Page 24 of Kai (Alpha Heroes #13)

Kai

Sprawled on my belly, my body pressed against the red soil of the island’s highest ridge, I scoured the sea with my binoculars. Sure enough. There it was. Out on the channel. A fast boat, like the one the mercs had used to access the lighthouse, loaded with armed tangos.

“Is it them?” Cece asked from her spot, grazing my shoulder.

As I studied the RHIB, the sun reflected on glass, and a flash of light told me someone scouted the coast in our direction. The turds hadn’t even bothered to click a solar flash shield on their lenses. Idiots. I’d made sure my shield was on tight.

“It’s them.” I handed her the binoculars. “Do you remember everything we talked about?”

“Yes.” She took a quick look, then returned the binos. “There are a lot of them.”

“Affirmative.”

Coming up the hill, I’d had a talk with Cece about what she would do if the enemy approached. I’d prepared her as best I could. I had to give it to her. She was holding it together. No panic. She’d made the water crossing and the steep climb without a single complaint.

I’d been torn between leaving her behind and bringing her along. The fear I spotted in her gaze had persuaded me to keep her close to me. She’d feared being alone, trapped in a boat surrounded by water, and me, abandoning her.

As if I’d ever do that to her.

After the conversations we’d had, I sensed the grief trapped inside her as if it was my own.

I was familiar with grief. I recognized it in her eyes, in her voice.

Although she hid it well, at times, she’d been close to tears.

I couldn’t leave her behind. My job was to protect her from everything, and that included herself.

I didn’t know what to do about her. She’d built a fortress around herself.

She didn’t let people in. I walked a fine line between gaining her trust and getting shut out.

The only advantage I had was our physical attraction.

So, I’d relied on it to make my first approach.

I hadn’t lied when I said I felt relief at her rejection.

I felt safe, even smart, backing away from whatever this was. I also felt like a coward.

But even in the unlikely event that things changed, if down the road she’d take me up on my offer, I understood she could inflict some serious pain—on me, but worse, on herself.

The fast boat angled closer to the coast. Head in the mission, Marine . I’d have to sort out the rest later.

“Here they come,” I warned.

Cece lay on the ground next to me. The roar of the motors neared the east side of the island.

The RHIB’s motors labored hard as the boat leaped over the waves.

Its hull hit hard in between. I had to give it to the fuckers.

They were thorough, coming all the way out here, skirting the dangerous cliffs, and challenging the deadly currents that would smash them to pieces if their engines went down.

When the rumble quieted, I lifted on my elbows and peeked again. The boat sped along the coast, rounded the north side, and got lost beyond the cliffs before it reappeared and started down the west side.

Crawling on my knees and elbows, keeping low to the ground, I wormed my way to the opposite side of the ridge, where a crest of rocks offered concealment. Cece followed me. The watercraft slowed down and cruised south toward the reef. They were flirting with death and didn’t even know it.

I worked the binoculars, cranking up magnification to get a visual on my enemy. They wore black combat fatigues, but no rank or insignias. That’s when I spotted the black cowboy hat and the huge motherfucker who wore it, holding it down against the wind with his hand.

“Fuck this,” I murmured. “Looks like Booming Voice survived his visit to hell.”

“How is that possible?” Cece squinted toward the boat. “He got beaten up and shot. Then he fell into a fucking blowhole.”

“Roaches are hard to kill.” This fucker proved the theory.

Homing in on him, I registered a broad face, his now crooked nose, and his brick-like jaw.

Nothing comely about this fucker. Magnifying the glasses, I spotted the bruises around his eyes.

His movements were stiff. I bet a collection of injuries hid beneath his clothing. We had something to do with that.

Since he’d failed at his first objective, it made sense he’d gotten his ass and his crew all the way out here. He was looking for redemption in his boss’s eyes. Too bad. He wasn’t gonna get it, not with me standing between him and Cece.

“What if they find their way into the cove?” she whispered, even though there was zero chance that the mercs could hear us all the way across the island.

“The reef is a deadly maze, and the way in is almost impossible to navigate for most people,” I explained. “On the off chance they try to force their way in, I booby-trapped the entrance to the cove and the cove itself with enough explosives to blast their boat to hell.”

She tossed a surprised glance in my direction. “When did you do all this?”

“As soon as we arrived at the cove, while you were sleeping.” I glanced at my screen and checked Serenity ’s internal cameras. The catamaran floated on the placid waters, empty of life and invisible to the eye. Thank fuck, the shield was holding.

“So, you’d blow up the cove just to protect me?” she asked.

“That’s an affirm,” I said. “The mere thought of destroying nature kills me, but I’ve taken every measure necessary to protect your life.”

