Page 6 of Delta Mission (Alpha Tactical Ops)

Makenna

The thundering noise sounded deeper below ground, like the place I’d climbed into had a bellyache.

The room had shuddered as the noise grew louder and as I pictured hundreds of horses with Taliban soldiers charging through the middle of the village, I’d squeezed my arms around my legs and stared into the blackness.

Once the sound was gone, stillness engulfed me. As did the darkness.

I was tempted to believe I was alone.

But that would be a mistake.

Channing and his men thought this village was deserted. It wasn’t. And now there was a war going on above me that sounded like Channing, and his troops were outnumbered a thousand to one.

If anything happened to him, I couldn’t bear it.

He was the first man I’d ever let into my heart. The only man.

But I’d ruined it all with my stupid mistake.

I had never forgiven myself for what I did. Nor would I ever.

My only hope had been that Channing had found love again. He deserved that.

He was a good man.

It seemed like forever before I convinced myself it was safe to move. I crawled out from under the table and stood, peering into the darkness. The silence continued. If anyone was down here, they had fine-tuned their stealth mode.

I pulled my flashlight from my vest, and with a breath trapped in my throat, and my gun ready, I convinced myself to turn it on.

Squinting against the glare, I panned the flashlight around in a quick three-sixty turn.

A breath rushed out of me. I was in a massive underground drug lab.

It was so big I couldn’t see to the far end.

Crouching over and aiming my light at the dirt floor, I raced between a field of sacks containing Ammonium Chloride and charcoal.

I ducked down behind a massive pile of plastic irrigation pipes, turned off my light, and listened.

Nothing but silence.

A faint glow emanated from a corner about twenty yards away. I peered around the pipes, staring at the radiance, trying to establish what it was, but I couldn’t see.

Keeping my flashlight off, I darted from the pipes to a collection of plastic drums that probably contained acetic anhydride and peered over the top.

Was that an exit?

I dashed to a collection of giant cooking pots that would likely be used to boil down the opium. The fact that they were cold convinced me that the lab wasn’t in production today. It would explain why nobody was down here.

Then again, the woman who killed Lyle had escaped down here.

So where did she go?

Inching up over the pots, I peered at the glow in the corner.

It was a tunnel.

I stared at it for a long time, debating whether or not I should investigate.

It was a bottleneck situation I was not ready to risk.

I’d been trapped in a bottleneck once before, and nearly died. I would never make that mistake again.

I squatted down, and inhaling a calming breath, I weighed up my options.

I had very few. First, though, I had to check if there were any other survivors.

Turning on my flashlight, I sprinted back to the rope ladder and climbed into the shelter.

Lyle’s body was bloody and gruesome. Fighting crippling sorrow, I edged around him, stopped beside the doorway, and peered out the exit.

The street looked like a war zone. The exploded Humvee was ruined, and chunks of its body and twisted scraps of metal hung off the carcass. The second one was charred black, and smoke still wafted from its hood and interior.

Trent’s lifeless body lay on the ground.

The kid had gone, thank goodness.

Gripping my weapon, I stepped outside onto dirt that was dotted with hundreds of hoofprints, confirming my interpretation of the sound. A stampede of horses had raced through here.

My heart sank. The third Hummer was gone.

Did Channing leave me?

“Son of a bitch!” I screamed until my throat burned.

A shout drifted to me, and I shot back inside the shelter.

Squeezing my gun in both hands, I braced to put a bullet into anyone who tried to kill me.

“Makenna. Is that you?”

My knees just about buckled at the sound of his voice.

I stepped back into the street. “Channing?”

“Yes, oh thank Christ. I’m over here.”

His voice echoed, and I searched the street for the source. “Where?”

“Under the bus.”

Frowning, I strode to the decrepit bus, lowered to my hands and knees, and half expecting to see Channing pinned under there, I peered underneath. “Where are you?”

“Down here.”

Shifting my position, I saw the hole.

“How the hell did you get down there?” I still couldn’t see him.

“Long story. Are you okay?” The kindness in his voice surprised me.

“I’m alive. Can’t say the same for Trent or Lyle, though.”

“Fuck. I knew about Trent. Lyle too?”

“Yeah.” I didn’t want to go into specifics. “Where are the rest of your men?”

