Operation Date With Destiny (9 page)

Standing in front of her, he turned and listened intently, trying to track down whatever it was that had alerted him to danger.

The sound of someone moving—very slowly
,
nearby filtered through to them, and
Destiny
slowly eased down the tree trunk until her hand found the rifle she
’
d been carrying before.

She heard a small noise and was instantly on guard. Her gaze immediately fixed on the tree line—hand on her weapon and ready to take out anything that came into sight.

Tupper still blocked her line of sight and as she went to ease from behind him, three men
suddenly materialized from
behind the foliage and slowly walked towards them, hands showing and clearly indicating they were not here to use the arsenal of weaponry strapped to their backs.

“
It
’
s okay—they
’
re with me.
”

“
What?
”
she
looked at Johnny before quickly
return
ing
her shell shocked gaze to the men who had now come to a stop nearby—all watching her with guarded expressions.
“
What?
”
she demanded again, furious at this unexpected turn of events.

“
I told you—this isn
’
t a one man operation.
”

“
And I told
you,
no more people were to be involved in this.
”

“
Yeah, I forgot to mention I sometimes don
’
t take orders too well…it
’
s a bitch of a habit for a career in the military, I can tell ya
’
.
”

Destiny stared at the men and for the first time
,
took in how professional they looked compared to her rag tag little army she
’
d assembled. Damned if the very sight of them didn
’
t automatically make her feel a huge surge of relief.

“
How the hell did they even get here?
”

He
shrugged, holding her furious expression calmly.
“
There
’
s no way we were ever going in that place and coming back out alive.
No way in hell.
I called them in because it was the only way this thing had a chance.
Let
’
s
call it plan C
.
”

“
There was a reason I didn
’
t want anyone else involved in this, Tupperoni,
”
she snapped.
“
If any of them get hurt—it
’
ll be on
your
head!
”
She couldn
’
t stand there a second longer and look at him. The self-loathing, guilt and responsibility w
ere
beginning to weigh heavily on her shoulders and now there were three more lives to add to her worries
.
Why the hell couldn
’
t he just do as he was told
?

Their moment of reckless abandonment may as well have never happened—suddenly her reality had come crashing down around her.
What had she been thinking?
There was only one thing that mattered right now and she had no business losing sight of the fact!

She shook off Johnny
’
s hand on her arm and turned to walk back the way they
’
d come, heading back to camp. She was too angry at herself, at Johnny—at life in general to stay a second longer in his company. She needed some space to get her head right
and
to forget about him and his way too clever mouth and hands that somehow managed to distract her far too easily.

Chapter
Six

“
I can
’
t wait to hear this one,
”
Del said coming to a stop behind Tupper a few moments later.

Tupper shook himself from his troubled thoughts.
Thank Christ they
’
d turned up
, he thought as he greeted the men who had come to save his ass.

He
’
d been holding out for a miracle. He knew Pete would do his best to get a message to the guys—but he
hadn
’
t been
confident
they
’
d
make
it
here in time. He
wasn
’
t
sure that he could have
pull
ed
this off if they
hadn
’
t
.

“
You better spill your guts fast on this one
,
buddy. We left three not too impressed women in the middle of the night—two of whom are pregnant and more than a little emotional right now!
”
Chase
, the units medic
grunted, as he readjusted his pack and waited for an explanation.

The fact they
’
d simply came without one wasn
’
t lost on him—he would have done the same for them—and had done
so
on more than one occasion, but this was a test of true friendship and he hoped to God he hadn
’
t brought them here only to send them back home
,
injured.

“
What the hell are you doing back in this place?
”
Tate
Ox
Maddox,
asked.

“
Long story
Ox
—not going into the details right now. Suffice it to say, I have no option but to go along with this stupid scheme and all I had to work with was a couple of
gung-
ho
farmers and one crazy
-
assed woman.
”

“
There
’
s always a woman,
”
Tate sighed, shaking his head.

“
Where
’
d you find this one then?
”
Del asked.

“
I
’
d rather not say
…s
he
’
s kinda prickly. If we could just focus on the immediate problem before us, gentleman,
”
he snapped.

“
She didn
’
t look too prickly a few minutes ago when we sprung ya
’
back on the mountain,
”
Maloney grinned.

“
Yeah, well…wait till ya
’
get to know her a bit better.
”

“
Looks like you
’
ve been gettin
’
to know her pretty well,
”
Del pointed out.

“
Do you want to help or not?
”
Tupper snapped, finding this a lot more irritating when he was
on the
butt
end
of their teasing.

“
We want to know how the hell we ended up in the middle of Tre
’
ago
’
s territory again, and it would be kind of nice to figure out how you managed to get mixed up in all this,
”
Tate said.
“
Do we know anything about the woman?
”

“
Not a lot,
”
Tupper was forced to admit grudgingly.

“
Well, I managed to get a shot of her—I
’
ve sent the photo back to Willow. She should be able to get us a heads up, hopefully.
”

“
Look, the how
’
s and why
’
s aren
’
t important right now. Fact is—I don
’
t know a hell of a lot more than you do right now. She
’
s told me the basics and I don
’
t have a whole lot to work with. We need to retrieve something that she
’
s willing to risk her neck for and somehow Tre
’
ago
’
s behind it. That
’
s enough for me. If I
’
ve got a chance to pin that bastard again
,
I will.
”

“
I just don
’
t get
it,
”
Maloney scowled.
“
—how the hell does he continue to get away with this shit
?
”

Tupper gave a short frustrated sigh.
“
No idea—but if he is still calling the shots from prison—then chances are he hasn
’
t forgotten our part in his capture.
We can
’
t take any risks w
ith him. He could easily try something on us again.
I
’
m not gonna
’
stand by and allow it to happen.
”

He knew the others
felt
exactly the same way. They had wives and kids now to think about as well. Their safety would come above everything else. Tre
’
ago had come close to killing them more than once…he was like one of those horror movie
villains
that
, j
ust.
Would. Not. Die!

“
Let
’
s get this thing done and get the hell outta
’
here. This place gives me the creeps,
”
Del muttered.

Tupper spent the next few minutes running over the plan and together they made the adjustments needed to smooth it over. For the first time since Destiny walked in that bar he felt like maybe he had a measure of control back in his life…not much—but some
…
and right now he
’
d take that and be happy!

****

She didn
’
t turn around at the sound of someone approaching—she knew who it would be and a long sigh was dragged from her chest. She was
s
o
t
ired.

He crossed to stand before her and her gaze reluctantly lifted to meet his. He was watching her with a gentleness she hadn
’
t seen on his face before
.
Damn it! She didn
’
t want him to see her like this—weak…tired…vulnerable.
“
You had no right to go and call in those men.
”
She steeled herself from flinching at the coldness of her tone and saw his features harden like she
’
d slapped him.

“
Makes us even—you had no right messing with my life.
”

“
If I
’
d had any—
”

“
Yeah, yeah—I know. If I had any other choice…whatever. Fact is you
’
ve put my reputation
, not to mention,
my career
in jeopardy. I
’
m not doing this for any other reason than to make sure you clear my name. I
’
d also
prefer to
do it and come out alive—hence bringin
’
in my boys. I
’
m not doing that job without them.
”

“
Fine. It
’
s not like I can do anything about it now
,
is it?
”

“
We need them,
”
he said.

“
So they
’
re not here to rescue you then?
”

She heard Tupper chuckle.
“
The day I need those clowns to come and rescue me…
”
he let the words trail off.