Chapter Twelve
Shit.
Lanie watched Jesse go, her heart lodged somewhere in her throat, thundering with a noxious mixed of adrenaline and terror. He was going to get himself killed.
“Shit,” she said again, out loud this time, because one time didn’t seem to be enough. She whirled on Claire. “Tell me everything. Fast.”
The woman shook her head. Her blue eyes were too big, glassy with shock. “I-I don’t know anything.”
Yeah, she did, but she wasn’t sharing. Standing around trying to get her to talk was only wasting precious seconds Lanie couldn’t afford. “Stay here. You’ll be safe here.”
She didn’t wait for an answer and sprinted back into the bedroom for her phone and the little bit of gear she hadn’t left on the plane. Didn’t amount to much—a multi-tool, a small set of field binoculars, and a folding knife. She knew Ian and Seth had both opted for the cabanas rather than the main hotel like she had, so she sent them both an SOS text and told them to bring any gear they had. Praying neither of them had shut off their phones for the night, she then dialed the one person who might be able to help them, and bolted after Jesse before she heard the first ring.
Tucker Quentin answered before the end of the second. “Lanie?” There was concern in his voice, and it sounded genuine even though she’d only met the man once before. With the massive number of people he employed, she figured he’d have no idea who she was. “Is everything okay?”
“I’m sorry to bother you, sir.” She veered off the path and dodged through a small stand of palm trees to get to the beach faster. “I thought you should know your hotel’s under attack.”
A beat of silence. In that beat, she sensed his mood change from puzzled concern to barely controlled anger. She could all but feel the chill of it radiate over the line.
“Details,” he demanded.
“I don’t have any yet. Or not many. It’s the main building. Half of HORNET is inside. The recruits, too.” Once on the beach, she paused, looking for any sign of Jesse, and saw Seth and Ian running toward her. Ian must have left his dog, Tank, behind. She also spotted footprints in the sand headed toward the hotel. “Jesse’s son is inside.”
Tuc cursed. “Tell me he’s not about to do something stupid.”
“I can’t, sir.”
“And he’s supposed to be the level-headed one,” Tuc muttered.
Some of her own banked anger ignited at that comment. Even though she agreed Jesse was making all the wrong moves right now, she was compelled to defend him anyway. “Would you keep your cool if it was your kid in danger?”
“I don’t have a kid,” Tuc said after another beat. “But, no. You’re right. Where’s my hotel security?”
“I don’t know.”
“Are you armed?”
“Does a pocket knife and multi-tool count as armed?”
“Fuck me.” Tuc said nothing again for a beat, but there was a lot of movement in the background. Whatever he was doing, he was moving fast. “There should be a small stash of arms in the security center down the north hallway off the lobby. I’ll send you the blueprints. My men and I are en route, but we’re five hours out, at least. We’ll use the flight time for intel gathering and send you whatever we find. I’ll also do everything in my power to get men there sooner. In the meantime, I’m trusting you to keep my guys from ending up dead.”
Lanie huffed out a laugh that was more disbelief than amusement. “That’s a tall order with this group.”
Tuc sighed. “Don’t I know it.”
Tuc hung up just as Seth and Ian reached her. They were both carrying backpacks, and she hoped they had more gear than she did.
“The fuck?” Ian said. Concise with words, as always.
Seth translated, “Got your SOS. What’s happening?”
Lanie slid her phone into the back pocket of her shorts and gave them a quick rundown, ending with, “…and he’s gone after Connor.”
“Oh, Christ. Not again.” Seth walked several paces away and stared out over the water, his shoulders slumping.
“Hey, Hero,” Ian called. “You solid?”
Seth’s spine straightened. He rubbed at his face with one hand, then came back. “Yeah, I’m good now. Bad memories. Bad moment.”
Ian gave his shoulder a squeeze. “That’s not happening again. You’re not losing another team tonight.”
“Damn right. So.” Seth lifted his gaze to Lanie’s. “How do we stop this from going sideways?”
She froze, surprised he was looking to her for a plan, but recovered fast. “First thing, we need to stop Jesse. He’s not going to help anyone if he gets himself taken hostage or killed.”
Seth nodded. “We better move, then. He’s already got a hell of a head start on us.”
…
The hotel’s main building had once been a plantation house. With its wide galleries on each floor and steeply pitched red roof, it looked like it had been plucked from Louisiana and dropped in the Caribbean. Each of the many outbuildings and cabanas had been designed to reflect that same Old World Creole charm, but the main L-shaped building stood out as an architectural jewel among the palms.
