Saving Serena (Hawk Security #1)

Chapter 37

CHAPTER 37

Duke

Terry and Jordy rolled up right behind us in a second Cayenne at the meet point on Wild Bush Lane. I was already gearing up with what we carried in the back of the Cayenne.

“Terry, gear up. You’re going in with us,” Lucas called. “Jordy, you’re on comms, and we need eyes in the sky.”

“Got ya covered.” Jordy pulled one of his drones from the backseat. “Here’s the latest picture of Pons.” He passed around his phone.

Now I had a face to go with the description of general scumbag.

Terry opened the hatch of his SUV and pulled out the same vest as I already had on—a soft, level-II model, below what I was used to for SEAL missions.

We hadn’t expected a firefight and hadn’t packed rifles, so today would be a handgun-only assault. Along with flashbangs and knives.

Jordy’s drone buzzed and took to the air.

Lucas checked his SIG and added clips to his pockets.

I carried two and added one more. It wasn’t likely to turn into a firefight, but if it did, I’d be prepared. The tiny tactical camera for seeing in rooms or around corners was next.

When Terry started screwing a suppressor on, Lucas shook his head. “We go in hot and loud. This guy is a civilian, maybe with a few hired guns, but Spinelli is likely the only one with experience. Noise is our friend against novices.”

Terry nodded and removed it.

“We have no idea how many there are, or what they’re carrying, so be alert and careful.” Lucas looked at me to add, “No heroics, and we shoot to incapacitate.” That was understood, but not always possible.

Terry pulled a flashbang from the box. “Copy that.”

I nodded, knowing I would define my own level of what constituted heroics when it came to Serena’s safety. This wasn’t another SEAL mission. No, this was more important. They could be torturing Serena right now to get information she didn’t have.

In the teams, I’d learned not to react to things that would turn any man’s stomach, but now I almost puked into the back of the SUV. The thought of Serena being tortured was more than I could handle.

If anything happened to her, I’d burn Pons and anyone with him to the ground.

We worked our way quickly through the trees toward the objective.

“Jordy, confirm we have the right house,” Lucas demanded.

“Screw you. I don’t make mistakes,” Jordy said.

Terry’s eyes went wide. As a non-family member, he didn’t get to say shit like that to Lucas.

“Address matches, and one of the cars out front is the Beamer that took Serena. License plate confirmed,” Jordy continued.

With that, I breathed easier. Soon, I’d have her back in my arms, safe and sound. I should have told her how I felt, how much my feelings had surprised me, but I’d remedy that soon enough.

“Copy,” Lucas replied. “What’s the opposition situation?”

“They’re not expecting company. No guards on watch. One man on a smoke break out front by the cars,” Jordy said in our ears. “Beyond that, I can’t get close enough to tell numbers. The north wall is the best approach, only one small window.”

As we got closer, my confidence built. I had my brother, Lucas, the baddest of the Omega badasses, and Terry, who was as competent a shot as any non-spec-ops guy could be. We also had the element of surprise.

Lucas called a halt at the tree line when the house came into view.

Pons, Spinelli, and whoever else was there had no idea the hell we were prepared to rain down on them.

“Terry with me.” Lucas pointed. “We’ll go left. Duke, right. Jordy, keep watch.”

We split and raced to the north side of the building.

“Hold,” Jordy said, and we all froze along the wall. “You’ll never guess who came out to talk to our smoker.”

“Jordy,” Lucas barked. “Now is not the time.”

“Igor Yaroslavsky, and we know he never travels alone.”

Shit . That would give them more shooters, not just Spinelli and his accomplice.

“We stick together,” Lucas whispered. He signaled for me to take lead going around to the right.

After rounding the corner, I signaled a halt at the first window into a dining room, long table and all, but no Serena.

Then I heard her, and we halted short of the next room.

“I told you, I didn’t get anything from her.” It was Serena’s angry voice. That was my girl, unlimited spunk regardless of the situation.

Holding the tiny tac cam up to the corner of the window, I let out a breath when I saw her on my phone.

She was taped to a chair but otherwise okay.

“This take too long,” Yaroslavsky complained from the far corner. “Come.”

Three men followed him out of the room. That left Pons and one armed guard.

The Pons scumbag pulled a syringe and a vial from a bag. “This will help your memory.”

I hand signaled the count and direction they’d gone.

Lucas and Terry ducked and moved under the window of the next room then one room farther.

I signaled breach on three when they were positioned, and Lucas nodded to confirm.

No way was I letting that asswipe inject my woman with anything. Putting the camera away, I backed up for a running start, counted off three, and jumped up and into the window, shielding my face and rolling when I hit the floor inside.

Terry’s flashbang sounded through the walls.

Serena screamed.

“Hold on,” I yelled. For a moment, all I could see was her taped to a chair and helpless. “I’m here for you, baby.” With a quick pivot, I took down the guard with two shots to the shoulder. Time at the range paid off.

Pons turned on me, wielding the syringe like a sword.

I leaped and backed up a step, kicking the groaning guard’s gun into the corner. “I’ll cut you loose in a second.”

When Pons lunged, I knocked his arm away, landed a quick punch to the head, and brought him down with a roundhouse kick. The syringe went flying.

Shots sounded in the distance.

“Duke, look out.”

Serena’s warning was too late. Shots rang out, and I took two quick rounds in the back from a shooter I hadn’t seen.

“Duke,” Serena screamed.

