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There was no time to waste.

They rearranged their clothes in silence.

Tanner laced up his combat boots; Alessandra zipped up the boots she’d found in the closet. He collected the few things he’d taken out of his backpack. Slung the MP7 over his shoulder; snugged his belt and the holstered SIG-SAUER around her hips.

Then he clasped her shoulders.

“STUD will get us out before the insurgents show up,” he said, and silently hoped to hell he was right. “Just in case they don’t… If you need to pull that pistol, you also need to shoot to kill. The things people ask cops and soldiers about why they didn’t shoot a bad guy in the leg is just bullshit. The entire reason for using a weapon is to take down your enemy. For most shooters, that means aiming for the biggest target. The torso. Understood?”

Alessandra nodded. Her heart was beating fast and loud. Some of it was fear of what might be waiting for them outside the house, but most of it was fear that she would never again see this man, the man she loved.

“We’ll be fine, honey,” Tanner said softly. He smiled, put his fingers under her chin and raised her face to his. “My guys wouldn’t have it any other way.”

She smiled back, but her eyes filled with tears.

“Promise me you won’t put yourself in harm’s way,” she said.

It was a promise he couldn’t make, and they both knew it.

Instead, he kissed her and held her to his heart.

“Tanner,” she whispered, “when we get home…”

Everything would change. He knew that, too, but this wasn’t the time to talk about it.

“For now,” he said, “let’s just concentrate on getting out of the Mangrove Hilton.”

She gave a watery laugh. “When we fill out the guest survey, we should mention they never left chocolates on our pill—”

The satphone rang. Tanner grabbed it.

“Akecheta,” Chay said, urgency in his voice. “Your rides are almost there, but so is Bright Star. LZ is changed. It’s now the beach, not the field. Go there, pronto. Understood? Tanner! Do you read—”

The sound of choppers moving in drowned Chay out.

Tanner swung towards the nearest bank of security monitors. Yes, there they were. A pair of Hueys, low over the beach. He grabbed Alessandra’s hand. They raced down the hall to the utility room and the back door…

“Shit!”

Staccato bursts of small arms coming from the field in front of the house became part of the cacophony of sound.

Tanner clasped Alessandra’s hands.

“I’m going to unlock the back door,” he said. “The second it’s open, you run for the helicopters.”

“What do you mean I run for them? Where will you be?”

“Don’t worry about me.”

“Tanner. I’m not going anywhere without—”

“Alessandra,” he said sharply, “Listen to me. You will run. You will not look back, you will not hesitate. You will run like the devil is on your heels.”

“No!” She shook her head. Her eyes were wild. “No. I am not leaving you. I am not—”

“Goddammit, I’m not g

iving you a choice. You will get your ass out of here. Understood?”