Willing

Chapter 18

Hotwire and Wolf arrived the next day. Lise came with them and gloated when she realized Josie and Daniel were a couple.

“I knew you two had a thing for each other. I told Joshua, but he didn’t believe me,” Lise crowed to Josie while they dangled their feet in the shallow end of the pool.

The others had checked in to the same hotel as she and Daniel. Over lunch, Hotwire had challenged Wolf and Daniel to a competition to see who could swim the most laps. They were all even at the moment.

“I was as clueless as Wolf,” Josie admitted. “I thought Daniel couldn’t stand me.”

Lise shook her head. “The guy practically spontaneously combusts every time you are around.”

“He’s volatile, all right.”

“Is he really?”

“You mean you haven’t noticed?”

“To tell you the truth, no. I’ve never seen Nitro even come close to losing his cool. Until I saw him around you the first time, I didn’t think he had any emotions to speak of.”

“Is lust an emotion? I thought it was more like a chemical reaction.”

“He feels a lot more for you than mere lust.”

Josie watched Daniel slicing through the water, his powerful body rippling with muscle. “I hope so.”

“I’m positive. He’s so possessive.”

“The male animal is sexually possessive, but that doesn’t mean his heart is engaged.” She’d told Daniel she loved him again that morning when he’d woken her with a tender kiss that made her toes curl with emotion.

He’d kissed her again, but he hadn’t said anything.

“Daniel isn’t an animal. He’s a man, and his heart is engaged or my name is Aunt Fanny,” Lise said emphatically, her Texas drawl acute.

“Do you really think so?” Josie wanted to believe Daniel’s silence meant more than tolerance of her emotional reaction. “I’m having my period right now, and he’s been really affectionate and caring.”

“There, you see. That’s a great sign.”

“I thought so, too, but when I told him I loved him, he didn’t say anything back.”

“Welcome to the club.” Lise smiled wryly. “I told Joshua I loved him over and over again, and he never said a word. I thought he only wanted me for my body, but I was wrong, and I’m sure you are, too. More than any other woman, you should understand how reticent these guys are to admit to any kind of weakness, love included.”

“Love doesn’t make you weak.”

“But it does make you vulnerable to hurt.”

Josie couldn’t deny it. She had no defenses to hide behind when it came to Daniel. Her love left her heart open to him in a way it had never been to another person, not even her parents.

“What are you two talking about?” Wolf moved to stand beside his wife, his hand automatically making connection with the part of her body he could reach, her head.

Josie hadn’t even noticed they’d finished their competition. Daniel and Hotwire were still drying off a few feet away.

Lise looked up at Wolf, her expression wry. “What do you think?”

He responded with a probing look that jumped from Lise to Josie to Daniel and back to Lise. She made a small inclination of her head, and some silent communication passed between them because he heaved a sigh and frowned at Daniel.

“Who swam the most laps?” Josie asked as Wolf lifted Lise from the side of the pool.

“I did.” Hotwire tossed his towel in the bin beside the pool and then struck a pose, flexing his biceps. “It’s easy to see why, don’t you think, ladies?”

“By one lap,” Daniel said, coming to stand beside them, and then shoved his friend sideways into the pool.

The resounding splash sent water spraying over Josie, and she shrieked, jumping to her feet.

Daniel grinned at her, his gaze dropping to where her now wet tank top clung to her chest. “Wolf and I were ready to get back to you two.”

“I’m always ready to get back to my wife.” Wolf caressed Lise’s protruding middle, his warrior’s eyes reflecting joy and satisfaction. “Pretty soon you’re going to be too round to be sitting on the ground.”

Lise looked down at where his hand rested against her and grinned. “I’m already there, but as long as I’ve got you around to hoist me back up, I’m safe.”

Hotwire heaved himself out of the pool, no limitation to his strength and agility in evidence. “Was that my victory dunking?”

“Watch it or you’ll get another one,” Wolf warned.

“The element of surprise works only once in an encounter, unless your enemy is stupid, and my mama didn’t raise any idiots.” Grinning and giving Josie a once-over, he shook himself, and water sprayed all of them again.

Josie jumped back from her second unplanned cold shower and landed right against Daniel. His arm came over her shoulder as a towel landed around her neck, strategically covering parts of her wet tank top. Her gaze shot to her lover’s face, and the expression there stunned her. He was looking mean, and he was looking at Hotwire.

