Page 113 of Caught in the Crossfire

Although he longed to race for the campground to rescue his bride, Mason’s lips curved. “I won’t be happy about that, either, sir. I have plans.” Ones involving a certain beautiful blond with a heart she’d entrusted to him. He refused to let her down.

“As dangerous as this operation is likely to be, I can’t let you go into that camp armed except for the knife.”

“Fisher and Patton aren’t stupid,” Linc said. “They’ll check him for weapons and confiscate whatever they find.”

“Then it’s better they find one I can explain to the authorities.” Ethan squeezed Mason’s shoulder. “We’ll free Nicole and Dawn, but the price might be high.”

Fisher and Patton had made the choice to kidnap two innocent women in a bid for revenge against Mason for an unknown offense. “As long as Nicole and Dawn are safe, I’ll deal with the fallout.”

Josh opened the door. “I’ll meet you at PSI.” With that, he left the office.

Linc straightened from the wall. “Time for us to go, Mase. Need anything else for the moment, Ethan?”

“I have a few things to do here. Don’t start the planning session without me.”

With a nod to acknowledge the order, Linc led the way from the police station. “You might not be able to carry weapons, but you should have protection. I have a couple of things in mind. We have what you need in the weapons vaults at PSI.”

Mason paused in the act of fastening his seatbelt. “PSI has vaults?”

Although worry filled his eyes, Linc smiled. “Rio hasn’t shown you our toys? You’re in for a treat.”

Despite his interest in seeing the vaults, Mason wanted to insist Linc find the campground and mount an assault to rescue the women. He longed to hold Nicole in his arms again. If anything happened to her, Mason’s life was over. She was everything to him.

Linc drove up to the gate at PSI and swiped his card across the reader. The iron gates slowly swung open. He parked in the employee lot behind the main building. After passing through another two security measures, they entered the building.

“This way.” Linc led Mason along a long, dimly-lit hallway to an alcove tucked into a dead-end corridor, then pressed a series of places on a blank wall.

To Mason’s surprise, the wall slid away to reveal a large vault. After entering a security code, Linc opened the heavy steel door.

“Behold the toy box,” Linc murmured. “Forget you saw this.”

He walked inside and scanned the huge room lined with weapons and body armor as well as cabinets and drawers. “Wow. Do I want to know how many weapons are stored here?”

“No.”

He wandered from one wall to the next. Frowning, he considered how many students filled the dorms and the weaponry routinely used by Fortress operatives on missions. The weapons in this room weren’t enough to supply the needs of Durango and Bravo. “This isn’t the only vault on campus, is it?”

Linc smiled.

“That’s what I thought. With the Fortress teams in residence plus more than one hundred bodyguard trainees in each cohort, this weapons supply wouldn’t be enough.” He glanced at Linc. “How often do you go on missions?”

“When Maddox needs me. Most of the time, I’m needed here more than in the field.”

“Dawn knows you could deploy?”

“She knows.”

“She’s okay with it?”

“Not your business, Mase.”

He held up his hand. “Fair point, but I don’t want to see her hurt. What equipment did you have in mind for me?”

Linc moved to the right side of the room and selected a vest. “Put this on over your shirt.”

Surprised at the weight of the vest, he slipped it on over his chest. “It’s heavier than I thought it would be.”

“I don’t notice it anymore.” Linc helped him with the straps and tossed a black t-shirt and black camouflage pants to him. “Put those on. Your white shirt will stand out like a beacon.”

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