Chapter 13

Raegan heldthe oh shit handle with a tight, steady grip as Rocky drove like a madman around one of the airport's many, many curves.

Come on, come on, come on…

She glanced around at the endless lines of cars in the lots. The planes parked at their designated terminals in the distance.

So many innocent lives hanging in the balance, and the worst part was, there was no guarantee they'd be able to clear the area in time to protect even one.

Rocky slowed his truck to a quick, harsh stop along the curb lining the loading and unloading area. The vehicle was still rocking when she opened the door and jumped out.

Parked both in front and behind them, the rest of Delta Team exited their respective vehicles, and they all met in the middle around the hood of Rocky's F150.

"I know this is a stupid question…" Raegan looked at Rocky and the others. "But flying anything like this over an airport has to be illegal. Which only concerns me because if this thing gets taken down by airport security, we won't be able to?—"

"Special Agent Foster with Homeland was supposed to clear us with airport security and the TSA," Liam announced. "Although, it doesn't look like evacuations have begun yet, so it's anyone's guess at this point."

As if they weren't facing enough of a challenge as it was.

"I'll call Foster and see where she's at," Christian told them as he got on his phone to call their handler.

In the meantime, Liam was already getting Betty ready to fly.

"I spoke to Agent Atwell on the drive here," Rocky shared with the others. "She's sending every available unit the FBI has, and the CPD is doing the same."

"That's great, except, just as that jackhole Samer planned, the departments are all already watching the banks to prevent that shit from going down."

"It's the best they can do given the circumstances," Rocky shrugged.

"Okay, so Agent Foster said Homeland has officially ordered an evacuation of the entire airport, crews and all." Christian rejoined them. "Which means, this place is going to turn into a shit show in about two minutes' time."

Liam looked to the team's leader and asked, "Betty?"

"Talia confirmed you have clearance to take flight anywhere in or around airport property."

Excitement lit up the tech genius's eyes. "Then let's do this."

A few beats later, Betty was flying high in the air, hopefully on her way to save a lot of innocent lives.

"Should you take her higher?" Brody kept a close eye on the buzzing, high-tech machine.

But Liam shook his head. "Actually, she picks up a much better reading if she moves in low and slow."

"Not too slow, I hope," Rocky rumbled the quip from where he stood at Raegan's side. "From the looks of the bomb's blueprint, we're looking at another Oklahoma City. Or worse."

"Jesus." Cade ran a hand over his short cropped hair.

"Samer wouldn't just want to temporarily cripple the city of Chicago," Raegan told the group as a whole. "He'd want to take out as many people as he could in the process, while also taking down one of the largest airports in the United States."

Cade spoke up again to add, "Not to mention, this place is a massive hub for international business travel. The U.S. isn't the only country that would be affected."

"Hey, Cutler," Jagger hollered at Liam from across Rocky's hood. "Your little toy picking up anything yet?"

"Nothing worth writing home about." Liam remained laser-focused on the tiny screen in his hand. "There are several low-rad readings but given their positions and the mild signal they're putting off, my guess is those are just the TSA Security scanners inside."

"Wait." Cade held up a hand with concern. "Those things we have to go through when we fly commercial…exactly how much radiation are we being exposed to?"

"The body scanners can emit some radiation," Liam explained as he maneuvered Betty above the terminal roofs. "Now, depending on the type, your basic metal detectors are millimeter wave machines. They use non-ionizing radiation waves to detect hidden metal objects like guns, knives, that sort of thing."

"What about the bigger ones?" Raegan wanted to know. "The ones where they have you stand on the yellow shoe prints and hold your hands above your head?"

"Those are the ionizing radiation scanners I was just talking about." Liam nodded. "But again, the exposure is set at very low levels, and there are a slew of safety precautions put in place by the TSA to prevent overexposure."

"And that's what you're seeing now?" Rocky motioned toward the screen centered on the handheld controls in Liam's hands.

