When Ruckus opened his eyes the next morning, he and Dana were tangled up in the sheets and in each other. His heart simply turned over when he looked at her. This was the strangest op he’d ever been on. Last night had been wild and full of her luscious skin and soft cries. It was hard to believe that they were now on his floor after she threw a fit about the view. The hotel accommodated them. Hours away from the completion of his mission. As soon as Salazar was in custody, she would be getting on a plane back to San Diego.

He immediately rejected that thought. He didn’t want to be one inch away from her let alone thousands of miles. But this was it. The end of the road for both of them. This wild journey through the jungle that had dumped them into paradise at the outskirts of Panama City was over. He didn’t want to think about this anymore. He didn’t want to ache like this and he certainly didn’t want to say anything he would regret. He wasn’t the in-the-heat-of-the-moment guy and he never admitted to anything first. It was as if he needed that safety net.

The major had made it clear. She could accompany him as soon as they had Salazar bagged, but then after a quick debrief, she would be out of SEAL and Navy business. He slipped out of bed and into the shower. Dressing in dark pants and a T-shirt, he layered the palm tree shirt over it, tucking his 9mm into the holster at the small of his back. Salazar was traveling with bodyguards, but Ruckus was sure he could take them out.

He checked the pistol, racked the slide and chambered a round. He smiled softly thinking about Dana in the tent, her hand around the grip. How she had proudly said that she knew a round was a bullet.

He braced his back against the bathroom door and took her in, his gaze sliding up from the tips of her delicate toes, to those rounded calves, to the long stretch of mouth-watering leg, to the nipped in slender waist, over the beautiful globe of a breast tipped with a blush pink nipple, a column of pretty neck to the features of her arresting face.

Her dark hair was a tousled, tangled mess and his hands itched to bury themselves deeply in the silky mass. Damn but his heart ached all over again.

He hoped that she heard his words about her mom. She was too much of a vibrant person to give up so much of her life to slog around in the muck and nastiness of the dark side of the world. She ought to think about being happy. That’s what he wanted for her.

But what did he want for himself? What was his next step now that she had opened his eyes about his dad and how Bowie’s hatred, resentment and inability to forgive him kept him shackled?

But how could he forgive the man who had made him into what he was today, scarred, wrecked, damaged inside. He’d been incapable of letting go of any of that in his past. Yet, his relationship with Dana was solid, he was lost in this woman and had no idea how to get himself out, to save himself.

Not even sure he wanted to be saved at all.

She stirred and he moved back to the bed. She opened her eyes and turned her head automatically seeking him. Reaching out, she wrapped her hand around his wrist. “You’re already locked and loaded?”

“You know it, babe. It’s end game time, and I want you to get yourself dolled up. We’re going to discover where his room is. You up for that?”

She rose, leaving her body bare to his eyes and he ran his hands over her before he could stop himself. She made a soft sound and on her knees walked across the mattress and into his arms. He held her, stroking down her spine, the skin of her back soft, the muscles beneath firm.

“How can I not want this to end,” she whispered. “It’s been one of the most harrowing times of my life. I should want to go home.”

He closed his eyes and crushed her closer. “Don’t. We both know how this is going to end. There’s no need to make it any harder than it is.”

She reared back and looked him in the eyes for a long minute. “It is hard, isn’t it, Bowie?”

“Yes,” he ground out as he kissed her mouth, squeezing his eyes tightly closed.

She clung to him, and he held her tenderly, his heart feeling ripped from his chest. This was so damned unexpected. After Mary Jo, he had vowed he couldn’t do this to himself again. He had been the worst husband, a bastard of a partner. He’d hurt her, and he realized that now. Hurt her hard with his inability to open up himself to even the smallest chance that he could get hurt. With Dana, she terrified him, and he couldn’t shake the feeling that he really was that person, the one who couldn’t sustain any type of relationship outside the SEALs.

Was he falling for this woman? He was pretty sure he was. She was a dynamo, brave, smart, resourceful, fit, and kept up with him. There weren’t many women who would have reacted the way she had out there in the jungle. Not when he’d had to take down all those CLP guys and when he’d had to cross that river twice, fight alligators, fight for their lives.

He wanted her, but it was completely impossible.

So he took his time, tenderly holding her naked body against him, generating memories of her that he could revisit when he needed something good in his life to remember. There was no way he could ever forget her.

