Page 34 of Renegade (The Santini Assassins #2)
“Jesus, what? Wait, gimme a minute. I gotta wake up.” Greystone set his phone on the console, pulled out a chair and offered it to Caroline. She declined, so he eased down.
“What did I miss?” Teddy asked.
After a brief update, Greystone said, “Caroline and I are doing the first shift. We need our laptops. Any chance you can help us out?”
“No prob,” Teddy said. “Can you ask Caroline if Sydney is there?”
“Hey, Teddy,” Caroline said. “I have to call Sydney and let her know you’re coming.”
“Gotcha. Where do you live?”
“Carlyle Towers on Jamieson Ave in Alexandria. I’ll call my sister.” She pulled her phone from her pocket and dialed.
“Hey,” answered a sleepy Sydney. “Are you staying with Greystone?”
“Yeah, and you’re on speaker.”
“So, I shouldn’t say anything like yeeha, ride him like a bronco.” Sydney snort-laughed.
“Hey, Sydney,” Greystone said.
“Hey, stud man,” Sydney replied.
“Tell her I said hey,” Teddy added.
“You can tell her yourself,” Greystone said .
“I’m actually working this weekend,” Caroline said, “and I need my laptop, so Tank’s coming by to pick it up.”
Silence.
“Sis, are you there?”
“Yeah, I’m good. All good. I mean, yeah, I’m fine. I’ll call downstairs and let the front desk know to buzz him up.”
“Or you can just meet him in the lobby and hand him my laptop,” Caroline said.
Greystone shook his head, and Caroline smiled. “Let me find out what time he’s stopping by,” she said.
After arrangements were made and everyone hung up, Greystone chuffed out a laugh. “Don’t expect your laptop for a while.”
“No way,” Caroline protested. “Really?”
Greystone arched an eyebrow.
“AAAIIIIIEEEEE.” Haqazzii’s scream hijacked their attention.
He’d started yanking on the cuffs.
“Here we go,” Greystone said as he muted the sounds coming from the hole.
“It’s your show,” Caroline said. “What’s your call?”
“We let him scream it out,” Greystone studied her face. “You want to step out and grab a nap?”
“We’re in this together. Together , Grey, and I’m sticking close.”
In an attempt to keep things mellow, he flashed her a smile. “I like that.”
“Don’t flatter yourself, Rambo. I’m hangin’ close purely for selfish reasons. I want to live through this.”
“I’d take a bullet before I’d let anything happen to you.”
“Then, who would be my babies’ daddy?” She winked, then sat down.
Holy hell. Did she just say that?
“I might not be wielding a knife like Slash, but I’m tougher than I look,” she said, as if she hadn’t just uttered the baby comment.
He opened one of the existing ALPHA laptops and logged in. “You ready to get to work?”
“It’s not what I had in mind, but I’m going with Plan B.”
“What was Plan A?” he asked.
“You,” she replied. “You were Plan A.”
CAROLINE
Caroline could stomach a lot, but watching someone die was gonna mess with her head. She’d accepted the mission knowing what she was walking into, but agreeing to do something and actually doing it were two completely different things.
Still, she wasn’t going to wilt, and she wasn’t abandoning Grey. She would do her job and process the emotions and thoughts as she encountered them. If need be, she’d seek help. This wasn’t going to be easy, but she was all-in.
She glanced over at the screen. Haqazzii was tugging on the cuffs so hard, he’d broken skin, the blood running up his arm. Her stomach lurched.
“Caroline,” Grey said. “Look at me.”
She turned toward him. The confidence in his eyes gave her the tunnel vision she needed.
“Help me craft a message to the terror cell,” he said, his deep voice calming her.
She doubted he needed her help, but she appreciated that he was making sure she stayed busy.
She knew there would be collateral damage.
She needed to ensure it wasn’t them. Together, they found two different chat groups that were staunch supporters of the Haqazzii terror cell.
Though neither was in English, Greystone was able to navigate his way pretty good.
“Before you upload the pics, make sure there’s no geolocation tagged to them,” she said.
“I did.” He showed her the setting had been set to “never”.
After uploading the photos and the video, he said, “What’s our message?”
She stared at the pictures of a man she’d known briefly as Erik, a ruthless terrorist who’d weaseled his way into JL’s life so he could fulfill his macabre mission.
“How ‘bout, ‘Call it off or he’s a dead man.’”
“Nice,” he said, his confident tone rumbling through her.
She glanced over at him, appreciating his strong features.
Profiles were rarely as good as someone’s face, straight-on, but Grey had it going on from any angle.
She loved his man-bun, especially since the shorter hair around his face had broken free from the tie and was hanging in his eyes.
Before she could check herself, she brushed away his mane.
