Protect Me (23 page)

She
wasn’t so sure about the rest of them, and it grated her nerves.

“Okay,
so, what’s the plan when we get there?” Rick piped up from the back seat,
clearly trying to get Hope talking so he could try to wrangle his way back into
her good graces.

“I told
you, we’ll need to evaluate the situation once we get there. Of course, you’d
know that if you had any, say, experience.” No such luck for Rick.

He
refused to be daunted. She loved it and hated it. “Yeah, I heard you. But
you’ve looked up maps of the place online; I know you’ve got some basic plan in
place. I know you.” Hope forced herself not to jump as fingers landed on the
back of her neck and traced their way down to her collarbone. She told herself
that Boran would notice if she shook Rick off, and didn’t move.

Hope
turned to look out the window at the dark streets, a blur of headlights and
white lines. If she were a different kind of person, she’d probably feel scared
right now. As it was, she felt calm. Settled. This was what she was good at,
what she knew how to do. And she had the luxury of backup.

She
frowned. The one discordant note in the symphony was Rick’s presence. Boran was
a comfort. Rick was the worst kind of liability - the kind she couldn’t afford
to lose.

The car
slowed and Boran veered into a neighborhood to park.

“This
isn’t Farthing,” Rick said, sounding curious rather than critical. “But - oh,
of course. We’ll walk in so they don’t see us coming.”

“Again
with the we and the us,” Hope grumbled, but she nodded to him as they all
climbed out of the car and looked around.

They were
in the middle of a decent neighborhood full of townhouses and space-age
playsets that looked like the product of tree shade engineers and neighborhood
workgroups, totally unused. Hope felt a scowl settle over her expression as the
three of them fell into step on the sidewalk and started to walk. She hated it
when the bad guys moved in on normal people going about their everyday lives.
It was one thing to cause trouble for people like her and Thabo, who knew what
they were getting into. Involving people with kids and families, innocents like
Iseul - that just wasn’t on.

A warm
shoulder bumped up against hers. Hope turned and Rick smiled at her briefly
before turning his attention back to scanning their surroundings.

Even
when he was worried and out of his element, Rick still had a smile left for
her. Hope felt humbled and strengthened all at once. She resolved for the
hundredth time to protect him, and pushed away the despair that threatened to
overwhelm her fragile optimism. There just wasn’t going to be any way for her
to watch Boran’s back, protect Rick, save Iseul, and not get dead all at the
same time. Something was going to give, and Hope would just have to pray that
nobody needed her when it happened.

Boran
abruptly stopped and jerked his chin toward a boxy building that looked like an
abandoned warehouse in the dim light. All but one of the surrounding street
lamps had burned out. Hope cynically assumed that the burn-out had been aided
and abetted by their friends inside.

“I
don’t see any guards,” Rick whispered. “That’s good, right?”

Hope
and Boran exchanged a look.

“It
would be good, if there were no guards,” Boran said, not unkindly. He pointed
to a nondescript van parked just at the edge of the building, almost completely
hidden in the shadow. “Unfortunately, that is not the case. There are guards in
there…” His fingers moved to indicate a second van stationed a little further
down the street. “And there.”

As Rick
nodded, Hope tuned everything out and dove inside herself for a moment, hunting
for the right course of action.

The
area was quiet and the building was big but not huge; large enough to have an
unpleasant number of people waiting, but not an army. And the lack of security
indicated overconfidence. It was possible that Gouws’ men were betting on Rick
calling the shots and walking in there unaided.

Possible.

“Alright.”
Rick and Boran looked around at her. “Here’s what we’re gonna do. We’re gonna
walk right into this trap through the front door.”

There
was a brief pause, and then Boran said, “I do not like this plan.”

Rick
looked like he was too loyal to agree but desperately wanted to. Hope grinned,
showing too many teeth.

“Oh ye
of little faith. No, listen. Why mess with the guys outside if we don’t have
to? They won’t be expecting three of us, that’s for sure. So Boran, you’ll be
the distraction.” She pulled a small bag off her shoulder, unzipped it, and
handed him an unlit flare. Other than that, she knew Boran packed his own heat.
“Any kind of distraction you want.”

She
turned to Rick. “Then you and I go in and grab Iseul. I’ll take point and
you’ll do the actual grabbing, alright? Think you can handle that?” Behind
Rick, Boran indicated that he was going to do a quick sweep of the area before
they went in, and wandered off.

Hope
had been expecting instant capitulation given how little she wanted him
anywhere near the project, but Rick stared at her in such deep concentration
that for a moment Hope actually held her breath.

Then he
shook his head definitively and said, “Nope, can’t do it. You’re the one who’ll
have to actually get her out.”

Hope
wracked her brains, trying to figure out what flaw Rick’s brilliant mind had
seen in her perfect plan. “But why? This makes complete sense. There’s no
reason that…”

“Ex-boyfriend
carrying out an ex-girlfriend?” Rick shook his head solemnly. “Bad form. Can’t
do it. It’ll all end in tears.”

Hope
stared at him and wondered how it was possible for someone so brilliant to be
so deeply, impressively stupid.

“For
God’s sake, Rick, it’s a rescue mission, not wedding pictures,” she said. The
last word jolted out of her mouth awkwardly as she realized what she’d just
said. Hope was admittedly no expert at long-term relationships, but she was
fairly sure that mentioning marriage at this stage was a time-honored way to
end one. “Uh… I - that was just - I didn’t mean…”

To her
complete surprise, Rick’s wide-eyed face suddenly broke out into a brilliant
grin. He threw out a hand and caught his weight on it for a second as he lunged
across the sidewalk to give Hope a quick, bruising kiss on the lips before
moving back to his original location.

