Page 27

CHAPTER 26

“You going to go pick up Cammie?” Spark asked as he joined Jeeves in the parking lot of the Condor’s Overwatch office.

“Yup.”

“Any special plans for tonight?”

He knew his friend wasn’t talking about the intimate plans he had for Cammie, but he couldn’t stop his brain from going there anyway. “Probably dinner at Hooch and Harmony,” he answered instead.

“Sounds good.” Spark’s ringing phone interrupted them. He answered with a greeting to his sister, Kali. Jeeves continued toward his truck when Sparks called out to him. Punching a button on his phone, he said, “Say that again, Kali.”

“Kaia and I were walking by the bakery. Kaia got one of her woo woo feelings. We looked through the window and saw someone with a gun on Cammie.”

Before Spark’s sister had even finished speaking, Jeeves was already in motion.

“I’m driving,” Sparks said, taking the keys from Jeeves’ hand. He didn’t argue. “Stay out of sight, Kali,” he told his sister. “We’re on our way.”

With a roar of the engine, Sparks sped out of the parking lot and quickly used the Bluetooth system on the steering wheel to call Haley. “Hey, Jeeves,” she answered. “Miss me already.”

“Cammie’s in trouble,” Sparks said, wasting no time.

“On it.” They heard typing in the background then a quickly in drawn breath. “Shit. She’s being held up at the bakery. A woman. Alone. With a gun. Nobody else present.”

“Good. Call the others.”

“Copy that. Be careful. I’ll keep watch and let you know if anything changes.”

“Thanks, Halestorm,” he replied, using her online moniker. They all slipped into using that name while in mission mode.

“You armed?” Sparks asked, prompting Jeeves to reach into his glove box for his weapon.

“Am now.”

“Front or back.”

Jeeves thought about it for a moment. The front was mostly glass. Too exposed. “Back.”

“Got it.”

Since the alley to the back was out of view from the inside of the bakery, they didn’t bother parking farther away. Their training was instinctive and immediate; they were out of the truck and had jimmied the lock on the back door in a matter of seconds.

They could hear talking as they entered the kitchen. Jeeves’ stomach dropped as he recognized the voice. It lived in his nightmares, after all.

“That’s Valeria Hurtado,” Jeeves told his teammate.

“This just became more than a simple robbery.”

“Fuck.”

They listened for a few moments as Valeria ranted about El Sombra’s death. The second she uttered the phrase ‘a life for a life,’ Jeeves couldn’t wait any longer.

With his weapon raised and aimed at the woman he despised above all others, he boldly stepped through the swinging door. “Drop it, Valeria.”

Of course, the woman didn’t listen. “Oh, Jeeves. Good of you to join us.”

“I said drop it.” He didn’t dare take his eyes off Valeria to check on Cammie, but he could sense her fear.

“No. She pays. Today.”

“Not gonna happen.”

“Someone pays. Her. You,” she moved her aim to him, which he much preferred. “ Me vale mierda .” In other words, she didn’t give a shit who died as long as someone did. And by her hand, he had no doubt.

“No one dies today.”

She laughed. He’d once found her laugh attractive. But after having met Cammie and hearing her laughter, which was as pure as the light she radiated, he had to wonder what he was thinking.

“You are a fool,” Valeria spat. “You were a fool, then. You are a fool now. You were so easy. So easily seduced. You and the other. Fools.”

Her laugh intensified, grating on his nerves.

“He died because of you,” she taunted. He wasn’t going to let her words affect him. Since talking it out with Cammie, he’d grown to accept what had happened and let go of his guilt. This woman . . . this bitch . . . wasn’t going to get inside his head ever again.

Showing a lack of interest or concern, he casually replied, “Don’t care.”

He could tell his blasé answer rattled her. “Liar. You care.”

Jeeves shrugged. “Believe what you want. It doesn’t bother me.” Sparks was watching the whole scene hidden inside the kitchen. Jeeves only needed to stall till the others arrived. When the place was surrounded by his men, Sparks would send a signal to let him know it was time to act.

“But I bet you care,” he stated.

“ Que ?”

He took a step closer to her, ignoring the gun pointed at his chest. “I killed El Sombra.”

“ Malparido !” she shouted.

He grinned, relishing her reaction. She was losing control. Anger vibrated through her, making the gun shake violently in her grip. “I may be a bastard, but he’s dead. He died running away like a coward.”

“No.”

