Team: Echo (27 page)

Chapter Eighteen

They were moving in complete and total silence. Mik was in a
perch overlooking the front of the house and west side. She’d been
dropped off in a spot to survey the back and east side. Everyone
had on communication but they were working with hand signals and
clicks to the mic’s. It was safer, especially given the other
military presence. While all their gear was designed to be
autonomous and secure, there was no sense taking
chances.

The men were moving in, slowly, like the ghosts they’d
learned to become. Thankfully it was a moonless night and had some
cloud cover adding extra gloom. The smallest of sounds had her
attention moving to where a body tumbled, too close to the house.
Headshot unless she missed her guess. Inside the limit Marius had
set which meant Mik had waited for that shot, waited and made it a
kill. She spotted one of their guys shaking his head, Marius more
than likely. Mik was going to hear about that later.

Penny shook her head and focused back on her targets, she
watched the shadows and lifted her weapon and took out the shadow
that had been approaching Thomas with deadly intent. Okay, so she
did feel more than a little pleasure at ending that life but all
the same she had done it because it had been necessary.

A click in her earpiece had her turning her sights toward
Mik. He gave her a thumbs up and then a series of hand signals that
told her there were six more coming around the house. They were
inside the wing-them-only zone. But since they were heading towards
their guys moving up at the back to slip inside the house, she’d
have to watch them.

Penny switched back to watching the men. She would do
whatever she had to in order to ensure that her family was kept
safe and they all knew it. She was just as deadly as her brother
with a rifle which ensured that her men were set and
safe.

Over the next twenty minutes she and Mik, between them,
dropped another six men. Their guys were in the house while the
other team was in various positions on the outside to repel any
attacks. As per their agreement she and Mik were to move in. They
would go up the outside of the house to the roof. They had to be
very careful because one little movement out of place, one shadow
that shouldn’t be there would have them pulling bullets out of
their asses. A click came, and then a double click. The signal to
move.

Penny moved from her perch and scuttled closer to the house,
sticking with the shadows and then finding a new perch. Training
her weapon back on the house she simply waited. It was what she
needed to do, she was their way out and she was their protection
along with Mik.

The smallest disturbance at her side, just a shift in air and
Mikhail was there. He shot her a look and winked. He looked to be
enjoying himself, but he was a bit strange. He seemed to melt into
his position, relaxing until he was part of the landscape. Even
with as close as they were they still couldn’t speak. Not without
betraying their position to those that would put a round through
them. After a few moments he looked to her and signaled, part
military and a bit of sign language.
You
spotted the doc yet?

No.
Pen sent back simply. She hadn’t
and she had a shitty feeling too.
I don’t
think he’s here. It’s just the hired help.
Which pissed her off all the more. Then she saw it.
Cancel that. Left of the house. Shadows. Blinking
red light.
What the hell did the bastard
have in his hands that had a red light that blinked on
it?

Mik peer through his scope and frowned as he shot her a look.
Then, like a tidal wave, his entire body language changed. Breaking
protocol, which for him was huge, he hit the comms. “Bomb, bomb,
bomb!” he hissed loudly. Then he grabbed her, rolling along the
roofline and threw them off the edge away from the
explosive.

Penny hit the ground with a hard thud and the breath left her
body in a hard whoosh. “Son of a fucking bitch.” But she was up
running right along with Mik. She then broke off from him and
headed toward the corner. The bomb couldn’t blow there, it would
affect the wall of the panic room and she didn’t know if it would
withstand a blast.

Passing Dieter she shoved her gun into his hands and moved.
She was fast, she just hoped she could get the bomb from the
asshole and toss it before anyone got hurt. If she was
lucky.

“
To your left P,” Mikhail’s voice came through the earpiece.
“Swing a little to your left. I’m going to hit him in three, two,
one.” The shot whistled past her and hit the doc in the shoulder.
He jerked back, the bomb going up in the air as he released it to
fall back.

Penny moved along and scooped the bomb up. “Shit.” She
muttered as she saw the time left on the timer. “No time to cut
wires.” She just prayed she could toss it far enough. She threw the
bomb as far as she could, as hard as she could. She turned on her
heel and moved back toward the men and went flying she was tackled
from behind.

Out of nowhere a body tackled her and she was being rolled,
frantically along. “I’ve got you babe,” James’s voice in her ear.
They bumped something solid and he moved to cover her body
entirely. Which made the most sense, he was a little more
indestructible than she was. “How long?” he asked her tucking his
head close to hers.

“
Three seconds.” She said and curled herself in as close to
him as she could. Wrapping her arms around him she held onto him.
“Love you.” She whispered to him only a half second before their
world exploded, the sounds and colors lit the world around
them.

His hold tightened on her just as the shock wave hit them,
tugging at their clothing harshly. A moment later, when they could
breathe again, he pulled back. Running his hands over her he stared
into her eyes. “Are you okay love?”

“
I’m good.” She cupped his face in her hands and pulled him
close. “Next time Mik runs for the bomb.” She muttered and then
hugged him tightly. God she just now was realizing just how fucking
stupid that was! “Jesus. Next time tackle me before I make it to
the guy with the bomb please.”

“
I would have but I was too far away,” he hugged her tight.
Pressing a kiss to her cheek he drew back. “Up you get, we still
have bad guys to capture and a bunch of feds to kick off our land.
Grab the doc and torture him a little as you wrap him up please.”
He passed her some extra zip ties and then, drawing his Glock, he
threw a wink and rushed off.

Penny approached the good doctor and stepped onto the wound
that Mik had inflicted upon him. “Now then.” She stepped on his
other hand and ground his hand into the dirt as she leaned into the
bastard. “What is it that you thought you would accomplish in
putting a bomb on my home?” She demanded and put the zip ties on
his uninjured arm and pulled it toward the injured one. She was
taking as much care as she could, because she knew that this fucker
was hyped up on the nanos’ that made her boys powerful.

