Page 20 of Fatal Love
Slowly, Connor glanced back over his shoulder. “Hunter?”
“What the hell are you two doing out here?” the man asked.
How had he snuck up on them? He was nothing but a shadow in the grove of trees where they were hiding.
Of course, they’d been pretty damn focused on the house and the suppressed gunfire they’d heard as they’d closed in on the backyard.
“We’re saving your ass,” Connor murmured. “Which might be easier if I knew what was going on. Is this a hit team?”
“Details are unclear.” Hunter eased in closer to them. “Five men, plus their leader, a female. The men have training, but I’ve taken out two of them. The woman and two of her soldiers were inside the house. Gunfire was exchanged. They bailed and are currently in their van with the driver. Regrouping, I assume.”
“Is Beatrice…?” Sabrina let the rest of the sentence hang.
“If I’m not mistaken,” Hunter said, “I believe I heard the sound of her handgun firing earlier and Cal reprimanding her, but my comm has been unreliable.”
Which didn’t answer the unspoken question of if she was all right. “Is Cal down?” Connor asked.
“That is my assumption since he has not exited the house. Our comms initially worked. They went on the fritz shortly after the hit team entered the house. I’ve only picked up snatches of intel here and there.”
If Cal was injured, Beatrice and the baby were definitely in imminent danger. “If they took out Cal, why haven’t they left?”
Hunter confirmed his worst fear—the same fear etched on Sabrina’s face. “From what I caught of the conversation, the leader wants Beatrice and the baby.”
Connor handed Hunter one of the earbuds he’d snagged from his desk drawer. “Use this comm. It will work.”
Hunter exchanged the old earbud with the new one. “You and Emit playing Mad Scientist again?”
“You know it.” He knocked a fist against his bulletproof vest. “Under this vest, I’m currently a hotspot directly linked to these comms. The technology is the same as some shit NASA and NSA have been collaborating on for years that Emit once played a hand in. As long as I’m up and running, nothing can interfere with our comms.”
“Coolio,” Sabrina said and smiled at him. Her teeth were bluish-white in the shadows, thanks to the moon. “You’re my kind of geek.”
Geek, huh? He never let that side of him show; his father had made sure that Connor never displayed any kind of weakness, and in his house,might makes rightwas practically a Commandment. Only the strong and forceful got to make the rules.
“We need to take out that van,” Connor said to Hunter.
“And get inside the house,” Sabrina added. “If none of the bad guys are in there, should be a piece of cake.”
Hunter cut his gaze to her. “Unless they set up booby traps, which may be why Cal has not tried to leave.”
“Oh,” Sabrina said. “That would make sense.”
No way Connor was putting Sabrina in danger, but they needed her help if the plan that had popped into his mind was going to work.
“I need you to create a distraction,” he said to her. Then to Hunter, “While she does that, you disable the van and anyone you can get to. I’ll breach the house and assess the situation inside.”
Hunter’s gaze slid over Connor, analyzing, calculating. “You sure, Irish?”
The fateful question. How he hated those words. At least Hunter’s nickname for him didn’t make him want to puke. “I’m sure.”
He turned to Sabrina. In the distance he heard the dog at the end of the cul-de-sac still raising hell. He drew a bag of small fireworks from his backpack and handed them to her. “Draw their attention away from the house. Backtrack to that field we crossed between here and the neighbor’s house and set these off.”
Sabrina took the light-and-noise show, brows knitting with uncertainty. “Fireworks? Seriously?”
The set contained mini rockets, poppers, roman candles, and a few other spectacular thunder and lightning pieces.
Hunter nodded his stamp of approval. “That should get their attention.”
“It’ll get everyone’s attention,” Sabrina said.
