31. Worth

Iheld my breath as I watched Carter, Miles, and Matteo approach the townhouse where Beck was being held.

Ford and I were staying in the vehicle. We had comms so we could listen to them, and we were serving as lookouts, ready to warn them if we saw someone entering the building. We were also prepared in case they got Beck free but had to send him to us while continuing to fight his captors. Ford was ready to leap out and join the fight if need be.

We didn't say a word as we waited. After a few moments, I glanced at Ford, and he nodded. I knew he was telling me this was going to be okay. I prayed he was right.

"Someone's coming." That was Carter.

I held my breath.

"Behind me." Carter again.

I heard a dull thud followed by a thunk. Ford mimed shooting and a body falling over. I shivered. I knew our team had silencers on their weapons, but I would never have thought shooting someone could really be that quiet.

The sounds I heard next indicated they were on the move again.

Someone yelled and a shot rang out, making me jump. That wasn't one of our guys.

"Do you need me inside?" Ford asked.

"Not now," Matteo responded. "We've got this."

I looked at Ford. His serious expression made my heart pound even harder. I could tell he was longing to go in there with them.

I touched his shoulder and shook my head, knowing he needed to stay here. He had more experience with weapons than me, but he wasn't prepared to be in there. Miles really wasn't either, but he'd charged forward anyway. I was sure Ben would have a lot to say about that later.

Another shot.

Someone screamed.

"We're standing by," Ford said.

There was no response. I looked at him again. "Do we go in now?" I mouthed.

He shook his head.

Matteo's voice came over the radio a few seconds later. "I've got Beck, I'm cutting his restraints."

Thank God.

"Heading out the side door. Going to send him to you, Ford."

"I'm ready," Ford responded. He slipped from the vehicle and stood at the rear, ready to grab Beck from Matteo if need be. I heard more sounds of bodies falling and more screams. All I could do at that point was pray Miles, Carter, Matteo, and Beck were safe.

The door opened and I saw Beck. He was on his feet, clearly not severely injured. Matteo pointed to us, and Beck started running. Then an unknown man came out from another door, gun in hand.

He aimed for Matteo.

I didn't think. I just pulled my gun as I lowered the window, aimed, and fired.

I was as shocked as Matteo looked when the man fell to the ground.

Matteo glanced around, then saw me. "You?" he asked.

I nodded, then focused on helping Ford get my brother into the car.

"Worth?" Beck asked. "Is it really you?"

"Yes. Come here." I pulled Beck into my arms. He held me so tight it hurt, but I didn't care if he cracked all my ribs. He was there. He was alive. He was safe, and he was coming home with me. "I'm so sorry. Why didn't you call me?"

"I'm sorry, too," Beck said. "When I saw your friends, I couldn't believe it. I…I thought those men were going to kill me."

"I know. You're safe now. You're okay."

Miles exited the building and headed to our vehicle. He slipped into the middle seat with me and Beck.

Matteo waited by the exit. "Carter is taking care of the last few people in there. He'll be out in a second."

Carter wasn't alone when he exited the building. The man following him had a gun to Carter's head and an arm around his neck. The fucker grinned maniacally at Matteo.

"I see you're still alive. I've got your man. Want to trade?"

"Let him go you son of a bitch. If you want to fight, then fight me man-to-man."

"I don't want to fight. I want to kill you slowly, painfully, and then I want to make sure everyone believes you're a traitor, that you were with us all along."

"That's not going to happen," Carter snarled.

I couldn't believe how calm he looked. Beck was shaking in my arms.

I wanted to believe everything would be all right. I had no doubt Matteo could put a bullet between the man's eyes. But he could he do it before the man shot Carter?

"What do we do?" I asked.

"Matteo will handle it," Miles said. "Keep your heads down."

I pulled Beck to me and told him not to watch. I turned away myself, terrified I was about to see one of my friends die.

Somehow though, I couldn't keep myself from watching. When I looked again, I saw Carter make a hand signal and Matteo return it. They were subtle, but I knew them well enough to know how easily they communicated without saying a word.