He let her go and said softly, “Get going, babe. We have a mission to complete.” He slapped her on her shapely butt as she slipped off the bed and sauntered her sexy-ass beauty into the bathroom and closed the door.

His dick was hard as a rock, but he wasn’t going to act on his baser needs. The sex was nothing compared to her smart mouth and her even smarter brain. He wanted more for her, and he just wasn’t enough.

She deserved more.

After she came out dressed in a pair of white capri pants and a flowered top, the wig firmly in place, he took her arm and they exited the hotel room. They would be checking out today. All he had to do was get Salazar out of here, down to the parking deck and into the trunk of the sedan where he would call in his team. They would all rendezvous at the airport and take their chartered flight back to the Annenberg. Dana would come with them for a quick debrief, and then she would be free to go back to San Diego.

It was about eight when they exited their room. This was when breakfast dishes would most likely either be delivered or picked up. Housekeeping was at the head of the hall.

“If you spot him, note the room and keep on walking. Be careful.”

“Yes, Dad. I’ll be extra careful.”

“Smart-ass,” he growled.

Dana walked one way and he walked the other. She was so natural at this he wondered if she was even minutely scared.

As he walked, people were emerging from their rooms, some dressed for the beach or pool, some for a day of shopping, others looking like they were going for a late breakfast or brunch.

By the time he got to the end of the hallway, it was clear that either Salazar hadn’t emerged or that he was in Dana’s territory.

“I found him. A big guy in a black suit set the breakfast dishes outside.” She named the room and they walked briskly toward it. She looked at him, and he pulled out his weapon, then nodded. “Housekeeping,” she said. A few minutes later the door opened and Ruckus shoved the gun in the man’s face while Dana put the “Do Not Disturb” sign on the door as it closed behind them.

He pulled back his fist and slammed it into the man’s face. He flew backwards into the wall, slid down and was still. Another bodyguard came out of the suite and Ruckus brandished his weapon. The man stopped in his tracks. With the butt end of the gun, he took care of him and he was also down for the count.

“What is going on out there?”

At the sound of Salazar’s voice, Dana stiffened.

“What is the meaning of—”

“Shut up,” Ruckus said as Salazar took in his unconscious bodyguards. His attention swung to Ruckus.

Before he could say anything, Dana pulled off the wig and shoved Salazar in the chest. “Where are my memory cards, you son of a bitch?”

“Dana,” he said, his voice way too familiar, the purr of it putting Ruckus on edge.

Then Ruckus flex cuffed the two guards and they all crowded into Salazar’s bedroom.

He watched Dana much too closely as she rummaged through his things. “I’d be happy to return them to you if you’d accompany me back to the stronghold.”

She turned and hissed at him, “I wouldn’t go across the street with you. Where are they?”

“In a safe place,” he murmured.

She cried out in frustration, but he only smirked not seeming at all worried. “Can you search him?” she asked Ruckus and he realized that she was afraid of him, of touching him. A kernel of anger flared inside him.

Salazar’s focus switched to Ruckus and his eyes narrowed. “Ah, she had her own personal hero. Special ops I’d presume. SEAL?”

Ruckus didn’t respond, just handed Dana the gun and walked up to the bastard and searched his body.

He turned to her, and her face twisted in anger and disgust. Before he could stop her, she shoved the gun into Salazar’s face and said between gritted teeth. “Where are they? I want them back.”

He stood close to her, understood now why she was acting this way, confronting this man who had terrorized her. “Easy,” he said, wrapping his hand around hers on the grip.

“You’re not going to kill me, Dana. You don’t have it in you to shoot an unarmed man in cold blood.”

She stared at him, the underlying fear of him making her edgy. With a soft cry, she relinquished the gun to Ruckus and turned away, working on composing herself.

Ruckus put the gun back up to Salazar’s face. “She might not kill you in cold blood, Salazar, but I, on the other hand, won’t have a problem. I’ll sleep like a baby tonight dreaming of castles in the sky and unicorns.”

For the first time since he’d entered the room, Salazar blinked. He glanced over at Dana and then back at him. “Ah, so that’s the way it goes. How is she? After I’ve had her, we should compare notes.”

Ruckus knew this ploy, and he wasn’t going to rise to the bait. He pressed the muzzle of the pistol to his head and gave it another small push. “Time is running out.”