And right now, it was as quiet as a tomb.
Jesse slowed to a walk as he neared the edge of the property, then stopped altogether and dropped behind a dune on the beach. From his position, he could see part of the long arm of the building, and the tip of the shorter side of the L, where the lobby overlooked the beach. In the middle sat the pool and the fire pits, all dark.
Jesus, what was he doing? Charging in without weapons, intel, or a plan was nothing short of suicide.
He noticed movement on one of the terraces. Squinting, he could barely make out three figures moving from room to room. More shadows joined them on the terrace, streaming out of the French doors in each room. Friendlies or not? Were the three initial shadows taking hostages or staging a silent rescue? He had no way of knowing and wished like hell he had some NVGs.
He sensed movement behind him, and every muscle in his body bunched, preparing for a fight—until the familiar scent of berries reached his nose on the salted ocean breeze.
Lanie.
She’d caught up to him. Dammit. Now not only was his son in danger, but he’d led her right into the line of fire, too. He didn’t move, didn’t even glance in her direction until she flattened out on the sand beside him.
“You should’ve stayed with Claire,” he said under his breath.
“Claire’s safe. You’re not,” she shot back in a whisper. “And I brought back up.”
As she said it, two other bodies joined them behind the dune: Seth on his left, and Ian on Lanie’s right. Great. A sniper without a rifle, who was so damaged he struggled to function most days, and a psychopathic bomb tech.
Some back up.
Okay, that wasn’t an entirely fair assessment. Of Seth, at least. Ian absolutely was a pyscho, and there was no help for him. But Seth? He was a good man and a world-class sniper. Jesse just couldn’t shake his initial reservations about the guy—but he was also self-aware enough to realize those lingering doubts were more a reflection of his own weaknesses than Seth’s.
He liked Seth and the rest of the team—even Ian to some extent. In fact, he liked them all too much, far more than he’d wanted to care about any of them when he first started with HORNET. He couldn’t separate himself from these guys like he’d been able to do in Delta Force—and God knew he’d tried. As a medic, he’d always had to keep a clinical eye on things, part of him afraid that if he got too close to the guys he treated, he’d be unable to do his job when the situation called for a level head. If something happened to Seth because his PTSD got the best of him during this op, would he be able to save the sniper’s life? Or any of their lives, if the situation called for it? He honestly didn’t know and the doubt was eating him alive. What if he wasn’t good enough anymore and one of these men—his friends—died because of it? What if Lanie died because of it? Or Connor?
His hands broke out into a cold sweat. He turned just enough to see Lanie’s profile. “I’m sorry I lost my head. You were right. We should pull back, come up with a plan. Goin’ in like this is gonna get someone killed.”
“Yeah, well, we’re here now,” she said tightly, still not meeting his gaze. She lifted a small pair of field glasses to her eyes. “And going on the offensive isn’t an entirely bad idea. If we’re lucky, they’re still trying to sort out the confusion and wrangle hostages. We have the element of surprise. Besides, I called Tuc, told him what was going on, and he said there’s a room full of arms in one of the hallways off the lobby. We’ll need that firepower if we have any chance at saving our guys. So what’s the plan, cowboy?”
Jesse felt his jaw hit the ground. He tried to find a reply but all he could think was, Dayam, girl. And, shit, she’d been right about something else, too. He’d severely misused her skills during the training mission out of some misguided urge to protect her.
When he didn’t respond, she sent him a sidelong glance. “Tell me you have a plan.”
He hadn’t, but with the new intel, one was starting to form. “Part of a plan.”
She sighed softly, shook her head, and lifted the binoculars again. “I can’t tell for sure, but I think those people on the second floor terrace are our guys. Looks like they’re getting as many guests out as possible. We should clear the closest outbuildings.” She indicated to the two buildings closest to the lobby. “We don’t want to give them any more hostages than they already have.”
“One of those is the fitness club,” Ian said. “I was there earlier. This late, it’s probably empty.”
“The other’s a restaurant,” Seth added. “Phoebe and I had a reservation for tomorrow night.”
“That’s a lucky break,” Jesse said. “There’s somethin’ like fifty buildings on this property. If they have the manpower to clear them all, we’re fucked, but I’m thinkin’ not. I’m thinkin’ they’re gonna focus all of their attention on the lobby and the rooms in the attached wings, so that’s where you need to focus, too. If Lanie’s right and those are our guys out there, you should go help them clear out the hostages.”
Lanie scowled. “And what about you?”
“My only priority right now is Connor. I’m goin’ to the fourth floor.”