Advance to the Rear (Strike Force Book 3) Read online

  Wondering what was taking her so long, he dialed her cell phone, frowning when he got no answer. He found the number for the restaurant on the internet, stunned when whoever answered told him no one like that had been in that morning.

  What the fuck?

  Okay, maybe she’d had car trouble on the way, but that didn’t explain her cell not working. The service out here was good, as witness the strong signal on his own. All his well-trained senses told him something was wrong, that something bad had happened. If anyone had hurt her, they’d better hope they were dead before Marc found them.

  Grabbing his Glock and an extra magazine—an automatic reaction—he took off running, out to the little feeder road then up to the store. In his condition it was a ten-minute run, but that didn’t matter. She wasn’t there and no one had seen her.

  Discipline allowed him to push back the swelling fear of what might have happened to her and focus on the situation. He was dead certain she wouldn’t just have driven off without a word, without a call or even a text. Not with the way things were going between them. That meant something had happened that had involved both her and her car.

  His mind went at once to the next cottage over and the two men they’d seen yesterday. Men who had at once raised his internal sensors.

  Relatives of a friend, my ass.

  There hadn’t been a car parked near their cottage. At the time he hadn’t thought much about it, but now he wondered if they’d decided to grab Nikki’s car. Had they watched this cottage and waited for someone to come out? What if he’d come out instead of her? Or if the two of them had been together? He’d only seen two men yesterday, but could there have been more? Of course. He should have asked more general questions. Neighborly ones. Except those guys hadn’t looked very hospitable.

  Okay, regroup and reassess. Do it like a mission. What’s the most logical answer here?

  Then he remembered that one of the men had shown interest in the fact that Nikki was a nurse. So. They needed a nurse and obviously a car. He had no idea how they’d gotten here to begin with but apparently they’d been dumped without transportation. So what the fuck were they doing here without a car and why did they need a nurse? They had to have taken Nikki and her car. That was the only answer for this.

  As he came to the slight curve in the road where the path to his cottage intersected, he stepped off the crappy pavement and eased his way through the shoulder-high grass. The cottage where they’d run into the men yesterday was too far away for him to see it from the road, but he immediately went into stealth mode.

  As he moved soundlessly through the marsh grass and bushes, he spotted a man creeping towards the cottage, holding a gun in his right hand. It was one of the two men they had seen the day before. Shock. He could sneak up behind him as he’d done on other targets, place the barrel of his gun against the guy’s skull and ask him where the fuck Nikki was. And her car.

  But just then the man turned, as if sensing something, and any advantage was lost. Marc fired twice, both bullets hitting the man dead center of his forehead. He collapsed at the foot of the little stairway. Looking in all directions as he moved, Marc crouched next to the body, searching in his pockets for any kind of identification. There was nothing. Not even a handkerchief.

  Okay. His next step was to make his way to the cottage where these guys were holed up.

  But just as he started forward, he heard the roar of a car motor and in seconds Nikki’s car came barreling toward him at full speed. Feet apart, he braced his gun hand with his other and shot straight at the windshield. Bam! Bam! Bam! He fired the shots in quick succession, but only managed to splinter the windshield.

  Fuck. That didn’t usually happen. Maybe he’d better get in some target practice once they got out of this mess.

  He jumped to the side as the car nearly ran him down, braced his feet again and peppered the tires with bullets. Two of them flattened even as the driver gunned the motor harder, the rear end of the car swerving left and right, and turned onto the little feeder road. Marc raced after it, running full out, but even with two flat tires, it pulled away from him. As soon as he reached the road and headed for the highway, he saw Nikki’s car ahead parked on the shoulder. He raced toward it, heart thundering, dreading what he would find. Or not find, and he didn’t know which would be worse.

  When he got closer, he saw the body of a man lying in the driveway of the first house and a woman kneeling beside him, a shotgun lying next to her. She looked up as she heard him pounding on the road and reached for the gun beside her.

  “Don’t shoot,” he shouted. “I won’t hurt you. Just give me a minute here.” He said a little prayer that she’d listen to him.

