The Art of You

“There.” Keith pointed to the screen, and I flinched as his arm flew forward, brushing against me. “Alpha Team, we have multiple tangos exiting the house now.”

“This is Alpha One,” Constantine radioed back. “That’s a good copy.” He paused. “Alpha Three, advance to your position,” he told Hudson, and I kept my eyes glued to the screen providing our aerial view.

“This is Three, roger that.” Hudson scaled the wall and quickly maneuvered to the shed that sat over five hundred meters away from the safe house. Once he was in position on the roof, he went prone, lying flat on his stomach as he set his sights on the house and confirmed he was in place.

I switched over to the second aerial view we had, which was of the safe house. “This is TOC,” I began, keeping my word to communicate every two minutes so my guy wouldn’t worry. “The men are moving in groups of four to the SUVs. No sign of the boss yet.” I had the leader’s photo taped to the wall alongside my screen so I could recognize him. “Zooming in for a closer look. Hold.”

“Roger that,” Hudson responded. And maybe I needed to hear his voice as much as he did mine, because every time he spoke since he’d left, the knots loosened a touch in my stomach.

“That’s him,” Keith said, pointing to the screen after I’d zoomed in on the second group of men huddled around a man.

“This is TOC, we have eyes on the HVT,” I shared quickly. “He’s getting in the third Range Rover. Back seat.”

“Delta One here, that’s a good copy,” Alfie’s team leader replied. “Delta is holding in place, ready to advance when the word is given.”

And those knots in my stomach intensified once again now that the mission was unfolding in real time.

I still couldn’t believe the terrorists had freed their leader from an intelligence black site. Then again, they had the magician behind the curtain—an IT guy at the Pentagon, no less—pulling magical strings for them to lead him right to his death.

“TOC, come in. This is Alpha Three,” Hudson transmitted. “Tell me I’m not seeing what I think I see.” He’d have a decent view of the scene from his overwatch position, and shit, he was definitely not imagining anything.

No, no, no. I zoomed in closer at the third grouping moving to the front SUV. “There’s a kid. Maybe ten or twelve.” Alfie’s intel didn’t include anything about a child being here. Shit. “Not sure who he is or why they’re not putting him in the same SUV as our HVT, but he’s being shielded like royalty.”

“This is Alpha One,” Constantine said. “Did you say they’re placing him in the front SUV?”

My shoulders fell as I responded, “Yes.” They’d have to change their plans. They couldn’t launch an RPG and take out the front vehicle to blockade the others now, not with a kid in there.

“We’re not turning their leader into a martyr in front of his kid and creating a new terrorist today,” Constantine said in a steady voice.

That was another element my nerves hadn’t given me time to consider. “Does that mean you’re not shooting to kill?”

“Affirmative. We’ll need to take the boss alive. I don’t want him dying in front of his son,” Constantine responded.

“We can’t let that asshole live.” At Keith’s words, I pivoted to catch his eyes, finding his nostrils flared and free hand balled into a fist on the desk.

You lost someone to terrorists, didn’t you? Well, maybe a lot of someones since he’d been Army. That made my heart hurt for him, too.

“We’ll do what needs to be done,” was all Constantine said, foregoing his call sign that time. “Switching to the backup plan now,” my brother continued. “Alpha Three,” he continued, “on my command, take out the watchtower. Once they’re down, pick off as many as you can from your position on the property, then we’ll need you on the ground for support.”

“This is Alpha Three, roger that,” he answered, then Constantine gave orders to Echo Four next.

I keyed in on the location where Roman was hiding in the woods. I couldn’t see him since he was in camo, but he was using a sling up in a tree to give him a better vantage point as a sniper. Not ideal, but it was the best we could work with for our second sniper position.

“This is TOC. Looks like the house is empty. Everyone is now in the vehicles,” I shared. “Two still on the perimeter and two in the tower. The front SUV is about to roll out.”

From the corner of my eye, I spied Keith’s balled hand move to his lap, disappearing beneath the makeshift desk.

An uneasy feeling snuck up on me, and I leaned back in my seat, the Glock butting against the chair, a solid reminder of Hudson’s concerns.

Before I could ask Keith if he was okay, or check in with the team, Hudson’s phone began ringing. I’d forgotten he’d left it in the van in case Adelina or Enzo called with news.

“Don’t answer that now.” Unlike how he’d spoken to me before, Keith’s voice was sharp and abrasive.

Hello, concerns times ten. Something was definitely off.

While I didn’t want to follow Keith’s orders, I was currently too focused on what was going down on the screen to answer Adelina. Constantine gave the go-ahead to Hudson and Roman, and they didn’t miss.

They nailed their marks in perfect and impressive timing. Four tangos down. Two each.

“Good work,” I whispered, remembering Hudson needed to hear me so he wouldn’t worry.

“This is Alpha Three. Snipers in the tower are down.”

“Echo Four here. The perimeter is also secure. You’re clear to move in.”

“Roger that. Alpha and Delta, you’re a go,” Constantine directed, and now all I could do was sit back and watch the scene unfold like a movie.

My brothers and the others moved into view now, breaching the property and shooting only at the second and fourth SUVs, leaving the ones with the child and the boss alone for now. The nonstop ringing from Hudson’s phone served as a soundtrack to everything playing out, but I also knew the radio wasn’t live, so the rings wouldn’t transmit and distract the teams.

