Page 63 of Reclaimed (Hostage Rescue Team)

A wave of terror broke over him, punching through the formidable wall of his discipline.

The thick smoke swirling through the air made it impossible for him to clearly see anything at the other end of the building. As Tuck and Evers engaged two targets, Adam took in everything in a single, sweeping glance.

Beyond where Tuck and Evers were clearing the room to his right, what was left of one of the hostages lay smoldering on the ground inside what appeared to be a cage. And for one hideous moment he feared the worst.

Summer!

Was it her? His heart careened in his chest as he stared at the body and only the stern snap of Vance’s voice pulled him out of his head.

“Blackwell, ten o’clock!”

Adam whirled away from the sight of that burned body and turned to his left to face the threat, his training immediately kicking in, and probably the only thing that kept him from losing his mind. An enemy fighter materialized out of the smoke.

Vance fired, taking out the tango Adam hadn’t even noticed until now because he’d been too busy staring at the burned body. Reaching down deep to regain his composure and get his head back in the game, Adam scanned the darkness, staring down the barrel of his rifle.

Everything happened so fast, yet time seemed to slow down as well. A tango darted out from behind a corner ahead of him. Adam fired two shots, dropping him in a split second.

To his left he saw two of his other teammates had engaged more fighters. Adam moved forward with Vance to check the far end of the building as the others cleared their own areas, scanning through the darkness with his NVGs.

Another fighter swung out from behind some stacked crates. Adam and Vance fired simultaneously, hitting him center mass. Before he’d even hit the ground, Adam was already searching for a new target. The building was long and the smoke made it hard to see clearly but it was lessening the farther he moved away from the front.

There should have been two more hostages in here but with all the smoke and confusion he couldn’t see any sign of them yet. Where the hell were they?

Please let Summer be here and let her be okay.

He shook that thought away too, focused on the darkness up ahead. He funneled out the shouts behind him, the sharp pop of rounds firing, knowing his other teammates had things well in hand.

Then, as the smoke grew thinner, he saw it up ahead.

Another cage. There was someone in it, and they were still moving.

And someone was hurrying away from it.

Adam instantly shifted his focus to the man as the tango whirled, a pistol in hand, a fraction of a second too late. A bullet whizzed past his shoulder, barely missing him while he swung the barrel of his rifle toward the target.

Adam fired a double tap from his M4 at the tango’s chest. The man stumbled backward and went to one knee, but didn’t drop. And he got off another shot.

The round hit Adam in the lower ribs. He grunted, tensed against the hammer blow to his vest but kept his focus.

Fuck you, asshole.Staring his target down, he squeezed the trigger. Winged him as the guy dodged behind a stack of crates.

Adam followed, determined to kill the motherfucker.

It took every ounce of control to ignore the need to go to Summer, his heart screaming at him to free her and get her the hell out of there. But he couldn’t until he’d eliminated this threat.

He crouched and wheeled around the corner of the stacked crates, just as a whooshing sound and a flash of light burned his retinas. He ducked and staggered back a step behind the crates, cursing as he shoved his NVGs up with one hand, momentarily blinded.

He blinked to clear his vision, saw that something on the ground between him and Hadad had ignited.

Hadad appeared through the veil of flickering flames. He was on one knee, raised his weapon as Adam took aim again.

In the light of the fire Adam could see the smug smile that formed on the bastard’s face an instant before Adam pulled the trigger.

The round hit Hadad dead center in the forehead, dropping him where he knelt…

Just as a shrill female scream split the air.

Adam’s head jerked up, every muscle in his body snapping tight at that sound. He stared in horror through the shimmering flames.

---