Darkest Before Dawn (KGI series) (37 page)

And Maren Steele, Steele’s wife and mother of their daughter. She, too, was one of Marlene’s adoptees.

He found himself angry as he stalked toward the secure sat phone for disturbing what should have been a perfect day. A day to remember their blessings and revel in them. Simply enjoy living and loving and being the family unit they were. Or maybe he was just getting too fucking maudlin in his old age. Finding the love of your life and then watching her grow heavy with your children had a man rethinking every priority he thought ever held importance.

“Sam Kelly,” he snapped. “And this better be goddamn important.”

“Kelly,” the brisk acknowledgment came, and there was a brief tingle of recognition that flickered through Sam’s mind, but he couldn’t place the voice to save his life.

“You have me at a disadvantage,” Sam said, an edge to his voice. “Who are you and how did you get this number?”

The voice sounded dim. Haggard. Like he’d been to hell and back and was only barely living to tell the tale. “I doubt you’d remember my name, but you’d know my team leader. I’m Conrad. I work for . . . Hancock.”

“Fuck!”

The entire room came to attention. Silence was immediate as every single member of KGI crowded in close, watching Sam’s every movement, his body language, and straining to hear what was being said on the other side.

“And why are you calling me—us—since I assume you aren’t calling to have a personal chat with me,” Sam said bluntly.

“Look, I don’t have much time.
He
doesn’t have much time. Most importantly,
she
doesn’t have
any
time,” he said in a voice that turned savage in a split second. “I’m not interested in dick sizing or having a pissing match. I—we—need your help. As much as you can give. And I need you
to move out now. I wouldn’t ask this if it weren’t a matter of life and death, and not just Hancock’s life, which may or may not even be an issue, or even the man we’ve already lost. But there is an innocent woman even now in the hands of Maksimov, a man we’ve been close to shutting down on two previous occasions, but we forfeited our mission to save two of your women and one of your children.”

Rio stiffened and extended his hand for the phone. It wasn’t a request. Sam handed it over without question, but he pushed the speakerphone button so they’d all be in the loop. Rio used to lead Titan. He knew this man, and Sam trusted Rio and his instincts. Rio wouldn’t guide them wrong.

“This is Rio,” he said.

“Rio, it’s Conrad.”

Relief was evident in Conrad’s voice.

“I don’t have a lot of time to explain,” Conrad continued. “But it’s bad, Rio. Real bad. We had Maksimov in our sights. Again. We had something he wanted very desperately, and all we had to do was hand her over and we were in.”

“She?” P.J. and Skylar echoed at the same time, scowls darkening their faces. “Is that how you win your battles at Titan?”

“She was never supposed to be within a mile of Maksimov,” Conrad said, impatience simmering in his voice. “Look, do you have your doctor on hand? If she can’t tell me how to help or fix Hancock, he’s going to die. And goddamn it, we need your . . . help.”

Any other time, such a statement would begin an endless chain of torment, sly innuendo, smugness and arrogance that would end in bloodshed on both sides. All in good fun, of course. Except that there was very real animosity between the two groups. But they also owed Hancock, and Sam paid all his debts. Every last one. And they owed Hancock big.

“Maksimov has her now,” Conrad said painfully. As though he gave a damn. Like he had a heart.

The others stared at one another in astonishment. The members of Titan were not known for their humanlike qualities. It was questionable as to whether they were even human at all except that Rio had once led the team, and he was
evidence that there were at least some vestiges of what made up a human being.

“Stay on the phone, Conrad,” Sam said in a crisp, take-charge tone. “Brief us on what we need to know while I send for Maren. Then I’ll put her on the phone with you so she can assess the damage based on your findings and guide you through what has to be done.”

“I’ll make the call,” Steele said. “She’s two minutes away at regular speed. She’ll be here in less than one. I guarantee it.”

And so Conrad gave them an abbreviated, terse, to-the-point sterile recitation of their mission, their integration into Bristow’s organization and how Honor became collateral damage but at the same time provided them their best opportunity they’d had in all the long years they’d spent hunting Maksimov.