She glanced over at the blond Georgian and couldn’t see anything in the other man’s expression that could have upset Daniel, until she remembered that Hotwire had been looking at her as he deliberately sprayed the water again. Apparently it bothered Daniel that Hotwire had seen her wet tank. She could have told him not to worry. Most men she met did not react to her modest attributes with unbridled desire, but saying so would do no good.

Daniel had gotten extremely territorial since Hotwire showed up. His friend had noticed, making it obvious he delighted in pushing Daniel’s buttons.

She was used to being around strong men who jockeyed for position with each other despite close friendship, but she wasn’t used to being the target they jockeyed around.

“You afraid she’s going to run away if you don’t hold on to her all the time?” Hotwire asked, his smile nothing less than a goad.

“I like touching her.”

“Do you now?” Hotwire mocked, “I never would have noticed.” But the significant look he gave them said otherwise.

Heat that had nothing to do with the summer sun climbed up Josie’s neck. She was unfamiliar with being the other half of a couple, particularly around a friend intent on teasing her to death. His target might be Daniel, but she was the one embarrassed. She knew without looking that he wasn’t blushing.

She threw out the first verbal sally she could think of to change the direction of the conversation. “And I’m not going anywhere, even if you’d all like me to.”

The other two had joined Daniel in trying to convince her to stay behind. It made no sense to her. She was one of the best soldiers they’d ever worked with, and she didn’t have to be arrogant to think so. They’d said it. They’d also brought her in on more than one independent mission. Their desire to keep her behind this time baffled her.

“We don’t want you gone. I like watching Daniel squirm around you. It humanizes him,” Wolf said, proving he could be just as irritating as Hotwire.

Lise elbowed his stomach. “Behave.”

He smiled down at her. “If I behaved, you’d be real disappointed, honey.”

Lise’s gaze went unfocused in a way Josie understood very well. “Yes, I guess I would.”

A disgusted sound erupted from Hotwire. “Would you two stop it? You’re bad enough back home, but I thought you’d at least try to behave in front of company.”

Josie had to smile. Beginning a start-up company around a couple of newlyweds no doubt had its challenges.

“Nitro and Josie aren’t company,” Wolf said, still looking at his wife with enough heat to singe her.

“Which is precisely why Josie shouldn’t be going on this mission,” Hotwire said, proving he’d gotten the gist of her words from the get-go.

“That’s ridiculous.” She’d been friends with the three mercenaries before when they were on missions together.

Wolf transferred his gaze to her, his brown eyes serious and compelling. “No, it’s not. Look at how Nitro is with you. A soldier with his focus on anything besides the mission ends up a dead soldier.”

Hotwire nodded, his own expression grim. “His first priority is going to be keeping you safe.”

“Of course it isn’t,” she denied.

“He cares about you. That changes things,” Wolf said.

“Are you trying to tell me that he tries to baby-sit you two on missions? Because I’ll tell you right now, I don’t buy it. I’ve seen the three of you in action. You cannot deny you care about each other, but the mission always comes first.”

Hotwire made a choking noise, and Wolf stared at her as if she’d said something rude while Daniel laughed. “We’re men.”

“And I’m a woman. Are you saying you don’t think I’m a good soldier?”

“That’s not what this is about.”

“Then what is it about?”

“Me not wanting to see you hurt.”

The sentiment was nice, but she wasn’t accepting it as an excuse to leave her behind. “Ninety-five percent of the jobs you took as mercs included protecting someone, and that never got in the way of your ability to fight or do your job.”

“It’s not the same thing.” Wolf hugged his wife to his side. “There’s protecting someone and then there’s keeping someone you love safe.”

“Which is why you did such a terrible job on your mission to capture Lise’s stalker?” she asked tongue-in-cheek.

Wolf had the grace to look uncomfortable. “But it was a lot more stressful than a normal assignment.”

Lise glared up at him. “Thanks a lot.”

“So, you’re saying Daniel’s too much of a pansy to handle the stress of worrying about me?”

Both Wolf and Hotwire looked chagrined at that, undoubtedly as aware as she was that such an idea was ludicrous.

“Not.” Daniel squeezed her. “This is not about me; it’s about you and you staying safe.”

“Lise’s not going.” Wolf said it as if that was some kind of irrefutable proof Josie shouldn’t either.