He tilted his head, the smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth. “Just out of curiosity. Was the kid who tried to defend the asshole yours?” He didn’t know why that hadn’t occurred to him before. At the time, he’d just assumed the kid who’d stabbed Aleck had been just another child soldier pressed into service. In retrospect, the boy being in El Sombra’s quarters was peculiar. None of the other children they’d come across at the compound had been afforded such a privilege.

Based on Valeria’s immediate reaction, Jeeves surmised that his assessment was precisely on target. “He’s still alive,” he assured. “But he attacked a Navy SEAL. He’s in custody. Not sure what the Colombian government plans to do with him.”

“You pay,” Valeria hissed, losing a little more of her practiced composure.

The phone in Jeeves’ pocket vibrated, signaling that the rest of the team were in position. Time to end this, one way or another.

“The only person paying today will be you,” Sparks said as he stepped out of the kitchen with Voodoo on his heels.

Flint, Eggs, and Hoot walked through the front door, weapons aimed. “You are surrounded,” his boss stated. “Put your weapon down.”

She cried, “No,” stubbornly clinging to denial, refusing to accept reality. Jeeves watched in slow motion as Valeria’s gaze shifted to Cammie, her hatred fueling her with rage. “She pays. You watch her die,” she screamed.

Jeeves didn’t think. He just lunged, tackling Cammie to the ground as several shots rang out. He heard shouts of ‘clear,’ and lifted his weight off of the love of his life to assess her for injuries.

“Are you okay?” she asked, as if worried he’d been injured.

“Me?” he answered incredulously. “What about you? Were you hit?”

“No, I’m fine.”

He buried his face in her neck, inhaling her peaches and spice scent to calm his racing heart. “Thank fuck.”

She giggled and the sound shot straight into his heart. In that moment, he knew whatever the future held, it would be a good one if he could hear that sound every day for the rest of his life.

“She good?” Flint asked, stepping behind the counter where the two of them still lay on the ground.

“Yeah,” Jeeves answered.

“It’s over,” his boss stated.

“Finally.”

He moved off of Cammie and rose to his feet, bending to help her up. Valeria was on her stomach in the middle of the bakery, struggling as Hoot and Voodoo zip tied her hands behind her. He was surprised to see her still alive, but a crimson stain spread across her shoulder. Alive but wounded. And in custody.

Jeeves watched while Sparks, who served as their team medic, found the bakery’s first aid kid and started to tend none too gently to Valeria’s wound. She cursed a blue streak at them in English and Spanish. They ignored her as sirens screamed in the distance.

It was over.

But he was torn.

On one hand, he’d wanted her dead for three years. For Liam. For Sutton. For Tin Man’s sister, Bethany, and all the other girls whose lives she’d stolen. For himself. But since she lived, she would spend the rest of her days behind bars. He envisioned a place similar to Cammie’s confinement: cold stone walls, the musty smell of mold, and the chilling silence. Starvation and pain would be her only acquaintances. Jeeves made a note to contact Baker to see what he and his contacts could arrange for the evil bitch.

A small hand gently touched his arm, and turning, he saw the woman who held his heart, her eyes shining with unshed tears. “You killed him?” she asked.

He didn’t have to ask who she was referring to. He’d heard part of their conversation. “Yes.”

“Okay.”

His brow furrowed in confusion. “Okay?”

“Yes. He was a monster. He hurt people. He hurt you.” He was surprised she’d think of him despite the pain she suffered, but then, with her voice barely above a whisper, she said, “He hurt me,” the words raw and laced with anguish.

He pulled her into his arms, tucking her head under his chin where she fit so perfectly. “They won’t hurt anyone ever again.”

“Okay,” she whispered as he felt the first tears soak through his T-shirt.

He waited a few minutes, listening to her muffled cries, then cupped her chin in his hand, tilting her face upward until their eyes met. “No more tears,” he said as he swiped the last few drops off her cheeks with his thumbs. “Time for food and dancing.”

Her smile, a sudden, bright flash, hit him like a projectile to the heart. She was radiant, even with her eyes bloodshot and puffy from crying.

“Hooch and Harmony?” she asked, indicating the bar where they’d shared their first dance.

“You know it.”

“I’m in,” Eggs called. “It’s been a while since I busted Melli’s chops.”

It took a few more hours while Valeria was taken away and reports had been made before the entire team, Haley included, made it to Hooch and Harmony. He couldn’t erase the smile from his face as he watched his love interact with his teammates. She was happy. Laughing. Smiling. Free.

And as he held her close during a dance, a certainty washed over him; she was his, and would forever remain so, his beloved.