Salazar looked into Ruckus’s eyes and his widened slightly, then his mouth tightened. “All right. They’re at my stronghold. We’ll have to go back there.”

Dana made a soft, distressed sound and turned to look at Ruckus. “Not on your life, Salazar. You have a one-way ticket to DC. There’s a chopper waiting at the airport. That’s where you’re going.”

Salazar gave Dana a mock apologetic look and said, “Sorry, babe, looks like you lose.”

She marched up to him and slapped him across the face.

Ruckus looked at his watch. “We’ve got to move.” He grabbed Salazar’s arm and dragged him to the front door. “If you so much as peep, you’re going to be the first one to die.”

“I’m a busy man. I don’t have time for this,” he said nonchalantly as if he was talking to his secretary.

Ruckus put the gun in his back and they exited the room. At the elevator, Dana pushed the button for the garage. It came up empty, and they got inside. As it started to descend, Salazar reached out and slid his finger down her arm. She jerked away, her eyes filled with anger and revulsion.

Salazar just laughed. Ruckus wanted just five minutes with this guy to show him what it meant to treat a lady. Everything from his childhood rose up, and he grabbed Salazar’s neck and pinned him to the back of the elevator. His hand tightening until Salazar’s face went red.

“No, don’t. It’s not worth it. He’s just pushing your buttons. That’s what he does.”

Breathing hard, Ruckus backed off and with one slam said, “Don’t touch her again.”

When the elevator dinged the garage level, Ruckus shoved Salazar out into the close air, smelling of gasoline and tires. He stumbled a bit and then righted himself. Adjusting his suit coat, he gave Ruckus a nasty look.

Ruckus shoved him again, and he started moving toward the sedan. The comm in his ear came to life.

“LT? We on track?”

“Yeah, package is secured. Rendezvous in ten.”

“Copy that.”

They snaked among the cars until they made it to the sedan. Ruckus pushed the key lock and the trunk lid popped open.

Then someone shouted, “Salazar! Where the hell are you going?”

It was Nunez, and it looked like he had the buyers with him. He was walking away from a black SUV with several other men. As soon as they saw Ruckus’s gun, they were reaching for their own. Gunfire erupted. Ruckus grabbed Dana’s arm and dragged her behind the car as bullets peppered the vehicles around them. The back windshield shattered, raining glass all over them.

“We’re under fire,” he screamed into the mic. Get your asses here, now. Salazar is in the wind.”

“We’re on our way, LT. Hang on.”

Automatic weapons against a nine mil wasn’t going to cut it, but his M4 was still disassembled in the pack in the back seat of the car along with their suitcases and Dana’s pack. He needed his team and their firepower yesterday.

“Come on, guys!” He turned to find Dana looking crestfallen and angry at the same time. Fear made her eyes wide. He popped up and returned fire.

“We can’t let him get away.” She slipped away from him and disappeared around the front of the car.

“Dana,” he hissed. “No!”

“Be advised, cupcake in the line of fire. Cupcake in the line of fire.” Son of a bitch! He couldn’t lose her. He should be concerned about bagging his HVT, but he could care less about the guy right now. He wanted Dana out of immediate danger. He moved and saw that she had Salazar in sight. He was crouching behind a car. It wouldn’t be long before he would run to his buyer buddies and this was going to get even uglier.

When Salazar went to take off, she tackled him to the pavement, slamming his face into the concrete.

He came up behind her and pulled her off, grabbing Salazar by the arm and dragging him up from the ground. He forced him behind a bank of cars and said, “If you run again, I’ll put a bullet in you.”

Then someone ran around one of the cars and before Ruckus could return fire, the guy pulled the trigger. Ruckus jumped in front of Dana and a bullet slammed into his arm. Then Salazar grabbed her and shouted, “Kill him!”

Salazar pulled her with him as the armed guy turned to him. He had him dead to rights and there was no way he could raise his wounded arm in time to kill him.

Then the sound of a vehicle’s heavy engine roared into the garage and the vehicle slammed into him. Ruckus’s gut clenched and he pushed up off the ground as Kid in full battle dress came running over. “LT’s been hit.”

“Don’t worry about me. Dana,” he said.

Cowboy helped him up and they hustled him over to the vehicle as sirens sounded in the distance. The cops couldn’t catch them. “Go,” he said.

“Where?”

“The airport. He knows we have the chopper there. Fast.”

