Page 56 of Peace Under Fire

“Okay. Fine.” She released a deep, labored sigh to show her reservations. “So, rule one, we’re traipsing through my home during the middle of the night—”

Jacob snorted. “We haven’t even started on the rules yet.”

Great. Just great. He was back to sounding bossy and arrogant again.

“Rule one, you do what I tell you to do, when I tell you to do it.”

Of course, that was rule one. Go, mister bossy macho man.

“No arguing. No stalling. No ignoring. Just instant obedience. I know that sounds dictatorial, but there’s a reason behind this rule. In the field, the slightest hesitation can mean death. Your death. My death. The team’s death. Even your sister’s death.” He paused, studying her face as if making sure she understood what he was telling her. “If I tell you to do something, there is a reason for it. A good reason.” He paused again, the silence stretching longer than before. “Do you understand?”

Her sigh this time was without the theatrics. “I understand.”

Yeah, she got it. And she couldn’t fault him for this rule. He was just trying to keep her alive, to keep them all safe.

“Rule number two,” he continued after another scan of her face. “You stay by my side, or Brick’s side, unless one of us tells you otherwise. No wandering off.”

Okay. That seemed fair and easy enough to follow. Particularly since she didn’t want to end up on her own. Not with the cockroaches after her. “Can I have your extra gun?”

He cocked his head and watched her steadily. “Do you know how to use it?”

“No,” she admitted grudgingly.

In retrospect, that was a terrible miscalculation. Giulia had even tried to teach her gun safety and target practice. But she’d been too busy with her daydreaming and reading, and the secret romance novel she’d been whittling away at. Besides, she’d felt safe, protected. She’d been so certain nobody would get past Kaylee’s safety protocols that she’d never felt the need to learn how to protect herself.

“You could teach me, couldn’t you?” When he simply shook his head, her gaze flickered to Brick. “Or you could.”

“There isn’t time,” Jacob said. “We’re headed directly to your compound after we disembark. There won’t be time for lessons. A gun in untrained hands is too dangerous, particularly during an operation like this. If you panicked and pulled the trigger without thought, without paying attention to where the weapon was pointing, you could kill one of Tex’s men, or me. Or Brick. We can’t chance that.”

Right. She offered up a shaky smile. “I get it.”

He tilted his head and studied her face intently. “How about this. I’ll give you some basic instructions when we land. After that, if things go south, and it’s necessary, I’ll give you a gun.”

“Deal.” As compromises went, that was a better offer than she’d been expecting. She almost stuck out her hand to shake on it but caught herself and trapped her fingers between her thighs instead. Man—she was a spaz sometimes.

“One other thing,” Jacob said, a dark look settling across his face. “There’s a guy waiting for us down there by the name of Gray Winters. Stay away from him.” The dark look intensified. “I’ll run interference for you, but if we get separated, try to avoid him.”

The breath Brick sucked in sounded startled. “Winters? You’re talking about Gray Winters? Nostradamus? What the hell, man? The dude’s solid. Is there something I need to know?”

Jacob shot him an annoyed glance. “I’m not talking about his rep as an operator.”

“You mean the reputation where the dude saves his teammates’ asses on a regular basis? I would have killed to have Gray with us that night—” He broke off, taking a tight breath. “Point is, the Winters brothers are straight arrows.”

The dark expression on Jacob’s face intensified. “I’m not talking about his experience as an operator. Or even his uncanny ability to know exactly when and how things are going to go south during an op. The dude’s a player. That’s all I’m saying.”

Brick’s eyebrows merged with his hairline. “Are we talking about the same guy? Tall? Brown hair? Green eyes? Built like a machine? Serious as an RPG blast? Fuck, man, Gray’s as far from a player as I am.”

Mandy’s curiosity spiked as she looked back and forth between the two men. They called this Gray person Nostradamus? He had the ability to know when things were going to go south? And—good God—it sounded like his friends actually believed him.

Before Jacob had a chance to respond, the male voice from earlier began speaking over the loudspeaker. “We’re beginning our descent into Sandpoint. Please stow all bags and electronic equipment and make sure your seatbelts are secure.”

The plane’s nose dipped, and the cabin took on a distinct slope downward. The rumbling and vibrations surrounding her intensified.

Mandy leaned into the window, watching as the landscape below became more and more defined. In the distance was the shimmer of water as moonlight glossed Lake Pend Oreille’s massive girth. A shadowy ocean of snow-flocked trees stretched between mountains, lakes, and rivers. Periodic houses, lit up like flares, came into view.

In the distance, yellow torchlights bordered a narrow ribbon of black pavement frosted with white. The torch lights and tarmac grew closer and then the jet touched down. Yellow lights streamed past Mandy’s window. The plane slowed, then made an awkward turn onto a secondary, much shorter ribbon of white-flecked pavement. In the distance, streetlamps haloed a collection of corrugated steel buildings and huge piles of snow. Two large SUVs sat in front of the two biggest buildings.

“Looks like our welcoming committee is waiting for us,” Jacob said, staring out his own window.

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