Chapter 14

Chapter

Fourteen

T hom grabbed the laptop and double checked the security feed. He could log on from the bedroom as well but when it came to Fariq, who would surely be looking for payback, there was no time like the present. Nor was there any such thing as being too careful, especially since he and Avery had just put themselves right at the top of his primary targets list.

Everything was quiet, both outside and as he walked back into the bedroom. Stretched out on her stomach, Avery was fast asleep. When he climbed into bed beside her, with his back propped on pillows and the laptop balanced on his thighs, she snuggled closer without waking.

Smiling, he stroked her hair and then turned his attention to filling out both the incident report for his kidnapping and for Avery’s unauthorized rescue mission. Thom glanced down at the naked, sleeping beauty at his side, and shook his head. There was no doubt in his mind that she would always be a handful. She was far too used to seeing what was needed and just doing it, regardless of the risk to herself. He’d had to punish her for that, but that didn’t mean a small part of him wasn’t also proud of her fearless warrior self.

The secure line phone vibrated on the bed next to him. It was Noah.

“She okay?” Noah asked.

“More or less.”

“More being from the bad guys and that stupid stunt, and less being from you getting after her?”

“Pretty much. How’s Zara?”

“Tired, sore, and on a short leash,” he growled.

Thom laughed. “My guess is their good buddy Finn is in about the same boat.”

“We picked up Ghazil and have him tucked away. He told us he can stay in touch with some of what’s going on from a secure location. I talked with Mac and John; the feeling is that Fariq may make an all-out assault on the firm. Mac wants everybody at home.”

“Not a problem. If you and Zara can get to the Welsh safe house, we’ll pick you up in the jet tomorrow at ten a.m.”

“Ghazil will be with us and we’ll be ready.”

Avery stirred just as Noah hung up. Leaning down, Thom kissed her shoulder.

“Is everything all right?” she asked in a voice heavy with sleep.

“Everything is fine. We’re going to have to get a jet and head to Wales to get Noah and Zara and then get home to Arizona. Fariq has declared war on Wild Mustang, and Mac wants everyone close to home. More important to me at the moment is, how are you?”

Avery leaned up on her elbow, reaching up to draw his head down. “I’m fine. My butt hurts and I’m a bit tender in some other parts, but nothing bad.” She sighed deeply as he kissed her. “In fact, I’m not sure that I don’t like how Daddy makes use of his kitten.”

“Do tell. You did warn me you had a bit of an alley cat streak.”

“Meow,” she murmured against his lips.

He chuckled. “I’m glad to hear that because with the exception of having to blister your bottom for disobeying me, it was the most incredible experience I’ve ever had.”

“Should I apologize for you having to do that?”

“No, baby. I’m not one who thinks I’m being put upon when I have to discipline my little girl. Being a daddy is a choice and part of that is accepting that sometimes, when you fall in love with a courageous little girl, you might just have to smack her bottom when she misbehaves.”

“I still think I should have caught a break for saving you.”

“You did.”

She laughed. “Really? Have you seen the state of my butt?”

Thom rubbed her red bottom lovingly as he nodded. “It doesn’t have stripes laid across it. And if you ever do something that reckless again, Daddy won’t be so lenient.”

Their eyes locked until Avery dropped her gaze. “Yes, Sir.”

He kissed the top of her head. “That’s my good girl. We’re going to need a jet. What do you want?”

“The smaller and faster, the better. The runway in Wales is short and bumpy and if Fariq is gunning for us, I’m going to want to stay under the radar as much as possible…”

Thom looked down at her when she seemed to falter. “What is it, baby?”

“I don’t know how to do this…”

“Same way you always have. Just because we’re together, you’re naked and you answer to me, that doesn’t mean I know how to do what you do or don’t respect and appreciate you as a member of the team. I’m pretty sure the rest of the guys will feel the same way.”

“But Mac…”

“Was letting go of worrying about you, that’s all. You’ve done reckless stuff in the past and had Mac or John chew your ass for it. The only thing that’s changed is they won’t do that anymore.”

