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“Rescue Two,” he said into his mike. “We have eyes on them both. Our man at one o’clock. The lady at ten. Please confirm.”

“Confirmed, Rescue One. Warrior at one, lady at ten. Going in for the lady.”

Alex Spanos laughed. “Sounds like a fucking scene from King Arthur.”

“Who?” said Nick, but he grinned when he said it.

Chay tapped the pilot on the shoulder. “Take us down,” he said, mirroring the words with a lowering of his hand.

The pilot nodded and Rescue One began dropping. Lower. Lower. Lower…

Lines fell from the helicopter and the five STUD operatives rappelled to the ground while the remaining men on board provided covering fire.

Dec saw them coming, but kept his rifle aimed at the trucks.

Pow Pow Pow Pow.

Two trucks went up in flames. Insurgents in one of the trucks flung open the doors.

Dec took them out.

Yes, the timing still sucked, but the playing field was evening up. His guys from STUD One were sprinting towards him, firing as they ran, taking out the enemy and drawing attention from the rescue bird to themselves.

Whoosh!

Another truck went up in a ball of flame. A couple of men stumbled out of the back, shooting as they ran. Dec fired and took them both down.

Bursts of fire sent two more vehicles spinning. Men spilled from them. Dec, the gunship and the STUD operatives took them out with cold efficiency.

Dec flashed a look to where he’d left Annie. Rescue Two hovered above the boulders and a soldier hanging onto a hoist was dropping from the bird.

Dec got to his feet and sprinted towards the boulders. Something hot sizzled past his ear.

Bang! A shot rang out.

Dec spun around and saw one of Amjad’s men go down right behind him. The shot had come from where Annie was hidden. Must have been one of the guys from Rescue Two…

Dec swung towards the boulders. His heart damn near stopped.

Annie was on her feet, arms extended, still holding the Glock in a two-handed grip.

Dec shouted her name, ran to her, pried the Glock from her fingers and pulled her down to her knees with him.

“Annie, goddammit, you could have been killed!”

“He was going to shoot you, Declan. He was going to kill you!”

Her teeth were chattering. Her entire body was shaking. How in hell she’d steadied the Glock long enough to take a kill shot was beyond him to comprehend.

He cursed and gathered her against him, held her to his pounding heart.

The guy with the hoist hit the ground right next to him.

“Dude,” he yelled, “I gotta get the lady out of here.”

“No,” Annie said, “no!”

Dec knew the promise he’d made, but they were in the middle of a firefight. Getting her out was all that mattered.