A few seconds later, Carter slammed back into his captor, throwing his arms out to knock the man's gun arm to the side. Carter stepped sideways, and Matteo fired.

Carter's captor collapsed with a hole his forehead.

Bile rose in my throat at the sight, but I pushed it back down. My friends were safe. Carter ran to Matteo who picked him up. He wrapped his legs around him, and they kissed long and hard before running to the car and jumping in. Matteo started the engine and yanked it into gear.

"We're just driving away?" Beck asked. "What about the police?"

Carter nodded. "Our men will take care of it."

Miles agreed. "The cleanup crew is already on the way."

"But those men kidnapped me, and now you've killed them. What's going to happen?"

"To us? Absolutely nothing," Miles said. "We're taking you back to Worth's house, and you'll get checked out by my doctor. Then we'll go home and pretend nothing happened."

Beck stared at him. "How can you get away with that?"

I hugged my brother tighter. "It's best not to ask him more questions. Miles has endless resources, just like we do."

"So you're saying I could just kill anybody, and you could cover it up?"

"It would be harder with some people than others, but it so happens our connections make this one particularly easy to cover up since people at many levels of military and law enforcement want this cartel gone."

"How did you get mixed up in this?" Beck asked, looking at me.

Miles sighed. "It's my fault."

Carter huffed. "I'm equally to blame."

"I'm the fucker who was undercover with them," Matteo protested.

Beck shook his head. "This is crazy. You know that, right? Fucking crazy."

"Are you okay?" I asked, taking the opportunity to finally look him over fully.

"My wrists hurt from the way I was tied up, and I may have a sprained ankle, but I'm okay. They didn't really hurt me."

I lifted his hand and turned it over. The marks on his wrist made anger boil inside me. "How dare they leave marks on you!"

"I made sure they paid for it," Carter said.

"I wish I could make them pay again."

Ford smiled. "I love when your vicious side comes out."

I rolled my eyes. "They hurt my baby brother."

"I bet you'd be the same way if—" A sharp look from Ford cut off Matteo's words.

"If what?" Beck asked.

I sighed. "We'll talk about that later. Right now, I just want to make sure you're really okay. We'll have Miles's doctor look at your ankle and put something on your wrists so they'll heal up quickly and not scar."

Beck frowned. "You're keeping something from me."

"I wanted to be there for you. I'm so sorry that things I got involved in hurt you. Let's just get you taken care of before we talk about anything else."

He leaned over, letting his head rest on my shoulder. "I was so scared, but now you're here and I'm safe. I don't want to think about it or talk about it anymore."

I wrapped him in my arms again and held him tight. I knew I had to tell him about Laurie eventually, but it could wait.

"Where is Laurence?" Beck asked a few moments later. "You didn't leave him alone in Aruba, did you?"

"No, he's at my apartment with Ben, and there are guards there."

Ford glanced down at his watch. "Jay is probably there by now too."

"So Laurence is okay? They didn't get to him?"

"No, he's safe. He's been so worried to about you."

"I just let Ben know we're headed back with Beck. Laurie was right by him, and Ben passed on all the info."

"Thank you," I said.

Beck went quiet, and I realized he was sound asleep.

"He's really going to be okay, right?" I asked quietly.

Miles nodded. "Yes. The doctor is on her way, but he's really not badly hurt."

I knew Miles was right, but for some reason I felt more afraid now than I had watching my friends go in to get him.

Carter laid a hand on my shoulder. "Your adrenaline is wearing off. You're thinking about all of the what ifs. That's normal."

I blew out a long breath. Beck shifted against me, and I laid a hand on his chest, needing to feel his strong heartbeat.

"Thank you, all of you, so much."

"He would never have been targeted if it wasn't for us," Miles said. "We owed him a rescue and so much more."

"I'm just so glad he's here and he's alive. Now I just need to figure out what to say when we get back."

"You'll do fine," Ford leaned forward and gripped my shoulder. "We're here for you. For all three of you."