Dead No More (24 page)

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

Thursday, October 2, 9:40 p.m.

H
IDDEN
WITHIN
THE
GRASS
, Ben and his small team of men waited patiently along the front of the Elsworth estate. The whites of their eyes were the only giveaway to their exact location. Lily peered into her scope and studied each of Ben’s trusted comrades.

All men he’d served with, fought by. All men
she’d
gladly die for.

Lily owed them, big time. Each man had dropped everything to fight next to her—with them—in this moment. Each responded to her apologies for the last-minute notice with, “Once an agent, always an agent.”

She shook her head in astonishment. Pride surged through her veins.

“Heads down, eyes open,” Ben murmured over their radio links. “Anyone have eyes on the target yet?”

They needed to get an idea of the layout before moving in. Heat signatures showed thirteen bodies. Now they just needed to verify who was friendly.

And who wasn’t.

Lily and her team surrounded the Elsworth estate. Ben and his men spread out across the front. Evelyn camped out on the western corner. Derek and Marcus had positioned themselves on the east corner. Lily took the rear.

She breathed slowly, peered through the scope and scanned the yard.
Again
. She rolled her shoulders and settled in.

Going in on a dime was a bitch.

Never the kind of conditions she’d choose, but their hands had been forced. And, truth be told, they’d been in worse situations. All of them had. So while the circumstances were dicey, at best, a quiet confidence blanketed Lily.

Ben broke the silence. “Anyone?”

“I’ve got them.” Evelyn’s smooth voice sounded in Lily’s ear.

Lily glanced to her left. “What do you see?”

“Three in the front room. Appears Gina’s giving two brutes a piece of her mind,” Evelyn reported, her voice calm. “Can’t find the kiddos. Anyone got a location on them?”

Lily got up and ran low along the back perimeter of the mansion and repositioned herself. Searching through her scope, she examined the dark windows.
Bingo
. “Got ’em. They’re both in the kitchen...with two heavily armed babysitters.”

“Hold on.” Evelyn’s voice cut in. “One of the guys just hit Gina and is dragging her off. Crap. I lost visual. Anyone pick that up?”

Lily watched through her scope as Gina was hauled into view, kicking and screaming. “Got her. They just pulled her into the kitchen.”

The tall man threw Gina to the floor. She looked up, glared and said something. The man backhanded her. Spitting out a mouthful of blood, she scowled at the man, but made no move to comfort the two young children cowering in the corner.

Lily studied the boys. The oldest couldn’t have been more than seven, and was stick thin. Given his rumpled pj’s and wild bed head, she assumed they’d been yanked from bed. He wrapped his gangly arms around his sibling. Tears streamed down his cheeks as he pulled his little brother close. The tiny boy buried his chubby baby face into his brother’s shoulder and clung to him.

She didn’t have to have children to feel the righteous anger burn her insides. No child should have to undergo what they were enduring.

She panned back to Gina. Incredible—the woman was yelling at the tall man again. His face darkened and he moved toward her, but Gina didn’t back down.

Oh, to be a fly on the wall.

Just as she’d suspected, there was nothing soft about Gina Elsworth. But tigress or not, mouthing off to an armed intruder was ballsy. And dangerous.

“We need to get those kids out.” Evelyn’s voice came through the radio. “What’s the game plan?”

Lily stared through the scope again. “I’ve got four heavily armed men in the kitchen. Three innocents, two being children. That leaves six more men roaming, possibly upstairs. Ben, can you confirm?”

“Affirmative.”

Excellent.
It’s go time.

Lily took a deep breath. “Okay. I’ll cover Gina and the kids from out here. Ben, you and your team take upstairs.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Derek, cover the front. Ev, Marcus, when it’s clear, get those kids out.”

“With pleasure.” Evelyn’s hard voice filtered through Lily’s ear.

“Let’s avoid bullets if we can manage it.” Lily focused her scope on the children’s faces. “Those kids have been traumatized enough as it is. So go in quiet. Neutralize the threat. And get the hell out of there.”

Ben’s voice floated into the darkness. “Old-school, boys. Let’s show these young pups how it’s done.”

Young pups?
Lily smiled into the darkness. She wasn’t surprised he’d gone there. He’d given her a hard time about the new way of doing things for as long as she could remember.

