away.

A sound, like scuffing feet sounded from the bedroom, and she frowned, staying silent. Who was there? Did the guard think she’d tried climbing out the window again and come to check on her. She reached for the doorknob, but her hand froze at the loud pops she heard. Two. Just outside her door. Something heavy thudded to the floor.

She wished there was a lock on the bathroom door. Holding the knob wouldn’t stop whoever it was from gaining entrance. She gazed at the tub and quietly walked over to it, stepping inside and easing the moldy white curtain closed before she lay down to hide herself.

The door burst open. A shady figure stepped inside—and reached for the curtain.

Please be Jackson. Please be Jackson.
But she recognized the face leering down at her and her muscles tightened. Diego Guzman had come to seek his revenge.

His cold eyes stared down, and he raised a pistol and aimed it at her.

Suri wasn’t about to die like this. Not without a fight. But she needed something to keep him from pulling the trigger. “Wait! I know where Alejandro is.”

“So do I,” he bit out.

“But you won’t get near him. Not without a hostage.”

Guzman’s gaze raked her body. “You that SEAL’s whore now?”

He knew about Jackson? Blood pounded in her ears. That was much more specific than simply assuming she’d received good treatment because she didn’t know a thing about his operation.

The sound of gunfire erupting in the distance told her Guzman had many more men with him.

“You can use me as a shield. You know if they see you in the open, they’ll shoot you dead.”

His cold gaze narrowed. “Get up.”

Moving slowly so she didn’t excite him, she stood.

Guzman gripped her arm hard and pulled her over the edge of the tub. Then he turned her and put an arm around her chest and his pistol against the side of her head. “We go together. You make one move, you even trip, I’ll blow off your head.”

His clipped, accented voice was dead even. His body wasn’t especially tense despite the sounds of a full-on battle going on around the camp. He was a true sociopath. And he believed he was in complete control, which made her wonder just how many men he’d brought.

“Move.”

She hated that he used that word. But she didn’t have time to think about Jackson. She walked forward, out the bathroom door, eyeing the prone body of the guard who’d been keeping watch, and then through the tiny living area to the front door. There, she held her breath before opening the door. The sounds were farther away now and at the opposite side of the camp.

Awkwardly, they went together down the steps. Two men in black Federales uniforms stepped out from the side of the hut to take up positions on either side of her and Diego.

“I created a little diversion,” he said, sounding very pleased with himself. “Something to draw away your friends.”

“Alejandro is my friend,” she said, although she wasn’t so sure about that anymore. She suspected he’d been taken because he wanted to be. She blinked against the cool raindrops. “Alejandro wore some kind of tracker, didn’t he? But I’m sure he was searched.”

“I placed a tracker beneath his scalp when he was a child. Did they search his skin, his hair?”

Gunfire continued to pop in the distance. The group drew near the back of the ops building, and Suri thought it strange that clearing was bare. No one waited in front of the building. No one was in sight.

Diego must have thought the same thing, because his arm tightened, constricting her breathing, and the muzzle of the pistol dug into her temple. “Keep moving,” he whispered harshly.

To the right, the man beside him dropped. Blood spread over his chest from a single shot to the forehead. A moment later, so did the soldier on the left.

Diego growled, the sound coming from his belly before exploding beside her ear. “I have your whore!”

Gunfire stopped. The site grew quiet except for the plop of raindrops on tin roofs.

“I think that means you don’t have anyone left,” she said softly. “Maybe you should make a deal.”

“Shut up!” His knee connected with her hip. “I’ll kill you!”

Pain shot through her body, and she gasped.

“And the moment you do, motherfucker, I’ll drop you to the dirt.”

Jackson’s voice, coming from behind them. Suri’s eyes filled with tears.

Teague stepped out from around the side of the ops van, his hands out to his sides to show he wasn’t armed. “Diego Guzman, all your soldiers are down. Most dead. Your son is trussed up like a turkey inside. You have no place to go, no one who can help you.”

Guzman snorted but his hold didn’t ease.

Teague shook his head and gave him a tight smile. “And if you think Jave is coming to your rescue, dream on. He bit it ten minutes ago.”

Guzman held still as a statue for a long moment, and then whirled with her to face Jackson.

Jackson stood in the open, sighting down the barrel of his raised weapon. “You don’t have anywhere to go. Release her.”

“I’m leaving through the gate. Try to stop me, and I’ll kill her. I swear I will.”

Suri believed him, and knew that if he managed to make his way outside, she wouldn’t remain alive for long. Her stomach clenched. She had few choices. And they narrowed to just one. Jackson.

Her glance locked on him and she slowly mouthed,
One, Two, Three
. Then sagged, catching Guzman by surprise because she slid partway out of his grasp. A shot rang out. Guzman’s arm fell away, and he dropped backward to the dirt.