“I don’t know.”

I huffed. “Great.”

“Listen, I need your help to get out of here. Have you seen a rope or a ladder?”

“Yeah, actually, a ladder.”

“Perfect. Up the street a bit, there’s a narrow alley between two shelters. There’s a doorway and inside you’ll find a trapdoor in the floor. Grab the ladder and I’ll meet you there.”

“Sure. Give me a minute.”

I returned to the women’s hut and performing a weird contortionist trick, I hung upside down through the trapdoor to the drug lab, and holding my flashlight in my mouth, I cut the rope ladder from the hooks that held it in position.

I raced to where Channing said he would be.

“Got the ladder.” I shone my flashlight down on him.

He shielded his eyes from the glare. “Great, pass it down.”

“It’s a rope ladder. I’ll need to anchor it first.” I searched the room, but there was nothing around. And I hadn’t passed anything outside that would be helpful.

Damn it. “There’s nothing up here, Channing. I’ll have to hold it in position while you climb up.”

“Are you sure?”

“You wanna look?” I shone the light in his eyes.

Groaning, he shook his head. “Okay, send it down when you’re ready.”

I ran through several different ways to hold the ladder, before I decided the best one was the one I least wanted to do. But I had no choice.

I slipped the ladder over my torso and settled the top rung behind my back, low down on my hips. Then I sat over the hole with my feet wide apart, braced on the opposite side of the opening, and tossed the rope ladder down.

“Hold on, here I come.” Channing climbed up the ladder.

My position meant he climbed up between my legs. He swooped his gaze from my crotch to my eyes and smirked.

Before he could comment, I said, “Don’t say it, or I’ll drop you into that pit and leave you to rot.”

“I wasn’t going to say anything.” He climbed out and reached for my hand to help me up.

I stepped out of the ladder. “A thank you would be nice.”

“Jesus, are you okay?” He stared at the blood on my hands.

I turned my palms over, and a wave of nausea wobbled through me. “It’s Lyle’s blood.”

“Ah, shit, Makenna, I’m sorry.” Channing placed his hand on my shoulder, and it took everything I had not to melt under his touch.

I met his gaze. I’d never forgotten how incredible his eyes were, as blue as arctic ice with just a hint of mint around his pupils. “What do we do now?”

“Come on, I need to contact my team.” He marched away.

“They’re gone.” Shaking my head, I strode after him.

Channing pressed his receiver into his ear. “Wolf to Moose, do you read? Over.”

He repeated his call twice more to his team before we ducked down at the end of the alley to peer out to the dirt road. “Fuck me.”

His neck was so thick with anger, his veins bulged.

“See . . . the third Hummer is gone,” I said. “They left us.”

He blinked at where the Hummer should be, and the grooves in his forehead deepened like he was trying to piece that anomaly together. “Shit.”

I followed Channing onto the road as he snapped his gaze up and down the village. Clutching his weapon, he glared at the burned-out Hummer and then frowned at the dirt at his feet.

“Horses,” I said, anticipating his question.

“Huh, I wondered what the sound was. Did you see them?”

“No, I was hiding in the drug lab.”

He cocked his head. “You found the drugs.”

“Yep. Nobody believed me.”

He captured me with eyes that had my body purring. “They’ll believe you now.”

“It won’t matter. My hard work will be overshadowed by Trent and Lyle’s horrible deaths.”

“I’m sure you’ll still get the accolades.”

I glared at him. “I don’t want accolades, Channing. I want the fucking drugs eradicated.”

He raised his palms. “All right, calm down.”

I huffed. Men are assholes . “You’re just like the rest of them.”

Shaking his head, he marched to the smoking Hummer, and as he foraged around inside, I scanned the deserted street.

Where did that kid go?

Channing emerged from the vehicle and his scowl confirmed he didn’t find what he was looking for. He strode to the next Hummer.

I peered toward the snow-capped mountains beyond the shelters. They were beautiful and seemed so out of place in this desolate setting. The shadows that were cast by the sun sinking behind the mountain were darker.

Shit. Complete darkness was only about an hour away.

Channing sat in the front seat of the Hummer, looking furious.

I couldn’t wait until he figured out that we would have to stay in the village for the night.

The two of us, alone together.

That should be interesting.