Black Ice (Hunters Inc Book 2) Page 17

  There was no way for them to know Smith had been arrested, it wasn’t the norm to check in until the job was finished, not unless there was a need and apart from issuing the job, there wasn’t much need for Smith to be involved, he had all but admitted he didn’t like getting his hands dirty.

  “What the fuck happened to the FBI getting there and arresting him, Smith spilled his guts so what the fuck went wrong?” Connor was pissed, hell by the sudden acceleration of the vehicle and the looks on the team faces, they were all pissed.

  “How the fuck should I know what went wrong, was I there? Em, talk to me” Connor could do nothing but sit and wait the ride out as Jenson was brought up to speed about what had gone wrong.

  This was a fucking shit storm, and they were right in the middle of it.

  Sarah paced, back and forth, the ops room flooring was getting more wear then it should as she took four strides, turned and took the same four strides back, repeating over and over.

  “Wanna take a break there? Have a seat, have some coffee, hell, have a beer, anything, just stop pacing woman” She looked up to see Hannah now minus the FBI attire and Em who was stood at the front of the room in front of the smart board.

  They had watched the whole thing unfold like it was a damn movie, she had even cheered when Connor had punched the bastard, but then the screen had gone blank and as far as she knew there hadn’t been any further communication between Em and the team, not until Em had taken a call and had started hitting computer keys like she was having some sort of psychotic episode.

  Sarah needed to know what the hell was going on, it was over right?

  “How do you do this every time they, you know, go on a job…”

  Would she be able to cope sitting and waiting for him to come back every time he went away, wondering if he would come back, if he would be safe, could she do that? It didn’t help that she was the job, they were out there trying to save her ass, get her life back, risking their own in the process.

  The question was left unanswered as the sound of the team filled the walls.

  Seven pairs of heavy boots strode majestically like warriors returning from battle as they made their way toward the ops room where the three girls stood waiting. But as they came through the door, the looks on their faces made her think something was wrong, she could tell.

  They didn’t wear the looks men who had come home having completed a successful mission, instead they held cold heavy scowls. Something was definitely wrong.

  Jacks had all but made it through the door when Hannah flung herself into his arms, her legs wrapping around his waist as she covered his face in relief filled kisses.

  Em turned a bright shade of claret as Harry made his way towards her, leaned in and whispered something that Sarah didn’t quite catch.

  Connor headed straight for Sarah, his face hard, her heart beating out of her chest.

  Had a man ever been so perfect?

  He stopped, inches from her face, held her jaw in the palms of his hands as he wiped away a solitary tear than had fallen down her face.

  No words, none needed.

  Connor took her mouth with his, both ignoring the cat calls and whistles that echoed around the room.

  Sarah kissed him back, comfortable enough around the people not care if they saw or not.

  She needed this, needed him.

  “Sit” Sarah jumped back as Jenson boomed one solitary word. Jenson was back to his usual commanding self, any traces of the puppy, tummy ticking alter ego, now well and truly back in their box and packed away in the land of fuck knows where.

  “Do we have to do this now?” Clearly Jacks was in as much need to work off his sniper frustration as Connor was in need of working off all the pent-up energy he’d accumulated since she had opened her hotel room door, or was it since he had opened the file on the plane.

  Was it even possible to fall in love with someone you hadn’t even met just by looking at their picture?

  One glance over to where Hannah was now curled up in Jacks lap and Connor had his answer.

  “I’ll make it short, Sarah, you’re still needed to answer a few questions so don’t go planning anymore over sea’s trips for a while…”

  She nodded her response in Jenson’s direction.

  “One thing I don’t get, how the hell did Smith manage to get all the camera footage doctored, and the DNA planted so damn fast, he must have had help and the goon squad aren’t clever enough to have pulled that off, so who was helping him?” Connor stood with his chest pressed into Sarah’s back, his strong forearms wrapped across her collarbone where she held him tightly, almost afraid to let him go. She leaned into him, her warrior, her hero, her…Connor.

