Code Name: Nina's Choice (Warrior's Challenge) (40 page)

“Head for the
hallway,” Ghost ordered.
“The back
door.”

Cayson bolted out of
the office and jumped him. A roar of hate swelled in Mace. He swun
g around as Tinman pulled Gabbs from his arms and ran. Now
he stood face to face with Cayson.

“Take me with you,” he
said, dropping his weapon to the ground. A body slammed into Mace’s back, and
he knew it was Ghost. His weapon fired with precision, taking
out the shooters as they came down the center aisle.

“Fuck you. You even
your debt with Pedro.”

Wade swung first, and
Mace blocked.

“Go,” Ghost hollered
at the squad who stood in the cover of the hallway.

“Mace,” Gabbs screamed
and her little arm shot out
toward him.

Wade used the
distraction, and his fist cracked against Mace’s jaw. “Then you’re as dead as I
am,” Wade growled.

Mace rolled and jumped
to his feet. “You lost everything, Cayson. I’m rescinding your rights as a
father.” The gates came down and
Mace felt nothing
but raw fury grasp the hand of years of training.
He power fisted with an uppercut to
Wade’s chin, sending him sprawling backward over a crate.

“I’m running low,”
Ghost yelled.

Mace glanced at the
door. Pedro appeared with a raised weapo
n. “Doorway,”
he shouted, Ghost spun and emptied his weapon. Pedro took cover. Mace launched
himself at Cayson, nailing him in the chest with his elbow. The other arm came
down across his throat. “I’ll let you live, but you will never show your face
again.
No second chances.” Sweat dripped from his
forehead, and a droplet landed on Cayson’s cheek.

A hand gripped Mace’s
collar and pulled him to his feet. “Time to go,” Ghost ordered.

Three men approached,
their weapons drawn. He and Ghost ran for the hallway,
and lunged when the men fired on them. Mace took five steps, and realized Ghost
wasn’t behind him. He swiveled. Cayson was standing, his arm outstretched with
a weapon in his hand. A shot rang out, and Mace watched in slow motion as the
casing ejected, hi
t the cement floor and bounced. The
slide didn’t snap back into place. Ghost had saved one round.

His gaze rose to see
Cayson fall to the ground. Ghost
turned,
the lines and scars of a hard and worn
warrior etched on his face.

“It’s over, let’s
move,”
Ghost said, avoiding his eyes.

Had Ghost taken the
shot that killed Cayson or had one of Pedro’s men done it? He wasn’t sure.
There were certain things a man couldn’t live with, and he knew he couldn’t
live with the thought of killing Gabbs’ father, but Go
d
had put other men on the planet, those who did the hardest things. Men like
Ghost, who lived with the guilt in order to bring balance back into the world.

The back door yawned
open. They were almost clear.

Pedro’s voice blasted
through the speakers. “I m
ight have lost the girl,
but the mother will bring even more money. She’s as good as gone, SEAL.” He
hesitated and Ghost pushed him the last few steps. What the hell was he talking
about? Nina! Pedro knew where Nina was.

As they neared the
aircraft Gabbs t
ried to launch herself out the open
door. Tinman held her back with one arm. Ghost opened the navigator door and
stepped in. Mace hopped into the cramped seating area and Gabbs clambered on
his lap.

“Mr. Porter, we have
to get to your casino, now,” Ghost s
aid.

As Steven Porter
lifted them into the air, adjusting for the extra weight, he asked, “What’s
going on?”

“Gabriella’s mother is
in danger. Pedro is going after her.”

Mace dug furiously for
his phone. Nina answered on the first ring.
“Mace?”

“We’ve got
her, Nina. You have to get out of there.”

“Why?”

Mr. Porter shouted
over his shoulder. “Tell her to head for the roof of the casino. What room is
she in?”

“Twenty-five ten,”
Mace yelled over the noise of the helicopter.

“Tell her to go to the
Grand Tower.
Take the elevator to the fifty-eighth
floor. There’s a set of stairs to access the roof in the east corridor. We’ll
pick her up there. I’ll call my security team to escort her.”

“I heard that,” Nina
said. “Why do I have to meet you there?”

“Babe, Pedro’s
men are coming for you. Get out of there.”

“ETA?”
Mace yelled at Mr. Porter.

“Three minutes,” he
called back over the helo’s noise.

“Run, Nina.”

* * * *

Nina stuck her head
out the door and looked both ways.
Grand
Tower?
Where the fuck was the Grand Towe
r? An old couple
toddled down the hallway and she caught up to them before they reached the
elevator. She knew she was in the Palm Tower. A ride down to the suite lobby
and she’d find the Grand Tower elevators. The old couple gave her a friendly
smile and
she nodded at them.

Nina heard a door bang
open and she turned to look. Two men exited the staircase and were running
toward them. Oh shit! The elevator door opened.
“Time to go, folks.”

“Those men are running
for the elevator dear, we should wait,” the ol
d girl
said.

“No, we shouldn’t.”
She practically shoved the couple in and hammered the lobby button.