“Yeah, Pops, show us how it’s done.”

CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

Thursday, October 2, 9:45 p.m.

T
HE
FEISTINESS
WAS
OUT
in full force tonight. Lily was fully engaged, alive...and Derek loved it. He repositioned to the front and glanced at Ben. “Pops, eh?”

Ben scowled.

Derek bit back the laugh in his throat. Who knew he’d ever be on a mission with the renowned Ben Tinsdale? The man was a legend in their ranks. All newbies studied Ben’s tactics while going through basic training.

It was a way to weed out the weak. Those who mastered his tactics stayed. Those who didn’t washed out.

The man was a hard-ass and a true warrior.

Yet somehow, Lily had managed to get beneath the unbreakable outer layer and park herself permanently within the big man’s heart. Derek would have said it was impossible, if he hadn’t seen it firsthand.

Bringing his binoculars to his face, Derek scrutinized the two men pacing in the front foyer. Damn, they were huge. “Hello, boys, I got you now.”

The tallest stopped moving and looked directly at Derek’s position.

Derek froze. Didn’t breathe.

The man scanned the area, then went back toward his buddy. A thick, black cobra, red droplets dripping from bared fangs, rode the muscles on his arm. Derek had seen that tattoo before. Each droplet represented a hand-to-hand combat kill. He gritted his teeth.

Ben pressed the radio link around his neck, muting the connection. “What’s up?”

Did nothing get by this man
?
Derek muted his connection, too. “I ran into this group on my last deployment.”

“You know these boys?”

“Not specifically, but I know their group. Black Cobras.” Derek peered through his binoculars. “What I don’t understand is why they’re here. Kidnapping isn’t usually their forte.”

Ben’s face darkened. “Well, which one of us pissed off Lady Luck? She sure ain’t smiling down on us tonight, is she?”

Derek couldn’t have agreed more. She was all but flipping them off.

He turned his connection back on. “Heads-up, everyone. These aren’t just your run-of-the-mill kidnappers for hire. They’re mercenaries, known as Black Cobras, and they’re mean sons of bitches.”

“Fabulous,” Evelyn muttered.

Evelyn’s dry quip made Derek smile. He didn’t know which woman had more sass: Evelyn or Lily.

They’d grown tight in the past few days. He hadn’t seen Evelyn light up around another woman since her best friend, Kate, had been murdered. It was almost as if Evelyn had found another friend to let into her world. And Lily had embraced her gladly as one of her own.

A knot formed in Derek’s throat. If anything happened to either of them, he’d never forgive himself.

“Proceed with extreme caution,” Derek said. “I ran into this group in Afghanistan. Believe me, they won’t hesitate to take you down.”

“Copy that, Derek,” Lily chimed in. “Ben, you and Derek cover the front. Have your team clear the second floor.”

“Roger, Lil. Sam, take the team and get it done.”

“Got it, boss.” A deep, gravelly voice broke into the conversation.

Derek muted his radio. “I don’t need a keeper.”

Ben glanced over and pinned Derek with his eyes. “And I don’t need Lily’s heart breaking again. Stop being a pansy. She’d doing her job. Now, stay close to my side.”

Derek blinked. Had Ben just called him a pansy? Ben raised his eyebrows, almost as if daring Derek to challenge him. But he couldn’t. Not only did the big man staring him down scare the shit out of Derek, but if the tables were turned, he would’ve made the same call. He needed to get his pride under wraps if he wanted to keep this woman in his life.

He unmuted his radio. “Copy that, Lil.”

CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

Thursday, October 2, 9:47 p.m.

I
T
WAS
THE
right call. Though Lily knew it rubbed Derek the wrong way. She recognized it in his voice, in the pause before he’d answered. Well, he’d have to get over it. Her team’s safety was her priority. Pride didn’t have a place here.

His or hers.

Lily knew about the Black Cobras. They were bad news. “Ev, hold your position until the—”

“What about the kids?”

“Hell will freeze over before anything happens to those kids on my watch. Promise. I’ve got my sight trained on the targets, and I will take them down if it comes to that. Hold your position.”

Lily was being a hard-ass, and she knew it. Her team was good. But the Black Cobras were just as good, and much more brutal. She needed her men to neutralize as many of them as possible before they went in, and fast.

