Dangerous Rescue - Linzi Baxter Page 0,36

the drugs was if she went back to her house. It was time to make a plan.

12

Hudson

The sun set over Jabal Kanin Mountain. Hudson had landed in Yemen three days earlier, and not one part of the mission had gone as planned. The team didn’t work well as a group, and the mission had been thrown together in a hurry. It made no sense.

Originally, Hudson had thought they were rescuing an American doctor, but things turned strange when the team leader explained that they needed to infiltrate Abida’s compound during the day and take one of his four wives. After that, they were supposed to head to Germany, where they would meet a CIA agent.

But instead, the CIA agent had shown up at the compound and caused a gunfight. They ultimately took three of the four wives rather than one. Abida had used the fourth American wife as a shield as he shot his way to his helicopter.

Now they waited for the evacuation team. Hudson hadn’t heard one word from Xavier since the raid. The man had said to keep his eyes open. He had his eyes open. He and the other men were locked down in a building, waiting for nightfall so they could move one more time. During the raid, Abida had used a special device in his house that shorted out the comms permanently. Hudson hit the magic button Xavier gave him, but no one had shown up to save his ass.

Two of the women hadn’t stopped crying, and one other sat staring out the window. Rock and Buddy entered the room. “Only another day, and my contact should have a sat phone.” Rock shrugged. “Once we deliver them to Germany, we can be on our way back to the states.”

“Where’s Slug?” Hudson asked Rock.

The man in question had left with Rock and Buddy to find the satellite phone. Rock, Buddy, and Slug were a team and left each day at the same time. Hudson, Scar, and Taco had been called in to help with the mission. Taco hadn’t made it out of the raid. Scar and Hudson stayed back each day.

The longer the delay, the more things didn’t sit right with Hudson. Rock had changed the exit route after the raid. At no point during the tactical sessions was that secondary route mentioned. In fact, the sitrep had stated not to take that road because it led to a town run by rebels.

“He’s wetting his whistle.” Buddy shrugged before he took an MRE out of his bag. Buddy was short and stocky. Like Rock, his eyes were bloodshot. “I do think one of those ladies would do just fine for me.”

He winked at the women, who bawled harder and moved closer together. Hudson would take down the fucker if he put his hands on one of the women.

Scar raised his brow. “Maybe you should go join Slug, because these women are off-limits.”

“Well, look at this, Rock. We’re stuck with the Boy Scouts. Here’s the thing, Boy Scout,” Buddy growled. “You're on our team, and we go by our rules, not yours. So, if I want a piece of that, I can sure as hell have it. The woman we were supposed to bring to Germany is gone. Once the CIA has the information from these idiots, they’ll put a bullet between their eyes.”

“Jesus Christ,” Hudson growled.. “How about we worry less about getting your dick wet and more about the men who circled the outer perimeter of the town today?”

“You worry too much,” Buddy grumbled as he finished the last of his MRE. He threw the wrapper on the floor in the corner.

“Here. We stopped and picked up a few beers.” Rock threw Buddy a beer.

Hudson needed all of his senses on high alert. There was no way he would drink while protecting the three women crying in the corner.

Buddy cracked his open. “You should really have one, Hudson. It might take an edge off. Nobody is going to find us here. People said before you were a Boy Scout. They weren’t lying.”

Hudson ground his teeth. Not drinking while in the middle of a mission wasn’t being a Boy Scout. It was common sense—which Buddy and Rock didn’t seem to have a lot of. But he knew Buddy wanted to get him riled up. “I know you said the sat phone would be here tomorrow, but did you happen to check the south side? Can we get out tonight and make it the ninety klicks across