Operation Date With Destiny (12 page)

“
There
’
s no way
in hell
you
’
re going in there,
”
Johnny
snapped, turning quickly to glare at her.

Destiny sent him an annoyed glance and continued studying the map before her.

“
I mean it. This is dangerous. You
’
ll
stay back here and wait for us to come and get you.
”

“
Tupperoni,
what part of
I run this show
don
’
t you understand?
”

“
The part where you brought me in because I knew what I was doing.
”

“
I
’
m going in.
”

“
No you
’
re not.
”

“
Tupper, can I speak with you for a minute?
”
Del said cutting in to defuse the situation
which was
rapidly coming undone.

“
You need all the hands you can get down there. For God
’
s sake it
’
s not like I haven
’
t been in a dangerous situation before.
”

“
You haven
’
t—not like this. You don
’
t have combat experience! You worked in
intelligence
—it
’
s an
office
job!
”

“
An
office
job?
”
She felt the other men step away from their friend but her gaze was locked on only one person—the jerk across from her.

“
Ah, Tup?
”
The big medic guy
, Maloney,
cut in quickly.

Johnny ignored his friend, rolling his eyes sarcastically.
“
Look—I
’
m sure you did your job well enough—from behind a computer and all—but this is different!
”

“
Tupper!
”
Del tried unsuccessfully to also get his attention.

“
Hey—intelligence has its place—we all need it—
when it
’
s right that is
, but there
’
s going to be shooting out there tomorrow—lots of it and I can
’
t be babysitting your ass when I need to concentrate,
”
he snapped.

“
Tupper!
”
All three of them chimed in together.

“
What?
”
he yelled, spinning around to send them a furious gla
re
.

“
There
’
s something you probably should know…s
he was a field agent,
”
Del shrugged a little too late to deliver the news to his friend before he managed to really piss her off.

****

Tupper glanced back across at Destiny and saw her staring at him with a look that would have disintegrated a thinner skinned man.
“
Really?
”
Holy hell, how could this woman get any hotter?
He shook the thought from his head as soon as it popped in.

Damn it—he didn
’
t want her in there. How was he supposed to keep his mind on the job when he
’
d be worrying about her?
God damn it to hell!
Of all the women he could have fallen for—why did she have to be a female Rambo?
Whoa…what the hell?
Fallen for? Oh no…
no, no.
N
o God damn way in hell…

“
Asshole,
”
she muttered beneath her breath just a little too loudly
,
but Tupper was still in too much shock for it to register straight away.

“
Come on dude—you
’
ve been called worse than that before,
”
Chase said, slapping his shoulder as they watched Destiny walk over to her
ruck to pull on her gear
in
prep for their OP.

“
Is it just me or
has he gone
a little pale?
”
Del asked with a chuckle.

“
Tup? You okay?
”
Tate asked, tilting his head a little to look at his friends face.

“
I don
’
t think I am,
”
he managed weakly.

“
Uh oh,
”
Maloney warned.
“
I know that look.
”

“
What look
?
”
Tupper snapped,
with a frown.

“
That,
look. He
’
s a goner
,
boys.
”

There was a chorus of hoots and chuckles at his expense from the three men as they stared at him in disbelief.

“
Shut the hell up—there
is
no
look,
”
he snapped.
“
And
how come I was the only one who didn
’
t get
the damn memo about her being a field agent?
”

“
Willow got back to me just a while ago,
”
Del shrugged.
“
I tried to tell you before you put your foot in it—but you two were already at each other.
”

“
Never thought I
’
d see the day,
”
Maloney said shaking his head slowly.

“
You
’
re all out of your minds. Would you knock it off and concentrate on the job at hand? I don
’
t want to be carrying your lazy asses the whole day.
”

“
Okay lover boy—we
’
re all ears. Walk us through the plan.
”
Tate said with a straight face.

