CHAPTER 9
The three limos pulled into the clearing, sliding to a stop within sight of the heli-jet. From the backseat, Rachel swallowed tightly at the sight of the armed men standing outside the pickups that were parked in a diagonal angle to the super-fast helicopter assigned to Sanctuary.
Dressed in jeans, T-shirts and dark masks, they held their weapons in a relaxed, nonthreatening manner, but there was a tension there that assured Rachel that the nonthreatening part could change in an instant.
There was also a familiarity to them. Rachel leaned forward, staring out the window, her gaze narrowed as she fought to pinpoint exactly what she recognized about the men.
"Jonas, a message just came through on the sat channel." Lawe turned in the driver's seat and stared back at Jonas. "They're refusing to identify themselves but they're saying the way is clear. They're here for security and we need to hurry because the real bad guys are only miles away with rocket launchers."
The Enforcers from the other two limos were moving from the vehicles, surrounding the one they were in as the two Enforcers from the heli-jet joined them.
"We have a message to tell Rachel to giddy up and go." Jonas's gaze sliced to her as a gasp fell from her lips.
"It's Diana," she whispered, her eyes widening as she stared back at Jonas. "She left that code for me when she left, just after Amber was born. It's safe, Jonas. And that code means it's imperative we go now."
"We can't be certain." Jonas was checking the rifle he had jerked from a panel beneath the seat as Seth and Dawn followed suit.
"I can." Rachel jerked open the door and all but fell out, the heels she was wearing making it more difficult to move.
"Rachel!" For all his reflexes, Jonas managed only to grab the skirt of her dress.
"Let me go, Jonas!"
"Like hell." He was out of the limo, his weapon held ready as a single figure detached from the group.
A gloved hand reached up and peeled the mask off to reveal the delicate, if stony, features of her beloved sister's face. A face she feared daily she might never see again. The life of a female mercenary wasn't exactly an easy one, or one with any amount of security.
"Wyatt, get my sister the hell out of here now or I'll take her myself," Diana called out, her tone furious. She meant it. Diana was a protector, and she had decided early in life that her baby sister had to be protected.
"Fuck!" Jonas turned back to Seth and Dawn. "Go. Move."
He gripped Rachel's arm as she stared back at Diana.
"Come with us, Diana," she cried, her tone desperate as Jonas pulled her to the heli-jet.
Her sister stood still, her gaze narrowed in the bright lights cast by the limos and the heli-jet. She didn't move, nor did the six men standing behind her, their weapons held ready.
"Vehicles moving in," Jackal yelled out as the door slid open. "Sensors show firepower, Jonas. Let's fly."
Jonas all but threw her into the seat of the heli-jet as the others rushed in behind her, blocking her from calling out to her sister once again.
Her heart was racing, fear overwhelming her as she fought against Jonas.
"Diana!" She screamed out her sister's name as she glimpsed her racing--not for a pickup to escape in but for a defensible position to fire on the arriving attackers.
"Get her." She turned to Jonas, wild-eyed, terrified. Her sister was there because of her, to protect her. If something happened to her, Rachel didn't know if she could bear it. "Make her go with us."
"She'll blow my head off," Jonas snarled back at her, and even though she knew it was true, Rachel fought the need to beg him to do it. "If she wanted to be here with us, that's where she'd be, Rachel." Turning to Jackal, he gave the order to fly.
She hadn't seen her sister since Amber's birth. A few quick moments, and Diana had been gone again. What she did and why she did it, Rachel didn't know. All she knew was that whenever she was in trouble, no matter the trouble, Diana was there. There had been only a moment in their lives when she hadn't been there: the months Rachel had spent in Switzerland, fighting to try to get home, her passport stolen, her money depleted. Diana had been nowhere to be found, and Rachel had been alone.
The heli-jet lifted off, powerful jets kicking in and holding Rachel back in her seat as it turned and headed the short distance to Sanctuary.
"Diana's group is moving out with time to spare," Jackal called out. "Hell, Jonas, you need to recruit her."
"She would kill us all," Jonas muttered as the heli-jet streaked through the sky. "Contact Sanctuary; we're flying in. I want Alpha Team One ready to move."
"Alpha Team One assembled and ready," Jackal called back. "We have sporadic fire on the estate house. Vanderale Team Two has taken to the mountains. We have two prisoners, six enemy causalities, two Breed causalities and nearly three dozen wounded."