The old guy put an arm
around his wife and gave Nina a wary look. She deliberated on getting off on
another floor, but then she’d only have the stairs as a
n option. By the time the elevator reached the lobby, it was full. The
doors retracted and she spotted a guy with shades leaning against a wall. She
tucked in behind a tall, handsome dude and stayed in the mash of exiting
passengers.

Was he with Mr. Porter
’s staff or Pedro’s? She couldn’t take the risk. Porter’s
security team wore dark pinstriped suits. This guy wasn’t. Nonchalantly, he
turned his head and spotted her. He pushed away from the wall and she bolted
through the crowd. Should she find one of Por
ter’s
men? She didn’t have time. She skidded around the corner and looked up at the
casino sign without slowing down. The Grand Tower was to her left. The casino
was jammed with people, it being a Friday night, the weekend guests bustled
shoulder to should
er in the popular hotel.

She turned to look
behind her and slammed into someone. Hands gripped her and she jerked back.
“Nina Samson?” the guy asked. Now this was one of Mr. Porter’s men.

“Yes,”

“Come this way?”

“Go faster,” she
whispered. She darted a loo
k to her right. The guy
with the shades wasn’t more than eight feet away. “That man with the shades, I
don’t think he’s a friendly.”

The security guard
spoke into a comm set that draped from his ear and coiled down his neck. She
searched the faces in the c
rowd, looking for Pedro’s
men. The security officer grasped her arm and guided her into the elevator. He
selected the fifty-eighth floor. Nina rested her head against the wall with
relief. Close.

As the elevator rose,
guests departed. A middle-aged man wit
h a somber look
remained with them. She glanced at him and then once again. He was staring at
her. She followed him as he reached inside his blazer. With a sweep of his
hand, the guy pulled his gun and fired into the security officer’s stomach.
Whether fro
m fear or reflex, she kicked. The gun
slammed into the wall as the doors slid open, and she bolted.

Someone grabbed her
around the throat as she exited. Another man appeared in front of her. Good
leverage. She scissor-kicked and knocked the other guy onto
his ass. With a shift of her hips, she tripped the guy
holding her, but he hung on and they both went down. With elbows pointed she
used it to crack his nose, and lunged to her feet. She ran into the corridor.
Which way was east? She whirled around to see
the one
guy rolling to his feet with a groan.
Left or right?
Left or right?
There was no way to keep your bearings
in these big hotels. “Eeny meeny miney mo,” she said and altered to starboard,
running as fast she could.

“Stop.”

She glanced behind her
to s
ee another of Pedro’s men catching up. Where the
hell did they get this guy, the Olympics? She saw a door, and prayed it was the
one she needed. She hit it running, and the body slam hurt like hell. Locked?

The guy drew his
weapon. “Don’t be stupid.” He sl
owed and took the
last few feet walking.

More men entered the
other end of the hallway. One or two she could handle, more than that and she
was finished.

“Turn around,” he
ordered.

She spread her feet a
little f
u
rther apart. “Screw you. Pedro wants me
alive.”

The guy stopped and
sized her up. “You’re as big as a twig, bitch. You really think you can do any
damage?” He laughed and put the weapon into his blazer.

Nina saw the other
guys getting closer. “We’ll find out.” She hammered her leg up and her
foot caught him under his chin. He staggered back a step,
but regained his center of balance.

“He won’t mind if
you’re bruised,” he said, rubbing the impact point.

He threw himself at
her, and she nailed him between the legs, and then came down on his neck
with the edge of her hand. The bad boy dropped to his
knees and fell over clutching his nuts. She whirled around, and pushed down on
the handle, it gave way, and the door clanged against the wall. A short flight
of steps led to another door. She took them
two at a
time and wrenched the other door open to the roof. A blast of cold wind hit
her. She heard the chopper and turned in a circle. Where was it?

The other men weren’t
far behind, and exited onto the roof with their guns drawn. Her hair lashed
into he
r face and her shirt started to ripple across
her body. She turned as the chopper rose from below and edged over the roof.

Someone fired a gun,
and she dropped to her knees to make herself a smaller target. With a hand, she
swept her hair away to see Mace
running toward her
with a weapon. He fired back and yelled at her, but the sound of his voice was
swept away by the chopper. She launched herself toward him. Mace pulled her
behind him and they ran to the chopper. Hands reached for hers and hauled her
insi
de. The door slid shut and the chopper rose into
the night.

“Mommy,” Gabbs yelled,
and her little girl slammed against her. Breathing heavy, she blew out her
breath then pulled Gabbs away. After giving her
a
once-over, she held her baby to her chest.

“Wher
e to, folks?”
Steven Porter said, cranking his head
and surprising her. She smiled through her tears and nodded at him.

“Got enough fuel to
get us back to San Diego?” a voice said, and she turned to see Ghost sitting up
front.

“Admiral?”

He reached back wi
th his big paw and gripped her shoulder with a warm
squeeze.

“Think I can manage
that.
Gotta call the wife, though.
She’s gonna rip me a new one if I
don’t,” Steven Porter said.

After a few minutes of
getting her breath back and calming her daughter, she r
eached her hand out. Mace kissed it. She leaned forward, and his warm
lips reassured her.

“Petty Officer
Callahan,” Ghost thundered above the noise.

“Yes,
sir.”