SAFFRON
As it turned out,the Highland was a hotel featuring luxury bungalows. And when pressed, our contacts had in fact seen Graciella on the premises, and they even gave us her exact bungalow. It was quiet, closer to the water, out of the way. And hopefully no one would see us coming.
I was surprised to see Lachlan step out of the safe house fully geared up.
I frowned at him. “So, you’re coming?”
He nodded. “This is the mission.”
As if that answered every question. As if yesterday, he hadn’t directly questioned my ability to run this team, to run this mission to success. All I could do was give him a brusque nod then load my team into the van.
From the safe house, the drive out to the Highland was only about twenty minutes away. The sun had just started to go down, so luckily, we would have some cover.
As we sat outside the property waiting for the security guards to make their shift change, my knee started to bounce up and down.
Tabatha and Rook didn't see it, but Lock did. He placed a hand on my knee, gently squeezing it. All I could do was stare at him. We were not ok. How did he think we were at all ok?
I cleared my throat, checked my magazines again, and resolutely turned away from him. Despite what I had allowed myself to believe, he wasn't mine. And despite what he believed, he wasn't the one running the mission. I was. I didn't need his reassurance.
“Let's go.”
I could hear his frustrated sigh behind me. “I was just trying to be supportive.”
“Now is not the time for that, King. We have bad guys to catch.”
Tabs gave me a fist bump as I clambered out with my two hulking agents next to me. The Winston Isles felt like a baby mission compared to this. It hadn't been classified as active and dangerous. But marching into the Highland to catch Graciella and Webster, the adrenaline that poured through me was off the charts. This was the kind of thing that I had dreamed of my whole life. Vengeance for my parents, but also putting a dangerous man away. One who had no qualms about killing people.
At the fence, Lock set a small explosive charge, and we backed up about twenty feet. When he hit the button on his detonator, it blew, breaking open a hole for us in the wrought iron.
We climbed through and headed around the east side of Graciella’s bungalow.
I placed my tech wand on the base of the window. Rook said that it would track any electronic activity inside the house like alarms, phones that sort of thing. And since it was on the same frequency as our equipment and our phones were already calibrated, it wouldn't pick ours up. But when I flipped the switch, it showed nothing, no electronics inside. That was bullshit because we knew Graciella was here.
Unless your intel was bad again and you made another bad call.
I couldn't think like that. We need to clear the house, and if neither one of them were here, we’d regroup. But I wasn't letting Lachlan’s doubts get to me. That could be death out in the field.
I signaled for us to move. I was heading for the main door, Rook for the back, and Lock for a side door leading out to a large veranda. Saint was in the van on Coms and Tabatha trailed Rook. The adrenaline barreled through my veins, making my heart pump excitedly and my breathing go shallow.
Easy does it. Breathe. Nice and steady. You have this.
At the front door, I used the key code given by our contact. The door eased open with the audible grind and click of the heavy duty lock. One by one we cleared the rooms downstairs. As we were coming back around toward the kitchen, I heard footsteps. Someone was moving fast. Someone big.
I signaled to them that I was going after him. Lachlan tried to reach for me, but I shook him off and ran up the stairs, my gun trained for anyone coming down. I heard him curse under his breath as he followed me. Despite his hesitance, he had my back.
We moved quickly from room to room clearing then. And then I heard a crash in the master bedroom. We both went running, with Lock watching my back and Rook coming up the stairs. When I kicked open the door of the bedroom, there was Drake Webster throwing something out the window. I shouted, “Of course, it's you. Why is it always fucking you? Going somewhere Webster?”
He chuckled low. “Would you believe I think we've both been played?”
“Doesn't matter. You're the one who's going to be in cuffs.”
He eyed me up and down then assessed Lachlan and Rook. “Are you sure about that? Tell you what, how about we fight for the privilege of bringing me in? You win, I come willingly. I win, you let me go. Hell, I’ll even throw in that I take care of your Graciella problem for you.”
I stepped forward, and Lachlan cursed under his breath. “Fucking hell, Saffron.”
He really thought I was going to take this monster at his word? That I would fall easily for the nonsense? Did he think I was that naive, that dumb?
Still, I stepped forward and removed my jacket.