New Species 04 Justice (10 page)

“You don’t know my father.” Jessie glared at him. “He raised me and I know him

much better than you do. He taught me to be tough and that some things are worth

taking chances on. He is with me on this. These Species we save are worth risking our

lives for and he knows that as much as I do. If anyone gets their chain yanked it will be yours, so back off from beating your chest and telling me to act more like your version

of what a woman should be.”

He spun away. She watched him walk to the assault vehicle he’d set up as the

command post. “Bitch,” he rumbled.

Jessie glanced at her watch, refusing to let him bait her temper. Tim was a dick but

he cared about his team, including her. It was two thirty in the morning and the raid

would go down soon. She thought of Justice and figured he was definitely asleep at

such a late hour. She sighed, wishing she were next to him in his bed, curled up against

his side. Of course, wishing didn’t do a thing since she was two states away from him.

Jimmy Torres pointed to his watch, held up one finger and jerked his thumb toward

one of the black vehicles. She pulled her hair back to secure it tightly at the base of her neck in a ponytail. She clearly wanted to be identified as a woman and her long hair

helped. Her all-black, bulky outfit sure didn’t look feminine and the bulletproof vest

hid her breasts.

She approached her team. Five men waited inside the black SUV parked a block

from their target. She sat in the back seat. It was a tight squeeze to close the door and she glanced at the two guys sharing the bench seat with her. The task force was made

up of all men who were at least six feet tall and muscularly built. They only hired large, strong men since sometimes they didn’t want Species males to noticeably stand out

from the humans they worked with. It made them easier targets to pick off if it ever

came down to a firefight.

Jessie shivered, thinking about that. So far she’d been lucky. The closest she’d ever

come to being shot was the mission in Mexico. Shots had been exchanged but Jessie had

stayed away from the fighting until she’d broken ranks.

The men had been pinned down but she’d been able to slip around to enter the back

door of that house and go after that poor Gift Female. Tonight they were going in all at

once. It was a large estate with three buildings on the grounds. The Species female

could be stashed in any of the three locations.
If the rich asshole still has her. If she is still
alive and if the jerk who paid Mercile was given one of the women. The chances are good. You
know that. Think positive. We don’t get called in unless they honestly believe we can recover one
of them.

“What’s the word on this one?” Jessie glanced at Jimmy, seated next to her.

“We received a tip from an anonymous caller that this jerk is holding a weird-

looking woman on his property and she’s being chained up. When the police ran the

jerk’s background it turns out he has a strong association with Mercile. They called us.

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A report like that immediately gets flagged. The tipster also implied this rich asswipe is about to move the woman. We knew we had to move on this one tonight. We’re hoping

he hasn’t moved her yet since whoever called said it would go down tomorrow

morning.”

Jessie felt hope. “It sounds like a hot tip.”

“That’s what the bosses said.” Jimmy grinned. “So when are you going to hole up

inside a motel with me so I can have my dirty way with your body?”

She smiled over the conversation they always shared before a raid. She was pretty

sure the ex-Marine wasn’t seriously hitting on her, that he was just trying to make her

laugh by distracting her from becoming too nervous. He was good at doing that.

“When I’m ninety-two. Do you think you’ll still want me by then?”

He laughed. “Sure. I’ll let you climb on my lap in my wheelchair. I’ll pop some blue

pills and we’ll talk about the first thing that comes up.”

Laughter softly floated around the SUV. Jessie smiled, relaxing a little. She liked

most of the men on the task force. They teased her but not one of them had ever

harassed her.

“It sounds kind of hard.” Jessie winked.

More laughter filled the vehicle. The driver and team leader, Trey, suddenly cleared

his throat. “Lock and load, boys and girl. Put your ears on. We’re about to crash a

party.”

Jessie shoved her earpiece in and secured it firmly to her ear. She waited. Six

seconds later a voice over the com said, “Check.” Jessie held up a thumb. The other men

did too. Trey nodded.

“We’re all good and we can hear you.”

“All right people,” Tim said in Jessie’s ear device. “We stick to the plan. On my ‘go’

let’s hit this mausoleum and see if we can wake the dead.”

Jessie took a deep breath and blew it out. She gripped the door to brace, her boots

flattened on the floor and she swallowed while tucking her chin down just a little. She’d been on enough raids to know what to expect.

“Go!” Tim roared. “All go!”

The vehicle shot forward and Jessie’s back slammed into the seat from the sudden

force but she’d been prepared. She hadn’t put on a seatbelt. None of them had since

they needed to exit the vehicles quickly when they stopped. The SUV picked up speed

fast. The gate next to the road was the only thing in the dark she could see until they

reached the well-lit area where the gates sat to admit visitors to the estate.

Trey turned the wheel sharply to leave the road for the driveway. An explosion

boomed ahead, bright light flashed and the locks on the iron gates blew apart. Their

team had determined that blowing the locks on the gate would be the fastest entry and

a marksman had nailed it with an explosive charge from across the street. The walls had

motion sensors so going in on foot wouldn’t have worked. The rich guy also had

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Justice

motion sensors all over the grounds. Speed mattered and they didn’t have time to slow

down for pesky locks.

Jessie realized they were the lead car as Trey gunned the vehicle straight at the iron

gates. They hadn’t been blown open but the damage to the locks was clear even from a

distance. They hit it hard, sparks flew and the gates parted with a massive noise. Jessie knew alarms had to be sounding inside the mansion. She turned her head, spotted six

pairs of headlights right on their ass, driving in pairs.

Trey jerked the wheel hard, left the driveway and bounced over the curb. They’d

been assigned to hit the guesthouse. One vehicle followed, still close on their ass. The

easiest shortcut to that location was across the personal golf course.

“Avoid the sand,” Bob, the team member in the passenger seat, said and chuckled.

