Chapter 11

Jay wasn’t going to let fire stop him from finding Nichole. If he didn’t move now, he would regret it for the rest of his life.

The lights had gone out, but he knew the door was just past the fire. He moved fast, hearing Apple curse behind him. The door only hung for a second as he slammed his shoulder against it, and then it flew open, admitting him to the room, along with the thick smoke building in the hall.

“Move out!” Jay yelled as he spied three women on the floor. His goggles were special, allowing him to see though it was pitch black inside. It took them a moment to get moving, but he saw the minute it clicked with the closest woman that they’d been rescued. She moved fast, keeping low as she raced out the door.

In the dark and smoky room, he couldn’t tell which woman was Nichole, but he prayed one of them was. Based on the number of people they’d found, one of these women had to be Nichole. Relief filled him. Once he knew for sure she was with them, he would feel even better, but for now, he was satisfied.

He grabbed the last woman to exit the room, pulling her along with them. Eventually she started moving faster on her own and he let go. They were bunched close with the lights out. The women were crying, which he didn’t blame them for being upset. The fire, the dark, all of it would disorient the strongest of men.

The SEALs had advantages with their equipment, but it must have been very scary since the women couldn’t really see as they wound their way through the building. They’d escaped the worst of the fire before they passed the room with the woman they’d found earlier. He paused and picked up the woman, then followed behind the other rescued women and fellow SEALs.

Once outside with the stars above and ambient light, he studied each of the women, finally seeing which one was Nichole. Relief filled him. He wanted to tell her that she was safe, but they still had to escape the area and pick up their ride.

Apple led them to the meetup point, where they found Sharp and Squat. They had the men who’d been held captive. At least they’d rescued the rest of the medical professionals and hadn’t lost anyone.

He checked his position, noting they were at the southeast corner of the building. All they had to do was make a quick dash from the building to the line of trees.

Shine gave everyone orders, and all the captives nodded. Nichole stayed at the front of the group with Apple, leading them toward their escape. He was amazed by how Nichole was handling the situation as if she had no fear. The two women walking right in front of him were still crying, which he understood. He just needed them to keep it together enough to walk out instead of having to be carried. He was already carrying one body, and that left them at a disadvantage. They couldn’t afford to lose another gun, or their escape could be placed in jeopardy.

They were about twenty feet from the trees, out in the middle of the clearing, totally exposed when the worst thing that could happen did. One of their captors came around the corner, firing at Apple and Nichole. Jay wasn’t so worried about Apple, but Nichole didn’t have body armor protecting her vital organs. One bullet could rip right through her, dropping her on the spot. Fear made him stall before he lifted his rifle, making sure none of his team were in the way. He didn’t have to fire because one of his other guys took the bastard out first.

Though he wanted to rush to Nichole’s side and make sure she was okay, they had to keep moving. It only took a few more seconds, maybe twenty, for all of them to make it to the tree line. So far, so good, but there was still plenty that could go wrong.

The exfil location was about a quarter mile away. He made sure the women beside him could walk and then turned to see Nichole helping one of the men. God, she was a good person. He hadn’t been wrong about her. She was special.

No question, he felt something for her, but this wasn’t the time or place to reveal his feelings. He hadn’t emailed her back, but he would say something to her before they separated. Usually, he and his team walked away once they handed the people they rescued off to the regular Navy. This time, he would circle back and make sure Nichole knew he wanted to talk to her when she was ready.