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Outside, a car engine growled closer.
Danny and Ryder took up positions by the hangar door.
Lachlan stayed beside Caleb, weapon steady.
The left turbine whined to life.
There was no more time.
Juan hauled Gia toward the stairs. “Come on,puta.”
“Gia,” Caleb shouted over the din.
“I love you,” she cried, eyes shining. In them, a last goodbye.
His heart nearly cracked.
Fight.He mouthed silently. Desperately.Fight baby.
Her eyes widened.
Then narrowed.
Fear became determination.
Gia exploded—kicking and clawing like a hellcat.
Juan cursed in Spanish, trying to choke her off as he dragged her up the stairs.
Caleb edged closer.
“Not hostiles. Repeat—not hostiles.” Nathan was shouting in his ear. “Hold your fire!”
Too late.Juan was nearly inside the cabin.
“Nathan—wide left. Now.”
Aplink, then the softpffttof Nathan’s suppressed AR. The bullet plowed into the lowered cabin door.
Juan jerked. His grip on Gia slackened.
She dropped—dead weight.
Caleb fired. Then surged forward, yanking Gia to him as Juan crumpled on the stairs.
“You’re okay, baby, you’re okay,” he murmured as she sobbed against his chest.
His body shook. His heart hammered. “I love you.”
He held her too tight, but he couldn’t let go. Not yet. Not ever.
Four men in tactical gear stormed into the hangar, long guns raised
“FBI! Weapons down!” The lead agent—burly, with close cropped black hair and a military bearing—barked the command.
Caleb instantly shielded Gia.
“Weapons down, lads,” Lachlan said quietly to the Dìleas team, making sure the order didn’t carry to the Feds.