Page 111 of Always Been Mine

“Looks good here,” Viktor spoke to the pilot. “Lower the bird.”

Gabe jumped off, got on one knee, and had his carbine shouldered, sweeping the area. Maia followed in seconds, repeating the same motion and clearing the other side.

Travis exited the chopper but walked toward the house with his weapon trained in front of him.

A hand landed on Gabe’s shoulder as Viktor shouted into his ear. “Go! We got you guys covered.”

Gabe nodded, rose from his crouch, and trailed Travis into the house.

His heart sank when he walked into the debris of destruction. The back door was partly blasted in, the windows shattered, and plaster littered the floor. Gabe walked through the door just as the control room door slid open and Caitlin launched herself into Travis’s arms.

Porter was leaning heavily against the stairs, a fire extinguisher in his hand. He didn’t look good and was bleeding steadily. Gabe’s eyes scanned the room. “Beatrice?”

“Nate went to check on her,” Porter gasped out. “Explosion. Upstairs.”

Gabe saw the hole and smoke coming out of their bedroom when they first landed. The gears in his mind clicked as he processed Porter’s words. Beatrice was in the bedroom when the warhead exploded? Fuck no!

He leapt on the landing and was about to bound up the steps when he heard his name.

“Gabe?”

He looked up. Green eyes framed by a face covered in soot stared at him. Beatrice was standing at the top of the stairs with Nate’s arms around her. This time, Gabe didn’t feel any jealousy at all, just a buckling relief that she was alive and standing.

“Fuck, babe,” Gabe said raggedly. He took the steps two at the time and pulled her from Nate’s arms, clenching her so tightly, he was probably squeezing her too much. It was as if he couldn’t get close enough to her.

He shifted away slightly and kissed her desperately, deeply.

“I love you so fucking much,” Gabe muttered.

“Oh, Gabe,” Beatrice whispered. “I thought I would never see you again.”

“Don’t ever think that. Don’t ever,” he growled fiercely. “I will always come for you.”

He kissed her again.

“Baxter’s dead.”

Viktor was speaking to the admiral who was being patched up by Maia.

Caitlin and Rhino were the only ones who escaped unscathed from the siege on the safe house. Nate, Sam, and Porter received non-life threatening gunshot wounds with the admiral possibly sustaining a couple of broken ribs from the explosion. Beatrice had a concussion and a few minor lacerations. Since she was unconscious when Nate found her, Gabe would be insisting she receive the full battery of tests. Dr. Ryan had been notified and was on her way with a medical van.

“We have confirmation?” Porter asked. The body of Harold Baxter was found alongside the other dead hostiles who attacked the safe house.

“I sent an image to Tim for facial recognition. It’s a 99% match,” Viktor said. He looked at Gabe. “You also confirm that you’ve seen him with Zorin?”

Gabe nodded. He definitely had seen Harold Baxter meet with his former crime boss at least twice before.

“Too bad he couldn’t be held accountable for his crimes,” the admiral said. His eyes drifted to Beatrice. “However, I, for one, will sleep better at night with Baxter gone.”

Porter’s gaze continued moving and landed on him. Gabe inclined his head in silent agreement. It was a selfish thought because they could have found out the depth of Baxter’s deception if he were alive. But in this, Gabe was sure that heand Porter were of the same mind—fuck the whole world, they had paid their dues in blood for far too long.

There had been a revolving door of Guardians in the safe house, which was technically not safe anymore given the blasted doors and windows. The big guy who Gabe had met in the woods earlier walked in and approached Viktor.

“Our Quick Reaction team was able to apprehend Dr. Devlin and sequester the ST-Vyl virus. Should we inform the CDC?”

Viktor contemplated the question before deferring to Porter. “Admiral?”

“Fucking tired of making decisions,” Porter said wearily.

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