The techie gave another quick nod. "Looks like it. They're all evenly spaced, and from what I'm seeing, the levels of radiation they're emitting are the same throughout." The words had no more left the man's mouth when he frowned. "Hold up." Bringing the screen closer, Liam's thumbs worked the controls.

"What is it?" Raegan moved in closer.

Bringing his eyes from the screen up to hers, Liam's expression was intense when he told her, "I think I may have found it."

Her heartrate kicked into high gear at the man's shocking words. "Seriously? Where?"

"Here." He pointed to a spot on the digital topographical map of the airport.

She looked to what he was seeing on the screen. Just as he'd described, several small, yellow-orange circles were scattered throughout the terminals. But the one he was focused on now…

It wasn't yellow or orange. It was dark, dark red. And it was much bigger than any of the others.

Son of a…

"Where is that?" Rocky demanded.

With the click of a few buttons, Liam's voice grew anxious as he announced to them all, "Baggage claim. Lower level, Concourse B.

Baggage claim.

"Of course." Raegan's eyes met the men of Delta's stares. "That makes perfect sense. Almost everyone who gets off one of those planes has to stop at the baggage claim before leaving." She glanced down the covered walkway to the area they were discussing now. "No security check point going in or out. Someone could easily carry a bag inside, set it down, and walk right back out without anyone being the wiser."

Just then, a massive crowd of people poured out of the doors nearest them. Another group began exiting out the doors down the way, nearest the area they'd just been discussing.

Raegan swung her head around to look in the opposite direction. There, she found more of the same.

"They've started the evac," she announced unnecessarily. To Rocky, she said, "We have to get to baggage claim. Now."

"I agree." Christian gave the group a nod, giving them the official green light to move. "It's our best option, and we're running out of time."

"I'll get my gear."

Grabbing a bag from the back seat of his truck, Rocky and Raegan raced down the sidewalk to where they needed to be.

His gear, he'd explained on the drive here, was a bag with all sorts of tools to help diffuse various types of explosive devices. Because something else Raegan had learned as they'd raced to save lives…

Rocky was Delta Team's demolitions expert. Which meant…

"Are you really going to try to diffuse it if we find it?"

"Don't have a choice. Depending on how much time is left, I doubt we'll be able to get it far enough away from here to make a difference."

As they ran, she and the team began yelling at people to hurry the hell up and leave. Raegan's voice strained from her efforts to get those around them to pick up the pace and get to safety.

Most listened and began walking faster, or even running away safely. Others looked at her as if she were crazy.

The truth was, on the inside, Raegan was so amped up with worry and fear she felt as if she were going positively mad.

They finally reached the doors. She felt like a trout trying to swim upstream as they squeezed their way through the crowd trying to escape.

A blast of cold air hit as they entered the air-conditioned space. Christian grabbed the first security guard he saw.

"You need to get these people and yourself out of here right the fuck now."

Looking more annoyed than frightened, the jerk told Christian, "I'm aware that an emergency has been called, and we're doing everything we can to?—"

"There's a fucking bomb in this airport, and it very well could go off any minute. So your everything isn't good enough."

The guard's shoulders went back, and his hand started for the cuffs at his hip. "Sir, you do realize joking about a bomb at an airport is a federal offense punishable by a fine of up to twenty thousand dollars and up to ten years in prison?"

Before Christian could respond, Jagger piped up with a casual sounding, "Guess it's a good thing no one's joking, asshole."

Seeing he was sorely outnumbered, the man started to reach for his phone. "You all need to stay right here while I call my supervisor."

"Good." Raegan inserted herself into the ridiculous conversation. "While you're at it, make sure they know we're here under the orders of both Homeland Security and the FBI. Oh, and the evacuation that's been ordered by the TSA? Yeah. That was us, too. So I suggest you do what he said"—she pointed to Christian—"and start moving these people as far away from this place as you can get."