“No, they’ll just let you beat my ass instead,” she quipped.

“See? Beautiful, sexy, fearless, and smart. I’m one lucky daddy.”

Grinning, she threw her arms around him. “I love you.”

“Good, since you’re stuck with me. Do you want to file a flight plan?”

“Yes, but not the one we’re going to take. I’ll file that we’re flying northwest in a straight shot overland. What we’re going to do is jet west over the Key of Biscayne and circle back to Wales, staying over the water for most of the flight.”

“Okay. Looking to get educated, why?”

“Because I can stay under the radar. The small leg we’ll be overland, I can stay close enough to the terrain to make us virtually invisible. Can I make a suggestion about the jet?”

“Absolutely. Baby, you’ve forgotten more about jets than I’ll ever know.”

“I think we take the chopper to Sardinia and get a jet there.”

“Sardinia? Don’t they have the largest sheep population in the world?”

“Yes, but they also have… well, let’s just say some folks who wouldn’t mind seeing Fariq crippled permanently.”

Thom was impressed. “Do we know these people? Can we trust them?”

“Probably. I need to call Ghazil. He has people there and I think that’s where the chopper came from. My guess is we can get the right jet without a lot of fanfare and park our chopper there safely.”

“I’ll arrange for a decoy jet and set up a false trail out of Monaco. You file the flight plan with the authorities using that jet and see if Ghazil can get us what we need.”

“We’ll need to find him first,” she said, kind of laughing. “I’ll call Zara.”

“No need. Ghazil is already with Noah and Zara.”

They fixed a quick cold supper from among the MREs stored in the kitchen, talking quietly through their plan until it felt solid. The only time Thom left her alone was just long enough for him to run a full security scan from the main system and to get everything ready for their hasty exit in the morning. Satisfied that their position was still secure, Thom returned to the bedroom where Avery was once more lying in bed, waiting for him.

The hesitance in her expression made him ask, “What is it?”

“What about Christian?”

He was pretty sure he already knew where this was headed. “What about him?”

“Do you believe him?”

Thom nodded, for all the good it did any of them. “I do. It’s the only thing that makes sense, and frankly, he risked a lot to get me out of there.”

“I agree. After I talked to Ghazil, who said the plane wouldn’t be an issue, by the way, he said that thanks to John, we’re now Sardinia’s most favorite clients. But both he and Zara expressed concern about Christian.”

“I don’t like the look in your eye,” he said, frowning. “What are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking we should go back to Fariq’s compound and get Christian, make the jump to Sardinia, and bug out to Wales and home. The jet Ghazil got us has the fuel capacity and it’s armed.” She leaned forward and took his hands in hers. “We can do this. I did a lot of damage to his compound…”

“I’m not sure you want to use that as an argument in your favor.”

“My point is he hasn’t had time to recover. Zara thinks it’s most likely that he’s boarded his yacht and is headed for the Mediterranean Sea.”

“Wouldn’t he have Christian with him?”

She shook her head. “Zara doesn’t think so and neither do I. Think about it. Either he trusts Christian and he wants him there to oversee reconstruction of the building and all of their systems or he won’t trust him at all. If he doesn’t trust him, then he’s going to want him far away, but where he can keep an eye on him.”

“There’s no way to know if he’s abandoned the compound…”

“But we can find out. We head for his compound. If we see his yacht in route, we’ll know we’re a go. If we see it at his compound, we’ll have to think about what we want to do. Why are you looking at me that way?”

“Did I not get through to you at all?”

“What do you mean?”

Exasperated, he shook his head. “You’re proposing that we take a single helicopter that is no longer fully armed, and we go in, just the two of us, guns blazing to get Christian. That strikes you as a good, sensible, risk-tolerant idea?”

“We’ll have the element of surprise. I guarantee,” she quipped, flashing a fake cheeky grin. “No one will expect us to do anything this stupid twice.”

