Damage Control (Valiant Knox) (27 page)

“But you were on the transport with us when the CSS tried to shoot us down the day we arrived on the
Knox
,” Mia blurted out, her need for answers winning out over the fear in that moment.

Steve sent her a look as though the answer should have been obvious.

“They weren’t trying to shoot the shuttle down; it was to divert suspicion. Who would suspect anyone on board might be CSS when they attacked the transport?” Steve smirked at Leigh. “It totally worked. And it was a bonus that you were so distracted by this slut you had no idea what was really going on.”

By the way Leigh clenched his jaw, it seemed that barb had hit a little too well.

“So you had it all over me. Bravo.” Leigh lowered his hands a little. “I don’t want anyone to get hurt, Robinson, so I’m giving you one chance to let Kayla go, lower the gun, and walk out of here. Take the out, because you won’t get a second.”

Steve shook his head, not looking the least bit concerned about the situation.

“You really think I’m going to walk away from the opportunity of handing over the legendary Alpha? I’m sure my superior officers would love to have a chat with you.”

“Not going to happen.”

“Oh yeah? I don’t see how you’ve got any say in the matter.” Steve pulled the nozzle of the gun away from Mia’s chest, but before she could take a breath he switched his aim to line up Leigh and let off a round.

Leigh half spun from the impact and landed against the crumbling wall, then slumped to the ground.

“Leigh!” Her scream echoed off the remains of the church as she rushed over to drop down beside him, not caring if Steve shot her as well.

Even as she grabbed his shoulder, he started to roll over and get himself upright, leaning against the wall. He reached up to clamp a hand over the wound in his shoulder, breath short.

“It’s okay.” His voice came out choppy “It’s just a flesh wound. He’s not going to kill me. It’ll piss off his superior officers.”

Steve walked over to stand beside them, thrusting Kayla down next to Leigh and shoving the end of the gun into the side of Mia’s face. “He’s right. I don’t want him dead, just manageable. You on the other hand, I could quite happily fill with bullets.”

Leigh clenched his jaw, spearing Steve with an infuriated glare. “So help me, if you touch her—”

“What?” Steve bent at the waist and braced one hand against his knee, bringing his face level with hers, though he was looking at Leigh. “What are you going to do when you’re lying down there bleeding, and I’m the one with all the control?”

Leigh didn’t reply, but closed his hand tighter around the wound until his knuckles were white, contrasting with the dark blood seeping through his fingers.

“That’s what I thought.” Robinson smirked and straightened, lessening the pressure from the gun. “Now, Mia, be a good little slut and strip all his weapons. Try not to enjoy yourself too much though.”

She hesitated, glancing at Leigh as fear wound tighter within her. When she didn’t move fast enough, Steve grabbed her arm and propelled her into Leigh’s chest. He blew out a sharp breath when she jostled his shoulder. With careful movements, she leaned back and glanced down at the guns in their holsters. She didn’t want to take them, because if Leigh still had a weapon they had a chance of getting out of this. But Steve was back, this time pressing the gun into her shoulder blades.

“Hurry up, or I’ll shoot you and bring Kayla over to do it instead.”

“Do what he says, Mia,” Leigh said in a low voice.

Clenching her teeth, she flipped open the holsters and drew the guns out, tossing them aside.

“And the rest.” Steve stabbed the nozzle of the gun harder against the middle of her back. “I’m smart enough to know the bastard has more than a few spare weapons stashed elsewhere.”

At Leigh’s murmured instructions, she found and removed two other guns and one knife.

“Now secure both of them.” Steve tossed down some plexi-reinforced cable ties that landed in Leigh’s lap.

With sick anxiety expanding within her, she sent Kayla an apologetic look then tied her hands and Leigh’s. Without his hand holding the wound, blood flowed more freely down his arm, wetting his jacket sleeve.

She turned to glare up at Steve, the traitorous bastard. She should have listened to Kayla and left him with that patrol, who apparently hadn’t been holding him captive. He was one of them.

“If you want to hand Leigh in alive, at least let me bandage his shoulder; otherwise he’s going to bleed out.”

For a second Steve simply stared at her, and then he shrugged. “Do what you need to keep him alive.”

She turned back to Leigh and pressed a hand against the wound. He sucked in a sharp breath, beginning to look a little pale in the dim light.

“There’s a small field medic kit inside my jacket, left side.”