Shock reverberated through the other man, and as he looked around at the team again, his voice held a slight tremor when he asked, "W-who are you people?"

"With any luck?" Jagger gave the man's shoulder a friendly slap. "We're the people who are going to save your puckered ass."

"Make that call to your supervisor if you need to," Christian told him. "But we have a bomb to locate and disarm."

With Liam in the lead, Raegan and the others raced in line behind him.

"Which way do we go?" Rocky practically had to shout over the noise of the bustling crowd.

Liam looked at his screen and pointed to an area up ahead and to the left. "That way!" A minute later, as they ran past people being ushered out of the nearby exit, Liam shook his head with confusion. "We should be right on top of it."

He stopped, and the rest of them followed suit. With frantic movements, they moved their heads and bodies on swivels as they searched desperately for the life-ending device.

But there were so many people moving every-which-way, and between that and the structure itself?—

"There!" Rocky's deep shout rose above all the other noise. "There's a black duffel on the floor, stuffed between those two trash cans."

Raegan's gaze shot that way, her eyes almost immediately landing on the bag in question. She took off, running double-time to keep up with Rocky and the rest of Delta Team.

Their booted feet came to a stop as they positioned themselves around the suspicious bag. Rocky laid his own duffle onto the ground by his feet before squatting down to take a look.

He reached for the zipper, pausing long enough to draw in a steadying breath. With his next, the crazy, brave man began to pull the zipper free.

"Careful," she whispered, dropping down beside him.

Rocky turned to her. Their eyes became fixed with one another's, and for that one, brief moment in time, it was as if no one else in the world existed.

Dipping her chin in the slightest of nods, she told him without words that she was prepared for whatever happened next. And if what happened was the bomb went off, and they were all blown to smithereens, well…

At least one of the last things I see on this earth will be him.

Rocky began to pull on the zipper. With a slow, steady movement, he didn't stop until the small metal slider reached the bottom stop.

His breaths came out in even intervals as he reached out with both hands and carefully pulled the two halves of the bag apart. Raegan's lungs froze when she got her first glimpse at the metal box inside.

"Oh my god."

Her whispered words went unnoticed as she and the others assessed what they were seeing. Simplistic in its design, the container's lid appeared to be screwed shut, and there was a small, digital timer positioned on top.

Twelve minutes, twenty-three seconds…and counting.

That's how long they had to live, unless Rocky could figure out how to disarm it.

Please, God. I'm not ready to die.

Memories flashed, and suddenly Raegan was pulled from the present and back to the past. Bullets were flying. HESH bombs were being hailed toward her. And her team?—

Damn it, Raegan, no! That team is gone, and they're never coming back!

She sucked in a breath and shook the memories away. Her former team was gone. Chief Tupper. Val. Joe…they were all gone. And no, they were never, ever coming back.

But she had a new team to worry about now. The men surrounding her now as they risked their own lives for hundreds of strangers still trying to make their way to safety.

And then there was Rocky.

Strong. Sexy. Sweet as hell Rocky. A man so kind he'd help a woman he didn't know fix a clogged pipe. A lover so selfless…and so very talented…he'd given her the most powerful, most incredible orgasms of her existence.

And now, those very same hands that had touched nearly every inch of her body were doing everything they could not to inadvertently kill them all.

If we make it out alive, I just might marry this man.

"Can you open it?" Christian's question pulled her back to the present.

"I think so." Rocky followed a yellow wire that ran from one end of the timer into a tiny hole that had been drilled into the side of the metal box. Yanking his own bag open, he pulled out a small tool set before popping it open and pulling out a Phillips head screwdriver.

As Raegan watched him work, she momentarily traveled back to that day in her kitchen. She remembered admiring his physique as she'd studied his movements closely. Back when she knew nothing about him, and he'd known even less about her.

Only a few days had passed since then, but somehow it felt like a lifetime ago. And as she sat there, her eyes following his every movement, she couldn't help but hope for more.

