The Echo of Violence (20 page)

When he knew for certain that they had gone, he got to work.

He searched for more details on the backgrounds of Kinkaid and Marlowe to do a proper search. His efforts took time, but the results were worth it. What he found only gave him more cause for alarm. They were too experienced to attempt an assault on the Ghazi stronghold without help and resources. And although neither of them had mentioned they’d be working with an assault team, he had to assume they wouldn’t be alone. If they attacked Ghazi, they had a strong chance at succeeding with their mission to save Kinkaid’s friend—and killing anyone in their path, including Abdul Kabir Sayed.

He considered his next step carefully before he acted. But act, he must. After weighing the consequences of his decision, he picked up the encrypted phone he had in the safe room and made a call. A man answered on the second ring.

“You’ll soon have company.” The priest told him what he knew. “As a precaution, we must get Sayed out tonight. He’s vital to our cause. We have no choice now.”

He ended the call as his loyal housekeeper and confidante came into the room. She had a service of tea and a snack.

“Mrs. Torres, you’d better shed the apron,” he told her. “I’ll be needing your services.”

North of Baracoa, Cuba

Alexa and Kinkaid had arrived at the harbor in two SUVs they’d misappropriated from a rental-car agency for their rendezvous with Hank and his team. This time of night, the vehicles wouldn’t be missed. In the wake of the hurricane, Baracoa was dead, with the harbor deserted. When they met the backup team at the dock, Jessie had gifts from Garrett. Uniforms, full assault gear, and body armor. Everything a woman would need.

After the bounty hunter grinned and tossed a bag of gear onto the pier in front of her, she stuffed black BDU pants into her arms.

“Guess this makes us a twisted version of the
Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.
”

“It would take magic pants to get either of us at a chick flick.” Alexa returned her smile. “Good to see you, Jess.”

“Yeah, you, too.” Jessie shifted her gaze toward Kinkaid, who was changing into the gear Hank brought
him. With a concerned look on her face, she asked, “Is that the FNG?”

Before Alexa could answer, she added, “Who knew Gerard Butler had a doppelgänger? He’s fine with a capital ‘F,’ but is he okay? He looks…sick.”

“Yeah, bullets tend to do that.” Alexa changed as she talked. “He’s runnin’ on empty, Jessie. I don’t know how long he’ll hold out, but he’s determined to see this through…if that infection doesn’t kill him first.”

“Then we better get moving.” Jessie had accepted what she’d said and didn’t ask questions. She only wanted to help. It reminded Alexa why she’d wanted her as a partner.

They split the teams between the two vehicles and loaded up the gear. Heading north on the only road out of town, it didn’t take them long to find the private residence of Jamal Ghazi.

From a safe distance, Alexa used night-vision binoculars for a sweeping look over the arms dealer’s compound. The sprawling estate was a fortress bordered by a formidable stone wall. Security lights made it a beacon amidst the darkness. And men patrolled the grounds at regular intervals. The sketched layout from Father Ignatius closely mirrored what she saw below. Having the advance intel made her more comfortable with their strategy, but all the lights and activity on the grounds gave her reason to be concerned.

“A lot going on down there,” she whispered to Hank and Kinkaid. “You think they’re expecting us?”

“Hard to say,” Hank said as he looked through his binoculars. “Maybe recon will have something.”

Alexa had sent two teams to scout the perimeter. While she waited for more intel, she laid out preliminary plans for the assault. She would lead a team of seven, including Kinkaid and Beckett. Hank Lewis had the same number and would focus his attack from the front of the compound. His timed diversionary assault was intended to draw Ghazi’s men into the fight. That left her to cover the back. And in stealth mode—after Hank had initiated the action—her team would infiltrate the estate, looking for Kate.

For the assault, they would use the wireless communication links Garrett had sent. The links were voice-activated and would work effectively as long as her team stayed within distance of each other.

When the scouts returned, Alexa used their input to come up with a final assault plan. She gave the order to get into position. As she moved in the dark with her team, Alexa was aware of Kinkaid next to her. He was a force she found hard to ignore under normal circumstances, but with him along, this mission hadn’t been normal from the start. And now—given her orders to bring Sayed in alive regardless of what happened to Kate—she felt as if she’d turned against him.

With any luck at all, she wouldn’t be forced into such a choice. Still, the notion of betraying him weighed heavy on her conscience. When she got to her spot, she communicated with Hank through her com unit.

“Martini One in position.”

“Copy that, Martini One.”

