Defending Everly (Mountain Mercenaries, #5)(93)

Meat knew he wasn’t any better off. He could barely see and knew he had at least one broken rib, maybe more. His ankle was throbbing, and he recalled one of his attackers stomping on it in the melee.

As his consciousness wavered, Meat stared at the broken radio lying ten feet away. In the distance, he could hear shouts and crying coming from the next housing row over, but it might as well have been miles.

He tried to get to his hands and knees—he’d crawl over hot coals to get his buddy help if it came to that—but immediately fell practically on his face when pain shot through his shoulder. It was most definitely dislocated.

Feeling frustrated, Meat couldn’t help but think about Harlow. She would be completely heartbroken if anything happened to Black. They were madly in love, and Meat knew Black was planning the perfect proposal for when they got back home. Harlow and Black were made for each other, and loved each other with all they were, just as the rest of the Mercenaries loved their women.

He was the only one who was still single. If someone was going to die on a mission, it should be him. He had no one waiting for him. No one who loved him.

Determined to get help for Black, Meat painstakingly got up onto his knees once more. It hurt like hell, but he slowly began to shuffle forward, the rocks and dirt digging into his bare knees with every inch of ground he covered.

An inch felt like a mile, but he was barely feeling the pain anymore. His only goal was to get to the end of the alley, turn the corner, and get back to the shack where the raid was happening.

Meat made it another twenty feet or so, but the pain in his ribs and shoulder, not to mention all his other cuts and bruises, got the better of him. He fell onto his back and couldn’t manage to move any farther.

He hadn’t thought he’d made a noise, but he must have, because one second he was alone, and the next he was surrounded by three figures dressed all in black.

Two grabbed hold of his arms, and another hovered behind them, looking back the way the men who’d beaten the crap out of him and Black had disappeared.

Meat tried to fight off the people dragging him, but it was no use. He was completely helpless in their grasp, his body out for the count. Blackness began creeping in the sides of his eyes, and he knew he was going to pass out.

He did his best to stay conscious, but the insidious blackness was unrelenting. The last thing Meat saw as he was dragged down the narrow lane, around the corner, and into one of the shabby houses nearby was Black, lying motionless and seemingly broken in the dirt in the middle of the alley.

He’d failed his friend. And Harlow. And the Mountain Mercenaries.

Rex was gonna be pissed.



Chaos still ensued in the target house, with the team checking in and clearing the shanty. For a small, rundown dwelling like the one they were in, there were a surprising number of places for both men and children to hide.

It was a good ten minutes more before Gray realized he hadn’t heard a status report from Black or Meat since one of the children had run out the back door.

“Black? Meat? Report in,” he said through his headset.

Silence met his request.

Gray gestured with his head for Ro to check out the alley at the back of the house.

“They aren’t here,” Ro said seconds later. “The last thing I knew, Meat was going after Black, who was chasing after one of the kids who ran.”

“Fuck. Okay, Ball, go with Ro and check it out,” Gray ordered. “We’ve got things secured here.”

Ball nodded and slipped out the back door.

It was another agonizing five minutes before Gray and the others heard anything.

“We found Black,” Ro said.

“And?”

“He’s in bad shape. Looks like he got jumped. They stripped him clean too,” Ro reported.

“Is he conscious?”

“Barely. I can’t get anything out of him yet.”

“And Meat?” Arrow asked.

“Missing,” Ball reported.

“What do you mean, missing?” Gray barked.

“He’s not here. He was, because the assholes who jumped them left both headsets. But there’s no sign of Meat at all.”

“Fuck!” Gray swore. “Get Black back here! The last thing we need is whoever jumped them to come back and take you two out as well.”

“Negative,” Ball said. “Ro will bring Black to the house, but I’m going to look for Meat.”

“No you fucking are not,” Gray said in a low, deadly voice. “If they were able to take out Black and disappear with Meat, you stand no chance alone. Think about Everly and Elise. They need you. Get your ass back here now. We’ll wait until it’s light out and call in reinforcements. It’s not as if anyone in this barrio has a car they can fucking drive him out in. We’ll put up a perimeter and search every single fucking house one by one until we find him.”

“Copy that,” Ball said after a moment.

Gray took a frustrated breath. This mission was obviously going to take longer than they’d planned, and that sucked, because Allye was very close to her due date. She’d been concerned that he wouldn’t be back in time, and he’d promised he would be.

It was a promise he might have to break, because there was no way he was leaving a teammate behind. He’d spend whatever time was necessary to find Meat, even if that meant missing the birth of his first child.