“Silence that fucking thing, or I will.” Keith’s bone-chilling words were as unsettling as his tone. He’d gone from the semi-charming guy who’d spilled his coffee on me earlier to creepy phone-caller guy in a horror flick.

The calls stopped before I could act on his command, and with Keith deeply focused on the action on the screen as if his own life depended on the outcome, I took the opportunity to reach for the phone.

Before I could grab it, he caught me off guard, securing a strong grip of my wrist.

“Remove your hand from my body, or so help me, when they come back, they’ll sever it from your arm,” I ordered, trying not to let fear take over.

Keith swiveled his head to meet my eyes, and they were as dark as coal and downright terrifying. The mask had been lifted, and whoever he’d been pretending to be before was gone. He’d pulled off the poker face of all poker faces, and Hudson’s bad feeling was staring back at me instead.

I went to open my mouth and scream for help from our guys outside, but sealed my lips together when I realized he had something pointed at me.

His right arm still seemed to work just fine despite the injury carefully concealed by a bandage, and he was gripping a 9mm.

I calculated my options and what to do. He’d shoot me before the van doors ever opened if I did yell for help, and I had no clue how to access the gun at my back and defend myself with a trained operator holding on to me. I’m screwed.

He kept his dark eyes pinned on me as I searched for strength and resilience to think through this massive problem. “How do you fit into this? Who’s Rose Green to you?”

“TOC, come in, this is Alpha Three. Are you good?” Hudson asked over the radio.

“Tell him you’re fine,” Keith ordered. “And you better sell it, or I’ll remove you from the equation. Then your death will distract them. Get them killed.”

I closed my eyes as fear officially hijacked my thoughts. My brothers and Hudson couldn’t lose me. They’d never . . . just no. I have to live. I have to.

“Bella, come in.” Hudson chucked protocol out the window and went right for it, worry taking over.

“Answer him, goddammit,” Keith ordered. “They have a mission to complete.”

I opened my eyes, and with my free hand, reached for the controls. “This is TOC, we lost connection for a moment, but we’re back. I’m here.”

“Roger that. Good copy,” Hudson responded immediately, and I bought myself two more minutes before he’d panic again.

Keith was right; they had a mission to focus on. I couldn’t let anything happen to them because of me.

“What do you want? Who are you?” I asked him once my hand was off the controls, needing to buy myself time.

“This is Delta Two. The kid escaped. He’s taken off, and he’s armed.” Alfie’s words temporarily distracted me from the man who had my life in his hands, and I peered at the screen.

“This is Alpha Three,” Hudson remarked, “I’m going after him.”

“Rose was your sister, wasn’t she?” I asked him, because that was the only thing that made sense to me. The lengths my brothers would go to protect me. The revenge they took in the past when Bianca died. All of it.

But according to our research, Rose didn’t have any family, just her husband.

“Rose was a good person. The best fucking person on this planet. She gave her life in service to this country, hoping to redeem our family name, the same as I did. And it was for nothing.” He showed his teeth, snarling as he leaned closer, drawing the 9mm right beneath my chin, pushing it up so my eyes were on the ceiling.

The guys outside would open up and check on us soon, I was sure of it. Hudson’s orders. But if they did, this maniac would probably go ahead and shoot me.

“But our brother wasn’t even a killer. All that time we believed he was. All those years of shame. Court acquittal or not, everyone thought he took your sister’s life. We were treated as lowlifes. Our family was destroyed.” Anger curled around his words. “We had to change our names. Escape from the stain of what we believed our brother did.”

Shock pulled my head forward as it all connected.

“When my sister was murdered by these terrorist pieces of shit, and her husband came to me and let me know she never should’ve died . . .” He shook his head, letting his words trail off. “That opened Pandora’s box. I told him our real names, and we went down a rabbit hole that led us to more lies and treachery. Those lies brought us to your fucking family. To the fact they killed my brother and the government covered for them. Then last year, your family took out your sister’s real killer.” Spit hit my face as he continued. “Your family took everything from us.” The gun pressed harder into my throat, and on instinct, I reached around with my free hand to try and push him away. He didn’t move an inch. “And now, I’m going to take everything from your brothers and Hudson the way they took it from me.”

The embassy bombing really did wake the sleeping giant. It was too much to process.

I jolted when the doors abruptly flew open, and I thought he’d put one in my head. I’d see the bright light soon. The other side would steal me away to where Bianca was.

“Boss, it’s time to go. Pilot says we need to take off.” An unfamiliar voice drew my eyes, and where were our guys?

“What’d you do to them?” I whispered, trying to see beyond the stranger outside the van to locate our operators. That’s why they didn’t do their regular check. Please be alive.

“Relax,” Keith said, reading my thoughts. “I wouldn’t kill innocent veterans. They’re just taking a nap.” He didn’t budge from his position, keeping his back to the door, which meant I couldn’t try and make a move for my gun with my free hand. “We can’t go until the mission is over.”

I could faintly hear the sounds of helo blades off in the distance. He was going to make an escape, and since today was only day 364, that meant he was probably taking me with him, still intent on punishing my family on the anniversary of Rose’s death.

“We have maybe two minutes. They’re bound to find out about what happened in New York soon. We need to get ahead of them,” the stranger said.

My stomach somersaulted yet again, because what the hell happened in New York?