As Tank put the Hummer into gear, he said, “Hang on.” He drove out of the parking garage, and made a sharp left onto the highway while Blue ripped his sleeve and tended to his wound. “A through and through,” he said.

Ruckus didn’t give a damn about his arm or Salazar, he wanted Dana back.

Kid, his face shadowed, in full SEAL mode growled, “We’re getting her back and we’re getting Salazar. No matter what it takes.”

“Hoo-yah!” Tank said, hitting the gas as the Hummer jumped into a higher speed. Scarecrow, Wicked, and the rest of them murmured their affirmatives. Ruckus couldn’t imagine a better damn team to go in and get her out of there. He had no illusions that Salazar wouldn’t go back to his stronghold, his little slice of American pie and his gut clenched. Salazar wanted Dana, he wanted her against her will. The bastard fed on a woman’s fear and everything from his childhood rushed up like an oily, sick wave of despair. God, he’d hated his father, that anger had fueled him for so many years. How could he let it go? It seemed to be a part of him, what ran his machine. Would he even be an effective SEAL without it? Could he let it go, and would it be the best thing for him?

Being a SEAL was the only thing he’d ever done right, up until right now. He’d let her down, hadn’t been able to deliver her memory cards to her. Salazar was most likely lying to her.

The Hummer hit the airport, and Tank stopped at the gate, he’d already received clearance. The guard eyed them, but let them through.

When they pulled up, Salazar and his group of thugs were running for the chopper with Dana in tow. She was fighting every step of the way until Salazar punched her in the face, and she went limp.

Ruckus roared and broke into an all-out sprint, but the rotor blades were already turning and Nunez open fired. Kid hit Ruckus from behind taking him down, avoiding the barrage of bullets whizzing in the heated air.

When he looked up, he saw Dana’s pale face, her eyes closed and slumped over Salazar’s lap. He laughed and pointed an imaginary gun at Ruckus and pulled the trigger. Ruckus shook Kid off and was up and running again, but it was too late. As his gut churned, the chopper lifted up into the impossibly blue sky, banking to the left. The pilot gunned the engine and it shot off toward the jungle, back into the Darién Gap.

Ruckus just stared at the disappearing bird. This couldn’t be happening. He could do unspeakable things to her before Ruckus could get there in time. Then rotors beating the air sounded behind him. When he whipped around, Kid was in the driver’s seat. He set the bird down.

“Need a lift,” he shouted and all the SEALs grabbed the gear and packs out of the Hummer and sedan, piling inside. Tank muscled Kid over. Tank said, “I’ll fly it. I don’t trust you to make a straight line. No loop-de-loops for us.”

“Hey, we’ve got a babe to save and a package to deliver. I know my priorities.”

“Where did you get this bird?”

“It was just hanging around, fully fueled and we’re just borrowing it, right? No harm in a little borrow.”

Blue shook his head and said, “It’s outright stealing, Kid. Good job!”

Ruckus’s attention was on Dana. He had to get to her before it was too late. The chopper whizzed over the trees, Tank’s sure, confident hands guiding the controls. “Where do you want to put down, LT? That place is going to be crawling with tangos. We’ve got our work cut out for us.”

“As close as possible, Tank. It’s not going to be a secret we’re coming. But I’m not leaving without her.”

“And, the package,” Scarecrow said, his report to the brass shouted into the radio.

Ruckus’s eyes narrowed and he let out a breath.

“Oh, damn, some shit is going to go down,” Kid said. “Maybe you should let us handle the package.”

“Sure,” Ruckus said. “You can pick up the pieces after I’m done with him.”

All the guys exchanged glances. Their mission from the beginning had been to secure Salazar, bring him to the Annenberg, get him to DC. Get justice for the men and women he’d killed, but he’d lost that perspective. Dana was all that was important to him at this point. Much more important than a drug dealing, murdering scum. He would save her. He had to save her.

He didn’t want to analyze why because that would be counterproductive. He just knew that he wouldn’t survive if something happened to her. He didn’t want to survive.

He’d use all his training, all his skills, all his authority to make it happen. If he was too late, Salazar would irreparably hurt Dana. She’d never be the same woman. She’d be broken, bitter, scarred just like him, and he couldn’t bear it.

The chopper flew over the stronghold, the men below them looking up. Cowboy fired up the 50 cal and they all scattered. They were coming in hot and there was no way he was leaving without her.

No goddamned way.