This was getting nuts. “Can we take a reality check here? Lise is an author, a really great author, but definitely not a soldier, and she’s pregnant.”

“You’re having your woman’s thing,” Daniel announced with a total lack of tact.

“It’s not even remotely the same thing, and may I remind you that even without being pregnant, she is still not a soldier and I am? A darn good one, too.”

“I thought you wanted a more normal life.”

She rolled her eyes. “That does not mean I’m going to ignore a threat to my dad’s life or that I’m going to let you all go in and risk your lives while I stay behind and paint my toenails again.”

“Damn it, the job only needs a four-person unit.”

Technically it could be done with four people, but five would be better, and he had to know it. “Then one of you stay behind.”

“Nitro…” The censorship in Hotwire’s voice would have been funny in other circumstances.

“I’m sorry,” Daniel growled. “I’m trying, dam—darn it.”

“What are you trying?” Lise asked, her expression saying everything happening right now was great fodder for her imagination.

“Not to swear in front of Josette.” Daniel rubbed her shoulders as if apologizing again. “She’s a lady, and it’s not polite.”

Wolf smirked. Hotwire nodded, and Lise smiled. “That’s really sweet.”

Daniel’s expression could have melted the polar ice caps. “I’m not sweet.”

“That’s a matter of interpretation,” Josie said.

The metal-melting glare got turned on her. “When this woman’s thing is over, I’ll show you how sweet I am.”

“I can’t wait.” She gave him one of the fluttering eyelashes looks she’d perfected and puckered her lips in an air kiss.

“I’m not convinced Nitro is sweet,” Wolf said, “but you sure as he—heck are stubborn.”

She wouldn’t bother denying something she knew to be true, and it was a good thing in her opinion. If she were less sure of herself, these guys would walk right over her. “Did you ask my dad what he thought of leaving me behind?”

“He’s worse than you are about it. He figures he’s trained you to be the best and there isn’t anyone else he’d rather have covering his back.” Daniel was still looking plenty irritated.

She smiled triumphantly at all of them. “Well, that’s settled then.”

“How do you figure that?” Daniel asked in a dangerous tone.

“It’s no use trying to argue with both me and my dad, and I think you’re all smart enough to realize it.”

Josie pulled the black face mask down and adjusted her night-vision goggles.

They’d hiked in and established position after leaving their jeeps parked far enough away that the sound of the running engines wouldn’t carry to the compound.

“Ready?” Daniel’s almost soundless voice came from right beside her ear.

She nodded once.

“Be careful.”

“You, too,” she said at a bare whisper.

Then he was gone.

Hotwire would cut the security system while Wolf and Daniel neutralized the guards. Her dad was supposed to neutralize the armory, and she was responsible for getting the files. She had six 256 MB jump drives in her vest pocket—enough to download the pertinent information on several hard drives. While she was getting it, the other four would be collecting the men who had taken her dad’s courses.

The plan was to dump them along with the incriminating evidence on the FBI’s doorstep. Hotwire had convinced her to leave the stolen laptop where it was so the authorities could come into the compound on the charge of theft. It would allow them to move faster than if they had to accumulate a case based on the documented evidence.

Hotwire gave the signal over the headsets that security was disabled. Three minutes later, Daniel indicated his man was down, and not five seconds later, Wolf signaled the same thing.

She and her dad headed in. She didn’t hear him moving, and she knew he couldn’t hear her either. Unlike when she’d been a little girl, she now knew how to move silently without leaving a trail behind her in the forest.

The office was exactly where her father had said it was. Only two sleeping quarters were attached to it, and they were at the other end of the long corridor, the mess hall between them and the office. Which meant that with the security system disabled, there was almost no chance her presence in the building would be detected.

Three computers were on different desks in the big office, and one of them was her laptop. She powered each one up. While they were coming on-line she started methodically taking pictures of the files in the cabinets. The memory card on her tiny digital camera could hold over one thousand images, and she had extra memory cards in her vest along with the jump drives.

She’d be able to walk out of there with the entire file system in her pocket.

The ding of Windows finishing its start-up routine indicated at least one of the computers was on-line. She plugged a jump drive into the USB port and started downloading the documents folder before doing a search for encrypted and hidden documents. Using techniques Hotwire had taught her, she found a second documents folder, this one both hidden and encrypted. She set it up to copy to the jump drive when the current application was finished and went back to taking pictures of the paper files.

