Soldier With Benefits (Military Men Book 2) (14 page)

They traveled down a rutted road. In some parts, it seemed as if they drove through a junkyard, the skeletons of discarded vehicles littering the sides of the road.

“Almost there,” Carolina said.

“When are you heading home to the States?” Mac asked.

“Next month. I’m looking forward to the break, but I’ll probably be bored in a week.”

“Not me,” Louie said firmly. “It will be good to walk down a street and not worry about being shot at.”

The village consisted of ten whitewashed buildings. To their right a young kid herded a motley assortment of goats to grazing. A couple of young boys played with a ball, kicking it around outside one of the buildings, the sight of them reassuring Louie. They laughed and waved as soon as they saw them driving past.

“Looking good,” he radioed Simon in the other vehicle. “How does it look where you are?” As they’d discussed earlier, Simon’s vehicle had arrived early and parked out of sight to watch. Despite the radio report from Simon, he still carefully scanned the surroundings, as did the others in his vehicle. When nothing out of the ordinary occurred, the driver pulled up in front of the house Carolina wanted to visit.

“Hustle,” Louie said to Carolina. “I want you inside quickly and out of the open.”

Mac climbed out, waited for Carolina to exit and fall into step with her. Garrett flanked her on the other side and they moved at a brisk pace.

The back of Louie’s neck started to prickle. Every instinct told him someone watched them. Cursing softly, he scanned their surroundings. He couldn’t see anything unusual. “Neck’s prickling. Anyone see trouble?”

“Nothing, boss.”

“I can’t see anything.” Mac stopped abruptly. “Man at ten o’clock. Down.
Get down
.” She shoved Carolina, pushing her down onto the hard ground. Carolina screamed. Shots fired, seeming to come from all directions.

“Back to the vehicles,” Louie shouted. “Pull out. Pull out now!”

Shots came faster, kicking up dust. Close. Too close. No way to make it back to the vehicle. Mac grabbed Carolina by the back of her flak jacket, hauled her to her feet. Garrett ran on Carolina’s other side, pausing to fire cover shots while they retreated. Leaving Garrett behind, Mac dragged Carolina to the nearest dwelling and shoved her inside, heart pumping when bullets flicked up from the ground as she ran.

“Keep down. Don’t give them a target,” Louie hollered when Carolina struggled to regain her feet.

With their VIP safe, Mac’s attention went to the rest of her team. Louie let off a volley of shots and raced across the open ground to reach cover. With the return fire slowing, Mac took the time to scan the vicinity. She caught a flicker of movement in her peripheral vision. A kid. She relaxed until she saw the gun aimed at Garrett.

“Watch it!” Mac fired, hoping like hell that Garrett made it to safety.

“Oomph!” Garrett leaped for the doorway, landing hard. Louie hauled him inside. Their driver was a few steps behind.

“Check the building. Make sure it’s empty,” Louie ordered.

“I’m on it,” Mac said, scuttling past a window before rising to race up the flight of stairs to the next floor. A sound made her freeze. Extending her weapon, she slid closer to the room to her right. When she didn’t hear another sound, she peered around the corner. A flash of movement had her pulling the trigger even as her mind registered it was a group of women and children. Somehow Mac managed to pull her weapon up, sending the bullets high into the wall.

Her weapon fell silent. Heart pumping with adrenaline, she scanned the room. The four women of various ages sat huddled in the corner, along with two toddlers. Their faces held terror yet they scarcely made a sound.

Mac lowered her weapon, tried to control her trembling. “It’s okay,” she croaked.

Thumping footsteps heralded an imminent arrival.

“Mac?” Garrett hollered.

One of the toddlers started crying. Mac didn’t blame him.

“Don’t shoot! It’s women and children.”

Garrett thundered to a halt behind her and the second toddler howled.

“You’re scaring them.”

“Weapons check?”

Mac doubted they would cause trouble. “Just about to do it.”

“I’ll check the other rooms,” Garrett said, slipping away before she could answer.

One of the local women let out a horrified sound and leapt to her feet. “Babee!”

“Garrett, I think there’s a kid in one of the other rooms.” Mac cut the woman off and briskly patted her down.

“All clear,” Garrett said, returning with a baby. He handed it over to the woman, scanned the room briskly and went to look out the window at the renewed gunfire. “Shit, looks as if we’ll have to hunker down. Insurgents are everywhere.”

