Page 23 of Saved By the Marines (Soldiers Of Misfortune)

I chuckled. “Yeah, appreciate it. All of you.”

“You need help?” Brando asked, his tone serious.

“I’ll let you know. For now, it’s better if we do this alone.”

“Understood. Get to the safe house and pick out your toys. I’ll call you as soon as I have something for you.”

We both hung up and I gave my teammates a nod. “Finish getting dressed. We’re on the road in ten.”

CHAPTER10

Jas

It only took us five minutes to grab our shit and pile into one of the SUVs the embassy had loaned to Senator Michaels. They weren’t tactical vehicles, no armor, no roof hatch, just ordinary SUVs. They would have to do. I glanced up as we rolled out and saw the senator in the window of his daughter’s room, on the phone. I don’t know what I expected. He wasn’t the kind to get his boots dirty. I doubted he’d even done that during his time as a Marine. But the thought of him doing nothing but making calls while his daughter was in danger made me want to wrap my fingers around his neck and squeeze until his eyes were bulging and he stopped breathing.

Pushing thoughts of him out of my mind, I focused on the road in front of us. The stash house Brando and his team had was here in the city. We needed to find it and arm ourselves because knowing the CIA guys, they’d be calling back soon. I wanted to be ready to go crush the fuckers who thought they could come into our place and steal away Bailey. They were going to pay with blood.

We climbed out of the car, guns drawn as we looked around. Just because this was one of Brando’s stash houses, didn’t mean that someone hadn’t found it since the last time he’d left.

After a quick sweep and an all clear, we entered the combo we’d been given and shoved the door open. Kip let out a low whistle as Wolfe flicked the lights on.

“Damn. Brando is prepared-prepared.”

I shook my head at Kip. We were like opposite faces of the same coin. At the core we were the same man. Had the same values. Loved this job. He just happened to be the happy-go-lucky side while I was the pissed off rage side. I’d watched him whistle a tune in the middle of a shoot-out once. As much as I understood him, I also didn’t.

“Grab everything we can use,” Wolfe said, snagging a set of keys off the hook on the wall. He placed the SUV’s keys on the hook.

“We’re leaving the embassy ride? Won’t that raise some flags?” I asked.

“I plan to be back—with Bailey—before the embassy realizes it’s gone. And it’s low key enough that no one in this neighborhood will look twice at it.”

He was right. At least they’d given us a ride without the fucking flags and symbols plastered all over it. It was just a plain black SUV. Hopefully no one would steal it. If they did, we’d deal with that problem once we solved this one.

Moving forward, I picked an AK off the wall and checked it over. Kip looked over as I slid the bolt home, making sure everything worked properly before I slung it over my shoulder.

“All this fun shit to play with and you take the AK?” He gave me a disappointed look.

We often went in under cover and were required to use what the locals used. AK-47s were cheap and plentiful and typically the weapon of choice. While not as accurate at long ranges, the things almost never broke, never jammed, and if the kidnappers were armed, they likely had AK’s. That meant I could strip them of their ammo in a fight. A quick and easy way to replenish my own weapon as we went.

“I’m comfortable with it. It’ll do the job I need it to,” I explained with a shrug. I’d had the pleasure of shooting most of the weapons in this room, but when it came to a dangerous situation I wanted the gun I was used to. Consistency was key in staying alive. It was a lot like how there were guys who’d wear the same socks on game day to ensure a win.

Wolfe came back in and we started stuffing everything into duffel bags before tossing them in the back of the Jeep that was sitting out front. I gave it a quick inspection, typical Jeep, roll bar, open sides. But the front dash had armor, and the front windows were bullet proof. It was better than the SUV. As usual, Brandon had pulled through for us. The man had contacts and allies everywhere and I was damn glad to be friends with him and his team.

“Shotgun,” I muttered to Kip, enjoying the way his face fell when he forgot to say it first. He was going to have to ride in the cramped back seat of that tiny box on wheels. The open roof and sides would give more space, except the roll bar would cause him to have to duck to not bang his head on it over every bump.

Wolfe would drive, he always did. As the tallest—and our team leader—that was his prerogative. I was the second tallest and though Kip wasn’t short at six-three, it usually meant he got the shit end of the stick.

We loaded up and then sat there, the silence deafening. It was as though we’d just realized we didn’t know where to go. This feeling of vulnerability was one I didn’t fucking like at all. Knowing that Bailey was out there, alone, scared, maybe hurt, forced me to fight for control. I wanted to rip this country apart looking for her.

She might irritate the shit out of me, but that didn’t mean I wanted to see her get hurt. Seeing her face last night when that jack-off ex-boyfriend had called her back had some kind of emotion twisting in my chest.

I was trying to rein in my temper around her now. Granted it’d only been twenty-four hours and for a few of those hours she’d been kidnapped, but it was a work in progress. She just brought out this primal, feral side of me.

Watching her at the party earlier had given me a new perspective of her. I’d have figured the rich, spoiled senator’s daughter would have been lapping up all the attention at the charity fundraiser. She’d played the part, just like any dutiful daughter would, but watching her closely I’d realized she was completely miserable the whole night. Well, maybe not when she’d stuck it to her dad about buying us dinner. That was damn hilarious.

We’d pretty much come to the same conclusion about the senator. None of us liked him. His actions from earlier just cemented that feeling. I wondered if we all had come to the same conclusion about the Senator’s daughter?

Glancing at my teammates, I saw grim, frustrated looks on their faces. We weren’t feeling this way solely because she was part of our mission and had been taken. No. It was easy enough to see that Bailey had gotten to all three of us. We were all reacting to that fact in different ways. I’d been lashing out at her because I knew there was no way we were going to end up with her. It was easier to keep her at arm's length. I was pretty sure Kip was halfway in love with her already and the poor kid was going to be in for a rude awakening when she walked away at the end of this.

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