The SEAL team raced to the ranch, and Hawk put a call in to Hank to be sure his boss got there, too. Cry Baby curled low over the handlebars of his ATV, racing to get back to his own woman, and Hawk understood the feeling. He hadn’t thought about anything but going after the man terrorizing Lana, and a mistake like that could cost them all. By the time the faint lights of the ranch came into view, Hank’s truck ripped up the land near them, making a beeline for Lana’s ranch. Hawk thanked his lucky stars for the training they’d all received. Heim signaled for them to cut the engines as they got closer, to give them some element of surprise. They all screeched to a halt and climbed off their rides.

“We don’t have time to plan. We go in, hard and fast. Cry Baby couldn’t hear where they hid, but he knows gunfire is involved. He’s kept the phone line open after Lana dropped it,” Heim said.

“Then we split up. Glitz, Welsh, and Cry Baby through the back, the rest of us to the front. If you have a shot, take it,” Hawk said.

They grimly agreed and moved a fast clip toward the house. Hawk sank into the training he’d always relied on. He let the worry and fear fade away and focused on putting one foot in front of the other. When his enemy stood before him, he would take him out. There were no other options. The team split, surrounding the barn and angling toward their entry into the house. Gunfire made Hawk’s hands shake, but he kept his line of sight open and trusted in his brothers. Heim took point, and Snake had his back, with Hawk coming in at the rear. Each of them had their weapons at the ready. When they reached the front of the house, Hank was crouched behind his truck with Swede and Bear.

Hank said nothing, but he used two fingers to point at his eyes and then directed those fingers toward the house. He had eyes on the assailant. Hawk lifted his thumb and forefinger into an L-shape, asking where Lana was, or if there was visual. Hank shook his head. She was hiding, thankfully, but they had to be careful where they fired or they could risk hitting her or Vixen. The line slipped forward, and Bear lifted his fist in the air. They stopped on command as Bear climbed into the bed of the truck and peered over the top of the cab. The former D-Force member, the most elite training in the American military, would have been the most capable of a rescue situation, had Hawk’s team not been slated for so many rescue situations themselves. Still, he let Bear search first, hoping he could figure out where Lana and Vixen could be. After a moment, he gave the all clear, and they knew she was nowhere to be hurt by the ensuing battle.

“Move out,” Heim ordered over the mic.

Once more, they moved toward the front and rear exits, their steps silent on the dirt. Hawk’s heart pumped with exhilaration and adrenaline, and he channeled that into hypervigilance. It wasn’t a good thing to be that way in civilian areas, but now it did him good stead. The air pressed against his sensitive skin, and he could smell metal and gunpowder on the air. This was his element, and he trusted in that. With each step, the weight of what was to come pressed in, but Hawk kept his focus. They crept onto the porch and aligned on one side of the front door. Heim looked to Bear, who signaled again to move in, and Heim burst through the door.

The sudden change in light blinded Hawk for a moment, but he didn’t close his eyes. Heim shot, Snake right on his tail, and Hawk squeezed the trigger of his own weapon. Damien stood in the center of the destroyed living room, a mask of confusion on his face as blood trickled from the edge of his mouth.

“She belonged to me,” he whispered, lifting his gun toward the closet under the stairs.

“Never did, and never will,” Hawk said.

Hawk didn’t hesitate. He took the shot without looking down the sights, watching as a red bloom appeared on Damien’s forehead. Then he was rushing to the room Damien tried to shoot with the last of his strength. He had no doubt that was where Lana and Tiffany were hiding.

“Clear. Kill confirmed,” Glitz said.

Hawk didn’t care. Later, much later, this death would add to his pain, to the nightmares he suffered, but he’d never regret this one. He would do anything to protect his family. Ripping open the door to the cupboard, he dropped to his knees. Lana used her body to block a slumped T from view, and the hard, determined look on her face said more than words that she’d been willing to die for the woman.

“Come here, baby,” he whispered, and she fell into his arms. He couldn’t kiss her enough or pull her tight enough to his chest. She lived. He’d saved her. He never wanted to go through this again.

“I think I’m going to be sick,” T murmured behind Lana.

“Baby, let them have their moment. The minute I get you out of there, you’re getting the same treatment,” Cry Baby argued.

“No, I’m really going to be sick,” T said, and threw up on the floor before passing out.

Lana turned in Hawk’s arms. “She needs to go to the hospital.”

“It’s a tranquilizer. She just needs to sleep it off,” Cry Baby said.

Lana shook her head. “She might be pregnant. I don’t know if it will affect her more. She wanted to tell you when she was sure, but I think this situation trumps it.”

“Start the truck. Take T and Cry Baby to the hospital. We’ll wait here for the cops to come,” Hank told Bear.

“I’m on it. Come on, Frogman, let’s get your girl out of here.”

Cry Baby didn’t say a word as he lifted T into his arms and raced out the door.

“I’ll go with him,” Glitz said.

Hawk nodded, unable to do more than hug Lana closer.

“I’m okay,” she whispered into his neck.

“You almost weren’t.”

“But you came to save me. I knew you would.”

He brushed her hair back from her face and kissed her tears away. “I’ll always be here.”

“I don’t think I’m going to model anymore,” she said then.

“Why?”

“I’ve always wanted a family, you know. And I think I’ve found a great one here,” she said as she looked over the SEALs standing in the room.

“You’ll fit in well, Lana. My wife is a celebrity, too,” Snake said with pride.

Hawk rolled his eyes. “He brags that he’s married to Goddess, the singer. Don’t mind him.”

Lana pulled back from Hawk and stared at Snake in shock. “The Goddess, as in the one who was attacked on her USO Tour. That Goddess?” By the time she got to the end of her question, her voice had reached an epic octave.

“The same,” Snake said.

Lana looked back at Hawk, then to Snake, before she moved her gaze back to Hawk. “Why didn’t you say you knew her?”

“I didn’t think it was relevant,” he answered.

She narrowed her eyes at him. “It’s Goddess.”

“And I just saved your life from a stalker.”

“You did. And I’m going to make an honest man out of you, I swear. All your SEAL team members will always be allowed to come visit you right here. But we are talking about Goddess right now, and she trumps all.”

Snake burst out laughing. “Would you like me to call her?”

Lana jumped out of Hawk’s arms, and if not for the sweet kiss she placed on his lips, he would have thought what he’d done didn’t matter. But he understood, too. Her living room was destroyed, and just feet away, the body of her manager rested. People dealt with stress and bad situations differently. Lana refused to look where Damien had fallen, and Snake had found a way to redirect her attention. He’d even taken her out of the room as he called his wife for her. Hawk took the first free breath he’d had in a while. Things weren’t perfect, and there was still plenty of work to do, but at least now he had a direction. Lana grounded him, in the present and future, instead of being trapped in the past, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

“I just think you aren’t cool with the ladies,” Welsh tossed at him.

“I’m going to shoot you, Welsh. Two bodies, a lot of bullets, who’s going to blame me?”

Welsh nodded, a relieved smile on his face. “Welcome back, Hawk. Damn, it’s good to see you.”

Hawk just smiled and hugged his brother to his chest. Hawk might have thought he’d traveled to Montana to save Lana, but she’d saved him instead.

 

 

THE END