Suri scrambled to her knees, and then her feet, and ran for Jackson, launching herself at him. He held his gun away from his body and grabbed her waist, hauling her in while she wrapped arms and legs around him, and held him tight, her head buried against his shoulder.

“I stayed put,” she said with a sob. “He found me.”

His cheek slid against hers. “Shhh, I’ve got you now. I’ve got you.”

A throat cleared near them.

Suri lifted her head, wiped the tears from her face, and then unwound herself.

Jackson let her down to the ground, but kept his arm around her back.

Teague’s face was grim. “Can’t say we won’t get more company. Three helos from our ship in the Gulf are heading this way. Only bring what’s necessary. We’re leaving as soon as they touch down.”

Jackson nodded. “I’ll get her on the first one out.”

‡

T
he last bell
of the day rang, and Suri smiled at the kids as they hurried out of the classroom. As she signed off her computer and put a folder of papers to be graded that weekend into her deep tote, she thought about how easy stepping back into her old life had been.

When she’d returned from Mexico, she’d been welcomed by the principal. And although the other teachers gave her curious looks, they never asked her where she’d been. Her kidnapping never made the news, but apparently, the powers that be had smoothed her return. Her contract was safe. She’d be back again the next fall. Her future was secure.

But it was an empty future. One she was likely to spend alone.

For a month, she’d waited for a call or a letter, had answered every doorbell hoping the caller would be him. Jackson Keller never came. So, she supposed that answered the question of whether he’d felt the same about her as she felt for him.

The thought stung that she’d abandoned her usual caution and let him inside her heart and her body, only to have him use her and drop her the minute his mission was over.

She guessed he’d only been doing his job. Sticking close and protecting her, and when she’d offered more, well, he was a guy. Any port in the storm and all…

His
abandonment still stung. He’d strapped her into a seat on the helicopter then hopped back to the ground—without any warning that he wasn’t taking the same flight. As soon as she’d reached the tarmac in Cancun, she’d been whisked away to a plane that had dropped her in Austin where a limo drove her home. Her apartment had been cleaned. Everything set to rights. And a check lay on the counter—reparations for her having been caught up in Charter Group’s hunt for Diego Guzman.

The check was generous, but not the sort of solace she wanted. Her life had never felt so lonely or empty until it suddenly was.

She opened the door to her classroom and stepped into the hall.

A tall figure straightened from against a row of lockers.

Her gaze traveled upward and she sucked in a breath.

A storm-gray gaze held steady with hers.

She couldn’t help it. A flush of heat crept up her neck to her face. Her eyes stung, but she blinked to make sure she didn’t cry. She walked past him without saying a word.

“I know you’re angry.”

Oh, that was an understatement. She picked up her pace until she was stalking down the hallway to the front doors.

“Look, at first I didn’t call because I couldn’t. We still had some mop-up to do with the remnants of his cartel. Once he learned Guzman was dead, his son gave us loads of actionable intel. I guess he figured his money train was gone anyway. He struck a deal. You don’t have to worry about seeing or hearing from him again.”

At the entrance door, she reached out a hand and pushed on the glass, not stopping and smacking her nose because it didn’t give.

“Let me get that for you.” He depressed the bar that opened the door.

Infuriated, she pushed past him, running down the steps toward her car. There she hit her remote and unlocked the doors.

“Suri!”

He was right behind her. And she needed one more look. Something to emblazon on her memory so that she never forgot the pain of seeing him again. She’d never make the same mistake, but first she had a question. She turned slowly and scowled. “You said, ‘at first’—what about
after
.”

He dipped his head and looked at the ground, and then shot her another glance. “I didn’t want to do this by phone. I wanted to see you, face to face.”

“What’s
this
? You breaking up with me?” she said, her voice rising. “There was nothing to break. Go home.”

His eyebrows furrowed and he stepped forward, looming over her.

Then he lifted both hands, but she didn’t let herself flinch. He couldn’t hurt her anymore, but he bracketed her face, holding her still, and bent to kiss her.

She went rigid, her hands curled into fists, ready to slug him in his rugged, beautiful face.

But he kept kissing her.

She must have been robbed of oxygen, because she grabbed for him and kissed him back.

By the time he lifted his head, she was putty. Ready to be rolled and molded and then kicked to the curb. “Please,” she said, her voice breaking. “Don’t do this again unless you care about me.”

Jackson crowded her against her car and lifted her by the waist until they were eye level. “I don’t just care about you, Suri. I love you.”

He used that graveled tone. The one that melted her bones. Lord, she wanted a lifetime of hearing it. “I love you, too. But if you aren’t serious about this, about us, I’d just as soon you walked away now.”