KGI was well aware of who and what Maksimov was and that most governments feared him and stayed well out of his way. They also knew of Hancock’s previous run-in with him when Maksimov had nearly beaten Hancock to death for getting Maren out danger and back to KGI—and Steele.

“He couldn’t do it,” Conrad said quietly. “He stayed the course until the day before we were set to deliver her to Maksimov and he refused to do it. His exact words were
fuck the greater good
. That Honor
was
the greater good and he was goddamn tired of fighting the good fight for a country that neither claims us nor welcomes us, for protecting the very people who have tried to assassinate us. And for what? What does it get any of us? We have no home, no homeland. No one who claims us. We don’t even exist. We’re fucking ghosts expected to clean up messes no one else will and take out the garbage that preys on the innocent. Well, fuck that. Honor Cambridge took a goddamn bullet for me.
Me.
A man who betrayed her by making her believe I was her salvation. That I rescued her from a terrorist organization that I planned to turn her right back over to. She has more fire, courage, heart and loyalty in her little finger than most of the men I’ve ever served with. So yeah, fuck the greater good and fuck Maksimov. We need your help, because over my dead body and over the dead body of our fallen brother
and above all for Hancock—who’s sacrificed far more than any of us will ever know, if he lives through this—will I not see Honor safe and returned to her family. And I’m not too proud to beg if that’s what it takes, because I owe Honor Cambridge more than I can ever repay her and I’ll be damned if her repayment is rape, torture and pain from Maksimov only to then be turned back over to ANE to be endlessly brutalized and kept alive for as long as possible so she suffers so badly that she begs, she pleads, she
prays
for death because only then will she be truly free.”

“I’m with him,” Skylar muttered. “Fuck the goddamn greater good. Especially when it means an innocent woman, whose only crimes were giving aid to people nobody else in the world gives a fuck about and being in the wrong place at the wrong time, is punished.”

Donovan scowled, his legendary regard for women and children coming roaring to the forefront. He looked ready to take on an entire fucking army and take apart anyone who would so abuse a helpless woman.

“Just how the hell do we know that if we help you recover Honor Cambridge, we aren’t just finishing the job you started—and evidently failed to complete? I—KGI—won’t be used to send an innocent woman,
any
woman, to a fate worse than death and we all know that Maksimov, ANE, take your pick, would be a nightmare of unimaginable agony and degradation.”

“Fucking Bristow tried to rape her before passing along the used goods to Maksimov,” Conrad said in a brittle tone that in no way belied the fury laced in every word. “To save herself—or hell, maybe she really did want out—she slit one wrist and then the other and then she faced that motherfucker down holding the knife to her throat after he’d savaged her and told him if she died, then so would he, because Maksimov would kill him for not following through with his promise to deliver her to him.”

“Holy fuck,” P.J. breathed, her eyes darkening, shadowed by the past, likely not even realizing she trembled against Cole, whom she leaned into, again, likely without being
cognizant of it. She was not a woman who ever showed vulnerability in front of others. Especially her team.

“Did you kill him?” Garrett asked calmly.

“Fuck yeah, I did, and I made damn sure it wasn’t quick and it sure as hell wasn’t merciful. Hancock would have done it himself. He wanted to take him apart with his bare hands, but he was the only one who had a prayer of talking Honor down, and he did. But if you could have seen him in that moment, if you could have seen him when he gave the order that the mission had changed, you would not question his—our—motives in the least bit. She means something to all of us, Kelly,” he said, using the common address for them all. “She’s ours and we are not giving her up to that sadistic piece of shit. All we wanted was to give the appearance that we were making the exchange and we were going to take him out. Fuck making it clean and tidy, building evidence, dismantling his empire and allowing countries to fight over who got what of his seized assets. We wanted his goddamn ass dead and that was all that mattered to us.

“He had more than one mole in Bristow’s organization. We knew of one. We killed Bristow because we no longer needed him and even if we had, after what he did, he was a dead man walking. But Maksimov still wasn’t quite sure and so he showed himself when they ambushed us. Hancock betrayed his emotions for Honor when he tried to keep Maksimov from taking her from his grasp. A sniper had already put a through-and-through in his left shoulder. This time Maksimov shot him in the chest with a cop killer at close range, and he’s not doing good. Not good at all. I’ve already lost a damn good man and goddamn it, I won’t lose Hancock. And I sure as fuck am not losing Honor Cambridge to that twisted asshole who thinks he’s a god.”

