Pulling the pistol away from Rahal’s head, their target appeared ready to surrender. The dumbass must have had a sudden change of heart, however, because with Beckett’s very next breath he heard himself shouting?—
“Don’t!”
The echoed warning filled the expansive space as the man in their sights lifted the gun in Beckett’s direction. The target pulled his trigger at the same time Beckett and the others fired their weapons, the barrage of booming shots ending with their target dead on the floor.
Several seconds passed by before anyone said a word. When they did, it was Shadow who broke the silence first.
“Tac-Ops, what’s your status?”
“Target down, hostage is safe, and both teams are present and accounted for.”
“Holy shit!” Isak Rahal exclaimed as he remained tethered to his chair. He was looking down, his eyes glued to the guybleeding all over his expensive marble tile. “W-who are you guys?”
“We’re with Tac-Ops.” Digger reached down to his thigh and pulled his tactical knife free.
“Tac-Ops?” The wealthy man frowned.
“It’s a…subsidiary to Travel Assurance.” Beckett carefully explained while his team leader cut through the plastic ties holding the other man in place. “I believe you hold a policy with our company.”
“Travel Assurance…” Rahal let the company’s name linger on his tongue. But then recognition flashed behind the man’s weary eyes, and he gave a jerky nod. “Ah, yes. You’re Rafe Owens’ men.”
“The four of us are.” Falcon motioned to Beckett, Apollo, and Digger.
“Does the hostage have any injuries we need to be made aware of?” Shadow cut back in.
“You hurt?” Beckett asked the billionaire while giving a cursory assessment of Rahal’s physical condition.
“Nothing a long, hot shower and a few stiff drinks won’t cure.” The man didn’t sound as if he was joking.
He had to admit the guy was holding himself together damn well after being terrorized in his own home for the past several hours.
“You catch that, Shadow?”
“I did, and that’s wonderful news. What about you guys? Anything that needs to be reported?”
“Negative on all counts,” he answered for the others after getting a thumbs up from each of the other men.
“Excellent. I’ll let Owens know you have yet another mission success under your belts.”
“Correction, darlin’…” Beckett slid his knife back into its protective sheath. “Wehave another mission success. You know we couldn’t do this job without you.”
“Yeah, you could,” Shadow disagreed. Her tone became laced with humor as she added a quipped, “But wouldn’t be nearly as much fun.”
“Truer words were never spoken.” He chuckled.
“I guess the only thing left to do now is to bring you boys back home.”
Hell, yes!
A few tantalizing thoughts—all featuring a particular brunette he couldn’t wait to see—ignited a spark of excitement Beckett barely managed to keep hidden. He couldn’t wait to get back to Evie, but the last thing he needed was another lecture from Digger about staying focused in the fucking field.
“And you?” Rahal’s gaze landed on the group of men standing behind the men of Tac-Ops as he pushed himself into a trembling stance. “You are?—”
“Their backup,” Mustang responded truthfully. He didn’t elaborate. To Digger, he asked, “You guys still good with the previous plan for exfil?”
Digger gave the other man a curt nod. “We’ll wait for you here.”
“There’s enough of a clearing east of the pool it shouldn’t be a problem putting the chopper down there.”