Hotwire or the FBI could work on decoding it later.

“I’m headed to Position Three.” Hotwire’s voice came across her headset, indicating he was on his way to help her out. He must have turned his prisoner over to one of the other soldiers.

He arrived a minute later and immediately started working on a second computer. She said nothing, but dropped the remaining jump drives on the desk in front of him so he could complete the downloads.

It amazed her that groups like this one kept copies of incriminating documents. She’d already copied a memo from one of the members of the compound to the leader detailing his suggestion for taking courses from Tyler McCall and then disposing of the older man. She tried not to read the documents as she went, it would go faster that way, but her dad’s name had leapt off the page at her.

“Daddy?” The sound of a child’s voice in the corridor outside the office froze Josie’s blood in her veins even as she headed for the door.

The light in the corridor came on, and Josie came to an abrupt halt at the door, tugging down her night-vision goggles so she could see. It took precious seconds for her eyes to adjust to the light.

“Abel, what are you doing up?” The woman’s sleepy words came from the left of the door.

“I wanted to ask Daddy somethin’.”

“He’s not here. Daddy is on sentry duty tonight.”

“I know. I wanted to help him.”

That would have been a complication they didn’t need, and Josie was glad the child hadn’t gone with his father on his nightly rounds. She could see the small body near the doorway to the outside at the office end of the corridor.

“You’re too little.” The mother sounded less sleepy and a little impatient. Josie could not see her at all, but her voice came from the end of the hallway near the sleeping quarters. “Now, it’s time to get back to bed, young man.”

“Daddy’s in the office, Mama. I wanna ask him.”

Josie’s heart rate accelerated.

“Don’t be silly. Can’t you see there are no lights on?” Definite impatience this time. “No one’s in there.”

“But I saw lights. Little ones. Like Daddy’s flashlight.”

The quality of the stillness outside the room told Josie all she needed to know about what the mother thought of her son’s comments. “Abel, go wake the others. Now.”

Josie moved. She whirled into the hallway and sprinted for the boy before he could get out the door to sound the alarm. Hotwire was running for the woman.

The little boy lifted his arm, and it was only then that Josie realized he was carrying a gun.

“I’m going to help my daddy!” She heard the safety disengage and dove to her right as the child fired, but the bullet found its target. Pain that she’d felt once before burst through her thigh, and her legs collapsed beneath her.

“I’m down. Get out,” she said into the mouthpiece of her headset, and then blackness overwhelmed her.

Daniel ran toward the building with the office in it faster than he’d ever run in his life. His heart was beating so hard he could hear it. Damn it to hell. Josie had said she was down. They’d all heard the shot over the headsets, and it had sounded like thunder in his ear, but the sound from the building had been muted. The merc part of his brain automatically computed a low probability it had awoken others in the compound.

Hotwire had said he’d neutralized the mother and was headed toward the sleeping quarters at the other end of the building, but a child of approximately five years of age had made it outside. The child was armed.

Daniel saw the small body outlined against the dark buildings. He was wearing light pajamas, but he had a black object in his right hand.

This child had shot Josie.

Daniel approached him at a sprint and grabbed him from behind still in forward momentum mode. He clamped one hand over the boy’s mouth, used the other to disarm him and then immobilize him.

Figuring a quick knockout would be less traumatizing for the kid than a drawn-out battle against a bigger foe, he pressed against the carotid artery, and the child went limp against him. Daniel had a minute, maybe less, to get the small shooter tied up before he became conscious again.

He burst through the door to the building and came to a skidding halt in front of Josie.

Her eyes were shut, and her head lolled to one side. Blood was all over the floor under her, and one of her pant legs was soaked with it. The mother was against the opposite wall, her eyes dilated with shock, tears running down her face. She was gagged, but when she saw her son, she squirmed against her restraints and tried to speak.

Daniel used plastic ties to secure the child’s hands behind his back and his ankles together. Then he put the little one on his mother’s lap. He hated putting the tape over the little boy’s mouth, but they couldn’t risk him waking and raising the alarm.

When he finished, the mother looked up at him, terror in her eyes.

“Your son is fine.” It was all he could take time to say.

