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Not Stella, dao after her now, his brain went on autopilot, training imprinted so deeply in his ht He flattened hi, slug of his heart stayed even, in control Reports echoed low in his headset, students secured Both bodies retrieved Four wounded, located, and loaded

Only Stella reation room Guarded He reached for his weapon

Bubbles was the first to shoot again

Jose didn’t have tiht be off He had to uard, and pray when he and Bubbles opened the door and stor would be spot-on

He plowed through and found… Stella She sat tied to a chair in the ator stood behind her with his fist in her hair, a knife at her throat

Chapter 2

Stella fought back the urge to launch toward Jose

The knife at her throat pressed an icy reminder of the need to hold very still Her senses went on hyper-alert to the stench of her captor’s garlic breath, the stickiness of his sweat, the steely press of ammo strapped to his chest

Focus, damn it She was a trained professional That should be what carried her through Instead she drew strength from the conviction in Jose’s eyes So her She ached to call out to hi she couldn’t afford the least movement, not even the tremble of her lips as her ht of hiear, and pointing an MP5 directly at her captor She’d expected hiht in to break her code, not participate in the actual rescue operation

But he’d more than heard her He’d come for her For a split second the adrenaline poured from her toes Every ache in her body throbbed to the surface Every bruise Scratch Fear And yes, even an aching vulnerability when it ca inside her, then doused, pushed aside as she focused on survival If he’d infiltrated the co off land mines, without a sound of alert, someone must have picked up on her codes

Her codes

She needed the her throat, without alerting her captor behind her

Si easy to understand

She held Jose’s deep chocolate eyes but found none of her former lover in those depths He was still one hundred percent focused on the mission As he should be As she should be

She blinked On three One Two Three

Stella inched left, the slice of the blade cutting into her throat, but God, if Jose could just take the--

Shot

Bullets whistled past her ear

The hold around her eased, thank God She pushed back into her guard’s stoether She toppled her chair in case Jose needed her clear to continue shooting Her shoulder slaroan slipped between her gritted teeth Jose charged over to her, yanked soently around her throat It was okay She was okay He was alive and so was she She gulped in air, breathing deeply for the first time since her captor had pressed that blade to her throat

"I’asped while he untied her, the fa her nerves with each shaky inhale

"You will be"

"And the others?"

"Taken care of" He grabbed her elbow and eased her to her feet "Let’s go"

His touch seared her skin, his strength so welcome after the past three days--an eternity She tucked closer to Jose’s side for balance as spots danced in front of her eyes

His burly pal Bubbles filled the doorway He pivoted hard and took the lead Jose looped an arm around her waist and hauled her with him

So much for a heartfelt reunion But then she had often accused Jose of being illogical Now she couldn’t coht to save her life They didn’t have tiood moment She needed to think, to be sure everyone had been accounted for

"Did you get everybody?" Stella pressed for details "Even the two that are dead?"

The failure of their lost lives threatened to send her to her knees again

"Two dead Four injured," Bubbles clipped out "The SEALs got ’ees total It elve plus h the events of the past three days, praying she wasn’t confusing things in her exhaustion "Did you clear the room where I was held? It’s…"

"We knohere it is We saw your ht about the robotic fly She hadn’t been hallucinating "Then let’s go Maybe the room beside it? But there were definitely at least five injured"

Bubbles raced froain so fast and silent they could have renaiven up hope, Bubbles came out with his ar hi his arm to his stori clothes damp with perspiration But he was alive