Otherwise they wouldn’t come out of this alive.

Lily waited for Ben’s team to do what they did best—hide within the shadows and deliver death’s blow. The minutes crawled by at an excruciating pace. Lily concentrated on her breathing, not the silence.

“Second floor is clear.”

The tightness in her neck lifted. She breathed a sigh of relief.
One down, two to go. Come on, Derek, talk to me.
Peering through her scope, she watched the kids, etching their faces into her memory.

“Same with the front.” Derek’s voice sliced through the stillness, instantly calming the racing in her chest. “All assholes accounted for, minus the monkeys in the kitchen.”

And those were the words she’d been holding her breath to hear.
Excellent
. She pressed her eye to her scope. “Copy that. Evelyn, you and Marcus go get the kiddos.”

“Already on the move.”

Ben’s deep voice cut into the quiet. “Setting up new positions within the house, Lil.”

Adrenaline raced down her body, sending her nerves into overdrive. This was what she lived for, and loved. None of them had worked together before, yet they moved like a well-oiled machine. She could get used to this.

“Derek, cover the front entrance to the kitchen. Wait for my signal, then take those bastards out.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Silence fell over the radio. Lily repositioned and looped her finger through the trigger.

“We’re in,” Evelyn’s hushed voice crackled in Lily’s earpiece.

“I’ve got you covered.” Lily slowed her breath and her heart and focused on the two children. “The men have separated Gina from the kids. The kids are at the opposite end of the kitchen. Proceed with extreme caution.”

The back door opened.

Hugging the shadows, Evelyn and Marcus slipped into the kitchen and closed the gap between them and the kids. Marcus inched his way toward the oldest, reached out and clamped his hand over his mouth, hauling the child into his arms. He pivoted and made a mad dash for the door.

At the same moment, Evelyn drew the youngest son to her. He yelped. Evelyn tried to quiet him. Marcus looked over his shoulder, and his face dropped.

Lily watched in horror as time crawled to a standstill. In slow motion, Gina turned, her eyes wide and brow crumpled in confusion.

With one fluid movement, the tall, bald man whirled, pulled his gun and raised his arm.

Lily didn’t hesitate. She pulled her trigger.

A tiny hole appeared in the middle of the bald man’s forehead.

He dropped.

Screams echoed. Gunshots blasted.

Getting up, she sprinted for the house. “Get to the back, Derek. Get those kids out.”

Leaping over the boxwood plants, Lily dashed across the lawn and made her way to the kitchen. She couldn’t see anyone.
Please, God, let them be okay.
She tucked herself in close to the house, gun drawn, and inched her way closer to the open back door.

“Someone talk to me.” Her heart hammered in her chest. She pressed her head against the wall, swallowed the bile in her throat. “Now.”

“We’ve got the kids,” Marcus reported, an edge to his voice.

Something was off.

“Marcus?”

“The kids are safe.” He repeated, his tone cold.

Lily slid through the opening and glanced at the reflection in the window. Gina pointed a gun directly at Marcus and Evelyn. Lily’s thoughts stuttered to a halt.
What the hell?

Marcus was correct in his response: the kids
were
safe. Safely huddled behind Marcus and Evelyn, their human shields
.

Lily’s mind tumbled over itself as she tried to make sense of it all. But the sight of that gun trained on people she loved defied all logic and sent fury coursing through her veins. Not on her fucking watch.

She didn’t care who the hell Gina Elsworth was.

“Put the gun down
now
.” Lily demanded and stepped into the open, her tone hard, pissed. She cocked the hammer back on her gun. “I won’t ask you again.”

Gina’s mouth dropped open, her forehead furrowed in confusion. “Addison? What are you doing here?”

Lily glanced past Gina. Blood seeped through Evelyn’s shirt. “You okay?”

Tiny droplets of sweat glistened above Evelyn’s lip. Her face was pale. “It’s nothing, just a scratch.”

Lily caught the subtle shake of Marcus’s head and the way he cast his eyes toward his watch. Just how bad a scratch was it?

She maneuvered herself, shielding those she loved as best as possible. She couldn’t shelter them all, but there was no way Gina could get off two shots before Lily took her out with one.