Fuck, fuck, fuck. I’d broken rule number one of clearing a room and focused solely on Serena. The world moved in slow motion as I hit the ground, rolling.

Spinelli’s ugly face grinned at me as he looked over his Beretta and fired twice more.

The hits felt like bowling balls thrown at my chest.

“Duke.” Serena’s cry tore at me.

Spinelli laughed maniacally and swung his gun toward her.

The pain was excruciating when I tried to pull in a breath, but my woman’s safety made it irrelevant . I am Cobra. I lifted my SIG.

Spinelli’s laughter stopped as he jerked his aim back to me. He wasn’t fast enough. I returned fire with two quick shots. With a groan, he crumpled. His gun clattered to the floor.

“Duke,” Serena sobbed, maybe not realizing my body armor had done its job.

Even so, when I tried to breathe, the pain was at least a twelve on the ten-point scale. It got even worse when I lifted myself off the floor. I heard gunfire as I worked through the pain to kick Spinelli’s gun away and get to my woman.

“He shot you,” she sobbed. “He shot you.”

Pulling my knife, I cut through the tape binding her. “In. The. Vest,” I grunted through painful breaths. I’d taken a hit in the vest before. But on deployment, I’d had an armor plate to spread the impact. This soft vest didn’t do that.

She fell against me as I cut the last binding. “I thought he killed you,” she sobbed.

“It takes a lot more than that to kill a Cobra.”

She laughed, which had been my intention.

Bam . The wood floor splintered at Serena’s feet.

“Hands up, or she gets the next one.”

Like a fool, I’d taken my eyes off Pons.

Serena

Pons had grabbed the gun from the corner and had it aimed at us.

Duke froze. “Do as he says.”

I lifted my hands, as did Duke. More shots came from another room.

Tony Spinelli moaned. “Get me a doctor.”

Pons ignored him. “Two fingers only. Take out your gun and drop it,” he said, like they did in the movies.

Duke moved left, away from me, lifted his gun out of his holster, and dropped it on the floor.

“Now kick it to me.”

I moved right to increase the separation between us that Duke had created. When Pons kept his gun aimed at me, I implored my man, “Cobra, don’t.” I needed his training to kick in. “He won’t shoot me. He needs what I know.”

Pons laughed and shifted his aim to Duke. “Then I’ll shoot him if you don’t tell me right now.”

I stepped to the right. “Do that, and I won’t ever tell you.”

He turned to aim at me. “A bullet to the liver will ensure your death, but not before my drugs get the truth out of you.”

I thought I was brave, but the idea of getting shot in the stomach curdled my blood.

“No, Serena,” Duke said.

Negotiating with a maniac sucked. I stepped toward him anyway. “Let him go, and I’ll tell you.”

He swung his gun to Duke again.

The look on Duke’s face was pure pain. “Serena, stay back.”

Asshole Pons wanted to pump me full of drugs, rape me, sell me to a Russian mobster, and now shoot me, on top of polluting our water. He was lower than pond scum, and I’d had enough of him.

Pons waved the gun at me. “Tell me or I’ll shoot him.”

I moved forward, almost close enough. “My lawyer has it. Anything happens to me, and it goes to the FBI.”

Pons’s face twisted in confusion.

I put my hand in my back pocket and grasped the cuffs.

He laughed. “No way.”

I threw the cuffs to the side, and Pons’s eyes followed, the way Duke had said they would.

I lunged forward, forcing his gun wrist up and away. “You cannot?—”

He fired.

God, that was loud. Throat. I slammed my other fist into his throat with all my might.

He coughed and dropped the gun, bringing his hand to his neck.

Eyes. I poked him hard in the eye with my thumb. “Shoot.”

His hands came up to his face.

Knee. When I kicked his knee, Pons crumpled. “My man.”

Duke was by me in a second, grabbing my arm. “What the hell?”

“I’m not done.” Groin. I kicked him hard, connecting right on target.

With a pained yell, Pons curled into a ball.

I blew out a breath. “Now I’m done.”

“He could have shot you,” Duke yelled in my face.

“He was about to shoot you,” I yelled back. Anger still fueled me when I kicked Pons again. “Nobody gets away with that.”

Duke pulled me back. “That’s enough.”

“Not nearly.”

Lucas burst in, gun raised, and stopped.

“You’re late,” Duke said, picking up the gun Pons had held.

“Yaroslavsky brought six guys with him. What happened here?”

Duke pointed to the two bleeding men. “I got those two.”

“After Spinelli shot you,” I pointed out.

“And Serena beat the shit out of Pons here.”

“You got shot four times,” I yelled at my man.

Lucas’s voice was concerned. “You okay?”

“The vest did its job, but it hurts like a motherfucker.”

“Four, huh? You’ll need x-rays.”

Duke nodded.

“Jordy, roll two more ambulances,” Lucas said. “No. We’re good. Only bad guys.”

“Let’s finish up,” Lucas said, pulling out zip ties and throwing one to Duke. “You get Spinelli. Who’s that piece of shit?”

I cringed. “His brother, Johnson.”

“Hands, Spinelli,” Duke said. “Or I’ll turn the woman loose on you.”

I grinned. Yeah, I’d happily kick him in the soft bits.

Lucas went to Johnson. “Hands.”

Johnson lifted his wrists.

Duke leaned over. “I said hands, asshole.”

Spinelli didn’t move.

Duke looked my way. “Want to kick him?”

Spinelli lunged up and drove a knife into my man.

I screamed as fear rolled over me.