Chances Are(39)

LCR had expected a simple rescue operation and Rupert was prepared for Armageddon.

After conferring with Aidan and Angela, Seth had made the call to Noah, requesting more operatives. Until reinforcements arrived, the three of them were to watch and wait.

This was her fourth op since returning to work. As usual, Noah had been true to his word—only giving her assignments where the danger was minimal or partnering her with some of his most experienced people. She’d barely broken a sweat on any of them but Angela wasn’t complaining. Noah had warned her that her assignments would be heavily supervised for a while. He had severe regret for allowing her to take the Red Rose Killer assignment. Angela couldn’t blame him for his caution. She had rushed things and they had all paid a heavy price.

She wouldn’t wish her experience with Delacourte on anyone but she had learned some valuable lessons. Jake’s words that his Army chaplain gave him had proven true. When the time came, God had given her courage to act. She hadn’t done anything superhuman but she had taken down a serial killer and saved Clarissa Eaton’s life, as well as her own. And she’d proven to herself that she could step up and be an effective operative.

She hadn’t heard from Jake since he’d stormed out the door. He was on assignment in the States. She didn’t know when the op would end or when he would return to Paris. His desertion hurt. And the loneliness of her bed was unbearable at times. More than once she had picked up the phone to call him and promise anything if he would just come back. She hadn’t made that call and she wouldn’t. Yes, she loved him but he was asking her to be someone she wasn’t. If she agreed to his demands, how long would it be before she began to resent his ultimatum?

The adage her mother used to say came to her mind—cutting off your nose to spite your face. She wanted to be with Jake—she loved him, ached for him. Every night when she closed her eyes, the memories of what they had shared crashed over her. Did Jake miss her as much as she missed him?

How would he treat her when he came home? After what they’d shared, she couldn’t go back to the lighthearted flirting they’d had before. Nor could she bear the painful awkwardness that came from a relationship gone bad. What if he ignored her altogether? Just acted as if she didn’t exist? That would be even more hurtful.

“Okay…listen up,” Seth said. “Our reinforcements are here. Thorne, Montgomery and I will go through the front. Ingram and Kelly, go through the back. Everyone else, stay out of sight but close. We still have no idea how many are inside. If they start swarming like pissed-off wasps, be ready.”

Angela tensed, waiting for the raid to begin. How many additional operatives had Noah sent? She smiled to herself. Rupert and his friends were in for a big surprise.

“Let’s do this,” Seth said.

Staying low, Angela moved closer to the house and hid behind a large stone well in the middle of the yard. Using her binoculars, she watched as Riley and Justin sneaked in through the back door. She couldn’t see them but knew that Seth, Aidan and Jordan were going in the front just as silently.

Though all LCR missions required being armed, no one had intended to use lethal force. Rupert’s weapons and obvious instability had changed the game. Now, in addition to a rescue, Rupert and his friends had to be neutralized before anyone got hurt.

Adrenaline flowed through her. Expecting anything, she waited. What she heard next chilled her blood ice cold.

“Shit!”

“Ah dammit, what the hell…!”

“Go get him!”

A barrage of gunfire blasted, the shots so loud in her ear, she winced. Shouts, screams and curses erupted. Her gun steady in her hand, Angela held her position. Though everything within her wanted to rush inside and see if she could help, she waited. They all had jobs to do. If she was needed, they would let her know.

She heard a door squeak open and detected movement at the back of the house. Pointing her binoculars to where the sound came from, she squinted, focused, and then went stiff with dread. Oh hell.



Running like a man possessed, Jake headed to the back of the house. He’d been stationed at a side window and saw what was about to go down. If he didn’t get there in time, he knew who would be facing the maniac that came out the door.

He skidded to a stop and froze in place. If he moved, it would cause a distraction. And if that happened, Angela and the woman they had come to rescue would be blown to pieces.

“Rupert,” Angela said softly, “you don’t want to do this.”

“Oh, but I do. She has defied me for the last time. She will pay the price for her disobedience.”

“And your children? What’s to become of them? Their mother will be gone and their father in prison.”

