Total pages in book: 165
Estimated words: 154925 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 775(@200wpm)___ 620(@250wpm)___ 516(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 154925 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 775(@200wpm)___ 620(@250wpm)___ 516(@300wpm)
Sean took his hand, pulling him against the bars into as much of a hug as he could while Ian kissed the top of his daughter’s head and then frowned, sniffing the air and finding out his daughter hadn’t bathed in days. At least he’d taken a shower.
Sean sighed as though something had settled inside him. “Okay. We’re going to get MaeBe and get you out of here. We brought along some C-4. Ten is going to take Charlotte and Kala back out.”
That was when he noticed the lanky man in the back. Tennessee Smith. He’d met the man before, but he looked different today. He looked leaner and harder than the man who smiled and told jokes at family get-togethers. This was the Ten Smith who’d existed before he’d met his wife and had a bunch of kids.
“She only left one guard here?” Ten frowned as he looked down. “That wasn’t smart.”
“MaeBe was right. She isn’t thinking straight,” Charlotte said, taking a deep breath and stepping back to look at her daughter. “Come on, baby. We’re going back through the tunnels with Ten. We’ll wait for your dad and everyone else out at the cars.”
“Where’s Mae?” Was she holed up in a van monitoring the situation? He wanted her far away from here, but he wasn’t going to tell her to run. Not this time. He was going to trust her.
He was kind of surprised she hadn’t left Hutch to do the overwatch work.
Kala turned to her dad. She stood up a bit straighter, as though trying to be professional. “I’m pretty sure you’re dealing with less than five tangoes, and they’re all mercenaries. Two of them are former Marines. I think the rest are ex-Army. This is a job to them. We think Julia sent the dangerous ones to the meet site. Well, I do. I don’t know that Kyle thinks a lot.”
She was the worst. “Go. Get her out of here so you can find a way through the security code on this sucker. Can I talk to Mae? Do you have her on the radio?”
Charlotte took her daughter’s hand. “I’ll leave that explanation to the rest of the group. Ten, we’re ready. Theo, you can start working on the code to the door.”
Theo Taggart had a familiar device in his hand. It was a modified tablet that Hutch and MaeBe used to bust codes on security systems. It could sometimes take hours.
He could be here for hours. The thought should freak him out. He should be chomping at the bit to get out of here so he could face Julia and finally end this madness. He couldn’t let his uncle do this for him.
Except he really could. He didn’t care who killed Julia as long as she was out of his life and he could be with Mae. It didn’t matter who brought Julia the justice she deserved. All that mattered was he got to start his life with Mae.
“Mom, please. Like I didn’t watch.” Kala stepped up to the keypad of the lock. She closed her eyes as though trying to remember exactly what she had seen.
Another reason she’d asked to go to the bathroom. In the chaos of the power flickering and whatever was happening upstairs, the guard hadn’t covered the keypad.
Kala had watched his fingers move.
Oh, if she got this open, he was never going to live it down. He hadn’t even thought to watch the guard.
Maybe it was time to accept that he wasn’t the superspy he thought he’d been. He’d been a soldier, and that was okay. Now he just wanted to be a husband and—if they decided together—a father.
He prayed his child was easier than Kala Taggart.
The lock clicked and the door opened.
But there was no question that one day Kala Taggart was going to be magnificent.
“Hey, kid.” His uncle put his hands on Kala’s shoulders. “I love you. We’re going to sit down and have a long talk when this is through.”
“Yeah, and I’ll be grounded for life,” Kala replied with a sigh.
“Oh, you’ll be grounded, but we’re going to talk about more than that.” Ian leaned over and kissed his daughter’s forehead. “You want training? I think it’s time. You might not like it, but I know when fate is probably punching me in the face. Go with your mom. You two be safe.”
Kala’s head tilted up. “I love you, Dad. Kick her ass. She won’t stop coming after Kyle. Not ever. You have to kill her. If she’s alive, she’ll find a way to hurt Kyle and MaeBe. We can’t let that happen.”
So like her father. A hard outside, with real love and caring behind it.
“We won’t let that happen,” his uncle promised.
Kala started to walk toward the secret door, Ten Smith holding it open for her and her mom. Charlotte went first, placing Kala between her and the ex-operative.