Page 23 of Fatal Love
“Copy that on both counts, sir,” the kid replied. “Your attackers appear to have retreated but are still in range. Anything I should know about before I come in?”
Connor had been routinely brutalized after his capture and he’d been forced to witness the torture, and eventual death, of two of his teammates as well. Cal knew he carried their deaths on his conscience. Not something a man ever got over, especially not a SEAL.
Connor’s whole unit had walked into one giant trap and that’s how Connor and his two buddies ended up prisoners. Cal couldn’t blame the kid for being gun shy about walking into another.
“None that I know of. I’m slightly immobile, so I don’t have clear intel on the back door. Be careful.”
“Copy that. Are you injured?”
“Nothing serious,” Cal lied. His vision was blurry and he felt lightheaded.
“Is Queen B injured?”
“Negative. I believe she’s quite pissed, though.”
They shared a chuckle, then Connor sobered. “Sir, I have a problem at the back door.”
Cal’s body felt like it weighed more than it did. He leaned heavily on the wall and locked his knees so they wouldn’t give out. “What is it?”
“Infrared laser points around the perimeter. Is this part of your security system?”
Laser trip wires? He hadn’t gotten around to installing that level of security yet. “Negative. Source?”
“Not sure.” Cal heard the faint sound of movement as Connor must have been following the trail. “Ho boy.”
The last two words were said so quietly, Cal almost didn’t hear them. But they came out like a curse and that made his heart dip into his solar plexus. “What is it, Slash?”
What he got back was a long pause that made Cal push off the wall and start putting one foot in front of the other. It was more like dragging one foot behind the other, but at least he was moving.
“You’re wired, Zeppelin.”
“Wired as in…?”
A heavy sigh. “A bomb, sir.” Connor’s voice was tightly controlled. “You’re wired to blow.”
THROUGH HISNVGS,Connor saw the web of infrared trip wires leading to a tiny bomb positioned on the southeast corner of the house.
Invisible to the naked eye, the thin threads would set off the bomb if anyone tripped them, going in—or out—the door.
So the group sat out front, waiting to pick off anyone who tried to come out that way, and they’d used the laser wires to ensure that anyone going in or out the backdoor would trigger the bomb.
Either way, Cal and Beatrice were screwed.
“Talk to me, Slash,” Cal’s voice said over the comm. “What kind of bomb is it?”
Connor backed away slowly from the building, his breath coming in short, hard gasps.
Billie Argon.
Saul Kohen.
Every day, Connor saw their faces. Every night when he closed his eyes, they were in his dreams.
His two best friends. His brothers-in-arms.
Billie had been the explosives expert. He’d often told Connor the only thing he needed to know about bombs was that they were volatile little bitches and tended to kill you.
Steer clear, he heard Billie say to him.Call in someone who knows what he’s doing.