“It’s a trap.”

Jessie grinned. She really liked the guys and their smart-ass remarks. It helped keep

the terror at bay as long as possible. The vehicle picked up speed.

“Hang on. We’re going airborne, kiddies,” Trey warned.

Jessie saw the small hill as they hit too fast and gritted her teeth. The nose of the

SUV cleared the peak and they were flying. The vehicle slammed down hard when it

landed. Trey weaved a little but kept control. The impact would have thrown her

forward since she didn’t weigh as much as the guys but Jimmy had thrown his arm

across her lap when the wheels left the ground. He’d kept her from moving too much.

“There went our stomachs but we’ll pick them up on the way back,” Bob groaned.

“Remind me to buy us all ass donuts for the next time we try that.”

Jessie saw a well-lit, two-story structure coming up fast. She reached down and

unfastened the strap securing her gun inside the holster on her thigh. Her heart

pounded. She knew it could turn really bad but she still hoped for the best. The fear

would keep her sharp and alert. Terror was a good thing in a dangerous situation.

They reached the front of the guesthouse and Trey locked up the brakes hard,

skidding ass end around a few feet and killed the engine. Jessie threw open the door

and jumped out, moving fast toward the front doors. Trey and Bob were already ahead

of her. Jimmy, Mike and Shane remained behind her.

Trey held a metal battering ram about three feet long and charged full force with it

as he hit the locked double doors dead center. The wood splintered under the assault,

popped apart and opened hard. Trey dropped the battering ram, just tossed it aside and

grabbed both his guns. He and Bob entered first by throwing themselves to the sides of

the door. Jessie slammed into the wall next to the entrance, yanked her gun out and

waited.

“Clear,” Bob called.

Jessie eased around the broken door. She glanced around the large entryway, took

in the curved stairwell, high ceilings and long hallway leading to other parts of the

house. Trey and Bob moved door to door, clearing rooms while she stayed put with her

gun trained at the top of the stairs to cover Jimmy and Shane as they rushed up them.

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Mike took position across from Jessie to guard the door. Anyone coming in or out

would face off against a heavily armed man. As soon as both men hit the landing above,

she lowered her gun and turned to train it on the broken doors.

The waiting was the worst as Jessie stood there. She heard gunfire suddenly erupt

from upstairs.
Shit
. Her gaze flew to Mike, met his grim, tense expression and hoped her team was doing the shooting. He jerked his head toward the front door. She moved,

followed his silent command and stepped back outside. Her back pressed against the

house as more gunfire came from the second floor. A gun battle had started.

“Gunfire inside the guesthouse!” Tim’s voice shouted into her ear. “Four armed

men. Second floor.”

“We’ll get them,” Jimmy’s voice grunted. “One down. Three to go.”

Jessie’s gaze kept roaming the yard for any motion coming at them. Tim’s voice

inside her ear kept her informed of what was happening with her team and the others.

“We have eight incoming heat signatures in two cars speeding toward the

guesthouse from the south.”

Jessie jerked her head in that direction but didn’t see anything. In less than ten

seconds that changed. Headlights appeared in the distance and approached quickly.

She moved, eased inside the house and nodded at Mike.

“I’ve got your back covered if you can handle the cars.” She glanced at his guns.

“You have the better toys.”

He smirked. “Keep your head down.”

“That’s not a problem. I’m short, remember?”

“Knock off the chatter,” Tim ordered. “Your mics are live since you’re under attack,

team five.”

Great.
Jessie rolled her eyes at Mike. He grinned and lunged next to Jessie, closer to the open doors. The sound of tires locking up prompted him to open fire. Jessie threw

up her hand to cover her ear nearest to his weapon. She trained her gun toward the

stairs to make sure no one tried to seek down them. Trey and Bob cleared the bottom

floor and rushed back.

“Jessie, move your ass this way,” Trey ordered. “Bob, get upstairs to support Jimmy

and Shane. I’m coming up behind you to guard the door, Mike. Don’t shoot me.”

“I’ll try not to,” Mike grunted.

Gunfire was deafening. Jessie found herself shoved farther into the house. They

wanted her out of the line of fire but it was hard to do with guns being shot from above

and outside. Gunfire pelted the front of the house and bullets dug into the wall by the

staircase.

“Three of them just darted from the cars to go around the back,” Mike hissed. “Find

a hole, Jessie. They are going to try to come at us from the back of the house. We’re

screwed!”

“Fuck,” Trey snarled. “We’re pinned down! I repeat, we’re pinned down!”

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Justice

Shit
. There were windows everywhere past the hallway where a large living room

opened up. If three men with guns breached it then she’d be a target no matter where

she stood. They’d turn that corner and kill her friends, taking out anyone hiding along

the way. She glanced around and lunged toward a doorway to a laundry room. It was

the only place she couldn’t see a window. She heard glass break not too far from her

and listened intently.

“They are breaking through from the living room,” Jessie warned softly. “I’ll cover

your back, guys.”

“Damn it, Jessie,” Trey hissed. “Stay down and find a hole. I’ll try to cover our

backs from this location.”

He wanted her to hide. If the three men got behind Trey and Mike they would be

trapped and without cover in the long entryway despite her team leader’s bluff. He

knew as well as she did that they were pinned down. He’d admitted it already to

everyone.

“I’ve got your back,” she repeated more firmly.

She heard someone step on glass as it crunched loudly. She took deep breaths and

jerked around the doorway, stepped into the hallway and crept to the end of it. She

paused there, gripped her gun tightly and peeked around the corner into the living

room. She raised her gun arm, saw a man stepping through the shattered window,

pointed and fired. He screamed, going down. Bullets from his two companions tore up

the wall near her. Jessie jerked back and ducked. The other two were already inside.