Cael groaned at the pounding in his head. He blinked a few times and forced his eyes open after a great deal of effort, his vision blurred. Rubbing his eyes, he tried again. Around him he heard groans, and someone sucked in a sharp breath. What happened? Carefully, he pushed himself to his feet, the floor clanking beneath him. What the hell? He dropped his gaze, frowning at the weapons cage beneath his boots. Hadn’t he been strapped into his chair? Something brushed the top of his head, and he looked up, a choked gasp escaping him. Rosa hung from the ceiling unconscious, a thin line of blood trailing down the side of her face. No, wait. It wasn’t the ceiling. The BearCat was on its side. It all came back to him. They’d been rammed.
Cael took in the damage around him. Oh God, his team. Rosa was unconscious. Letty was groaning and coming around, a nasty bruise on her forehead. Ash was cutting through his harness, and Dex was—Where the hell was his brother?
“Sloane, wake up!”
Cael turned, his eyes widening at Dex on his knees next to Sloane, who was out and on the floor, his torn straps hanging from the truck’s wall. The impact had been enough to dislodge the bench’s backrest and Sloane’s harness. Cael carefully climbed off the cage and went to Sloane’s side. He felt for a pulse, hanging his head in relief when he felt the steady beat. “He’s just out. His pulse is steady.”
The sound of machine-gun fire erupted outside, and Ash handed the armored case to Cael. “Hold this for me. Dex, help me get the girls down.”
Dex removed the tactical knife from his thigh rig and helped Ash cut Rosa and Letty out of their harnesses. Outside a small explosion rocked the truck, and everyone stilled.
“Shit. We’re under attack.” Dex tried to look out one of the ballistic windows now above them, but he had no luck. All they could see was sky and smoke.
“Shit. Everyone, move your asses,” Ash ordered, hurrying to free the girls. Together he and Dex lowered them to the floor, Letty now fully awake and trying to get Rosa to come around. Sloane groaned, and Dex went to his side, helping him sit up.
“What the hell?”
“We were rammed,” Dex said, looking up past Cael and cursing under his breath.
They all followed his gaze, finding Hobbs standing there, his eyes glassy as he held Calvin limp in his arms, a small trickle of blood coming out of Calvin’s ear. Oh no. No. Cael went to Calvin’s side and felt for a pulse. It was weak, but it was there.
“He needs a hospital,” Cael said, turning toward his team when he heard Seb’s voice coming in through their earpieces.
“Destructive Delta, come in!”
A chorus of gunfire resounded around them, and Ash entered his security code into the weapons cage, removed tranq rifles, and passed them out. He tapped his earpiece. “Seb! What the fuck is going on out there?”
“It’s a hijacking. We’re under heavy fire. I make roughly forty armed hostiles. My team and I are coming to get you out of there. Taylor’s backing us up. Wait
for my signal. You can’t stay in there. They’re coming for the package.”
“Shit.” Sloane stood and grabbed his helmet off the floor, securing it on his head before picking up an MP5 machine gun from the weapons cage and one of the ballistic shields from the floor. “Everyone gear up. We gotta get to a secure location.” He turned to Hobbs, who was worriedly looking down at Calvin in his arms. In the distance, they heard sirens.
“Hobbs, give Calvin to Rosa and Letty. We need you.”
Hobbs looked uncertain, his troubled gaze going down to Calvin in his arms. Letty stepped to him and put her hand to his arm.
“We’ll take care of him. Rosa’s going to look him over, okay?”
Hobbs nodded and laid Calvin gently on the floor, leaving him to Rosa and Letty, who quickly checked him over. Rosa went to work administering first aid, telling Letty they needed to get Calvin to an ambulance.
Ash turned to Cael, his expression determined and scaring the hell out of Cael. He knew what was coming, and he didn’t want to hear it.
“Whatever the hell is going on, it’s all about this.” He pointed to the case before putting his gloved hand to Cael’s cheek. “No matter what happens, you get this case out of here. You hear me? You get it out and somewhere secure.”
Cael shook his head. “I can’t leave you.”
“You have to. Whatever’s in there is important enough for them to kill for. We can’t let them have it.” He slid his hand down behind Cael’s neck. “We’ll get through this.”
He kissed Cael briefly but passionately before pulling back. With a wink, he picked up a helmet and handed it to Cael, who secured it on his head as Dex did the same. They all geared up, with Dex, Cael, and the girls the only ones not picking up shields.
“All right,” Sloane came in over their earpieces. “Dex, you and Cael get that to a secure location, and once you do, you call the sarge. Letty, Rosa, you take Calvin and the three of you get somewhere safe. Get him to an ambulance. The three of us will help Seb and the others cover you. Got it?”
Dex readied his rifle. He took hold of Sloane’s chin, pulled him down, and kissed him. “You be safe.”
With a nod, Sloane hit the com button on his vest. “Seb, we’re ready. We’ve got one man down and need to get him to an ambulance. Dex and Cael have the package. We’ll cover them so they can get the hell out of here.”
“Copy that.”