She nodded and kept her left hand pressed against the injury while she pushed his jacket aside and reached in, searching for the pack. It turned out to be a slim vacuum-sealed kit with a few painkillers, bandages, tweezers, and a small scalpel. She paused as her fingers brushed over the blade and glanced over her shoulder. Too busy glaring at Leigh, Steve wasn’t paying attention. With a half breath and a prayer she didn’t get caught, she slid the scalpel into the sleeve of her jacket and went back to pulling out bandages.

For the moment, she concentrated on tightly wrapping the wound to staunch the flow of blood. When she went to fashion a sling to minimize Leigh moving his arm, he caught her hand and shook his head. Obviously he didn’t want to be incapacitated.

She bit her lip against saying anything, knowing it would be pointless. Leigh would take any risk to save Kayla and her, including sacrificing himself. But she wouldn’t let him do it. She wouldn’t let him be some big hero simply to see them safe. Somehow, she had to find a way out of this before Steve did something stupid, or more CS Soldiers arrived. And now that she had a weapon, she just needed to bide her time and strike when Steve least expected it.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

L
eigh flexed the numb fingers on his injured arm. Hell, he wouldn’t be holding a weapon in that hand any time soon. Mia sent him a worried glance as she finished with the bandages and sat back. She’d wanted to put his arm into a sling, which was the best thing to do according to basic field medics. Even though his hand felt next to useless, he wanted it free so he wouldn’t be hampered if he had to make a move. Well, as free as it could be considering his wrists were cable tied.

“Finished playing doctors and nurses now?” Robinson reached down and grabbed Mia’s braid at the base of her neck, using it to pull her up.

He clenched his fists, barely resisting the urge to leap up and wrap his hands around the guy’s neck. The only thing keeping him down was that damn gun Robinson kept pushing at Mia, and the fact that a bullet moved faster than he could.

Still, every single time Robinson touched her was one more broken bone he planned to inflict once he got the upper hand.

Robinson yanked Mia a few steps away then shoved her down to the dirt-strewn flagstones.

“You and I have some unfinished business and this time your tough guy sugar daddy won’t be coming to save you. But he does get a front row seat. Think he’ll enjoy watching as much as he does when he gives it to you?”

A sharp stab of disgust and dread sliced through him, numbing the pain from his shoulder wound. “You think that’s going to make you the better man, Robinson, by forcing yourself on a woman who doesn’t want anything to do with you?”

Robinson sent him an arrogant smirk over his shoulder, reaching down with one hand to unbuckle his belt. “That’s just it. I don’t want to be the better man. I want to be the man who does whatever it takes to get what he wants. And I want this haughty, frigid bitch to realize that I don’t like being told no. She should have given it to me when I wanted it, because what did running off to the CAFF get her?”

Steve finished unfastening his pants and looked back down at Mia, greedy anticipation in the gaze he raked over her. Mia stared up at him, her features blank, but he could see the panic on her face.

Goddamn it, he was not going to sit here and watch that sick bastard rape her. Not while his heart beat in his chest. He started yanking desperately at the cable ties, hard enough to cut into his wrists.

Crouching down, Steve swapped the gun for the knife Mia had tossed to the side earlier.

“Are you going to undress for me, or should I just slice your clothes off? Got to say, that idea really gets me going.” His voice had thickened, and Leigh clenched his jaw at the sick sensation surging through him.

Mia didn’t move, but a definite stubbornness had crept into her expression. Steve shifted forward to loom over her, setting the tip of the knife in the middle of her chest. He thrust lewdly against her and then groaned. “Oh yeah, I’m going to enjoy every second of this, you uppity whore.”

Leigh cursed, pulling harder at his wrists, but all he managed to do was make his hands slippery with blood as the rigid plexi cut into his flesh.

“I’m warning you, Robinson, if you hurt her, I will end you. It might not be today, but on my life, I will hunt you down and slit your throat. Only not before I make sure you piss yourself in terror first.”

The threat made Robinson pause and glance over at him.

Suddenly Mia moved, though from the angle she was sitting at, he couldn’t see exactly what had happened. Steve reared back, clutching his neck. Mia used her legs to shove him off, then scrambled away as he collapsed to the ground.

She hurried over to crouch in front of him, and Leigh leaned sideways to see blood bubbling from a wound on Steve’s neck. Mia cut his wrists free, her hands shaking and splashed with blood, the sharp scalpel in her fingers making short work of the cable ties.

