Page 65 of Reclaimed (Hostage Rescue Team)

And then she caught the sharp squeal of metal on metal as someone finally broke the lock and wrenched the door open.

A second later, strong hands grabbed her upper arms and pulled her away from the bars. Blindly she reached out to grip her savior’s wrists as the hands wiped the foam from her face.

“Summer.”

Adam’s voice, right in front of her. Hoarse and shaken.

God!Her face crumpled as she flung her arms around his neck and buried her face in his throat. She fought back a sob of pure relief and gripped his shoulders tight.

Adam, Adam, Adam,she chanted silently, reeling from everything that had happened, hardly able to believe that he was actually here, actually holding her.

Without a word he hauled her into his arms and lifted her from the ground. The world tipped sideways as he levered her across his wide shoulders and carried her out of the cage that had almost been her slaughter pen. Then he was running through the smoke.

Summer held on tight, kept her head down and her eyes closed. There were no more shots but she could hear men running, urgent commands and voices flowing around her, too fast for her to decipher. She bounced up and down with each of his running strides, hands gripping the back of his uniform.

“Hold up,” someone with a Southern accent called out. Tuck maybe? She still couldn’t see anyone, it was too dark and smoky.

Adam stopped and she struggled up through the heavy blanket of shock engulfing her, tried to understand what was happening.

“Summer, you okay?” he asked, his voice urgent.

She was alive and Adam was holding her. Nothing else mattered. “Think so,” she murmured back, her throat raw from the smoke and the screaming. She was shaking all over, so hard her teeth chattered.

“You’re safe now, we’ve got you. We’ll get you out of here in a minute,” he reassured her, running a soothing hand up the back of her thigh.

“W-want to go…h-home,” she whispered, unable to stop trembling. Every second she could feel herself sliding deeper into shock. She fought it, wanting to stay alert and aware, but it was powerful, and coupled with the exhaustion, she knew it was probably a losing battle. And, as long as Adam was here, she was safe.

“I’ll get you home, sweetheart,” he promised, that steady hand wrapping around the back of her thigh and squeezing gently. “Just another few minutes and we’ll be on a helo back to Amman, then we’ll take a look at you and make sure you’re okay.”

She didn’t answer, only clung tighter, savoring the feel of his hard muscles beneath her chest and belly, soaking up his warmth. Two minutes ago she’d been in danger of burning to death and now it felt like she might freeze. Had to be the shock, she reasoned.

Forcing her eyes open, she squinted and lifted a hand to wipe away the residual stinging foam. She was surprised to see they were at the front door now.

What were they waiting for? Adam was poised behind someone even taller and bigger than him and she could make out the silhouettes of other men gathered around them from the thin line of light coming through a crack in the door.

A moment later, she realized why they weren’t leaving.

Somewhere outside in the distance she could hear the sound of gunfire. Sporadic, far away. Her stomach clenched as she realized what it meant.

More attackers.

Tuck’s Alabama accent came again as he responded to something she couldn’t hear. Then, “Ah, hell. The other enemy force spotted the helo. They’re moving toward the ridge, between us and the LZ. Sniper team’s moving to intercept. We’re gonna have to fight our way out of here.”

Chapter Twenty-One

God dammit…

If he lived long enough, maybe one day he’d be part of a mission that actually went according to plan. But that day wasn’t today.

Bracing for a firefight with another enemy force was yet another shitty complication for them to deal with, on top of the strengthening storm.

Wasting no time, Brody Colebrook organized his sniper team into various positions around the LZ and kept a close eye on the enemy force through his binos.

Visibility sucked ass at the moment and it was only getting worse. The wind howled around him, whipping at his utilities and spraying him and his equipment with sand. Soon it would be bad enough that the helo crews would have a hard time navigating through this.

Those evil fucks inside that building had just burned one of the hostages alive but at least Blackwell’s wife and the other hostage were okay. Brody and his team were going to make sure the survivors and assault team got onboard the helos safely.

He got on comms to his team, and Tuck. The first Blackhawk was already here, holding just out of firing range, waiting to attempt a landing on his order. But with the number of enemy fighters he knew about coming out of that valley beneath them, it was too risky.

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