Page 69 of Protected By The Green Berets

She tightened her arms around me in a fierce hug. I loved how unruffled she was right now. There were plenty of women who’d be sobbing and begging to get out of here. She was stoic and strong, ready to stand next to us and fight.

She pulled out of my arms, a smile crossing her face. I loved the look of mischief in her expression, though I had no idea what it meant. Knowing her, she had some kind of plan.

CHAPTER30

Zinnia

“Who said we need to go out the window?” I asked, a smile forming on my face.

Keller looked at me with a considering look. “You have something in mind?”

“One of you must be carrying C4?”

Torque gave me a devilish smile and reached into a pouch on his vest. “I love the way your mind works,” he said as he handed me a few sticks and started readying a detonator.

Turning back to Keller, I let my lips firm out into a flat line as I thought through my plan, then I spoke. “We blow a hole through the wall. They’ve got their guns trained on the windows. Drop a few smoke grenades outside, then blow the hole. They’ll fire into the windows, but by then we’ll be outside. It will only buy us a few seconds-”

“But it’s enough to get clear,” Keller responded, finishing my sentence. Torque and Rush finished putting the C4 on the wall, and Alden was beside the window, a smoke grenade in each hand.

Keller held his hand out with three fingers up. One at a time he dropped them. My heart slammed against my ribs along with the countdown. I held my gun up, ready to return fire.Three, two, one.

Alden chucked the smoke grenades through the window, instantly it filled with gunfire. Torque blew the C4 and we ran through the rubble that used to be the wall, guns drawn and ready.

Keller and Torque were the first ones through, with Alden next, and Rush by my side. I ran through the smoke, coughing as my eyes watered, and saw Keller going left, so Rush and I went right. We found two men still firing at the window. The look in their eyes was confused horror as they realized they had fucked up.

I fired, killing the one closest to me while Rush shot the second. We did a quick sweep before turning back towards the rest of the team. They were finishing the rest of the would-be ambushers. Amazing. In a matter of seconds, we turned a no-win scenario into a crushing victory. For just a moment I thought if I had the right lingerie to motivate these men, I could conquer the world.

An explosion behind us threw me to the ground. My temples throbbed with the concussion of the blast. Rolling quickly, I saw what was left of the compound now in flames.

“Good timing,” Alden said, his deep laugh thrumming through the air. The only reason I could hear him was because he was so close to me. There was a low ringing in my ears that was making it hard to hear anything past a few feet. I knew the fire must be roaring as it picked up speed, eating the remnants of the building nearby. It lit up the night around us, like a blazing beacon.

I looked at Alden like he’d lost his mind as he continued to chuckle. If we’d gone through the building to try to find another exit we’d be dead right now. And Alden was laughing, while the other three grinned. They were all insane.

“And looky there.” Torque was pointing to a truck driving off. “Give you three guesses as to who that is.”

Keller took a knee and leveled his rifle. “Only need one.” He steadied himself and fired. The truck swerved off the road and rolled into a ditch. Keller stood and started walking toward the wreck. He wasn’t in a hurry. His long gait was slow and measured…and damn sexy. Fury was radiating off him with each step. We all took positions next to him as we approached Roj.

Rush, Alden and Torque still had their eyes on a swivel, watching the area in case anyone else was still out there in the dark, ready to attack. Keller stayed focused on the driver.

We got there in time to find Roj wounded and crawling away. I wasn’t sure if I was more angry at all the destruction and death this man had caused, or if I was satisfied that we’d done our jobs well and caught him. So many people would live because we’d stopped him. Soon the dead would be avenged.

Keller didn’t say anything to the man. He didn’t have to. The mighty Lion was crawling across the ground in an attempt to escape. He looked pathetic, not at all the boisterous man who’d sneered at me from behind his wall of thugs in the safehouse. Keller casually strolled up to him, kicked him in the side, rolling him over, and stepped down on his throat.

Roj pawed at Keller’s boot uselessly as he tried to breathe. His eyes were wide and wheeled around, searching for anyone who would save him.

“Keller.” I put a hand on his shoulder. He glared down at me, saying nothing. “You can’t kill him.”

There was murder shining there in Keller’s eyes, and even though I knew it wasn’t aimed at me, I still swallowed hard. Just for a moment I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to bring him down.

“He kidnapped you. He would have killed you, killed us.”

“I know,” I told him, patience softening my voice. In my men’s opinion, Roj deserved to die just for having the audacity to touch me. My heart melted. They’d come for me, despite the danger and risk, they’d found me and kept me safe. I felt so loved and protected in that moment.

I had to push the sweet feelings glowing within me down, because right now I had to keep Keller from killing a piece of shit that deserved everything that would be done to him. “But we have to think big picture,” I told him. I grasped his arm and tugged. It was a symbolic gesture, I could have thrown all my weight into it and his arm wouldn’t have budged.

Roj gave an exaggerated wheeze as Keller removed his foot and let me walk him a few feet away. Alden took over watching the worm on the ground, his huge boot spanning the width of Roj’s chest while Roj whimpered in pain. At least he wasn’t choking him.

“We need to know why he’s been doing this. Whether he’s working with anyone else. If we kill him and he had an accomplice there could be backlash. We can’t let the people here take that burden.” My eyes implored him to see reason.

---