An RPG hit in front of the building. The
rat-a-tat
of gunfire following, along with loud shouting.

“Bastards are shooting out our tires,” Garrett said.

“Any other exits?”

“Nah, just the door we came in and the windows along the front.”

Mac swiftly checked the rest of the women for weapons and found none. “I’ll go and check with Louie.” She hurried down the stairs.

“We heard gunfire,” Louie said.

“It was me. I almost shot the group of women up there,” she shouted over a wave of incoming fire. “Where’s Simon?”

“I don’t know. Radio’s out.”

Mac shared a glance with Louie. “Looks as if we’re on our own.”

Carolina stood.

“What the hell are you doing?” Mac snarled, grabbing her, forcing her back down with brute strength. Stupid bitch. She’d get herself killed if she wasn’t careful.

Carolina struggled, eyes flashing with dislike. “I want to join the other women.”

Mac glanced at Louie, and he nodded. “Less to worry about,” he said.

Another barrage of fire claimed his attention.

“Let’s go,” Mac said to Carolina. “Keep your head low until we can’t be seen through the windows.”

“Wait. Let me get my bag.” Carolina grabbed it, gave a crisp nod and scurried toward the stairs, following orders for once.

“Stay with the other women. Don’t move from here,” Mac ordered once they reached the room with Garrett and the women.

“I’ll do my interview,” Carolina said.

Speechless, Mac merely nodded and went to join Garrett. Outside, a crowd gathered. Bodies strewed the ground in front of the dwelling. Several men were shooting round after round into their empty vehicle.

Mac bit her bottom lip, trying to control the dart of fear swirling inside her. Trapped. And the shooters didn’t seem to care if they died or not. She peered out the window as another wave of fire came, the insurgents shooting over their fallen comrades.

A grenade hit the ground in front of the building and rolled closer, exploding. Constant noise, shouts and gunfire made her head ring. Mac thought about her father and prayed harder as she kept firing shots through the window. She thought about Louie. Damn, she didn’t want to die like this.

Her stomach curdled, nausea making her swallow compulsively. A bullet struck the wall not far from her position. A child cried. She heard Carolina’s low voice. Unable to hear what she was saying, Mac could guess. She didn’t like the other woman much even though she admired her dogged perseverance.

The light was fading, the return fire sporadic.

“You guys okay up there?” Louie called.

“Going strong,” Garrett answered for both of them.

“Casualties?”

“We’re good,” Mac shouted. “Any word of Simon?”

“Communication is still down.”

Outside shouts renewed. The increased noise suggested new recruits had arrived. The laughter and masculine shrieks made Mac think of a night at the pub. Were they high? She’d heard some insurgents pumped themselves full of drugs before a battle. A shiver worked through her, and she wanted to see Louie so bad she almost obeyed the instinct to go to him.

“You okay?” Garrett asked. “Not turning wussy on me?”

“Hell no,” Mac replied, but she had to force a grin. Keep talking, she thought. Concentrate on talking and returning fire. It beat worrying about capture. Torture.

“Mac?”

“Yeah?”

“We’re not gonna let them into the building,” Garrett said in a low voice. “Not gonna happen. Surrender isn’t an option here.”

She nodded and returned her attention to the road outside.

A shot fired and Garrett went down.

“Man down,” Mac shouted.

“I’ll take care of him,” Carolina said in a firm voice. She slid across the floor to Garrett. “You okay?”

“Yeah.” Garrett peeled his fingers away from his biceps.

“Good,” Carolina said crisply. “Get up you lazy bastard and do some work.”

Mac gaped in disbelief.

Garrett spluttered then shook his head and chuckled. “Yes, ma’am.”

“You guys okay up there?” Louie hollered.

“Yeah,” Garrett answered.

The insurgents attacked again, the hail of gunfire making Mac’s ears ring. A bullet hit the window frame, sending a fragment of wood into her cheek. Hurt like the devil. She cursed, continued firing. The bodies piled up but still they kept coming. Mac tried not to think of her fellow humans behind the guns, just concentrated on the job at hand, keeping themselves alive and the women with them.

Wave after wave of incoming fire kept them pinned at the windows. Mac pointed her weapon, identified her target and fired. On automatic. They couldn’t afford to let the insurgents get any closer, couldn’t let them inside otherwise they’d die. She thought of Louie, worried about his safety. Missed a target. He kept coming, kept coming with a devilish high-pitched shriek. Then he fell. Still.

Concentrate. Focus.