Maren burst in, her glasses askew, her hair in disarray as if she’d run the entire way. Steele immediately took Olivia from her arms and gently guided her toward the phone.

“Conrad, Maren Steele, our team doctor, is here and you’ll give her the rundown so she can see if there’s any hope for him.”

“I’m more interested in knowing if there’s hope for any of us. Especially Honor,” Conrad ground out.

“Cool your jets. We’ve got to think about this for more than three seconds. Talk to Maren. Let her help you help Hancock.”

At Hancock’s name, Maren’s head jerked up, her eyes widening in concern. Steele’s hand slipped comfortingly around his wife’s nape, his expression grim.

“They need you honey. Hancock needs you.” He sighed, knowing despite his misgivings over the man, he owed his wife’s and daughter’s lives to him, just as Rio did. “It doesn’t look good,” he added quietly. “You need to talk quick and help his man any way you can while we prepare to roll out.”

Maren briskly took the sat phone but turned off the speakerphone, much to Sam’s chagrin. She frowned at him and shook her head. “I need to think, damn it, Sam.”

She pushed away from the others, talking in urgent, hushed tones, her questions calm and efficient, not allowing Conrad to panic.

“What the fuck, Sam?” Garrett asked in a low voice. “This is some deep shit. This goes deeper than even we’re up for.”

“What else can we do?” Rio asked simply, his dark eyes flashing. “I get that Hancock is a wild card. But he’s got a code. It may be fucked up to you and me, but he is an honorable man. Before you laugh me out of the war room, just remember that he could have taken Grace at any time. I carried her halfway out of the mountains attached to my back, and she walked the rest of the way in unspeakable agony until she wanted to die from it. Me and my men were in no way prepared to ward off a full-scale attack from Titan. Instead? Hancock gave me a pass. Said it was my only one, but it was bullshit. Saving face. Looking like he owed me because I saved his life. It was what we did as a team. No one kept score. That was bullshit. We did what we had to do and we offered no apologies or thank-yous. And then he warned me. He gave me everything I needed to know about who and what was after Grace. All he didn’t give me was why, and you want to take a guess why that was?”

“No, but I’m sure you’ll tell us,” Donovan said in a weary voice.

“Because he knew Grace was too goddamn weak to heal a kitten. That she’d likely die if he brought her to Farnsworth right then and forced her to attempt to heal his daughter. So he bided his time, waiting, knowing damn well she was in good hands with me. And when he knew she was well enough to have a chance to save Elizabeth, then he took her. He never hurt her. Never laid a hand on her. But she was also fucking fierce and he admired that about her.”

“Is this going somewhere, because the clock is ticking,” Garrett snarled.

“Yeah, it is,” Rio snapped back.

“Let him speak because I have a hell of a lot to say too,” Steele said in a frigid tone.

“Only when he was certain Grace had a good chance of surviving Elizabeth’s healing did he take her in. He could have taken out Farnsworth at any time. Why wait? Why would a mere child matter to him?”

Joe cleared his throat. “It wouldn’t appear an innocent woman means much to him.”

“He wanted to save Elizabeth,” Rio said quietly. “And he wanted to save Grace. I didn’t figure it out until the whole thing with Maren went down, and I only told Steele. But you all know. I’ve told you. Titan was the real deal. Failure was tantamount to dishonorable death. And yet he gave up his chance to nail Maksimov for good because he feared for Maren to stay another night as Caldwell’s prisoner. She was pregnant, scared out of her mind, and so he called me and he pulled her out.”

“I think this is where I take over,” Steele said pointedly, glancing at his wife, his eyes briefly haunted as if he were reliving the experience all over again.

“He showed up at my home beaten to hell and back. Never seen a man so badly beaten, and it was because he let Maren go and could no longer control Caldwell. Maksimov was sending him a message.
Don’t fuck with me. Ever.
And then he took a bullet for my wife, my child,” Steele seethed. “And when the chopper went down, he covered her
body with his own, and I still don’t know how the hell he survived.”