Rupert snorted. “My father is a very important man. He will make all of this disappear as if it never happened. And believe me, my children will be much better off. I’ll find them a mother who is loyal.”

“And will you kill her too if she doesn’t obey your commands?”

Easy, baby, Jake thought. Piss Rupert off and there was no telling what the unpredictable idiot would do. Beatrice Gardon stood eight feet in front of her husband, a homemade bomb of dynamite strapped to her torso. Rupert held a Glock in one hand and what looked like a garage door opener he was using as a detonator in the other. It would be no problem for him to press the button for the bomb and squeeze off a bullet simultaneously.

Angela stood between Rupert and his wife. Both the bomb and the gun were a danger to her.

“If a woman makes a vow, then she should keep it,” Rupert snarled. “She promised to obey me and she didn’t.”

“Rupert,” Beatrice sobbed, “I’ll do what you ask, I promise. Just please don’t do this.”

Rupert lifted both hands. “Your promises come too late, woman.”

His heart in his throat, Jake took off. The only option was to tackle the man before he pressed the detonator or squeezed the trigger. Before he could get to Gardon, Angela did something extraordinary. Almost a blur, her movements so swift, she knocked Gardon’s gun from his hand with her forearm and kicked the bomb detonator out of his other hand. Then, before Jake could make a grab for it, she caught the detonator in mid-air.

With a soft cry, Beatrice Gardon’s knees gave out. Switching directions, Jake dove forward and caught the terrified woman in his arms. He turned back to check on Angela and was unsurprised to see that she had Rupert face down on the ground. Kneeling on top of the man’s back, she was already cuffing his wrists with zip-ties.

“Now that, sweetheart, was impressive,” Jake said.

She twisted her head around to face him. “Jake? What are you doing here?”

He wanted to grin, tell her how damn proud he was of her. He wanted to throw her over his shoulder and take her away from the danger. However, there was still the small issue of a bomb attached to the poor sobbing woman in his arms. Jake examined the device. Thankfully it was as crude as it was ugly—a simple wire/switch combo. He jerked the wire connector, unbuckled the vest and lifted the dynamite off.

The instant he did that, kids were shrieking around him, screaming, “Mama! Mama!”

Jake moved quietly out the way and glanced over at Angela. Instead of looking at him, her eyes were on the reunion of mother and children.

An uncomfortable lump in his throat, Jake stood, transfixed. He knew he would never forget this moment. Triumph and satisfaction had turned Angela from beautiful to something otherworldly. A transformation was taking place before him. Angela Delvecchio, survivor and one incredibly strong woman, had achieved her dreams and found her place in life.



Two hours later, Rupert Gardon was on his way to a luxurious drug rehab center courtesy of his father, his three thug friends were in jail, and Beatrice Gardon and her children were already back home.

Jordan and Eden Montgomery, along with Riley Ingram and Justin Kelly, had headed back to headquarters for new assignments. The rest of the LCR crew, Thorne, Cavanaugh, Angela, and Jake, sat around the table at Luigi’s All American Pub and rehashed the events.

“Rupert Gardon shouldn’t be in a rehab facility,” Cavanaugh said, “The * needs to be in jail with his buddies.”

Jake agreed. When Gardon’s father had asked for LCR’s help, he had described the situation as a simple domestic dispute. This had been a million miles past simple. The idiot could have blown up his entire family. Not to mention the LCR operatives who had been trying to save them.

“I heard McCall had a few words with the father,” Thorne said.

Yeah. Jake had been in the office when Cavanaugh’s request for reinforcements came in. Jake had seen his boss in many different moods but he’d never seen him like that. If Arthur Gardon had been face to face with McCall, the man would be sporting some major bruises. The LCR leader had been livid.

Having just returned from a grueling month-long rescue mission in the States, Jake had been exhausted. His plan was to give McCall a brief report of the successful op and then go looking for Angela. He’d been so tired that the only thing keeping him from keeling over was the need to see her and get everything out in the open. It had been simmering in him for weeks.