“I did not spank you anywhere near long enough,” he marveled. He wasn’t entirely sure it was too late, either. When he swiveled around in bed to fully face her, she must have had the same thought because she edged back. Not quite far enough to be out of arm’s reach, but enough for him to notice. “Avery, do you know how many rounds of ammunition we have left? How many missiles?”

“About forty percent of the ammo and no missiles. But if it weren’t for Christian, I wouldn’t have known where you were.”

“I know, baby. And he’s Finn’s brother…”

“That too…”

“And lest you forget, your team, let me stress team for you yet again, agrees that we may have an opportunity to cripple Fariq permanently.”

She startled. “Wh-what do you mean? You guys agree with me?”

“I don’t disagree with you. Neither does Mac or General Markoff, which is why we’ve already got a rescue in mind. But, baby, you need to quit thinking you’re the Lone Ranger.”

“I don’t, I’m more a Batman and Robin sort of girl. Only we have better toys.”

“Cat Woman more likely,” he said, shaking his head and grinning. “Mac has Ghazil working with the folks in Sardinia to rearm the chopper. The current plan is to rendezvous about midway between Marshan and Tarifa. After we grab the others in the morning, we’ll be heading to Sardinia, get geared back up, and then we go fly support for the ground team.”

“And you’re okay with me going?” she asked.

The feral gleam in her eyes was hard to ignore or reconcile with the remorseful little girl he’d had over his knee earlier. He really was going to have his hands full with this one. But he loved her, and he honestly wouldn’t have it any other way.

“This is one of those difficult and confusing divergences for me,” he admitted. “Do I like the idea of my girl going in hot on a half-kicked hornet’s nest as the only air support? Hell, no!” When her shoulders deflated, he softened his tone, grudgingly admitting, “But as one of the guys from Wild Mustang, do I want our best pilot flying this mission? Hell, yes!”

Her eyes brightened first, and then she eased into a grin. “Really?”

“I love you, Avery, and part of loving you is knowing who you are. You’re never going to be content sitting on the sidelines or manning the phones. But more than that, you’re one of the best pilots any of us have ever seen, and we don’t discount the fact that you have made the difference, getting us out of more than one really bad situation in the past.” He brushed the hair out of her eyes and kissed her forehead. “I know as confusing and conflicting as it is for me, it’s got to be even more so for you. Having the daddy you submit to also being one of the guys you’ve seen as a comrade and brother-in-arms must be hard. We’re just going to have to figure it out. Neither of us is perfect…”

“I think we’re perfect for each other,” she said quietly, the little girl peeking out from behind the warrior.

He smiled. “Daddy agrees with you, baby. I love you.”

“I love you more, and you’re right, I should have talked to you about formulating a plan that included the whole team.”

“Yes, you should have. If there’s a next time, I’m going to see it as a violation of rule eleven.”

“No risky behavior. In the spirit of being a good girl, though, I feel I ought to let you know that I’m really feeling rule seven right now.”

Throwing back his head with a bark of startled laughter, he grabbed her arms, hauling her roughly over his lap long enough to smack her bottom. He only gave her three sharp swats before rolling her over onto the bed underneath him.

“When I get you home, little brat, you and I are going to take a day and thoroughly address each and every one of the rules you’ve broken”—he stole a nibbling kiss from her beautiful lips—“or thought about breaking”—he kissed her again, a little longer this time.

“Or which I might someday think of breaking?” she asked, licking the taste of him from her lips as her eyes locked on his mouth.

“We should be proactive,” he agreed.

“Pragmatic, too. I’m almost certain to break all sorts of things if you let me get away with it.”

His cock was already swelling, stirring against both their legs as he pulled her that much closer. “Don’t worry. I don’t intend to let you get away with very much at all.”

“Maybe you should make sure,” she said a little breathlessly.

He cocked his head, but she didn’t leave him wondering at her meaning for very long. Planting a hand against his chest, she pushed him back just far enough for her to roll onto her stomach.