“My life is not worth such destruction.”

“Let’s agree to disagree.” I tracked the boat. “My point is, we’re ready.”

“You remind me of Nix,” she offered quietly. “He was always thinking ahead.”

“He was.” I tracked the boat’s progress. “It pays to be ready.”

She sighed. “And still, he died.”

“Sorry for your loss.” I reached over and gave her hand a brief squeeze. “Perhaps it was his time to go, but it’s not yours.”

Sadness gleamed in the depths of her pale eyes. “Why do I always want to believe everything you say?”

“Because deep down, you know I’m telling the truth.”

“You’re not wrong about that.”

Her certainty made something ping at the back of my thoughts, but I had to focus on the present.

The watercraft slowed down as it approached the reef.

I reached beneath the pile of rocks, pulled out the case I’d cached there, and clicked it open.

The RPG launcher’s parts nested in their protective foam.

Cece gaped at the weapon. “Is that a…?”

“A precaution.” With practiced movements, I assembled the launcher and armed the warhead.

“You climbed all the way up here and stowed your gear, also while I slept?”

“Yes.” I set the RPG down, peered out from behind the rocks, and aimed the binoculars at the boat.

“But you said you wired the cove—”

“I did, but tactical defenses are about layers. We might need the explosives in the cove for a second wave, especially if there are more tangos close by. If these fuckers try to reach Serenity , they’re goners.”

“You’re weird,” Cece murmured.

“How so?” I asked.

“You are the embodiment of peace one second and war itself the next.”

She wasn’t wrong. In more ways than one, I was a walking, talking contradiction.

“What are they doing now?” Cece squinted again. “What’s that thing?”

“A drone.” These assholes were a motivated bunch. “They’re about to launch it from the boat. It’s a small observation unit with a camera on it.”

She winced. “Can you shoot it down?”

“I could, and from this spot, it would be easy.” I fingered my trusty carbine. “But we don’t wanna do that.”

“Why not?”

“If they lost the drone, they would suspect something was wrong. They’d bring more personnel and intensify their search. Shooting down the drone would be a declaration of war.”

She furrowed her forehead. “I should’ve thought of that.”

“You’re a scientist, Cece, not a Marine. It’s a shame you’re here at all.”

“I’m supposed to be smart,” she murmured crossly.

“You are smart, but you don’t have to know everything all the time. When you aim for constant perfection, all you see are your imperfections.”

She winced as if she’d just swallowed a bite of old, slimy salmon. Then she murmured, “You may have a point.”

I did have a point. If there was one thing that jolted me out of my Zen and pissed me off, it was how hard Cece was on herself.

“So,” she said, her gaze trailing the boat. “What do we do now?”

“We trust that our first layer of defense will hold, and our tech will keep the catamaran safe.” I didn’t tell her the BB shield was a prototype. Or how much I hated prototypes, theories, and hypotheses.

The drone flew high in the sky. Cece and I rolled beneath the rocks and crammed into a crevice. I threw a dirt-colored net over us. The drone buzzed by. It was a fast pass. Nobody expected to find anyone up here. I waited until the sound died down to scramble out.

The drone descended the west side of the cliff and flew over the lagoon. So much for nobody knowing where the cove was.

“What’s going on?” Cece wrangled herself out of the crack, knelt next to me, and shaking the dust off her hands, looked down on the cove.

“The shit’s getting hot.” I took a knee, shouldered the RPG, and shielded behind the rock outcrop, aimed it at the fast boat.

“Are you going to blow them out of the water?” Cece asked, her voice faint.

“I may not have a choice.”

The drone hovered in circles over the cove.

And hovered some more. The damn thing tested my patience.

The NWO would have several backup boats in the water and at the marinas across the channel.

If the mercs lost contact or registered an explosion, I’d have precious time to get Cece and Serenity out of the cove and make a run for my backup position.

Not my dream scenario.

“The drone can’t detect the catamaran,” Cece whispered. “But what happens if it crashes against it?”

Shitastrophe , that’s what would happen.

“I won’t compromise our only means of transportation,” I said instead.

Her wide eyes followed the path of the drone.

Her heartbeat drummed hard at the base of her neck.

I registered an uptick in my pulse, too.

The drone went lower still. It flew from one end of the cove to the other in a straight north to south line, skimming just a few feet over the water.

I worked my breath and kept my aim steady on the fast boat.

As the drone approached Serenity’s mooring, I calculated the distance to contact.

“Thirty feet.” A visual and thermal shield was an excellent deterrent, but if the drone hit the catamaran, we’d be outed. “Twenty feet.” Sweat dripped down my neck and drenched my back. “Ten feet.” My finger tightened over the trigger.

War had arrived at the cove.