Page 34 of Hold Me Before You Go

“Roger that,” he muttered.

I looked straight ahead again, my eyes on the prison sitting in the middle of a field while Ash went over the plan, the sun shining down on the cluster of red-bricked buildings. He’d be leading, Hayes covering his six, Jake behind him, and I’d be in the back, just in case we’d needed to tie up loose ends. All of us, except for Dominic, were dressed in full tactical gear, all black. Each of us had our own mask made of polycarbonate, each of them containing night vision, each painted differently.

I popped my neck, adjusting my bulletproof vest before looking down at my black mask, my fingers tracing over the white and red snakes etched into it. I’d always hated the damn things. I moved smoother without one, but I didn’t think Carrie would appreciate me getting shot before I killed her father.

“Thank you,” Dominic said to a prison employee.

“He’s in,” Jake said, typing on his keyboard. “Once he’s in the room, I’ll cut the signal before the scramble can get him.”

“And when we’re inside?” I prompted.

“The second we’re all inside, my computer will remotely kill the signal,” Jake explained, repeating what he’d told us on the plane. “From there, we’ll have ninety seconds to reach Dominic’s location, giving us a five minute-window once we reach the room.”

“If you want longer than that, we’re going to have to kidnap Gelling,” Ash said, a flicker of hope in his rough voice. He really wanted to beat the shit out of someone, and a human trafficker would be the perfect punching bag.

“Five minutes is plenty of time,” I assured them as Hayes put the SUV in drive, getting back on the road.

The boys and I were quiet as he came up to the back gate of the prison, and my jaw jumped as the guard stepped out, holding up his hand as Hayes slowed down.

“They never like to make it easy for us, do they?” Hayes drawled, putting a piece of gum in his mouth, reaching for the gun strapped to his thigh. None of the team had real guns with them today. We weren’t in the business of killing innocent people…but we were in the business of shooting them with tranquilizers while we got the job done.

Hayes stopped the SUV ten feet from the guard, calmly blowing a bubble with the gum.

Fuck.

“Did you—fucker, did you just put in a piece of gum?” Ash asked from the backseat, knowing what happened when Hayes Mitchell put a piece of chewing gum in his mouth.

Jake chuckled. “I wouldn’t expect anything less.”

I continued staring at my right hand, studying his profile. He’d shaved before we left Denver, and during the flight here, he’d been quiet, in his head. His jaw moved swiftly as he chewed themint-flavored gum, the hand on the stirring wheel tightening as the security guard waved us forward. “How many you got, Doss?” Hayes asked, smiling at the guard.

I looked straight forward again, noting how the gate wasn’t opening for us yet.

“Thirteen,” Ash answered, getting his gun ready and pulling down his mask.

Jake put his laptop back into his backpack, appearing unbothered. “Simple enough,” he sighed, mask already on, pulling out out his gun.

A small smirk found my lips as Hayes looked at me, the guard at his window now. “Quickly?” he prompted, his green eyes shining with something I hadn’t seen in years.

I sighed, pulling down my mask. “And quietly,” I told him as he rolled down the window.

The guard didn’t have a chance to react as I lifted my gun and fired, the dart hitting him the shoulder. Hayes rolled up the window again as he pulled down his mask, a pair of silver wings standing out against the black, and shifted the van again before reversing, looking over his shoulder. Having done this time and time again, the boys and I remained quiet. Then, Hayes shifted again, slamming his foot down on the gas, and we launched forward.

“Ash,” I called, and I heard his door open.

“Already on it, boss,” he said, the popping of his gun followed. I looked over to see three guards in the watch towers closest to us fall. I rolled down my window, and right before Hayes crashed into the gate, I fired twice, hitting the remaining guards at the gate checkpoint.

We slammed into the gate, and Jake bit off a curse. “For fuck’s sake, Mitchell,” he muttered.

The vehicle bounced violently as Hayes drove us over the gate, gravel flying behind us as Ash, Jake, and I kept our eyes out forany other guards. “So much for quietly,” I muttered as he parked five feet in front of our entry point.

Hayes, now in a different mindset, winked at me as he pulled the keys out of the ignition and tossed them to me. I caught them and opened my door, turning and scanning for anymore guards.

I heard Jake open his door before he fired. My eyes sliced back to him to see a guard falling in the distance, a guard dog with him. Jake looked at me. “I’m not shooting the dog.”

“Then don’t,” Ash clipped from behind his mask, the blue skull on it flashing in the sunlight. “Let’s roll.”

Within seconds, we were in formation, heading for the door. I turned my back to them, gun at the ready, surveying the damaged we’d left. The dog was charging for me, his sharp teeth bared. I whistled low, something I’d learned in during my time in the Marines, and the dog stopped, tilting his head to the side as Ash kicked the door in. I heard the boys moving now, and I backed up, following my team inside before slamming the door shut behind me.

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