She
just blinked and watched him, almost used to the feeling of being totally lost
in the maze of Rick’s actions and motivations. Well, there were worse places to
be, after all.

Steady
brown eyes met hers. “You’re the practical one, Lasser. I’m the impulsive
idiot. So I’m telling you right now - anything I can make happen, anything within
my power - just say the word and it’s yours. Anything.”

He
really needed to stop doing that. It made her brain shut off when he did.

For the
first time in a very long but not nearly long enough time, Hope felt a faint
blush set in around her cheekbones as she dropped her gaze to the blueprint and
cleared her throat. “I - um. Okay? Thank you.”

When
she glanced up through her eyelashes, Rick was still smiling at her.

Hope
breathed out a long sigh and pushed all those pleasant thoughts down until she
was back in a game plan state of mind. She decided to use Rick’s words for some
immediate good.

“Then
I’m asking you, trust me on this.” She stepped forward, out of her comfort
zone, and tangled their fingers together. “I need you to take care of Iseul so
I can take care of you. Can you do that for me?”

Rick’s
fingers tightened around hers momentarily, and then he sighed and nodded.

“Alright.
I just - I just wish…”

“You
can’t be brilliant at everything,” Hope said, as gently as she could. “We’ve
all got our specialties. If you’re a Jack of all trades, you’re a master of
none.”

Rick’s
mouth twisted in a wry smile. “Doesn’t stop me wishing,” he said.

“You
can wish for the moon as long as it doesn’t interfere with the mission,” Hope
told him, and let his hand drop with a final squeeze.

“Things
look pretty good.” Boran circled back around to them, his body language
purposefully casual, hands in his pockets and his shoulders slouched. As he
reached Hope and Rick, his posture straightened up again and his gaze regained
its sharp focus. Hope found herself giving him a small smile of approval; those
came easier these days, and she was very glad to have him with her on this job.

“Hey,
thanks for - for everything,” she said in an undertone.

Boran’s
eyes widened in surprise for a moment before he ducked his head and said, “Not
a problem,” in a muffled, embarrassed voice.

Praise
and gratitude were luxuries that their business didn’t bother with much. Hope
wondered how much she’d changed in her time with Rick, and was surprised to
find that the thought didn’t bother her.

“Alright,
let’s get moving. Boran, you’re in first in case there’s a welcome party
waiting inside the door - you start the distraction play the instant we’re
inside, just don’t forget to tell us which direction to head in.” Boran gave
her a little salute; she rolled her eyes tolerantly. “Rick, you’re with me. Got
all your stuff?”

He ran
his hands over his uniform of work pants and a loose, breathable shirt,
checking that everything was in its place. Hope followed his hand as it drew
down over the small of his back. She didn’t let herself focus on the long, lean
lines of his body or the handsome angles of his face, thrown into relief by the
shadow from the street lamp.

“Knife,
Kevlar, samples from the lab, and bear mace.”

“What?
Bear mace? No - I mean, it’s basically the same thing, oleoresin capsicum
derivatives…”

“I
know. But bear mace sounds more badass than pepper spray, don’t you think?”

Rick
grinned, a line of white teeth that gleamed in the small amount of light. Hope
blinked. Off to the side Boran buried his face in his palm - Hope wasn’t sure
if he was despairing or trying to hide his amusement.

“Clearly
this mission can’t help but succeed,” Boran said after a moment, and now he
wasn’t even trying to stifle his laughter.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

The
three of them walked up to the warehouse door in a wedge, Boran in front, Hope
to the right behind him, and Rick to her left. Her focus narrowed in until the
windowless front of the building filled her vision and the sound of their
footsteps echoed in her ears. Both arms brushed her sides as she casually made
contact with her gear, a final check that everything was in place.

They
were as ready as they’d ever be.

Hope
tilted a final glance at Rick, who had his chin up and was staring forward
determinedly, but honestly, she wasn’t even worried about Rick losing his nerve.
Probably she should have been; probably she should have been watching him like
a hawk. But she trusted Rick now, she realized, and she couldn’t do a damn
thing about it.

They
didn’t break stride as they walked quickly up to the door and Boran grasped the
handle. He paused for a fraction of a second with his hand on the knob to give
Hope time to call it off. Hope said nothing. There was undoubtedly somebody
watching them already. They needed to take advantage of what little element of
surprise they had.

Boran’s
wrist twisted. The door opened and he darted inside. Hope rushed up toward the
doorframe to hover outside it. She put out a hand and found Rick crowded next
to her; pushed him more firmly behind her.

“Come
on, it’s empty,” Boran’s shaggy dark head appeared in the doorway and he
gestured them inside. Hope exhaled in relief and stepped forward, even as she
swiveled her head to stare around suspiciously. Surely it couldn’t be this
easy. Could it?

She
took in her surroundings as quickly as possible. They were standing in a
three-pronged hallway with one door in front of them, and hallways branching
off to either side. Hope stared through the little window in the door but she
couldn’t see anyone waiting beyond it. Either side of the hall was empty. She
tried to think back to the blueprint she’d memorized, but it didn’t help. The
building was as standard and industrial as they came, each side a mirror image
of the other.

“Okay,”
she tried to regroup as Rick waited for her word, “We should probably go…”

“I saw
people down that end,” Boran cut in unexpectedly. She didn’t even have time to
question him; he was already moving off to the right. “They must be running to
tell someone. Maybe they didn’t expect you to show. Go, go! I will chase them
and distract them!”

“But I
don’t see - ” Hope tried to grab Boran’s arm but he dodged away and ran
determinedly down the hall. Her fist clenched on empty air; she wanted to yell
after him but couldn’t afford to draw attention to their location.