When his wrists were free, he reached up and wrapped a hand around the back of her neck, pulling her into him as potent relief rushed through him so hard it made him light-headed, like the ground beneath him was tilting. Or maybe that was all the blood loss.

However, before he could take a full breath and let it sink in that she was really okay, she’d slipped out of his grasp to free Kayla.

Leigh pushed to his feet, taking an unsteady step as his brain tried to catch up with the whole idea of standing. He walked over to Steve, who had shuffled back a few feet, one hand clutching uselessly at his neck, the other still gripping the knife. Leigh got down, kneeling on Steve’s forearm until he released his grip on the blade.

He picked it up and reached over to grab a handful of Steve’s hair. “I made you a promise I intend to keep.”

Steve shook his head frantically, eyes going wide. He tried to speak, but the words got lost in a garble as blood dribbled from his mouth. Leigh fisted the knife and swiped it across traitor’s neck, then let him fall back to the ground.

As Robinson’s body went limp, it didn’t lessen the woozy, disgusted churning in his guts. The guy would have died from the wound Mia had given him. He’d just expedited matters and made sure Mia wouldn’t feel like his death was on her hands.

Yet he couldn’t purge the image of Robinson thrusting against her from his mind, no matter how much he tried to force it away. The churning in his stomach intensified and he pushed up from the body, stumbling three steps before falling to his knees again, retching as the contents of his stomach emptied. It was a long moment before he could suck in a full breath and gain some control over the spasms.

A palm touched his shoulder and he sat back. Mia gave him the bladder of water, and he took a mouthful, rinsing his mouth and spitting it out before taking a longer drink.

“Are you okay?” Her voice was low with concern as she took the water back.

He wiped his mouth with the bottom of his shirt. “I’m fine. But we need to get out of here before Steve’s buddies show up.” He shifted closer to her, his hand slipping up to cup the side of her neck. “Are
you
okay?”

He urged Mia to tilt her head to the side, cataloging every little scrape and bruise she had. When they got back onboard the
Valiant Knox
—and they would, he refused to believe anything else—he was going to take her home to his apartment and kiss every single contusion better, love her with his body and soul until they forgot this day ever happened.

She nodded again, the relief in her eyes obvious. “I’m okay. We’re okay.”

He wanted to kiss her more than he wanted to breathe, but he needed to keep his emotions in check until they weren’t trapped behind enemy lines. Instead, he grabbed hold of Mia’s arm, helped her to her feet, and passed both her and Kayla a gun, then collected his discarded weapons. He led them out from their shelter to make a run to the armed personnel carrier he’d flown down. It only sat four, and wasn’t nearly as maneuverable as a fighter jet. But Seb and the rest of the squadron should keep the CSS in the area busy while he evaced them out of there.

At the far end of the church, he paused and crouched down, searching the open area between the crumbled building and where he’d set the ship down.

One of the patrols had returned. Six men. He cursed under his breath as they spotted the transport bearing the
Valiant Knox’s
ID markings. It had been a calculated risk bringing one of their own ships behind enemy lines, but he’d gone for firepower over stealth.

The six CS Soldiers fanned out, alert and looking for them. It was only a matter of time before they radioed for help.

He turned to where Mia and Kayla were crouched just behind him. “I’m going to lay down cover fire. Make a run for the mausoleum. When you get there, I need you to return the favor so I can get across the open ground.”

“What about your shoulder?” Mia asked, her tone even, but he caught the fear beneath the careful words.

“My shoulder will be the least of my worries if we get caught. I can still shoot a gun, so we’ll be fine. Don’t think about anything except getting low and running as fast as you can.”

She nodded, her features settling into an anxious, yet determined expression. Turning from her, his heart bumped over an uneven rhythm as he brought his gun up. He’d been on the ground plenty of times and had to lay down cover fire for his fellow soldiers. But he’d never been so on edge, never been so tied up in knots about making sure they got out of this in one piece.

“Ready back there?” He lined up the soldier he thought would present the most threat.

He gave them a go, putting pressure on the trigger of his electromagnetic pulse gun to fire off several rounds as the girls sprinted out from the corner of the church toward the mausoleum. He didn’t let himself follow their progress, instead concentrating on taking out as many of the patrol as he could until they found shelter. He nailed three guys, cutting their number in half and putting the odds a little more in their favor. But it wouldn’t last. Another patrol would turn up here any second. News of a UEF transport on the ground would spread fast.