  But his first priority was Nikki. Was she still in the car? Had they taken her with them? When he got to the car and saw no one sitting up front, he yanked open the rear door. Every prayer he’d ever known raced through his mind when he saw her alive, conscious and struggling to sit up. Two bruises were blooming on her rapidly swelling chin, but she seemed otherwise okay. He made quick work of the gag in her mouth and the rope tying her hands behind her.

  “I’m going to lift you out of the car now, okay? Let’s be careful because you’ve got some glass on your clothes. Not much, but I don’t want you to cut yourself.”

  She nodded and clung to him as he extracted her from the mess of the car with extra care. Once he had her on her feet, he shook the glass off her T-shirt and shorts, thanking every god in the world that not much had fallen on her. Being as careful as possible, he began checking her over further for any injuries he couldn’t see. Then he pulled her into his arms.

  Thank you, God.

  “Call 911,” he hollered at the woman by the driveway. “Call them now. I’ll be right there.”

  “He’s bleeding,” she cried.

  “Call 911,” Marc shouted again. “I’ll be right there.”

  Nikki pressed kisses into his neck.

  “I knew you’d find me and save me.” She hugged him tighter. “They smashed my phone. I knew when you couldn’t get hold of me you’d come looking for me.”

  He chuffed a laugh. “Yeah, well, I wasn’t supposed to lose you in the first place. What the hell happened?”

  “They were waiting when I came out of the cottage. I didn’t even have a chance to call out to you.” She looked around. “Where are they?”

  “Gone.” He studied her face. “What did they do to you? I don’t like the look of those bruises.”

  “They knocked me out before they put me in the car. And not too well, either. It’s okay, Marc. Believe me, I’ll survive. They could have done a lot worse.”

  “I have to check on that guy they hit. Come over here and sit on the grass, okay?”

  “I can stand, Marc. Really. I’m okay.”

  “Humor me, will you? Just this once?”

  “Okay, fine. But you remember I’m a nurse, right? I can help you with that man.”

  He was torn between keeping her out of the way and needing her help.

  “Fine. Okay.” He gave her a quick kiss then yanked out his cell phone and pressed the speed dial for Slade.

  “I thought you two would be hiding from the world.” Slade’s voice was warm and teasing.

  “Forget that shit and get your ass out here right away. And I mean right away. Use the helo. We’ve got a shitload of trouble and the mother of all clusterfucks. Whatever your so-called friends told you about those guys in the other cottage is a load of bullcrap. Those supposedly friendly dudes kidnapped Nikki and—”

  “Kidnapped her?” Slade barked. “Where? How? Is she—”

  “I’ve got her back. Don’t worry. They stole her car, which by the way I had to shoot up all to hell. They stole a neighbor’s vehicle and shot him in the process. We’re gonna check on him right now. I’ve also got a dead guy outside the cottage we’re staying in. I told the neighbor to call 911. If she did, I’m sure a sheriff’s deputy is on his way so you need to be here ASAP.”


  As usual, Slade wasted no time with questions. “On it.”

  The woman was still kneeling beside the injured man on the ground. She had yanked off her cardigan sweater and was holding it against the wound. The man’s chest was covered in blood, but lucky for him it seemed to be coming from his right shoulder.

  Nikki slipped past Marc, knelt beside the man and pressed a finger to the hollow of his throat, then breathed a sigh of relief.

  “He’s got a pulse,” she told Marc. “It’s erratic but still beating.” She looked at the woman, who Marc assumed was his wife. “I’m a nurse. Your husband has a decent pulse but he needs help right away. Using your sweater this way was a smart thing to do.”

  She rearranged the garment, now blood-soaked but still better than nothing, and kept pressure on the wound.

  “I called 911,” she told them.

  “How far away is the nearest responder?”

  “The firehouse is just the other side of the crossroads, so they should be here real quick. They’re pretty good at a fast response.”

  Despite the fact that the woman was distraught and tears streaked her face, she had kept it together. The guy was damn lucky. Apparently when they’d shot at him, they’d done it on the fly, which was probably the only reason he wasn’t dead. Thank god for that.