“I love your touch.” The ache in his voice ripped through her.
She was in constant reaction mode when it came to him. Inches away sat a warrior. Fearless, fierce, and loyal. It didn’t get any better than him. It just didn’t.
As soon as he tapped the “post” button, everything went live. “We just poked the bear,” he said.
“If they want a war, they’ll have one. We’re part of a group of fighters committed to protecting the innocent and defending a country we love. It’s that simple.”
“What else is that simple?” he asked.
She peered into his eyes, the pull to kiss him so intense, she stopped breathing. Grey was a formidable man. Huge in size, he carried with him a quiet strength she found intoxicating, addictive, and absolutely mind-blowing.
He leaned forward, slowly, until his lips melded with hers. A surge of energy powered through her, desire jumped to the forefront. Climbing on him would be effortless, taking him inside her would be perfect. They’d get lost in each other and in the ultimate escape.
Blinking away the perfect fantasy, she swallowed down the need, then cleared her throat. “Wow, that’s intense.”
“I gotta have you,” he murmured, “and I gotta wait.”
She hitched a brow. “Maybe not.”
“Jesus,” he murmured.
BING!
Someone had posted a message in one of the chat groups. “Kidnappers, this is your only warning. Let him go or we will kill you.”
Caroline glanced at the screen. Haqazzii had quieted down. “What do you think about asking him a few questions?”
“Too soon,” Grey said.
“What about lowering his arms?”
He ran the back of his fingers down her cheeks. “He needs to know we mean business. And we need backup. I wouldn’t remove the cuffs?—”
“Whoa, you don’t think I can handle him,” she said.
“Austin, we can’t move him without backup. You gotta trust me on this. I’m a risk taker, but not when it’s just the two of us. We moved him with six of us. We gotta wait for Teddy and Dakota. They’ll be here in the next hour or two.”
“Understood. I don’t want any regrets.”
“No regrets.” He held her gaze while the air sizzled around them.
She glanced at his mouth, the temptation to kiss him a powerful pull. Forcing herself to push past, she steeled her spine. “Sounds like Haqazzii had a lot of power at JL’s company.”
They jumped on JL’s website—Federal Commercial Cleaning Services—and read through the services her company offered.
“She’s cleanin’ up in the federal space,” Grey said.
“Literally,” Caroline said. “If I don’t hear from her soon, I’ll check in with her.”
“Do you think she’ll file a missing person’s report?” He pulled out the hair tie, raked his fingers through his long hair.
She followed the movement, biting back a moan. “She might, unless I tell her he returned your car and asked for a ride to the airport.”
“How’d he know where I live?” he asked.
“He found your registration in the glovebox,” she replied.
“Damn, you got it goin’ on, woman.”
“I do, and you’d be smart to stick with me.”
“You couldn’t shake me if you tried.”
She wanted to kiss him, get lost in everything Grey, and forget about reality. But time was running out, so she held his gaze for an extra beat before eyeing the screen again to check on their prisoner.
“When Slash and Prescott show up in the morning, I’ll stop by and visit her.”
“ We’ll stop by,” he corrected her.
“I got myself a tagalong.”
“Hell, yeah.”
Dakota arrived with groceries and Caroline offered to put everything away.
After they brought in all the bags, she got busy in the kitchen.
That part of the Black Site was quiet, but she couldn’t help but glance over her shoulder a few times.
She was far enough away from Grey and Dakota that if she was in trouble, no one would hear her scream.
A chill swept down her spine, but she continued storing the meats and other perishables in the refrigerator. Next, she made a fresh pot of coffee before stacking the cereal boxes in the cupboard. As she was finishing up, someone walked into the kitchen.
She startled, pulled out her Glock, and pointed it at him. Tank threw his hands up in the air.
“Caroline, it’s me, Tank, Greystone’s brother. I should have said something. Sorry.”
“It’s okay.” She re-holstered her weapon. “Just a little on edge. Do you have the laptops?”
“They’re in the hallway,” Tank said. “Are you alone?”
“Yeah, why?”
“This place creeps me out.”
She smiled. “Hearing you say that makes me feel better. It’s very quiet, and the guys are on the other side of the building.”
“Where’s the prisoner?”
“In the basement. They call it?—”
“The hole,” Tank replied. “I’ve seen it.” He pulled out a mug, held it up. “How many?”
“Four,” she replied. “I’m thinking we should talk to Haqazzii again, see if he’ll talk.”
Tank stroked his whiskered chin. “No matter what he says, I wouldn’t believe him.”
“Good point.” As she filled a carafe with the freshly-brewed coffee, she asked, “How’d it go with Sydney?”
“Fine. Good. All good. Yeah.”
Did they hook up?