“
Screw you guys,
”
Tupper snapped, ignoring their smirks and getting back to business.
Field agent
?
F
antastic
…just what he needed
,
a know
-
it
-
all spook tryin
’
to take over the show.

****

L
a
ying
down next to him as they watched the compound, Destiny resisted the urge to grit her teeth when she felt Johnny
’
s hard stare fall
upon
her. The guy was driving her insane
. “
Deal with it Tupperoni,
”
she murmured just loud enough for him to hear as she inserted the earpiece for their comm
unication
s set into her ear.
“
I
’
m staying.
”

“
You better be as good as you think you are
,
sunshine,
”
he snapped.

She allowed a ghost of a smile to touch her lips, keeping her eyes on the building before them.
“
Scared I might show up a Marine?
”

“
Scared you might get your stubborn head blown off,
”
he retorted.

“
Well, think of it this way—if that happens
you won
’
t have to worry about me being a pain in your ass any more.
Just get my brother somewhere safe,
”
she added, and turned her gaze on him steadily.
“
Nothing else matters—understand?
”

He didn
’
t answer her immediately, and she saw a cocktail of emotions filter across his face
;
anger, fear, frustration and finally
,
acceptance.

“
You just watch yourself out there.
”

She was enough of a realist to understand there were more than a few complications to this whole rescue plan—the main one being that she could potentially die. She couldn
’
t think that way though right now—she needed to stay alive for Jackson and she would do whatever it took to keep him safe…even if that meant risking her own life.

Chapter
Eight

They spread out to take
up
their positions and Destiny closed her eyes briefly to rid herself of everything except her instincts and her training. She wasn
’
t a sister or a kidnapping
,
double-crosser right now—she was a soldier and she had a job to do.

Tate and Del
went
in first and Tupper was positioned to take out any patrols—his sniper skills coming into play. After he took care of those, the others could move in and take
care of
any others as they came outside. Destiny and Chase would begin a search of rooms on the lower floor and clear anyone remaining. Pon and his men would take the grounds and keep watch on the drug lab
at the rear of the compound
—getting it on video to hand over to the authorities as soon as they got back.

As soon as she heard that first shot fired—all remaining nerves fell away and instantly she was in the zone. Once it started—there was no turning back.

As
they headed inside the gates of the compound, Destiny scanned the area ahead carefully—her weapon up, treading carefully, alert to the potential threat of a thousand different scenarios that could unfold in a split second. A large Land
C
ruiser and two smaller four
-
wheel drives were parked on the wide gravel driveway inside the courtyard of
t
he compound
. T
hey
’
d make ideal spots for the enemy to hide behind and she trained her weapon on each one cautiously as they approached.

They reached the front of the house without incident and Destiny waited while Maloney made his way along the narrow veranda that ran the entire length of the house
.
He opted for going through
the closest
of the many French doors instead of the elaborate front entrance and Destiny shadowed his every move.

The
first
room was empty and dark.
Beneath their boots, the floor was
terracotta—the rich burnt orange
color
contrasting starkly against the white of the walls. Maloney eased the door open, and took a look out into the hallway the room opened out onto. Destiny slipped through the doorway when he quickly waved her out behind him, moving on to the next room. They took a side of the doorway each and she opened it on a silent count of three
. T
hey worked their way quickly and methodically through the rooms of the lower floor until they
’
d made sure each was clear.

She could hear gunfire coming from outside now—and return fire from the others surrounding the house as they searched. They were running out of time—they had to find him before they were outnumbered.

It took
three more rooms before they reached the one Jackson was in.

Destiny once more waited until Maloney
opened the door and gave her the nod to swing inside
. K
eeping her gun pointed
down;
she quickly assessed her
corner of the room
.
That
’
s when she saw
him…a movement in the corner of the room ca
tchin
g her eye and she almost sank to the ground in relief.

“
Jackson.
”
Her voice was barely above a whisper and the last of it was caught on a sob as she moved across the room.