Page 68 of Fast Vengeance

She whirled and lunged for the doorknob. Managed to twist it and yank the door open, only to run smack into David. He caught her by the upper arms to steady her.

But then his fingers locked around her arms like manacles, and the taut expression on her face made her insides shrivel.

His black gaze cut to her father, still behind his desk. “They’re attacking the other house.”

Oceane gasped, cringed when her father shot to his feet, his livid gaze snapping to her. Scalding her with its fury. “What did you do?” he demanded. “How did you know?”

“There’s no time for this,” David interrupted, tugging her firmly into his side. Protecting her from Nieto, yet unwilling to let her go.

She pulled and struggled, frantically tried to get free, her mind racing. Nothing in her world made sense anymore. She needed to get the hell out of here. Find a way to escape.

Nieto’s lethal gaze swung from her to David. “You know what to do. Go.”

Go where? Oceane dug in her heels and tugged against David’s grip, shaking her head. “No.”

“I don’t have time to explain,” David said curtly, dragging her toward the staircase that led to the lower floor.

Panic hit her. “Stop!”

His grip remained solid on her arms. “Don’t fight me,” he warned, but there was also the edge of a plea in his voice. “I don’t want to hurt you. Please don’t make me hurt you, Oceane. I couldn’t take that.” Ignoring her struggles, he continued forcing her toward the stairs.

Chapter Eighteen

“Camera blackout in progress. Stand by.”

Freeman’s quiet voice came through Gabe’s earpiece as he waited behind cover at the front of the team, M4 to his shoulder, ready to execute the breach as point man. They were all crouched down behind a low garden wall in the only blind spot they had found in the security camera coverage, waiting to storm the place and rescue Cap.

On the opposite side of the property, the Mexican team waited for the same. Someone on the taskforce was busy trying to disable the system, hopefully buying them a window of surprise.

Rodriguez crouched beside him, breaching tool in his hands. As soon as he blew the door to the main floor open, Gabe would be the first one through it.

A loud thud reverberated through the sultry night air, coming from the other side of the house. Gabe’s head snapped up, looking at the others. They all looked as tense as him. What the hell? Had someone spotted them?

Another thud, and then yelling in Spanish.

Christ, the other team had breached too soon.

He popped up to check the side door of the house. With the element of surprise gone, they had to get in there immediately. “Freeman—”

“Execute.”

Gabe broke from behind the brick wall and charged the short distance across the lawn toward the door they were using for an entry point. More shouts rang out from the other side of the house, followed by the sporadic crack of gunfire.

Gabe bit back a snarl of fury. Fuck, if this cost Cap his life, if Oceane was in there and in harm’s way because the other team had just fucked up, Gabe would tear someone apart.

Oceane had insisted her father wouldn’t hurt her, but Gabe wasn’t so sure. Men like Nieto were never predicable. And when cornered, they were the most dangerous.

Rodriguez reached the door first, rammed the reinforced door with the breaching tool twice, three times until it opened slightly. Then he reared back and smashed his boot against it, and it finally gave way.

No need for night optics now. Gabe pushed his NVGs up onto his helmet mount and scanned for targets as he swept into the lit house, using his knowledge of the layout to navigate. If Cap was here, he would be down in the basement. The team had to get to him before his captors did.

Plaster sprayed a foot to Gabe’s right, the shot echoing in the air. He glanced to his right, glimpsed the shooter trying to duck back around the corner of the wall. Swinging his weapon around, he fired, tagging the guy in the shoulder.

The man’s weapon clattered to the floor as he fell out of sight. Gabe swiveled to clear the other side of the room, waited as Maka and Prentiss rushed past him to clear the next.

“Main floor clear. Heading upstairs,” one of the Mexican team leaders called out. Moments later the other team raced up the stairs toward the second floor. Somebody shot at them but it quickly stopped.

Gabe didn’t even glance up, busy with his own team as they did a sweep of the main floor themselves, to ensure it really was clear. “Clear,” he reported and headed for the top of the stairs that would lead to the basement. It was dark down there. He flipped his NVGs down.

---