They had a plan and would go in only after Hank
initiated his assault. Alexa watched her team settle into their locations. And Kinkaid crouched by her. When he took off his com set and fixed his eyes on hers, she did the same.

Whatever he had in mind, he wanted privacy.

They were alone for one last time before the attack began. She saw in his eyes that his fever had gotten worse, but something else lingered there. He wanted her.
Needed her.
And for one brief moment, he was hers. Around them, whatever was about to happen faded to black. All that remained was the two of them. And everything that she felt for him welled inside her, breaking free in an impossible rush.

He pulled her to his chest and lowered his lips to hers. With his taut body pressed against her, she closed her eyes and surrendered to the moment as Kinkaid held her. He kissed her as if he had invented it. And the smell of his skin was intoxicating. His hands on her body left her jonesing for more, but the toe-curling heat ended way too soon. When he pulled back, she was breathless, stunned, and utterly speechless.

“What? Nothing to say?” He grinned, an expression she hadn’t seen in a very long time. “If I knew that’s all it would take, I would have kissed you more often.”

Alexa looked into his eyes, wondering if she’d misread his meaning for the sudden affection. If Kinkaid had a death wish, his kiss might have meant—

“What was the kiss for?” she asked.

“It’s not good-bye. It’s just…because I had to.”

Alexa narrowed her eyes and slapped him. The smack was only hard enough to get his attention.

“What the hell was
that
for?” He grimaced and rubbed his cheek.

“That’s a reminder”—she raised an eyebrow—“for you to be careful.”

“How thoughtful. I’ll try and remember.”

When she turned away, Kinkaid grabbed her arm.

“You and your men don’t have to do this.” He had trouble meeting her gaze. “They’d be risking their lives to save one person. I’d understand if you changed your mind.”

His timing wasn’t the best, but it took guts for him to stop her like this. If their mission had been purely to save one life, Alexa might have reconsidered and planned to go with Kinkaid on her own. She would have been concerned for the lives of her men, too. His honesty made her realize he deserved the truth—even if it cost her his trust.

“I want Kate rescued. I know how much she means to you. You’ve risked your life many times since this whole thing began, but don’t worry about the commitment of my team. With Sayed behind this abduction, we’ve got more at stake. We’re in this together.”

She hoped he would have accepted what she’d said at face value, without question. No such luck.

“What do you mean?” he asked. “There’s something you haven’t told me. I thought you didn’t know much about this son of a bitch.”

With Kinkaid’s trust issues, she knew telling him the truth wouldn’t be easy, but she had to do it. And although she knew Garrett wouldn’t have approved, that didn’t matter now. Kinkaid had to know.

“We need to take Sayed alive. We think he’s planning another attack on U.S. soil similar in magnitude to 9/11. If that’s true, there’s more to this mission than one life.”

“So…you’ve really been after Sayed all along, not Kate. Is that it?” He tightened his jaw and glared at her. “Garrett’s behind this, isn’t he? He gave the order. How sure are you that your boss is telling the truth?”

The truth? Alexa hadn’t even questioned what Garrett had told her. She trusted him. And if she doubted intel from her own boss, it was time to quit. Kinkaid knew that. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t have argued the point—but nothing was normal about this mission.

“We’re going to rescue Kate. Are you in or out?”

She forced the issue, knowing his only real choice was to join them. Kinkaid clutched his weapon and put distance between them without saying a word. That was the only answer she’d get.

When Alexa turned, she found Jessie watching her. Her new partner had slipped closer when she’d been distracted by her argument with Kinkaid. The bounty hunter had a concerned look on her face.

“If you know what’s good for you, you’ll mind your own business, Beckett,” Alexa said.

“Since when have I
ever
known what was good for me?” Jessie smirked, with a hand covering her mouthpiece, then whispered, “Come on, Hank. Let’s get this show on the road. I’m no good at waiting.”

Jessie got her wish. She didn’t have to wait.

The night sky lit up like a Fourth of July in hell.
A rocket-propelled grenade struck the front gate and blasted it apart. Armed guards were blown off their feet. Their bodies hurtled through the air like macabre and broken dolls. Using more than one RPG launcher, Hank’s team fired two more explosive warheads from their shoulder-launched weapons and struck the main house. Ghazi’s men scrambled for cover, taken off guard by the sudden and vicious attack.

With precision, Hank and his men engaged the remaining guards, drawing fire. The assault had begun. And Alexa had a bird’s-eye view.