More time to live.

To laugh.

To love.

But if he couldn't diffuse the bomb before it blew, Raegan and the men of Delta Team would be dead in a matter of minutes.

Rocky carefully removed the unscrewed lid. Setting it to the side, they were finally able to see Samer's explosive creation first-hand.

"What are we looking at, Rock?" Brody rumbled low.

"Twenty-five blocks of C4, and two trigger mechanisms."

A low whistle blew through Cade's puckered lips. "Twenty-fiver? Damn. That's enough to take out?—"

"Several city blocks." Rocky nodded. "Yeah. And then some."

Oh, god.

"You should go."

Raegan blinked, and it took her a second to realize Rocky was talking to her. "I'm not leaving you."

"There's nothing you can do here. You and the team…" He turned his blue eyes their way. "You'd be a lot more help getting the rest of these people out of here."

Raegan glanced around, realizing he was right. There were still far too many people inside the terminal, children included.

And though it was one of the hardest things she'd ever had to do, she told him, "Fine. I'll help with the evac down here."

"Raegan—"

"There's plenty that needs to be done down here."

"I'm not asking."

"Neither am I." She stood her ground. "You wouldn't even know about this bomb if not for me, so as much as I appreciate the gallant effort you're putting forth to try to protect me, I'm trained for this, too. So I'll help with the evac, but so help me…you go and get yourself blown up, I swear to God, I'll?—"

Rocky grabbed the back of her neck and slammed his mouth to hers. Not caring of the audience around them, they embraced in a hot, fast, hard kiss that left her breathless.

"Go. I'll meet you outside when I'm done."

"Come on, darlin'," Jagger drawled. "What do you say, you and I go light a fire under all these dumbasses so they'll finally get a move on?"

"You sure you got this?" Brody asked Rocky before Raegan could answer.

"Piece of cake." Rocky brought his blue gaze up to hers. "Trust me."

She smiled, not hesitating in the slightest when she said, "I do."

And with one final glance shared between the new lovers, Raegan and Jagger took off out the doors, leaving Rocky and the others behind.

Over the next few minutes, the pair worked tirelessly to clear the area while Christian, Brody, and Cade stayed back to usher more people out. As Raegan's focus was split between the sea of people exiting the building and those already standing around looking utterly lost, she nearly stumbled when she bumped into an elderly man using a quad cane for support.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, dear." The man offered her a shaky smile.

Offering him a supportive hand, she placed a gentle hold on his arm and helped him across the paved walkway leading to the attached parking garage there. When they got to the other side, opposite the doors she and the team had recently raced to enter, the man gave her another smile.

"Thank you so much, young lady."

"You're welcome." Raegan spotted an airport security guard and waved him down. "Here. This man can help get you to where you need to be."

The second the guard was with the older gentleman, Raegan started to return to the covered walkway outside the baggage claim area. She'd just stepped foot on the curb when something caught her attention from her left.

A large crowd of people had gathered there as they waited for their rides to arrive. But there was one man—tall with a dark shirt, dark pants, ball cap, and sunglasses—who appeared to just be standing at the back…watching.

Raegan stopped and stared, trying to figure out what the hell he was doing. She couldn't see any specific features from this distance but had caught enough to know something wasn't right.

Everyone around him was nervous to the point of near panic. But not him. No, this man appeared as calm as the day was long.

Add to that the way he was dressed, and…

It's him!

She took out her phone and snapped his picture in case she lost him in the crowd. The image wouldn't show much, but it would be something to go off of, at least. Assuming they survived.

The man turned her way, and though she couldn't see his eyes for the dark lenses covering them, Raegan could've sworn he was staring right at her.

Rage fueled her movements as she started to run his way. But just as she did, he turned and vanished into the crowd.

No!

Raegan took off in a dead sprint after him. Remembering she wasn't alone, she pulled out her phone as her boots ate away the distance between where she'd been and the spot where the man had been standing.