Mac picked off two more men. Another man fired a grenade. It exploded, the flare of light searing on her retinas. Her head rang and the building seemed to tremble. They couldn’t hold them off much longer. Damn, she didn’t wanna die. She wanted to tell Louie she cared, that their sessions weren’t just about burning off the buzz. There was more. But fear had held her back. Now she might not get the chance.

More men. More shots. So tired. They’d run out of ammo soon. Then it would be all over. Mac didn’t know if she could take her own life. Preferable to the alternative. Torture. Possible rape. Death.

Then a foreign sound intruded. Garrett whooped. It took Mac longer to recognize the distinct sound of heavy armor. The flare of an explosion lit the buildings, turning them into silhouettes before darkness fell again.

“Simon must have come through,” Garrett shouted.

Smoke filled the air. Mac sneezed.

The bark of an AK-47 rent the air. Mac ducked back, another sting in her cheek making her gasp. A wet trickle followed. She dashed away the blood, investigating the spot with her fingertips. A stone fragment. Nothing serious.

Beside her Garrett started cursing. “A fuckin’ tooth. Bastard.” He fired several shots before gingerly checking his mouth.

“Ouch, that’s gonna be expensive,” Mac said.

“Tell me about it,” Garrett groused, spitting out a mouthful of blood. Something pinged against the wooden floor.

“Yep, that’s a tooth all right.”

“Hell,” Garrett muttered.

Gradually the return fire slowed. The armored vehicle shot off rounds. Garrett and Mac continued to watch, scanning for movement below. The men lying on the ground in front of the building weren’t necessarily dead.

“You guys okay up there?” Louie hollered.

“Yeah,” Garrett answered.

Exhaustion crept over Mac then as she studied the dark street. The women were quiet, the children asleep. Not even Carolina spoke. The shots died away and everything went eerily quiet.

One of the two armored vehicles stopped outside and someone climbed out.

“You can come out now,” Simon shouted. “Cavalry’s here.”

“See anything suspicious from up there?” Louie asked from the doorway. His face was gray with dust but his smile was wide and encouraging.

Mac wanted to set down her weapon and throw herself into his arms, reassure herself he was okay, that she was alive. She forced herself to remain at the window, turned back to scan the street.

“Can’t see anything,” Garrett said. “Mac?”

“It looks quiet down there. They’ve retreated.” Mac scanned Louie’s face. She couldn’t wait to get back to their room. Her entire body buzzed like a live wire. She fidgeted, unable to keep still.

Louie winked at her when Garrett wasn’t looking. Her heart soared, and she had to bite her bottom lip to halt the crazy urge to tell him she loved him.

“Time to go home, troops,” Louie said. “Carolina, I’ll go first then Garrett. You follow Garrett and Mac and the driver will bring up the rear. You will run. You will follow orders.”

“Sure,” Carolina said agreeably.

Mac shook her head. She’d never understand the other woman.

Carolina spoke to the local woman, said her goodbyes and followed Louie down the stairs. Mac followed Garrett.

Louie cautiously opened the door and peered outside. “Right. The vehicle is here to take us back. Carolina, you ready?”

She nodded and slid into position behind Garrett. Mac moved in her rear. They ran. Halfway between the dwelling and the vehicle, the hairs at the back of Mac’s neck rose. She paused. A flicker of movement caught her attention and she was moving before the conscious thought formed. A series of shots rang out as Mac shoved Carolina. The reporter screamed as she hit the ground. Time slowed. Fire seared Mac’s shoulder and she fell. The hard jolt with the ground crashed time back into place. It felt as if someone had taken to her with a hammer. Shots rang in her ears. Smoke from discharged weapons shrouded her sight. She groaned, struggling to rise.

“Man down! Man down!”

Damn, her shoulder hurt.

Warm liquid seeped down her arm, inside her body armor. She prodded it with her fingers and moaned at the flash of pain. Her fingers came away covered in red.

Blood.

Pain clawed her arm, her shoulder. Her vision wavered, turning to black then nothing registered.

Louie rolled, fear rippling through him when he saw Mac fall. Instinct and training had him returning fire. Chaos reigned, his men shooting on the run. Shots seemed confined to one area. Probably one man. Garrett was already moving, scooping up Mac and shoving her into the rear seat with Carolina. Louie wanted to rip Garrett away and check on Mac himself. He took half a step before his brain kicked into gear. Garrett was their medic, the best person to look after Mac.