“I’m not going to tell you again, Gina. Drop the gun.”

Gina looked at her hand and relaxed her grip. The gun tumbled to the floor. Her lips trembled. “Addison, what’s going on?”

Lily stepped close enough to kick the gun aside. She glanced around.
What happened here?
All three men lay dead, swimming in pools of their own blood.

She’d only fired one shot.

“I could ask you the same thing.”

Gina wrapped her arms around her waist, suddenly looking terrified, and very fragile. “I had to protect myself.”

Lily glanced back at Evelyn, who cradled the younger child to her chest with one arm. The other hung limp at her side. Silent tears rolled down the boy’s face. Lily tucked her gun in front of herself and eyed Gina. “Marcus, get these kids out of here.”

“With pleasure.” He scooped the smaller boy into his arms and moved away from the massacre. Evelyn covered the older child’s eyes and guided him away.

Lily watched them leave the kitchen before she holstered her own weapon and started toward Gina. The blonde woman scrambled backward, eyes crazy. Lily raised her hands in the air, trying to calm her. “Easy. Gina, my name isn’t Addison. I’ve been working undercover—”

“The kids are secure.” Derek walked in, interrupting Lily. Ben followed behind him.

Gina’s eyes widened. She glanced between the two men. Her face flamed. “What the hell is going on? Derek, why are you in my home?”

He hurried to Lily’s side. “I received a distress message.”

Gina stomped a foot. “From who?”

“That’s classified.”

Lily glanced at Derek.
Classified?
She hadn’t figured he’d throw
that
card out. But there must’ve been a good reason for it. Lily plastered a businesslike look on her face and followed his lead.

“Classified? Are you kidding me?” Gina’s eyes darkened. She jabbed a finger into her chest. “You work for me, remember?”

“Actually, I don’t.”

Gina looked confused. She blinked hard.

“The US government sent me in to ascertain the validity of an assumed threat against the United States of America.”

Gina’s mouth moved, but no words came out.

Lily swallowed her smile.
Damn
,
that sounded official.

“What threat?” Gina clenched her hands into tight balls. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“Mrs. Elsworth, Rowland James has been under investigation for some time.”

Her gaze flipped between Lily and Derek. “What do you mean,
under investigation
?”

“That’s all we’re allowed to share with you at this point, ma’am.” Derek’s eyes narrowed. “Where’s your husband?”

“John left about four hours ago.” Her voice cracked. She clenched and unclenched her hands.

“Did he tell you where he was going?”

“No. He just left. Then these monsters broke in.” Gina motioned to the dead men. Her hand fluttered over her mouth, and her eyes filled with tears. “Do you think my husband is working with Rowland?”

“We don’t think—”

“Did my husband hire these men to kill me? His children?” Her voice took on a hysterical edge. Her fingers pawed at her throat. “If Rowland is under investigation, is John? Oh, my god, that bastard. They’re working together, aren’t they?”

Moving to Ben, Gina buried her face into his chest. He peered over Gina’s head at Lily, a helpless look flashing across his face as he peeled Gina off and stepped back.

“Not sure, ma’am. But you and your children are safe. We’ll have some of our men here until the police arrive.”

“Police?” Gina’s head snapped up. “No. We can’t have that kind of publicity.”

Lily cast Derek a sharp glance, but his face was unreadable. “We’re not too concerned with publicity at this point, Gina.”

“I am.”

Lily studied Gina. She’d resumed clenching and releasing her fists, and her eyelids blinked in rapid succession. Was the woman in shock? Had her mind sent her to crazy town? Why else would she refuse to let them call the police?

“Someone tried to kidnap you and your children.” Lily spoke in a firm, slow voice.

Gina shook her head. “No. It’ll cripple us.”

Ben leaned against the counter, shrugged. “Sorry, ma’am. Protocol.”

Gina’s lips set into a tight line, and she crossed her arms. “So, am I now under house arrest?”

Lily tipped her head and studied the tall blonde defiantly staring Ben down. What was with her? Her emotions were all over the place, almost as if they were talking to two people. One minute she was a scared, fragile woman, the next a crazed, defiant one. Her wild gaze bounced from Lily to Ben, back to Lily. The rapid fluttering of her eyes resumed.

“We prefer to call it protection.”