Page 80 of Final Exit

“No. I would have been, probably. But my best friend, Gannon, was determined to be an agent. Same high school, same college. I guess his enthusiasm rubbed off on me. When he signed up, I did, too. It was more about the structure, and serving my country in some way. Where or how I served wasn’t all that important.”

“Huh.” Jace turned and stared down into the valley, too.

“What?” Kade asked.

Jace shrugged. “It’s just that, well, I guess I’m surprised that you’d put your life on the line to save Bailey since her work as an Enforcer is the exact opposite of what you ascribe to.”

“It’s funny how some things seem less important once you get to know someone.” Kade glanced down the line, looking for Bailey. She was standing beside Austin’s wheelchair now, pointing to something on the computer tablet in his lap. Austin was apparently brilliant at logistics, as well as computers. He’d helped arrange the equipment they needed for the raid.

Kade straightened and looked away.

“Have you told her how you feel about her?”

Kade stiffened, then waved toward the other side of the canyon. “Devlin’s been down there scouting the place for quite a while. Maybe someone should check on him.”

“He’s fine.” Jace didn’t sound worried at all about his friend. “He’ll give us the signal as soon as he’s finished the recon and taken out enough guards. So have you told her? Bailey?”

“Told her what?”

“That you’re in love with her?”

Kade rolled his eyes. “I’m not in love with her.”

“You sure about that?”

Kade turned to face Jace. “Is there a point to this?”

Jace shrugged. “Just that when a man is about to go into battle, it’s customary to let the woman he cares about know how he feels. Just in case the worst happens.”

“Battle, huh. Good to know. I hope you took care of that little detail for yourself. I heard you’re married.”

His whole face seemed to light up as he grinned. “To the smartest, sassiest, most beautiful woman you’ll ever meet. Melissa even knows how to fire a gun. Couldn’t ask for better. And, yes, I called her before we came up on the ridge. She’s not happy that I’m about to face off with Faegan and his thugs. But there’s nothing left unsaid between us. If something happens to me today, she won’t be left wondering whether I loved her, or regretting the last words we said to each other.”

“Yeah, well, it’s not like that with Bailey and me.”

“Oh. I see. You’d basically trade your life for any woman, like you planned on doing this morning for her.”

“Shut up, Jace.”

When Jace didn’t say anything else for several minutes, Kade glanced at him. Jace had grown serious and was studying him, like he was trying to figure him out.

Kade let out a long breath. “What now?”

“Just keep it together down there.” He gestured toward the cave openings on the opposite wall of the canyon, where they’d seen Faegan’s men when they’d first arrived. “We all need to be totally on for this. If your head isn’t straight, you could be a danger to any one of us. I for one don’t want to not go home to the woman I love because one of the men I’m fighting with has too much going on and can’t focus. Are you focused, Kade?”

“I’m here to do my job,” he gritted out. “I’m focused.”

Jace studied him another long moment, then gave him a curt nod. “I hope so.”

“That’s the signal,” Mason called out from a few yards away. “Go, go, go.”

They all drew their weapons and took off, racing down the hill toward the main cave entrance. In spite of the brace on his thigh, and the handful of Ibuprofen that he’d popped earlier, Kade still couldn’t quite keep up with the others. Jace noticeably slowed, keeping pace with him, which had Kade grinding his teeth. He didn’t want anyone coddling him because of his handicap. But he also couldn’t search for Bailey in the crowd of men and women running with them without Jace noticing. It nearly killed him not to look for her.

Jace’s words kept going through his head, and he understood the man’s concern. Whether Kade wanted to admit it or not, Bailey was important to him. But he was no good to anyone if he was preoccupied worrying about her.

He’d suggested that she stay back with Austin, keeping an eye on things and radioing them if there was any trouble. But that suggestion was the reason she’d kept her distance from him, after aiming a particularly lethal glare his way. She wasn’t the kind of woman who wanted a man to protect her. But damned if Kade could help that he wanted to do exactly that. She knew what she was doing, and how to protect herself. He just had to keep reminding himself of that.

The first Equalizer reached the entrance and took a sharp right. The next one headed to the left. They were basing their approach on the recon reports Devlin had radioed back. No shots had been fired so far, a good sign.

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