Mission: Impossible to Deny (The Impossible Mission Romantic Suspense Series Book 7), Jacki Delecki [polar express read aloud .TXT] 📗

Reeves had to take the chance that it was empty. He could try to elicit help if people were working in the space. But that would only put innocent people in the way of the Sureños. It all depended on how many people he found in the warehouse and whether there was any chance of them taking on the armed and dangerous Sureños.

He hugged the wall of the first two buildings.

He searched for an open door where he could find cover and call Nick. He’d like to call Darcy first, but he didn’t have her number memorized.

He stopped when he had a good view of the entrance into the rectangular space filled with crates. No movement and no sound. He rushed through the doorway, and once out of view, he paused to assess.

Nothing that he could detect. There were stacks of wooden boxes in the front of the forklift as if they had just been placed there. He raced to the back of the warehouse, keeping between the crates. He dialed Nick from the phone he’d taken from Muscle.

Nick immediately answered. “Nick Jenkins.”

“Nick, I’m okay. Is Darcy all right?”

“Thank God.” Reeves heard Nick’s long exhale. “She’s fine. Sitrep.”

“I don’t recognize the location, but I’m in an industrial area with rows of warehouses. Not sure how long before the Sureños will find me. I’m going to take out the SIM card after this call.”

“Are you wounded?”

“I’m weak from the overdose but nothing else. They hadn’t gotten to the torture yet. I’m hiding in the back of the second warehouse on the eastside, using the setting sun as my guide. I have no idea what row I’m in. I’m armed with a GSh-18.”

“We’ve got you. Hang tight. You’re in East Palo Alto, ten minutes out. Stay hidden, no matter what you hear. And only start shooting if you have to. No damn heroics. If anything happened to you, Emily would never forgive me.”

“I love you too.” Reeves shut the phone down to remove the SIM card. Ten minutes was going to be an eternity. He hadn’t told Nick to tell Darcy … What could Nick tell Darcy? That Reeves loved her? It was a little premature, but he had never felt this way about a woman, and he didn’t think anything could change how he felt. He had to consider if it was some sort of crazy rebound phenomenon to have this blinding attraction. Nope, he wanted Darcy as he had never wanted another woman.

His hands shook as he disabled the phone, and he was a bit dizzy. The symptoms might be dehydration or the effects of the drugs in his system. He moved to face the door, giving him a sightline on unwelcome visitors. He didn’t calculate his chances with one weapon against the Sureños’s heavy firepower.

He lowered himself to the floor, knowing he needed to reserve his strength for the next round. He was depleted in every way. His nerves were jacked up, but his body was weary, his mouth dry, his head throbbing. What he would do for water and Darcy right now.

He pulled out the GSh-18 to check how much ammunition Galina required to intimidate him. And how long could he last against the Sureños?

He had enough ammo to make a statement but nothing more. He refused to let them take him back. He had to hold out. Darcy waited for him.

He leaned against the crate and closed his eyes for a second. The back of his eyelids rubbed like sandpaper. He couldn’t fall asleep. To do so would be fatal.

Reeves jerked awake at the sound of hushed voices. He hadn’t been asleep but rather in a mediative state. He heard the slap of footsteps on the concrete floor and the click of assault rifles. The threat of an imminent attack charged his body awake with a flood of adrenaline, skyrocketing his heart rate, tightening his muscles. Sweat beaded his forehead.

He pushed up from the floor, trying not to make any sound, focused on his view. And waited as his pulse tripped into outer space. He slowed his breath and steadied his hand as he raised it into a firing position.

Nick, followed by Finn and Lars, were a welcoming sight in their vests with their assault rifles moving in formation through the space. He blinked twice to make sure they were real and not a drug hallucination.

Nick spoke into his comm mic. “We’ve got him. Repeat. We’ve got the target.”

A voice Reeves didn’t recognize came over Nick’s mic. “The warehouse is cleared.”

He had to suppress the need to hug the macho men who were bristling with aggression, still on high alert, even with their weapons now not pointed at him.

“Took you long enough, guys!” It was either be a smart-ass or weep tears of relief.

 Reeves almost lost his balance when Nick slapped him hard on his back.

“Fuck, is it good to see your sorry ass!” Nick’s voice cracked.

“Never thought I’d be this happy to see the Jenkins brothers.” His comment got a heavy thump from Finn and a fist bump from Lars.

“Darcy, we’ve got him. He’s upright but looks like shit.”

“Darcy is here?” Reeves staggered as his stomach bottomed out. “Why in the hell would you allow her to come to a potential firefight when she’s injured?”

He thought he’d have time to regroup before seeing her.

“She’s been at the front entrance waiting until we cleared the building, dumb ass.” Nick never reacted well when his solid judgment was questioned. Too bad. This was Darcy.

“Man, you better not let her hear you. The woman is Army and a CIA officer. She can handle herself. And you better remember that when you want to go all alpha on her, or she’ll take you down. Learn from my stupid-ass mistakes with Danni. Never underestimate your woman.” Lars grinned.

“Do you need help walking?” Finn’s baby blues were lasered onto Reeves, seeing more than Reeves wanted the