  Jenson creaked his neck “He had promised a life in paradise to a young naïve computer tech. He’d used his charms, got her to do his dirty work with promises of a charmed life, but unfortunately for her, she lost her brains when she dropped to her knees every time Smith dropped his pants, he only brought one ticket and now she’s looking at a good few years behind bars too. The only one in his circle to come out untouched would be his wife, who from what I understand it, was as much a pawn in his schemes as Sarah. The only upside was that he had put almost everything in her name so with a little help from a good lawyer, she should be a wealthy woman when all this is finished”

  “What about the bank account? The money?” Sarah hadn’t meant to ask out loud, but the words had just fallen. But didn’t she have a right to know everything?

  “The girl, shame really, with skills like that she’s gonna go to waste rotting in a jail cell, still she knew what she was getting herself into, now…I think it’s time to tie up some lose ends of our own. What you got for me Super girl?”

  Sarah had been sat in Connor’s office for what felt like an eternity.

  She had finally been able to speak to her Dad, she couldn’t remember a time in her life when she had gone so long without calling him, tears of pure relief had been shed both ends of the line, but the call had ended a while ago and Connor still hadn’t come back into the room. It had almost killed her not being able to go home, but she knew the risk would have been too high, but not anymore. Now she had been cleared, no more running, no more hiding, no more wondering if she would spend the rest of her life behind bars. It was over.

  Sarah hadn’t heard the door open and then close again, she had been too lost in her thought to notice the powerful man striding across to where she stood stirring out into the vast darkness through the large glass window.

  Not until he slipped his hands around her waist and nuzzled soft kisses against her neck, did she know he was there.

  He had told her he was a ghost, moving in and out of the shadows leaving little to no trace that he had been there, he wasn’t wrong.

  Connor hadn’t spoken, not a single word, but she knew it was him, his touch, his scent, the feel of him as she leaned in against his massive frame.

  This was where she belonged, no doubting that, this was right where she wanted to be and she had every intention of making sure he knew it too.

  “Baby… I need you to wait here for me, just a little while longer ok” his voice soft as he spoke against her skin.

  His words might have been soft, but there was a meaning behind them and she needed to know why.

  All Sarah wanted was for Connor to talk to her.

  “Why, what aren’t you telling me?” Sarah turned to face him, her pulse beginning to race, and not for reasons she wanted it to.

  “The team that went to take Andrews into custody didn’t get there on time, Andrews is dead. We know who they are, and we know where they are so I’m gonna need you to stay here, just a few more hours and I promise you, this will be over.” He hadn’t taken his eyes away from hers, not once. His word causing a cold chill to penetrate her entire body.

  “You’re going after them, aren’t you?” a question she already knew the answer too, but one she still had to ask.

  “We have to. We a
ren’t the only ones tying up loose ends, and if we don’t finish this, if I don’t finish this, god knows how it will end and I’m not prepared to put you at risk, I won’t ever let anything happen to you, so yeah, we are going after them”

  This was what he did, she knew that, but she was scared, more so now than at any other time since this whole nightmare had started. Sarah didn’t know what she would do if anything happened to him, he was in her soul, he was the other half of her, just the thought of being away from him hurt.

  Connor kissed her mouth, it was soft, not the prelude to ripping each other’s clothes off, like so many of the kisses they had shared. This was different.

  It had been a long time since Connor had let anyone into his life, if he was honest, apart from his team, he had never let anyone into his life and never into his heart, but this was different, she was different, she was his.

  “I will come back Sarah, don’t ever doubt that, but I have to finish this now, tonight. There is no safer place for you than here, so I need you to stay, to wait for me ok”

  Em had finally managed to get a positive ID, they finally knew who they were looking for and they knew exactly where they were. The team would be moving out within the hour, but he couldn’t guarantee it wouldn’t get messy. She didn’t need to know that.

  He had promised he would come back and Connor had every intention of keeping his promise, that was all she needed to know.

  “Eyeballs on three, repeat, eyeballs on three” Connor adjusted his comms. Jacks was the best sharp shooter Connor had ever had the privilege to see in action, the man had been known to lay in wait for days, weeks, just waiting to take a single shot, knowing he was out there somewhere covering the team’s ass was all he needed to know.