“Martini One…on the move.” Alexa spoke into her com unit and headed out with Kinkaid and the rest of her team.

Her sniper, Manny Rodriguez, had found a sweet spot on a ridge and would provide cover for their retreat if they needed it. The rest of her team moved from the shadows behind the residence and headed for a locked metal gate built into the stone wall. To breach the obstacle, Adam Booker shaped C2 plastic explosives on the lock and inserted a detonator. It would do the job and cut through the metal without the noise of C4.

“Executing breach,” he warned the team before he triggered the blast.

When the gate blew open, Alexa’s team charged through. They dodged the security lights and stuck to the shadows as they made their way to the back of the residence.

Booker crept behind a guard who appeared at a side entrance and dispatched the armed man with his knife. The guy never made a sound. Her scout gave a hand
signal, and the team closed ranks. In stacked formation, they entered the residence and shuffled through a hall with their weapons raised. Although the priest’s schematic seemed accurate, the real test lay ahead.

Without a sound, they moved toward a stairway that led belowground. According to Father Ignatius, Sister Kate could be held in a cell one level down.

They’d met little resistance so far. The real war was happening out front. Alexa heard the staccato sound of gunfire from automatic weapons. And RPG rounds sent a wave of tremors through the walls. The explosive repercussions bellowed down every hall. Dust and debris drifted through the air, made more apparent when the electricity flickered out and her team turned on the lights mounted on their assault rifles. The beams captured drifts of smoke and dust particles as the team moved down the stairs and through an empty hallway below. Eerie swirls of smoke played tricks on their eyes and made every shadow look threatening.

The lower level wasn’t much, only one dead-end corridor with four cells and a long hallway that led toward another set of stairs. Each cell had a locked door with a barred window that would allow them a look inside. Booker stood watch while Kinkaid led the search for Kate and was joined by Jessie. Using extreme caution, they glanced into the rooms and flashed a light. They shook their heads when they came up empty. After the last room, Alexa knew Father Ignatius had either guessed wrong about where Kate was being held, or Sayed had moved her.

Hell!
For all they knew, the nun was already dead.
That thought made her sick to her stomach. After what Kate had been through to survive, Alexa didn’t want to imagine her dead now. With all her heart, she wanted the woman to be alive, but she had a mission beyond the rescue of one hostage. Her thoughts shifted to another objective—Abdul Kabir Sayed. She had a bad feeling that wherever they found the terrorist, they would also find Kate.

And her worst nightmare could happen, where she’d be forced to make a choice.

When her team turned down the longer hallway, two shadows emerged from the far stairs. The guards raised their weapons, but never had time to shoot. Booker and Jessie were the first to fire. They had no choice.

In the dark, confined space, the muzzle flash from Alexa’s M4 Carbine nearly blinded her. And the intense sound of gunfire reverberated off the walls and dulled her hearing. Bullets pummeled the men who tried to stop them. Their bodies jerked where they stood until they dropped to the floor.

Alexa and her team backed down the corridor and headed out, the way they’d come. They didn’t want to be trapped on the lower level.

“No hostage below. We’re heading for the first floor,” Alexa communicated to Hank and the others. “We unzipped our fly. They know we’re here. Honeymoon’s over.”

Alexa and her team swept the first floor, taking out pockets of Ghazi’s men as they confronted them room to room, using frag grenades. In tight quarters, frags left
no place to hide, and the concentrated blast shredded the enemy. Although Hank still waged war out front, the resistance they met inside had been scattered. And Hank’s diversion masked most of the sounds her team made. It wasn’t until they entered a large ballroom on the north wall of the compound that they finally found their target.

And the terrorist looked as if he had expected them.

Across the room near a large doorway with stairs, Abdul Kabir Sayed stood next to a well-dressed man in a suit. It had to be Jamal Ghazi. And three of his armed guards dressed in camo BDUs glared at them, clutching weapons and ready for a firefight. Sayed had the nun by the throat with one hand, prepared to slice her with a knife he had in the other. Even though the men around him brandished automatic weapons, Sayed had chosen a knife. A vicious slash across the throat carried an element of drama that the bastard couldn’t resist.

Her team fanned out and kept their weapons raised. When they closed the gap between them and the terrorist, Sayed was first to speak.

“That’s close enough.” He ordered them to stop. One by one, he glared at each of them. It didn’t take long for him to settle on Kinkaid.

“In my world, Islam has become a religion of fear. With fear comes respect. What I do, I do with honor,” he justified his despicable acts with faint amusement. “…for my people.”