  “Ma’am?” He knelt beside the woman. “My name is Marc Blanchard. This is Nikki Alvarez. Can you tell us yours?”

  “Kitty.” She got the name out between gulping sobs. “Kitty Lester.” Her face was streaked with tears and her hands were shaking, but Marc gave thanks that she was focused on trying to stanch the bleeding and do whatever had to be done. “They just shot him,” the woman wept. “I would have given them the damn car.”

  He wanted to tell her they didn’t give a shit, but that wasn’t what she wanted to hear.

  “Luckily your husband’s still alive,” he assured the woman, “but he needs medical attention right away. Let’s move back and give Nikki some room to work.”

  “Emergency will send a sheriff’s deputy, too,” she told him.

  Even as she spoke Marc heard the wail of the siren. Looking in that direction, he saw an ambulance bearing down on them, lights flashing and siren screeching. It pulled up close to where they were both kneeling over her husband.

  “Here is the ambulance now. These people will take good care of your husband. Uh, did you get a good look at the men who did this?”

  She shook her head. “Not so much. They were already getting into John’s car when I ran out the door. I just know they all had dark hair and looked Middle Eastern. Why did they have to shoot him? Why?”

  “These are not nice people.” And boy, wasn’t that just the damn truth. He patted her shoulder. Giving comfort wasn’t his strong suit. “But don’t worry. We’ll get them.”

  Damn right I will.

  A man and a woman in familiar blue coveralls with a paramedic badge on the left side hurried over. Marc rose to make room for them, and as he stepped away Nikki also rose, wiping her bloody hands on her shorts. He was so damn proud of the way she was handling herself.

  “Marc, listen. I don’t know if this means anything but they talked about Mexico and a target and San Antonio. And they’ve been waiting for someone to come back to get them. I think the man getting shot was an unpleasant surprise.”

  Marc’s blood chilled.

  “Mexico? San Antonio? Are you sure?”

  She nodded. “They’re supposed to do something big when they get there, and they’re pissed off that someone else might get to do it.”

  Marc thumbed Slade’s number again on his phone. When the connection went through he could hear heavy background noise.

  “We’re ready for liftoff right now,” Slade answered.

  “Good. The law will be here any minute. Whoever told you those people were seeking sanctuary here? Not even close. Somebody’s lying here.”

  “God damn it to fucking hell! Okay, you near the crossroads there?”

  “Right down the street. And Slade? We have to get the word out on these bad guys.”

  It was hard to talk over the noise of the helo so Marc hung up.

  “My girl over there’s been hurt, too,” he told the closest paramedic. “Can you just take a look at her jaw? I think all she needs is an ice pack.”

  “Can she be moved?” the woman asked. “We need to take care of this man first.”

  “Yes. Let me bring her over here.”

  He ran back to Nikki, who was sitting there, still looking shell-shocked, her face now swollen and discolored. Anger surged through Marc unlike anything he’d ever felt. If the men who’d done this were anywhere near him at the moment, he’d tear them apart limb from limb. Literally. He took a deep breath to calm himself. Going crazy wouldn’t help right now.

  “Come on, babe. I’m getting you over to the ambulance so they can treat you. Let me carry you, okay?”

  “I-I can walk, Marc. Really.” She held on to him as she rose, but she had only taken a couple of steps before she stumbled. “Sorry. I guess—”

  “Let me do this.”

  He lifted her up in his arms and carried her over to the ambulance, setting her down on the tailgate. However, he kept his arm around her, holding her while she was examined.

  “She needs ice on that face,” the woman examining her told Marc. “You were right. And she should be checked over for concussion, but she doesn’t seem to have any other injuries.” She reached into the ambulance and brought out a canvas tote, pulled out a frozen gelpak and handed it to Nikki. “Be sure to keep this on there. Twenty minutes on, twenty minutes off. If over-the-counter pain relief doesn’t work, make this handsome hunk here take you to the doctor.”

  “I’ll keep an eye on her,” Marc said in a firm voice.