Twisting to look back at him over her shoulder, she bit her bottom lip and then shyly offered, “Take my bottom again, Daddy. I think I need to spend some time biting the pillow so I’ll remember to be good.”

God, he loved her.

Shaking his head, he laughed, low and breathy. “Oh, baby girl. You are going to be the death of me.”

But what a way to go.

T echnically, they should have gotten four hours of sleep. He’d be surprised if either of them got two, but it wasn’t like Fariq was going to wait for them to stop screwing like rabbits. Thom helped Avery get dressed and while he closed down the cottage, she went down to the hangar to run through her preflight.

“Go ahead and jump in,” she said, glancing up when he finally joined her. “I’m just about ready.”

He climbed into the cockpit and opened the retractable roof. Thom loved watching her in her element. She was the consummate pilot—cool under pressure, professional, well trained, and fearless. There was no other pilot in the world who he’d rather fly with. Avery lifted off and they headed to Sardinia.

Once there, Avery supervised the helicopter’s arms ammunition being reloaded as well as being refueled. As soon as they were airborne again, Thom focused on using some of the information garnered from Christian to begin hacking into Fariq’s communications grid. Absorbed as he was in his job, he had no idea they were flying as close to the water as they were until he happened to glance up.

“It feels like if I stood on the landing rung, I could lean down and touch the water,” he said, craning his head to see out the window straight down.

“I’m not that close, but by using the stealth feature and staying under most conventional radar, we’re virtually invisible.”

“Wonder Woman and her invisible aircraft,” he teased her.

“Nah, I never much cared for Steve Whatshisname. On the other hand, I always thought Cat Woman had a thing for Batman.”

“You did not just open a comics dialogue with a nerd. I’d agree with you, but I always thought he needed to put Cat Woman over his knee and take his utility belt to her backside.”

“Rule seven… just saying.”

Thom laughed. “Just wait until I get you home.” Noticing how quickly her smile was fading, he asked, “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know yet. I’m picking up a vessel dead ahead. I think it’s our guys, but it might be Fariq. I doubt they’ve picked up on us just yet. Hang on, I want to get up above the clouds until I’m sure.”

She didn’t gradually climb into the sky. She tilted the nose at a steep angle and boosted the engine so hard Thom was flattened into his chair like he was on a roller coaster. They went from skimming along the waves to breaking through the clouds and into the bright blue beyond. She was careful, always keeping cloud cover between them and the sea below.

“They can see us, right? I mean if they look up?”

“If they know where to look, they might be able to see us depending on the density of the clouds. Part of what the stealth technology does is muffle the sound of the rotors. We aren’t completely silent, but it would be hard to hear us.”

“So, by using the clouds for cover, you really are making us practically invisible.”

She nodded. “Did you ever think about the fact that if Wonder Woman’s plane is invisible, guys could look up her skirt?”

Thom started laughing.

“What? I wonder about these things.”

“I have no idea, but it’s a good thing we aren’t really in an invisible aircraft, because my little girl likes to go commando.” Getting back on his laptop, he checked through his communications. “Hey, that boat you picked up? I can confirm that’s our guys.”

Avery flipped on the radio. “Mustang Sally to Ark One.”

“Ark One?” Thom queried.

“Sure, it’s a boat and I’m sure Noah’s with them…”

“Mustang Sally? This is Ark One… cute, Avery. Where are you?”

“Up in the sky above the clouds. I’m going to head to Fariq’s to see if his yacht is there.”

“Thom?” asked Noah.

Rolling her eyes, Avery growled and glared at him. Trying to hide his grin, Thom said loud enough for Noah to hear, “She’s the pilot. Avery, can we stay hard to see?”

“That’s the plan. But if Fariq isn’t there, part of his security team will be with him.”

“I think she’s got a good plan,” said Thom.

“She’s your girl,” said Noah.

“No, she’s the Wild Mustang Security Firm’s top pilot and if she says we can do this, we can.”