Page 10 of Weston

The cave was narrower than Wes anticipated and it was eerily quiet as they made their way deeper. No doubt about it—high tide would fill it up fast, drowning any poor, unfortunate soul stuck in there when it did. But high tide wasn’t for another hour, give or take. They were safe from a watery death. For the time being, anyway.

Wes hated the damn uneven, wet ground and slipped twice before they finally reached the back of the cave. But it was worth every pitted step when they stumbled onto a mini treasure trove of stolen goods.

“Yo ho ho,” Lex murmured, mouth edging up.

Chapter Five

Several small cracks in the cavern housing the Sea Dog’s lair provided a little bit of light, allowing them to remove their NVGs as they surveyed the take. A quick search through the stolen goods didn’t produce a laptop. In fact, it didn’t produce anything of much value at all. Wes’ anger reared up inside of him. Four people had died last night over a few pieces of jewelry and a fucking iPad. His stomach churned. Either these pirates were getting bolder, or they were the lowest scum he’d ever encountered. Probably both.

“I bet the laptop is at their HQ,” Lex said. “This is probably just the most recent stuff they stole.”

“And they’ll be back to divvy it up later,” Corey added.

“Let’s report back to Brand and hang out here a little while longer.” Wes shifted on the uneven ground and crossed his arms. In other words, he wasn’t fucking budging. Not until he spilled some pirate blood.

Lex pressed his comms and told Brand they’d found the pirate’s stash.

“Good job,” Brand responded. “We found their HQ.”

“Fuck,” Wes hissed. He wanted to be there. More than anything, he needed to wreak his revenge. But all he could do was wait there in the cave and hope their targets would showup so they could neutralize them. Make this part of the world’s waters a little safer and quench his vengeance.

That’s what the logical part of Wes’ brain thought. The emotional part of him craved the bloodlust. And, hopefully, that satisfaction would make him feel better. He doubted he’d ever find a sense of closure, not completely, but he was damn well going to try.

“Keep your eyes on the tide,” Lex reminded them. “It’s already starting to rise.”

“Roger,” they all murmured.

Wes sloshed forward, trying to find a drier location, when Xander’s voice cracked through their comms, loud and clear. “Pirates approaching. Four of them, armed and dangerous. Watch your backs.”

“Roger that,” Lex said, and the three of them took cover.

Wes moved behind a large boulder and touched the gold “E” hanging around his neck. The time had finally come and he was ready to be judge, jury and executioner.

It all happened in a blur that left Wes dizzy, panting and covered in blood. The moment the targets came into close proximity, Wes felt something snap in his head, and he launched himself out of his hiding place and fired his pistol, killing two pirates. Corey and Lex did the same, each taking down one. They hadn’t even known what hit them. Suddenly, Xander was blasting a warning through the comms, “Two more coming in hot!”

Out of nowhere, Wes went down hard, gun flying out of his grip. It took him a moment to realize someone had snuck up andtackled him. Had they missed another entrance? Where the hell had the guy come from?

Rolling onto his back, Wes looked up into a pair of black eyes spewing hate. A fist slammed into his jaw and Wes curled his hand and punched the pirate in his face. He’d never been a fan of close quarters combat, and this was as close as you could get. It sucked on every level. A knee smashed into his gut and he grunted, his breath knocked out in a whoosh. Pinned down, he reached for the Ka-Bar tucked in his boot, pulled it out and sliced upwards. The blade cut across the man’s arm and he howled, falling backward, allowing Wes to regain the upper hand.

Getting up onto his hands and knees, Wes catapulted forward, driving his knife up, right into the soft, vulnerable area of the pirate’s neck and chin. Staring into the man’s shocked eyes, Wes twisted the handle.No mercy.He watched the life drain from him, eyes rolling back, then yanked the blade out. Warm blood spurted everywhere and the asshole dropped.

As Wes pulled himself up, he realized there were more pirates in the small cavern than they’d anticipated. Four had turned into seven, but now it looked like ten or more. Thank Christ his team had taken more than half of them down already. Where the fuck had all these assholes come from?

Corey and Lex were busy trying to neutralize the new arrivals and Wes hurried forward, on his way to help, when a large rock came down, hitting the side of his head. Stumbling forward, Wes saw stars. The rock came down again, this time between his shoulder blades, and Wes dropped to the ground.Motherfucker.Spinning, landing hard on his back, he blinked rapidly, trying to clear his head. A flash of silver slashed downward and Wes threw his arms up, trying to block the blow. He grimaced when the pirate’s blade sliced across his forearm.

Ignoring the stinging pain, Wes twisted and managed to swing his Ka-Bar up, plunging it into his opponent’s gut. The guy shouted in pain and Wes shoved him hard. At the same time, he yanked his knife out, pushed himself up into a sitting position and grabbed the pirate. Wrapping his bloody forearm around the pirate’s neck, Wes squeezed with all his might. Once the thrashing and kicking stopped, Wes snapped his neck.

Breathing hard, Wes released the dead tango and slumped back on his ass. He, Corey and Lex had neutralized every last one, a quick body count putting that number much higher than what they’d anticipated.

“We need to get outta here,” Lex said. “Tide’s coming in fast.”

For the first time, Wes noticed how much the water level had risen, sea water flowing in and getting higher.

Corey appeared, offering Wes a hand and pulling him up onto his feet. He ignored the concerned look on his friend’s face and quickly checked his prosthetic.All good.They splashed through the rising seawater. It was flowing into the cavern fast and the entire thing would probably be completely flooded in under ten minutes.

“What’s going on?” Xander asked through their comms. “Everything okay?”

“On our way,” Lex reported.

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