Page 83 of Rescuing Nathaniel

“You're a liability and you know it,” Rocco said as gently as possible.

But he didn't want gentle, didn't want to be coddled. The fact that he’d been shot in the chest was irrelevant as far as he was concerned. The bullet hadn't punctured a lung nor had it hit his heart. He was sore, absolutely, and sure there was some lingering dizziness, but he was standing upright, and his hands weren't shaking as they gripped the weapon slung over his shoulder. He could do this.

Hadto do this.

It was his fault Ava had been snatched a second time, and he had to make it right.

“I can do this,” he assured his friend. They were wasting time Ava didn't have by arguing about his capabilities. They were all SEALs, they’d all been injured in the field and carried on to complete the mission. This time, he was even doing that with painkillers in his system and his wounds properly stitched and bandaged.

“Fine.” Rocco sighed like he didn't like this, but at least it seemed as though he’d stopped arguing about it. “But I’m putting Rex on you. Last thing we need is for you to go and pass out in there.”

“Not going to pass out and don’t need a babysitter,” he ground out in irritation.

“Non-negotiable. It’s that or you stay here in the vehicle, even if I have to cuff you to it.”

“Fine,” he growled, throwing in a sigh like Rocco had moments ago. If having Rex stick to him got them moving quicker, then he’d go along with it.

“It’s not a bad idea for me to stick to you, you know that, right?” Rex asked.

“I’m not going to pass out.”

“Not what I was talking about. If I stick to you, then it means I don’t have to risk Ava getting a few good hits in again.” Rex’s dark eyes danced with amusement, and it helped to settle Nathaniel’s nerves.

“My girl’s a wildcat.”

“She sure is. She’s got strength in spades, don’t give up on her yet,” Rex urged.

Giving him a tight nod, that was something harder done than said. It wasn't that he thought Ava wasn't strong enough to survive, she absolutely was, but that didn't mean she would.

“Okay, let’s move in,” Rocco announced, uttering the words Nathaniel had been longing to hear.

Thanking his lucky stars that the clinic was in Mexico since SEALs couldn’t operate on US soil, he gripped his weapon and started moving with the rest of Rocco’s team. Even if the clinic had been Stateside, he would have found a way to be involved, no way he wasn't going to be there for his girl, but this was at least one less battle he’d had to fight. Already he’d had to sign himself out of the hospital against medical advice, and for a while he’d been sure Rocco was going to refuse to let him tag along.

But he was there, and they were finally moving toward the small building hidden deep in the jungle. Originally it had been intended for good, used to bring medical treatment to some of the small villages in the area. But following the death of the brothers’ father the clinic had been closed down.

Or at least it no longer treated villagers.

There was every chance that the clinic had been operational all this time, only now it was used as part of the trafficking ring.

As they worked their way through the trees, they became a little thinner, indicating they were almost upon the clearing. Every step he took, Nathaniel kept waiting for gunshots to pierce the early morning.

They never came.

And soon they were in the clearing. The concrete building before them looked innocuous enough. It wasn't big but it wasn't tiny either, containing probably at least a dozen rooms.

First thing he noticed were the fresh vehicle tracks in the grass surrounding the building. It was clear someone had been there recently even if he couldn’t see any cars parked around it.

Spreading out so they could enter through the front and back at the same time, Nathaniel noticed a garage on one side of the building. That had to be where the vehicles were parked. If people were there, he had to hope that meant Ava was still alive.

If she was dead, they’d already be transporting her organs across the globe.

Wouldn't they?

Clinging to that belief, he followed Rocco as they approached the back door. Rex remained beside him and Phantom was behind them. Bubba, Ace, and Gumby were going to hit the front door.

The door was unlocked, so getting inside was easy enough, and they slipped through it and into a short corridor. From where they were, he could see five doors and a large open space down the other end that had probably at one point been the waiting room.

Moving as one, they entered the first room on their left.

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