Page 82 of Savage Escape

“Fine.” Caden folded her arms and sat back, not at all pleased with how things were shaking out.

“You get to play with explosives on the distraction team,” Maddox offered from his position across from Jackson.

Caden’s interest piqued momentarily, despite her frustration. “Explosives, huh?”

“Fuck yeah,” Maddox said with a broad smile.

“So what’s the plan?” Kade spoke up from his spot across from Caden.

Jackson shifted his attention back to the maps, tracing a route with his finger. “We’re hitting two points simultaneously. Extraction team goes in from the east, where security is thinner. Distraction team will hit the west side, drawing as much attention as possible. Explosives, smoke, loud noises—whatever we can use to create chaos.”

Holden leaned back, cracking his knuckles. “Got it. How long do we have?”

“Twenty minutes from the time we breach to get Nate and get out,” Jackson said, scowling at everyone present. “No mistakes. No deviations.”

The dry grasscrunched beneath her feet as they advanced on the east side. Holden was on her six and Jackson was in front of her. Her pack was heavy with explosives. The blue light of the very early morning put everything in shadow and gave her a sense of ease that they wouldn’t be easily spotted.

Setting up the explosives took a hot minute, but she was on schedule. Setting up the timer was the tricky part. They had to be synchronized if this was going to work.

She glanced up at Jackson, who was busy securing the charges to the gate, his face set in a determined expression. Holden was still at her six, keeping watch for any signs of movement from the compound. The tension in the air was palpable.

With a deep breath, she began setting the timers, her fingers working quickly yet carefully. As she finished setting the first timer, she double-checked it, then moved to the next one.

“How are we looking?” Jackson whispered, his voice barely audible.

“Almost there,” she replied, adjusting the final timer. “Just need to sync them all up.”

Holden glanced back, his eyes narrowed with concern. “Dawn’s coming, and we can’t afford to get caught in the open.”

Caden nodded, her hands steady despite the adrenaline surging through her. She synced the last timer and stepped back, giving a quick thumbs-up to Jackson. He nodded in return and gestured for them to retreat.

A little niggling thought in the back of her mind, Caden had the sudden urge to look under the building. She squatted where she stood and carefully shined her flashlight under the building.

“Caden, what are you doing?” Jackson’s voice was quiet and angry.

Explosives upon explosives were attached to the foundation of the building.

Adrenaline spiked in her blood and she was on her feet before she realized she was moving. The blast range was going to be much bigger—they wouldn’t have enough time to get far enough away.

“Run!” Caden hissed, waving her arms as she ran. Jackson stared at her blankly, but Holden ran without a second thought. “Run!” How much clearer could she be? What the hell was his problem with just staring at her?

Finally, he moved, but not fast enough.

“Jackson, run! Goddamn it!” Caden yelled this time. The dry grass crunched beneath her feet and she was running with abandon now. She checked her watch. Five seconds to get to safety.

Five.

They weren’t out of the blast radius. If she got Nathan’s brothers killed, she could never face him again. Shit, she should have checked it before putting up the charges.

Four.

She cleared a bush and then a rock, but tripped when a hole in the ground caught her ankle. Holden picked her up and put her back on her feet, and they were off again.

Three.

Jackson was a good ten feet behind them. He wasn’t going to make it in time. The blast would hit him. Hell, theyallweren’t going to make it in time. The blast was going to hit them all.

Two.

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