Mia and Kayla made it to the mausoleum, one of the few remaining intact structures in the graveyard. The two of them laid down fire, keeping the last three CS Soldiers pinned as he pushed up and sprinted, dodging fallen headstones and other debris. As soon as he made it, he tapped the girls on the shoulder.

“Come on, we need to keep moving.” He put himself out in the open on the opposite side of the mausoleum, but the three soldiers stayed down, probably because their backup was only seconds away. Once the girls reached the ship, he sprinted the remaining distance, ignoring the way his energy flagged. He didn’t want to think about how much blood he might have lost from that damn shoulder wound.

Inside the transport, he snapped an order for them to strap themselves in. He dropped into the pilot’s chair and hit up the controls, the comms first of all.

“Seb, this is Alpha. I’m on the ground and have secured the targets. Bring on the rain.”

“You took your sweet time, Alpha. I was beginning to think I’d have to drag my ass down there to rescue the rescue party. At ready and willing to blow these monkey-assed bastards into dust
.”

Leigh quirked his lips at his friend’s usual irreverence, but considering his current condition, wasn’t exactly in the mood for belly laughs.

“Waiting on your go.” He replied into the comms, then disconnected. A few beats of silence went by until he heard the low, vibrating boom of jets entering the atmosphere, followed by the high-pitched
whirr
as the fighter squadron closed in on their position.

“Here comes the rain.” He shot Mia a smile, and she returned it a little uncertainly. A few seconds later, the city lit up with incoming weapon fire a few blocks down from them. “That’s our cue to move. Let’s haul ass, recruits.”

A few seconds later, they were lifting off—straight into a firestorm.

The CSS had rallied ships from nearby and actively engaged the fighter squadron. Leigh juiced the engines and opened up the weapon’s system, cutting a rough and ready path through the action to make higher atmosphere. The small carrier took some hits. One chunk of ship engine almost smashed them in half, but he saw it and banked aggressively to get out of a collision path, breaking a double sweat at the pain in his shoulder. They literally scraped by the debris, leaving him wondering what kind of damage might have been done to their hull.

Higher up, the smoke and streaks of weapon fire cleared to show a watery-blue sky. However, the carrier’s warning system continued bleeping at him. He checked the screen and then tabbed up communications.

“Seb, I’ve got one insistent bastard on my six, take care of that, will you?”

Seb swore, his breath short. “Because I’ve got nothing better to do right now. Hold out for ten and I’ll be there.”

Leigh dropped some sudden altitude and then set into a weaving path, one without repeating patterns to avoid being blown out of the ether by the CSS ship dogging them. Just as Seb had promised, right on ten ticks of the clock, he closed into range and opened fire, forcing the pursuing ship to cut off and fall back into defensive maneuvers.

“Thanks, Seb, I owe you one.”

“Give me back the money you swindled off me last week when we played poker, and I’ll call it even.”

Leigh blew out a relieved breath as the carrier hit lighter atmosphere. “Deal. But only because we both know I can win it back again next week.”

Seb muttered a bunch of curses at him. “I’ll catch you back on deck, Alpha.”

Leigh cut the comm and switched over to autopilot as they left Ilari’s gravity and headed for the graceful lines of the
Valiant Knox
, lights flickering serenely in the distance.

He swiveled in his chair to catch a look at his passengers. Kayla had her eyes closed and Mia was staring at him with wide eyes.

He ran a hand over his hair. “Uh, sorry, it got a bit hairy back there. Are you okay?”

“I will be in about ten years,” Kayla muttered.

Mia reached down and unclasped her belt, then slowly shrugged out of the harness.

And then it hit him. She was here, and she was safe. They’d made it.

Leigh shoved himself out of his seat and ended up on his knees in front of her. He grabbed her shoulders and yanked her up against him.

“My God, Mia. Do you know how terrified I was?”

She laughed against his chest, though the sound was suspiciously watery.

“You were terrified? What about me? I’ve never been so frightened in my entire life. When Steve shot you, it was even worse than how petrified I was a few days ago during the torture test.” She pulled back a little and stared up at him with a searching, soulful gaze. “I can’t do it, Leigh. I wasn’t cut out to be a fighter pilot.”

He shook his head. “Then we’ll find something else for you. But right now, it doesn’t matter.”

She sniffed, tightening her hold on him. “I love you, just in case you haven’t worked that out already.”

He gave a short laugh. “I love you too, so don’t ever,
ever
do anything like that to me again. I don’t think I could take it.”