Several more shots were fired and then it was absolutely
silent. “Clear,” Gareth was the first to make the call in quickly
followed by the others. “Gather all survivors at the front of the
house,” Marius passed the word along.

Penny reached down and grabbed the good doctor and hauled him
to her feet. “Come on asshole.” She said and shoved him before her
toward the front of the house. She looked up at Gareth and nodded.
“This is the asshole who thought to blow a hole in our
house.”

“
With my daughter inside,” Gareth didn’t look happy. “You and
I will be having a chat doc,” he grabbed the man by his neck.
Dragging him towards the front of the house Gareth timed a trip so
the doc ended up skidding on his chest and face a couple of
feet.

Penny accepted her weapon back and kept it trained on the
men. Yes it was a rifle but she was damn good with it and wouldn’t
want it any other way. Well, unless one of them brought her a
handgun. “Has anyone checked on D and Honey?”

“
They’re good,” Dillon said, dropping another man to the
ground. This one had a nice shot to the ass and was whimpering
pitifully. “Anton just let us know that Honey is bouncing around.
Apparently she found the stash of sweets someone left down there.
And Daisy is threatening her with bodily harm if she doesn’t stop.
So, according to Anton, we maybe have a half hour before all hell
breaks loose down there.”

“
Wonderful,” Penny looked to her boys and grinned. “And you
boys have to explain just why there were swizzle sticks and pixie
sticks down there.” Okay so it had been her idea, she had taken
them down there so that she could have some alone time with her men
and had covered their cocks in the sweets but they had all loved
it. A great deal.

“
Because you left them there,” Dieter and James said in near
perfect sync. Grinning at one another they high fived and chuckled.
“So really, if there is any blame to be laid, it’s all on you my
dear,” Dieter said. And every male, except Gareth, Mikhail and
Anton, who hadn’t yet joined them, pointed at her with looks of
horror on their faces.

She snorted and shook her head. “No, it’s so not my fault. If
you boys will recall I told you to make sure to get the candy and
bring it with us. You guys forgot to bring it up to our bed.” She
really had told them to bring it, they forgot it, not
her.

“
We can’t be blamed for that, you’d diverted all blood from
our brains and we can’t be held accountable for any actions we may
have or may not have done during a time of such physical duress,”
James grinned. “So, once more, it’s all in your adorable court my
dear.”

“
Nope, all your fault.” She teased him with a smile and then
shoved her boot on another guy’s head that tried to raise it. “Not
your fucking conversation asshole. I suggest you keep your ass
down.” Idiot. “And you know that you boys are as much to blame as
me.”

“
I don’t believe so,” Dieter said. “As I recall you said we
should grab it but since we had all the clothing in hand we didn’t
have any way to do so. We said that and you replied you would
collect the candy but then got distracted when James pinched your
ass. So he was correct in his assessment.”

“
He pinched my ass and then if you will remember he began to
fuck me. That’s when we went up the backstairs with James deep in
my pussy so shut it mister. I can’t be to blame for that one.” She
said with a laugh. “So yeah, I can’t be to blame at
all.”

Everyone was staring at her, including her brother. “Uh, that
might fall under the too much information header,” Gareth said. He
looked slightly uncomfortable and yet amused at the look on
Mikhail’s mug as he stared at her.

Penny could only laugh. Shaking her head she shrugged and
watched the men. “What? Tell me that Gareth and Mik haven’t pulled
shit just like that before,” she demanded. “And tell me that you
boys aren’t going to pull shit like that when you find women to
bring home with you.”

“
Uh, yeah we have and yeah they likely will. But we don’t
discuss it in front of a family member who has a hair trigger
temper and can practically walk through walls,” Gareth said.
Mikhail still hadn’t said a word but the looks he was shooting
James and Dieter, the were looks that promised pain.

Penny shrugged. “Yes he also knows how much that I love those
boys so he wouldn’t dare do anything to them, would you Mik?” She
loved her brother but she loved James and Dieter far more. She
loved her men more than she loved anything or anyone.

He lifted a brow at her and shrugged. “Only time will tell,”
he said. Then his attention was pulled away, towards the dark of
the road. “Truck coming,” he told everyone. Weapons were coming up
fast, some on the prisoners and the rest pointed to the
road.

Penny shifted slightly, her eyes still on the prisoners
because she knew that the men at her back would ensure that whoever
was coming their way would be neutralized as quickly as possible.
“Not a muscle,” she told the man that tried to shift, again. “We
good?” she asked without looking up.

“
Not sure,” Marius said to her. “Mik, who are
they?”

“
Looks like the brass sent some thugs to collect the doctor,”
her brother said quietly. Mik turned to look her way. “From what I
can hear of the chatter they have orders to take them all in. If we
resist in any way,” he shook his head.

“
We are so not letting them have this fucker back, are we?”
she asked with a near growl. There was no way in the world that she
wanted to give up this asshole, not when she knew that they would
let him go far too soon. That was seriously not what she wanted.
Period.

The men all shared looks before Marius nodded. “Do it,” he
said.

Thomas and Dillon grabbed the doctor and dragged him off
around the side of the house. “There, problem fixed. He was never
here and if anyone says otherwise to the MP’s or the brass I will
hunt them down and make them pay painfully.” Mikhail leaned over to
look at a couple in the eye. “Do we understand one
another?”

Penny grinned when she saw the men all nodding and looked up
to him. “Now, should I head on inside and get D and Honey out to
make sure that they are okay or do you need for me to wait?” she
asked quietly. “Because I, for one, don’t want to mess with the
asses coming up the drive.”