Password to Her Heart (5 page)

“You’re going to make it, Keith. You’re not in this alone,” Lee said, and the others agreed.

Lee could hear the fear in Keith’s voice. Lee felt sorry for him and also feared for Shawna. She was gorgeous and young, an innocent civilian shoved into the middle of military warfare. It just wasn’t right. He would do whatever was necessary to ensure she make it out alive and was well taken care of.

“Okay. Follow the timeline starting from midnight tonight. By tomorrow I’m headed inside after I make that call. Hopefully Chavez, Montoya, and Guazipan are in the near vicinity and get what they deserve. And guys, thank you. I’m sorry for getting involved with this and fucking things up. I should be hanging out with you guys in Texas, drinking with friends at Casper’s and working for the US Marshals with Tex.”

“That can still happen. We’re going to help you, Keith. The team will be together again and living the retired life out here in paradise,” Stitch stated.

Keith chuckled. “Follow that time line. I’m making the call in an hour.”

They disconnected the call and Lee looked at his team, his brothers, and then at Mercury.

Mercury said, “Well, we’ve got ourselves a mission. Lee, you, Stitch, and Tiek prepare our gear. I think when I call the Master Gunnery Sergeant Calico, he’s going to want us right there where we belong. I’m not taking any chances. Keith is one of us and we never leave a man behind. Let’s move.”

“Oorah!” they all said at once and scattered out of the room.

They sat at the table feeling both on edge and confident. It was the way of a Marine. Gunnery Sergeant Mercury Brooks knew his men were more than capable of handling any situation they were forced to face, but this was a bit different. Their brother, Keith, was in harm’s way and so was his innocent sister. Mercury could see her face when he closed his eyes. She was a beauty, sweet and innocent, but knowing Keith, she was trained. Yet she wasn’t a soldier. She was a civilian. He also received information on Montoya, Guazipan, and Chavez, and his fears for Shawna’s life were stronger. These men were very evil men who would think nothing of torturing a beautiful, young woman like Shawna just for fun, never mind for information. It made him feel antsy and inpatient. The longer they waited, the more likely the outcome would be worse for her.

As he gathered the information he received from Master Gunnery Sergeant Calico, the man whom Mercury took his orders from while active in the Corp was keeping them abreast of the situation. All the necessary branches were notified, and special teams were gathered, preparing to intervene and raid the facility where the missile had been built and stored. They were just waiting to hear who would be raiding the highly secure facility where Shawna was being held.

They had no idea if Keith was already there or making his way in to infiltrate the building and try to save his sister. It was getting close to sunset and they were running out of time.

He glanced at Lee, who looked serious and charged up. He and Keith were the closest.

“I wish they would give the order already. We’ve looked over the blueprints of the building. We can take this on ourselves if need be,” Lee stated. Lee was the planner, the one who decided how and where they would enter, how they would complete the mission. A lot rode on his natural capabilities. He had the Jeeps set in position, and a chopper on standby for a swift escape if things got out of hand on the compound. A lot of planning was involved in this.

“We need to wait. It’s the way it has to be. Although it seems to me that their greatest concern is that missile. Shawna being held hostage is minimal,” Tiek stated. They all mumbled in agreement.

Mercury looked at Tex, who held his weapon and glanced at his watch. He was the sniper of the group. Quiet, soft spoken, over six feet tall, and a superb marksman. Known as one of the best snipers in the Corps. He knew where he was to go, what position to take, and how to kill the first sets of guards quietly as the rest of the team snuck their way in. Then there was Stitch. A fast talker, the comedian of the group, and also their medic. He was swift to aid any injuries, evaluate the intensity, and then proceeded to provide medical attention sometimes in the most unclean and dangerous of locations.

Tiek was their infiltrator, their hand-to-hand combat psycho who feared absolutely nothing. He was a wrecking machine at six feet three, filled with muscles, agility, and a sole purpose to invade, destroy, and make sure his team all left the mission together and in one piece. He was intimidating, had a deep, rugged voice, and wild, untamed hair to his shoulders. Mercury knew each man was an asset to the team.

They were used to one another and could read each other’s thoughts to the point that hand signals sometimes weren’t even necessary.

Mercury’s radio went off and he looked at his men as he answered the call from Calico.

“It’s a no-go on the building. Teams are moving into the facility where the missile is now. The acts of possible terrorism are taking precedence over Keith’s sister. I’m sorry, Mercury, but these are the orders.”

“What the fuck, Calico? How can they stand by and let Keith and his sister die? Keith is the one who busted this whole operation wide open.”

“I understand and I agree, but these are the orders. They’re not sending a team in there right away. Eventually, yes, but right now, no. The word is that Montoya and Guazipan aren’t even in the facility or where Keith’s sister is being held.”

“And Chavez?”

“No clue.”

“Great. We can’t just sit here and do nothing. Keith is part of our team. He called us and asked us for help.”

Calico was silent as Mercury looked at his brothers-in-arms. “Do what you need to do. I know nothing.” The radio cut off.

Mercury looked at his men. “Well?” he asked them.

“Fuck it. Let’s go in. Keith needs us and so does Shawna,” Stitch stated.

Mercury felt his chest tighten. This was going against the rules, but considering they were all technically retired from the military, and they were off US soil, who gave a shit.

“Okay, our last mission, men. Be smart, and don’t get killed,” Mercury said.

Tiek chuckled. “Ain’t planning on it, Gunnery Sergeant. We’re all going home to the ranch with an extended family.”