  “I’m okay,” Nikki whispered.

  He grinned. “And I’m taking care of you. Period.”

  “Hang on to the rest of these gelpaks.” The woman gave them the tote. “Just drop the tote off when you’re done.”

  “Thanks.” Marc took it from her and looked at Nikki. “You sure you aren’t hurt anywhere else?”

  “Of course,” she assured him. “My face will be sore for a while and be sixteen gorgeous colors, but I can deal with it.”

  “Can you tell me what their deal is? Why they grabbed you? Did they say?”

  She blew out a shaky breath. “They were mad because they had no car. They got me just as I was unlocking the car to get in.”

  “But why take you if they only wanted the car?”

  “One of them was shot in the leg. They remembered my T-shirt from the day before, the one that had Nurse on it. They made me take the bullet out and treat him with what they had. Which wasn’t much.”

  He stroked her hair, trying to soothe her. “What else did they say? Anything?”

  “Um, they’re supposed to be in San Antonio. Being here wasn’t planned. Whoever picked them up was supposed to take them into the city, but I think the guy getting shot screwed up everything. It sounded like whoever was supposed to take them just dumped them out here. They kept talking about their big assignment here in Texas. That it was happening in a few days and they didn’t have much time. And I think they mentioned the rodeo.”

  The sensation of an icy fist gripped Marc’s stomach, colder than the stuff Nikki was using on her face. He knew all about the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo. Knew it was one of the largest in the country, with a combined daily grounds and show attendance of more than one hundred and fifty thousand. And that didn’t count the surrounding area filled with homes and businesses. A great place for terrorists to do a lot of damage and make a statement.

  “We need to get the right people involved in this. I’m sure the sheriff will be here any minute and want to talk to us, but Slade’s on his way. He needs to know this ASAP and contact the right people. I want to talk to the woman whose husband was shot. Ask her a couple of questions.”

  “Let me come with you.�
�� She drew in a shaky breath and let it out slowly. “I’m good, and maybe I can help.”

  He knew that, as a nurse, that would be her first reaction. Damn it. This was supposed to be a romantic getaway while they explored their growing relationship, not what it had turned into.

  “Fine. Come on, then.”

  He knew she was far from good, but he had to find out what happened. Kitty Lester kneeled by the stretcher, holding her husband’s hand, squeezing it, tears running down her face. She looked to be in her forties, best as Marc could tell. She let go long enough for John Lester to be loaded onto a stretcher as he approached. Then she rose from where she’d been kneeling, her face tear-streaked and pale.

  “Is-Is that your wife?” She looked at Nikki.

  He managed a smile. “Almost.” He ignored the stunned look on Nikki’s face. “Can you tell me a little more about what happened?”

  “We heard some people in the driveway, the car, something. John went out to see what was going on and they shot him.” She pressed a shaking hand to her mouth.

  Nikki moved closer and put an arm around the woman. Bruised and battered and probably scared shitless, she was still doing her job as the compassionate nurse. Compassionate person. At that moment his heart swelled with admiration for her.

  “I’m so sorry for that,” Nikki murmured.

  “It’s not your fault.” She hiccupped a sob. “We would have given them the damn car.”

  “Ma’am?” One of the paramedics came back to her. “We’re ready to transport him. We’d let you ride with us but someone from Sheriff Gorham’s office is on the way and will want to talk to you. He’ll bring you to the hospital afterwards, okay?”

  She nodded. “Yes. Okay.” Fresh tears ran down her face. “Oh, sweet Jesus. Is he going to be okay?”

  “We hope so.” The man’s voice had a professional tone of reassurance. “It doesn’t look like any vital organs were hit, but the doctor can give you a better evaluation. We need to get going ASAP.”

  At that moment, a siren cut through the air. Marc looked down the road to see a sheriff’s car racing toward them, lights and sirens on. It pulled to a stop almost side by side with the ambulance. The man who climbed out was a hair under six feet, large, and wearing the light tan uniform of the county sheriff’s department. The regulation star was pinned to his left breast.