And frankly, he didn’t see the use of saying anything else. How many women and children had he seen hurt by the fanaticism of the men responsible for their safety? Not that women couldn’t be just as fanatic—and dangerous—which was why he did not untie the woman so she could cuddle her son. She might decide to try to finish the job the little boy had started.

Her eyes widened again, the fear that had abated with his words increasing, and he turned to see Hotwire running silently down the hall toward them.

“We’re not here to hurt you,” Daniel said roughly to the woman before turning away from her and her son.

“The others?”

“Neutralized.”

Daniel fell to his knees beside Josie at the same time Hotwire did. The other man already had his knife out, and he slit her pant leg. Daniel put his arm around her, prepared to prevent her from crying out in pain if she woke disoriented from her unnatural sleep.

“Is she still bleeding?” Daniel asked.

“Yes, but it looks like the bullet missed the bone.” Hotwire probed the wound, and Josie’s body jolted in involuntary reaction. “I’m not sure about her muscle, though. She’s going to hurt a fricken long time from this one.”

He started binding the wound.

Daniel waited until he was done and then lifted her gently into his arms. Though she did not waken, her face twisted with pain at the movement. He felt helpless and so damn angry he could have killed.

“Take her back to the others. I’m going to finish in there.” Hotwire indicated the dark office doorway with an inclination of his head.

“Someone else in the compound might have seen the corridor light before you turned it off. I did.”

“I know how to keep my head down. Don’t worry about me. Just go.”

And Daniel went.

He double-timed it to the meeting place, giving details into his headset as he went.

It was decided that Tyler would take him and Josie to the nearest hospital while Wolf waited for Hotwire with the prisoners. They would bring them out in the second jeep. It would be a tight fit for the four adult male prisoners in the backseat, but Daniel didn’t give a rat’s ass about those bastards’ comfort.

Pain radiated through Josie’s body. It seemed to be centered in her thigh, but it was hard to tell. It was all-consuming. The jeep went over a bump, and she groaned.

“It’s all right, sweetheart. You’re going to be okay. We’re taking you to a hospital.”

She opened her eyes to darkness, but eventually shapes distinguished themselves before her. The interior of the jeep, her dad’s head in the driver’s seat. Daniel’s face above hers. She couldn’t see his expression, but she could feel his concern. His arms were firm around her, but gentle, and his breath was more labored than her own.

“You okay?” she croaked, her mouth dry from the pain.

He tensed, as if he’d just realized she was awake. “That should be my line.”

“I hurt.”

“I’m sorry, baby.”

“Me, too. Screwed up the mission.” She grimaced as pain throbbed in her thigh. Definitely her thigh. “Didn’t expect the little guy to have a gun.”

“It’s hell what parents will do to their kids in the name of fanaticism.”

“We’ve seen it before.”

“Yeah.”

“So, I should have been prepared for it.”

“Don’t you be blaming yourself, Josie-girl.” Her dad’s voice was gravelly, as though he was having a hard time getting the words out.

“But the mission…”

“Screw the mission!”

“Hotwire stayed behind to finish gathering the evidence, and Wolf was watching over the prisoners. It’s all good.” Daniel brushed her cheek. “But you getting shot wasn’t. I’m sorry about that.”

Her heart contracted, and she wanted to cry. She could grit her teeth at the pain in her leg, but knowing that he was taking on another load of guilt because of her hurt in ways she couldn’t deal with. “It’s not your fault.”

“I let you come.”

“You’re not my commanding officer, and even if you were, I probably would have disobeyed orders. I make my own decisions. It’s one of the reasons I never went to formal military. I don’t like people telling me what to do.” It was hard to get the words out, but she had to make him understand. “You weren’t responsible for securing the office. That was my job. None of this is your fault.”

He didn’t say anything, but his hand caressed her face, and the sense of grim tension surrounding them did not abate.

“Please don’t let me become another burden, Daniel. I couldn’t stand it.”

“You are not a burden to me.” His words were low, intense. “I love you, Josette.”

She wanted to believe him so badly, but he hadn’t said anything when she’d whispered the words to him before, and now he was feeling guilty. Did he think he had to tell her he loved her to make up for her being shot?

“It’s not your fault,” she said again.

The jeep lurched to a screeching halt as her father cussed out a deer who’d run in the road. Josie’s leg got jolted despite Daniel’s attempt to prevent it from happening, and another wave of intense pain rushed over her. The darkness around her became absolute as she slipped back into unconsciousness.