Page 65 of What I Should Have Done

“Besides, it wasn’t just you staring. He looked at you differently than I’ve seen him look at anyone else. You challenge him.”

The team needed to get into position to breach, and now. I wasn’t exactly in the mood to talk about something that left me confused and uncertain.

“You don’t get it,” I finally grumbled.

“Ah, so no denial of feelings for him. Then explain what I don’t get. He deserves love, too, so why not just see where things will go?”

“Because that’s not possible.” I clenched my jaw, sliding my left hand beneath the gun and rested it against my right shoulder. Propping the rifle up on my forearm to aid in stability, my eyes zeroed in through the scope on the wooden door waiting to be breached.

“You worried about the higher ups or something? They aren’t gonna give two shits,” Thompson replied, shifting his shoulders with a small crack.

“Maybe not for Mikey. But they would for me. I’m a woman, there’s a lot more ramifications for getting involved with someone for me than there would be for him,” I snarled.

“Only if the rest of the team doesn’t approve.”

“No, even if they approve. The moment it gets out to everyone else that I may possibly be involved with Mikey, my entire reputation in the military will blow up. It will be a living hell for me,” I explained. Though, I knew it wouldn’t do that much good.

“Why are you so concerned with everyone else? I see what you’re saying, but clearly you already have feelings for him and he for you, and it’s not affected either of your two’s abilities to do your job. The only approval you need is your team’s.”

“You’re forgetting one thing, though.” A flash of movement caught my eye, and I swiveled the scope down the road to the left.

“What’s that?” he asked softly. I tracked five shadows that didn’t exist along walls of the adjoining structures. Shadows that if I wasn’t looking for them, I wouldn’t have noticed they were there.

“The fraternization policy. Technically, I’m just a temporary member of this team,” I whispered.

Another slow chuckle that grated through the still air met my ear. “I don’t think you’re going to be temporary. Why else would you have been allowed to be here alone unless they didn’t trust you? They put me up here with you to get me out of the way, not for your safety,” Thompson explained.

My blood ran cold as it hit me. Mikey had tried to explain that once before, but of course it only dawned on me now, as the rest of the team approached their breach point. It only really sunk in as I was watching those five men prepare to enter what could result in their death, how much they did trust me. And from the beginning.

“They’ve arrived,” I whispered to Thompson, alerting him to the next stage of our mission.

“Let it begin,” Thompson eagerly said.

Chapter 23

MIKEY

Critters scurrying through the floorboards were the only sounds exiting the building we were ready to breach. Duncan had traded comms with me earlier, stating it was for the sake of Thompson joining us. I was grateful. That man had literally saved my life as a kid. He was the one to take me in off the streets. He gave me some sense of purpose and an outlet for the anger that still boiled within my soul. Then I’d fallen into the wrong crowd when he left.

The usual green tint from night vision goggles pierced the surrounding darkness that allowed us to work in silence. Dom stood at the front, ready to stealthily breach. The goal was to clear each room with as little noise as possible until we found our final target.

Cracking my neck softly, I tucked the rifle into my right shoulder as Dom snaked his hand forward and pulled open the door.

As silent as ghosts that were never here, we slipped through the doorway. Ford followed Bernie to the room on the right as Dom went left. Duncan and I stalked silently down the hallway and to the next room on the left.

Nothing but cobwebs and dust met my scan of the room. Old dressers, rugs in need of a good vacuuming turned ragged beneath the scorching heat of desert sun. Whatever family had once lived here, was long gone.

A shiver ran up my spine. We’d breached a building not too dissimilar from this one before. Though this was much smaller, and only two levels, there was a part of me excited to meet our target in such a short amount of time.

Duncan’s hand tapped my shoulder, and I backed out of the room with him in lead. Spinning on my heels, not even the cracked wood beneath my feet creaked as we tread silently into the abandoned kitchen at the end of the hallway. Not a speckle of starlight pierced the windows draped in old fabric. Once rich colors were as dull as the rest of the hollowness surrounding us.

A couple broken pottery dishes lined a counter. Not a single fingerprint or sweep of a broom disrupted the sand that had settled in this condemned home. Bathed in shadows, I crept toward the scuffed table and quickly cleared beneath the wood that threatened to cave in with the slightest shift in weight.

Nothing.

Sweeping back out of the room with Duncan, we met back up with the rest of the team at the base of the stairs. My heart pounded in my chest. Sweat seeped from every pore. Stabbing adrenaline itching to be released rested just beneath my skin. Yet not a sign another living human being had set foot in this house had been revealed. My fingers ached to deal some devastating blows. We’d had enough losses lately.

With a nod of his head, Dom took the first step. Ford followed next with Bernie hooked on his arm. Duncan brought up the rear as we twisted up the wooden staircase. Dom disappeared around the bend first. Silence still. Not a shot fired. Not a groan or snap of bones crunching beneath hands.

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