Her gaze swung left to right as she raced to come up with a plan. She looked for Jagger but didn't see him. With Rocky busy trying not to blow himself up, and the other three Delta men in the middle of their own tasks, there was only one other person Raegan knew to call.

She dialed the number she'd previously memorized by heart and held the phone to her ear as she ran. Agent Atwell answered on the second ring.

"Atwell."

"It's Raegan!" Her voice was strained from having given chase. "I found him! I found Samer!"

"What? Where?"

"I'm chasing after him outside Terminal Three at O'Hare."

"And the bomb?"

"Rocky's working on it now. But Samer is here! He wasn't even trying to get away before. I think…I think his end game is to die in the explosion."

Narcissistic asshole like him would want to become a martyr.

"My team and I are headed that way now," Agent Atwell told her. "Where did you say you were?"

"I'm outside on the pavement to the south of Terminal Three." Movement caught her vision, and Raegan realized Samer was heading into one of the airport's smaller hangars. "I see him! Samer is heading into the metal building just around the corner of the area marked ‘Employees Only'."

"Stay where you are," Agent Atwell ordered.

"Sorry, Lisa," Raegan used the woman's given name. "I can't do that."

"Raegan, listen to me. If the man you're chasing really is Samer?—"

"It's him."

"—then you have to wait for backup!"

"Can't." She pushed her legs to move faster. "No time!"

"Then at least get one of the Delta guys to?—"

"They're all busy trying to make sure everyone in the place doesn't die. I've got this, just…do me a favor and let them know where I am. And get your people here as fast as you can!"

"Raegan, wait?—"

She ended the call and shoved her phone into her back pocket as she ran. Her thigh muscles burned as she picked up speed, and her heartbeat raced with adrenaline and fear.

Pulling the Glock she'd brought from home from its concealed holster at her hip, Raegan slowed her steps as she reached the metal building's closed door. It was the same door Samer had just walked through less than a minute before.

She opened it and walked inside. Looking around, she saw pieces of airplanes scattered about in a careful, methodical way. Gigantic tool chests lined the walls, and there were barrels and chairs and ladders abound.

More than ready to end this and put Samer out of her mind for good, Raegan moved further into the building. Knowing him for the coward he was, she knew it was up to her to get the party started.

"Come on, Samer!" Her voice echoed throughout the space. "I know you're in here. It's been a long time. Why don't you come out here so we can catch up?" Met with nothing but silence, she tried again. "Don't tell me you're still pissed at me for shooting you in the head. I mean, clearly my bullet just grazed you, and it seems as if you've made a full recovery."

One of his bullets shot out, striking a piece of metal piping resting against the wall behind her. Raegan ducked just in time to keep the lethal projectile from hitting her in the head.

"I stand corrected," she shouted out from behind a plane's partial tail. "I guess you are still pissed at me. But hey, to be fair, you shot me first."

"I should have put a bullet between those pretty eyes of yours."

Fear, grief, and a whole slew of other emotions hit hard when she heard the man's voice for the first time in three years. But this was it. This was her final chance to bring justice to her friends. And she wasn't about to let years of grief get in the way.

"Yeah, well…" She hollered out again. "You know what they say. Shoulda, coulda, woulda?—"

Another bullet whizzed past, but not nearly as close as the last one.

"Okay, fine. You want to kill me. Apparently you want to kill yourself, too, given the massive amount of C4 you used on that bomb of yours. Too bad it's never going to go off."

"It's easily controlled, and it's fast. And you're right. With the amount of C4 I used, it will most definitely be effective."

"Hate to break it to you, Samer, but my people are already on it. They've located the duffle bag, and one of the best demolitions guys around is currently working to disarm it. It's over, Samer. You're finished!"

He took another shot at her, followed almost immediately by a fourth. His aim was still shoddy, which gave her time to pay close attention to where the bullets were coming from. And when he fired his weapon again…

Bingo!

