Alpha One. Cynthia Eden

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СКАЧАТЬ man climbing in behind Juliana pointed to the blaze.

      “Damn it.” The woman’s fist slammed into the dashboard.

      But as Juliana glanced back at the fire, she saw a figure running toward them. His head was down, his body moving fluidly as he leaped across that field.

      The van started to accelerate. Juliana grabbed on to the side of the vehicle. Were they just going to leave him? “Wait!”

      “We can’t,” the woman gritted out as she glanced back from the driver’s seat. “That fire will attract every eye in the area. We need to be out of here yesterday.”

      But—

      But the guy was nearly at the van. One of the guys with her reached out a hand, and her “hero” caught it as he leaped toward them. When he landed on the floor of the van, the whole vehicle shuddered.

      Juliana’s heart nearly pounded right out of her chest. Her hero was alone. “John?”

      He shook his head.

      “Logan, what the hell?” the woman up front snapped. “You were supposed to be point on extraction, not going back to—”

      Logan?

      A dull roar began to fill Juliana’s ears. There were thousands of Logans in the world. Probably dozens in the military.

      Just because her Logan had left her ten years ago that didn’t mean …

      “There was no sign of another hostage,” the guy—Logan—said, and his voice was deep and rumbling.

      A shiver worked over her.

      Juliana sat on the floor of the van, arms wrapped around her knees. She wanted to see his eyes, needed to, but it was far too dark inside the vehicle.

      One of the other men leaned out and yanked the van doors closed. The sound of those metal doors shutting sounded like a scream.

      “‘Course there wasn’t another hostage!” This came from the woman. “She was the only civilian there. I told you that. Don’t go doubting my intel.”

      He grunted as he levered himself up. Then he reached for Juliana.

      She jerked away from him. “Take off that mask.” She could see now. Barely.

      He pulled it up and tossed it aside. Not much better. She had a fast impression of close-cropped hair and a strong jaw. Without more light, there was nothing else to see.

      She needed to see more.

      “You’re safe now,” he told her, and his words were little more than a growl. “They can’t hurt you anymore.”

      His hand lifted, and his fingertips traced over her cheek. Her eyes closed at his touch and Juliana’s breath caught because … His touch is familiar.

      His fingers slid down her cheek. Gentle. Light. It was a caress she’d felt before.

      There were some things a woman never forgot—one was the touch of a man who’d left her with a broken heart.

      This was her Logan. No, not hers. He never had been. “Thank you,” she whispered because he’d gotten her out of that nightmare, but she pulled away from his touch. Touching Logan Quinn had always been its own hell for her.

      The van rushed along in the night. She didn’t know where they were heading. A heavy numbness seemed to have settled over her. John hadn’t made it out.

      I’m not … perfect.

      “We’re the good guys,” one of the other men said, his voice drawling slightly with the flow of Texas in his words. “Your father sent us after you. Before you know it, you’ll be home safe and sound. You’ll be—”

      Rat-a-tat.

      Juliana opened her mouth to scream as gunfire ripped into the vehicle, but in the next instant, she found herself thrown totally onto the floor of the van. Logan’s heavy body covered hers, and he trapped her beneath him.

      “Get us out of here, Syd!” Texas yelled.

      Juliana could barely breathe. Logan’s chest shoved down against hers, and the light stubble on his cheek brushed against her face.

      “Hold on,” he told her, breathing the words into her ear. “Just a few more minutes …”

      Air rushed into the van. Someone had opened the back door! Were they crazy? Why not just invite the shooters to aim at them and—

      Three fast blasts of thunder—gunfire. Only, those shots came from the van. The men weren’t just waiting to be targets. They were taking out the shooters after them.

      Three bullets. Then … silence.

      “Got ‘em,” Texas said just seconds before she heard the crash. A screech of metal and the shattering of glass.

      The van lurched to the left, seeming to race away even faster.

      Juliana looked up. Her eyes had adjusted more to the darkness now. She could almost see Logan’s features above her. Almost.

      “Uh, Logan, you can probably get off her now,” that same drawling voice mocked.

      But Logan didn’t move.

      And Juliana was still barely breathing.

      “Missed you.”

      The words were so faint, she wasn’t even sure that she’d heard them. Actually, no, she couldn’t have heard them. Imagined them, yes. That had to be it. Because there was no way Logan had actually spoken. Logan Quinn was the big, strong badass who’d left her without a backward glance. He wouldn’t say something as sappy as that line.

      Backbone, girl. Backbone. She’d survived her hell; no way would she break for a man now. “Are we safe?”

      She felt, more than saw, his nod. “For now.”

      Right. Well, she’d thought they were safe before, until the gunfire had blasted into the back of the van. But Texas had taken out the bad guys who’d managed to follow them. So that had to buy them at least a few minutes. And the way the woman was driving …

      Eat our dust, jerks.

      “Then, if we’re safe …” Juliana brought her hands up and shoved against his chest. Like rock. Some things never changed. “Get off me, Logan, now.”

      He rose slowly, pulling her with him and then positioning her near the front of the van. Juliana was trembling—her body shaking with fear, fury and an adrenaline burst that she knew would fade soon. When it faded, she’d crash.

      “Once we get out of Mexico, they’ll stop hunting you,” Logan said.

      Juliana swallowed. Her throat still felt too parched, as if she’d swallowed broken glass, but now didn’t seem the time to ask СКАЧАТЬ