* * * *

Keith hid behind the building. So far, so good. No one had detected him. He had watched the compound for a day and a night, noting how food was brought to a small building at the far corner of the compound. That was where they had to be holding Shawna. He checked his weapon and the silencer. If he could get in there, take out the guards, and then get her out without causing too much commotion, then maybe they would make it out alive.

As he crept down the side building, keeping his back to the wall, he heard voices. There was some commotion going on in Spanish. He understood certain words. The dialect was different than what he was familiar with. There was a raid. Something was happening at the facility. Keith smirked, knowing that his team pulled through and got the information to the government to stop the potential terrorist attack. He had to move. Time was running out. Just as he rounded the corner, he saw men dragging Shawna across the courtyard. She appeared barely conscious and looked bloody and beaten.

His chest tightened. His sister had gone through hell. First as a child living in an abusive household and then as an adult struggling to make ends meet and trying to secure her degree for a better life. He came to see her when he could. He taught her as much as he could about protecting herself and preparing for the unexpected. But this was different. This was insane, and he wished he had never let on to anyone about her existence.

He thought of his team. The men were good men. If something happened to him, he hoped they would follow his instructions and protect Shawna and keep her safe. His chest tightened. That was if he could get her out of this hellhole alive.

He took a deep breath. He’d die for her. It was his fault that she was here. He needed to save her. It was now or never.

When he went to make a move, sirens blared, gunshots echoed through the night. His team was there.

* * * *

Shawna could hear the commotion and knew that something was happening. Was her brother coming to rescue her? She understood bits and pieces of what these men, her captors, were saying. Something about invasion or fight, the military, the United States, and a missile. She had no idea what was happening.

She was nearly to the point of wanting to die. Cuadrone had taken a liking to her body. He touched her, caressed her breasts, and squeezed her groin hard as he asked her questions about her brother. For days he tormented her, tried breaking her down to make her give up and give in. But she was a survivor. She had always been one, even as a child when her parents struck her. She survived on her own, in a shitty neighborhood filled with drug dealers and riffraff. She worked at the bar and dealt with drunk after drunk who thought because she served them drinks that she was fair game to take to bed.

Little did they know her tough attitude and experienced persona was all an act. Play the part and people believe it. She was quiet, compassionate, and yearned for love and to be loved deeply. She wasn’t even sure if she would recognize that kind of emotion. Especially now. She may never get a chance. She’d never dated, and wished she had. She never had sex, and now regretted it even if it was meaningless. At least she would know what it felt like to be taken and connected so fully.

She closed her eyes and held in the moan from the throbbing pain in her ribs. She wondered if they were broken.

She could hear Cuadrone yelling. He was giving orders. He was abusive, and she waited, knowing without a doubt in her mind that he would rape her. Fighting him off was not an option until that moment when she knew it was life or death. His or hers.

Guazipan shoved her to the ground in another small room. Her knees hit the dirt floor and she barely made a sound. The sting of pain was nothing compared to what she had been through thus far. She hated these men and wanted them to die.

Cuadrone grabbed her by her shirt, ripping the material.

“I’m going to love this,” he said in his thick accent, and then licked his lips as his eyes zeroed in on her abundant breasts. She was heaving with fear. It was becoming more difficult to take each breath because the trepidation was so fierce.

His eyes widened before he backhanded her across the mouth. She roared in anger, looked up, and she spit at him, hitting him on his lips. He wiped the spit away, smiling as he undid his belt.

The evil in his eyes warned her that she would suffer, but it seemed to her that that was his ultimate intention now anyway. Something was going on as the sirens continued to blare and gunshots were heard in the distance.

He stepped toward her, caressing the belt.

She attempted to crawl backward, the fear that he had chosen now to take her body made her adrenaline begin to rush. The weakness she had moments ago now turned to anger and disgust for this man and for the way she had been treated. He smoothed the belt across the palm of his hand as he stalked toward her, and she knew his intentions.

“What are you going to do? I’ve cooperated with you. What are you doing?”

He struck her with the belt. She put her arms up to protect her face and the sting lashed across her forearms. Again and again he struck her, breaking the skin as she cried out.

Her eyes locked on his gun as the other man, Guazipan, began to undo his pants. She shook with fear and Cuadrone fell to his knees, spread her thighs, and began to reach for the button on her shorts as he used his other hand to cup her breast and squeeze.

“No!” She screamed out and grabbed for the gun. Cuadrone grabbed for her throat and she fired the weapon at his chest. His eyes widened and Guazipan reached for his gun. She jerked as someone else shot him in the back of the head.

Looking at the doorway, she saw Keith.

“Keith!” she screamed out.

Cuadrone shoved his forearm to her throat, the gunshot wound not enough to kill the bastard. But then came the sound of more men entering the room, guns went off, and Keith fired back. Shawna pulled the trigger one, two, three times and shoved Cuadrone off of her. She looked for Keith and saw him and three men on the ground. Keith was bleeding, the other men appeared to be dead.

She crawled to him, grabbing his collar.

“Keith. Keith.”

He wouldn’t respond. She laid her head on his chest as the door burst open.

There stood two men in black, fully armed and huge in thickness and height. She reached for Keith’s gun.

“No, Shawna. We’re the good guys,” one of them yelled, but she pointed the gun at him, while the other one kept his straight on her. She could practically feel the red dot on her forehead as she locked gazes with an intimidating man in black and the large rifle pointed right at her. Her hand was shaking. But she didn’t pull the trigger.

Her hands shook, but she kept the gun on the man who knelt down and stared at her from behind the special gear he wore.

“Honey, we’re Keith’s team. He contacted us.”

She shook her head.

“Cubbyhole. Keith said the password was cubbyhole.”