  The rundown property was in sharp contrast to the luxurious house in which they had taken Smith.

  The log cabin no more than a single step up from a shack, kind of fitting for the low life’s that were now holed up inside.

  “Harry, Con, move up as soon as Jacks give you the clear, Briggs, Jones, take the right-hand side, cover the side door, Chris, you’re with me, ready?” Jenson had lost none of his ability to command his team. He was efficient, professional and there was no one else Connor would want to lead them.

  “Clear…” The single word was all he needed.

  Adrenaline racing through his veins as he made his way forward.

  The soft crunch of gravel beneath his boots, the only sound made, and even that was faint. It wouldn’t be heard, not unless you were purposefully listening for it, and it was clear from the loud celebratory voices, they weren’t expecting anyone, let alone the team that was about to unleash hell on them.

  Connor braced his back tight against the wall, his hands gripped the cold metal of his weapon, Harry mirroring him on the other side of the door.

  His breathing deep, controlled, this would be quick, three taps. He had run the scenario over and over in his mind the entire sixty minutes it had taken them to travel from the warehouse, there was no room for error, was there ever?

  He’d made to many Rookie mistakes in the past few day, one of which had handed Smith everything he needed to frame Sarah, he had to make that mistake right. He wouldn’t fail her again.

  Connor held up three fingers, they would move on his go.

  He counted down, Harry gave a silent nod. The move was swift, one hard kick and the door to the single-story shack was taken clean off its rusty hinges.

  The three remaining members of the Goon squad sat around an old table.

  Each clumsily reached for their weapons, and each hit the floor with a hard thud before they had the chance.

  Three taps, a single head shot to each before they even knew what the fuck had hit them.

  It was quick and it was clean and it was done.

  The front door to the warehouse flew open, Sarah her face pale came through it with a look of shear desperation as she ran straight into his arms. Her face stained with tears.

  He stood, his arms wrapped tightly around, he could feel her heart beating, almost in time with his own as she rested her head against the vastness of his chest. Connor lifted her chin, his eyes drinking her in, damn, she was beautiful.

  This was his moment, this was his sink or swim.

  It had killed him when he knew a simple bullet hole between Smiths eyes wouldn’t save her, that he’d had to let the bastard live, it had killed him how the bastard was still breathing and he knew he had to allow himself to make peace with that. And he would, eventually.

  But whatever happened, she had to know she was worth it, she was worth all of it.

  “Connor?” he stood his eyes searching her face, so perfect, so beautiful.

  “Sarah, I meant what I said, god help me, don’t know how, don’t know when, but I love you, done the one thing I never thought I would do, gone and got my balls in a damn girl bag, but you see, it’s what I want, you’re what I want, I just don’t know what the hell to do about it” it was done, said, no turning back.

  “Why the hell do guys have to complicate everything? And they say it’s girls that over think things, geez…I can tell you when you fell for me, it was the exact moment I fell for you, I opened my door and you changed my life” her words were all he could hear, all he wanted to hear. Right now, nothing else mattered.

  “I don’t want to scare you, but you do know that if this is what you choose, you have to understand that for however long this lasts, you are mine” he had never meant anything more in his damn life.

  He hooked her chin, lifting her face, as his eyes searched hers, looking for the slightest hint of doubt, he didn’t find it.

  “I understand…as long as you understand, this lasts a life time Connor, I only ever intend to do this once”

  “Then come home with me, live with me, make a damn mess with me, anything, everything, I don’t care, as long as it’s with me” she was his and he wouldn’t spend another night without her in his bed if he could help it.

  “Just so you know, I still have the cuffs…” Sarah smiled as she whispered the words against his ear, and he was done for.

  This kiss was deep, soulful and probably not one that should have been done in front of an audience, but Connor didn’t care, he needed her, had to taste her, it had been too long.

  When Connor had found Sarah, he had found what he needed the most when he hadn’t even known it, Connor had found his forever.

  AKNOWLEDGMENTS

  Thank you to Jade and Carol for your hard work and patience and for finding my mistakes when I had gone word blind.

  Copyright 2017 J M LOWE