Raegan carefully started making her way to her right. Crouched down with her eyes facing forward and her weapon up and at the ready, she continued moving closer to the spot where she was almost certain Samer was hiding.

"It's unfortunate you weren't awake to watch the rest of your team die," he snarled. "I would have woken you myself, just so you could see, but my men were too busy hauling me away to seek medical attention."

Pain knifed through her as she thought of Chief Tupper and the others, but Raegan pushed all that aside to focus on what was right here. Right now.

"Why the bomb, Samer?" she hollered out. Checking her watch, she noted the bomb should have three more minutes remaining. "And why Chicago?"

"My people have a strong base here," he shouted back. "We have for years!"

"Yeah? Well, my people have a strong base here, too, asshole. And they're out there right now, stopping all of this. The bank robberies. The bomb. All of it!"

And I'm going to stop you.

Samer came out from where he'd been hiding, a pistol in one hand, his other stretched out to his side. "You want to fight like soldiers; let's fight."

Raegan found it hard to breathe for the murderous rage she felt toward this man. His hair was short and his face clean-shaven. Most likely to blend in better as an American, rather than a radical ISIS fuck who enjoyed the killing of innocent people.

Her gun remained steady in her fists, but her trigger finger twitched with the urge to shoot.

"Drop the weapon, Samer," she ordered with a low, calm voice.

On the inside, she was a complete and total mess. But she'd never let this man see that. Not ever.

Praying Rocky was making headway with the bomb, Raegan kept her aim in the center of Samer's head, and her focus between her target and the gun in his hand.

"Just like old times, yes?" He let his thick accent come through.

Yes, this was eerily similar to their last meeting. Except this time…

"You're not the only one with a gun, Samer. And from the way you were shooting just now, I'm guessing your aim is still as shotty ever."

"Fucking American bitch!" He took a broad step toward her. "You always did think you were better than me."

"Mmm…" Raegan tilted her head a bit. "No. I always knew I was better than you. And I'm willing to bet I still am."

"If that were true, you would have caught me sooner. I never would have been able to recruit those clueless boys, and I never would have been able to make that bomb. But I did." He smiled then, his cold, evil eyes staring back at her. "And once again, I have proven to be the best."

"Wrong, Samer. You only think you're the best. Truth is, I've been distracting you this whole time."

The flicker of uncertainty in his eyes was all she needed to know; she'd finally gotten to him. She'd gotten to him, and Rocky, well…

Rocky and Cade were both here. Both still alive. And they were both sneaking up behind where Samer still stood.

Holy shit, he did it! He diffused the bomb!

A slow, methodical smile spread across Raegan's face. Though she wanted to cry with relief, she forced those emotions away.

Later, she could think about how close she came to dying once again. For now…

"Drop the weapon, Samer."

Rocky's voice—his strong, deep, masculine voice—was the most beautiful sound she'd ever heard.

Surprise flashed in the terrorist's wide eyes. A second later, they turned flat. Emotionless. As if he'd only just realized what needed to be done.

Just like that day in Iraq, everything around her seemed to move in slow motion. Samer's hold on his weapon seemed to become stronger. The barrel of his gun grew steady as it was aimed straight at her head.

Rocky and Cade continued to shout at Samer to drop his gun and put his hands in the air. And Raegan…

She stayed right where she was, watching it all unfold in front of her.

Samer looked at her. She stared back at him. He started to pull his trigger, but then…

Several shots rang out in rapid succession.

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!

In what felt like the very next second, the entire building grew silent once again. Samer's gun fell from his bloody hand as his bullet-riddled body fell to the hangar floor below. And that was the moment Raegan finally knew…

It's over.

The bomb wasn't going to detonate, and Samer was dead. The man never even had a chance to fire his gun.

Everything after that happened in a blur, but the one thing Raegan remembered more than the rest…

The way Rocky ran straight to her and pulled her into his arms.