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He had a point; this whole situation was out of control. Where are you going to
put the bombs?
I hadn t thought that far ahead yet.
Maybe you should. Good lord, she was actually encouraging him in this insanity.
Let s collect the bombs, defuse them and while we re doing that I ll think of a
plan.
And you think these guys are just going to let us collect all their explosives?
I wasn t planning on asking their permission.
Annie rolled her eyes. This was crazy. They were going to end up blowing up
themselves and the whole damn hospital by the time they were done. And she d
thought Iraq was dangerous!
* * * * *
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Arianna Hart
Keeping her weapon at the ready, Annie guarded Mace s back. They d already had
two more skirmishes trying to collect the bombs. She didn t want any more. At least
there were two fewer goons to fight.
That was two less to try and kill Mace. Her stomach clenched at the thought of him
dying. Her makeshift bandage had held so far, but how much more abuse could his
stitches take? Annie resisted the urge to check his bandage again. Time was running
out.
Mace s muscles rippled as he hefted the bag of bombs over his shoulder. Annie
forced the jolt of lust that shot straight to her core into submission and tried to focus on
the problem at hand.
Why don t we plant them in the garage? It s far enough away from the meeting
room and the cafeteria to keep the prisoners safe, but will be loud enough to get their
attention.
He appeared to think on her suggestion for a bit. It could work; we d have to be
careful where we did it and how much we used. The garage might be unstable after
already being hit. We should recon the noncombatants first and plan our strategy there
before we set off any explosives.
Let s go to the café first. It will have the most people, and they aren t used to
dealing with volatile situations like this.
Annie tried to remember the best way to get to the café without going through the
main lobby. They had to backtrack twice when she took them into older parts of the
building, but eventually they made it.
Are you going to unload that somewhere? Annie indicated the bag of bombs he
was holding. She knew in her head that it was stable, but that didn t mean she wanted
to be inches from enough explosives to blow up a city block.
I ll stash it in that closet over there. If anything happens, take it and run for the
exit.
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Charming Annie
I m not leaving without you! Her heart dropped into her stomach at the thought
of losing Mace.
Irrational as it was, she d formed a bond to this man and she couldn t fathom
leaving without him.
Hey, I m not planning on dying anytime soon, but I can t concentrate if I m
worried about you getting killed. I know it sounds crazy, but I-I have feelings for you I
can t explain.
Hope surged within Annie s chest. Maybe he felt the same way that she did?
Then you d better live long enough to figure them out. Come on.
Annie watched Mace s back again while he broke into the janitor s closet and
stashed the explosives. Her blood pounded in her veins as they crept down the silent
halls. The café was in the basement of the building and it was dark and creepy on a
good day. With only the emergency lights on and no people bustling around, it was
even worse.
Ducking into an alcove, Mace pulled her to his chest and motioned for silence. How
could he know if anyone was coming or not? It was so dark she could barely see a foot
in front of her. A few endless heartbeats later the sound of clumping feet echoed in the
hallway.
Hey, Brett, you see anything? A scratchy voice came over the radio down the hall.
Nah. Nothing. Course it s darker than witch s heart.
Whadda think happened to Jud and the rest of em?
These guys were darn chatty over the radio. The wait must be getting to them.
Probably got scared and deserted their posts. Brett snorted.
Probably. You having any trouble with your prisoners?
Nah, after the example we made, none of them has the guts to say boo . How
bout you? You got the commie soldiers in your group.
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Arianna Hart
Hell no. They re afraid they ll be the next example. I thought this d be more
interesting, ya know. It s just waiting around for something to happen.
I know. Boring. I was thinkin of having some fun with one of the nurses.
Command said don t touch em.
I wouldn t touch her, much. Just make her touch me, if you get my drift.
Annie s gut clenched again. Those were her nurses, her staff. No hick was going to
rape one of her friends. She d tear this freaking hillbilly apart with her bare hands!
Something in her body language must have told Mace what she was thinking,
because his arms tightened around her and she couldn t move. She was afraid to
struggle and alert Brett to their presence, but her heart pounded in fury.
Mace continued to hold her until the goon walked down the other end of the hall.
Even once he determined the coast was clear, he held onto her arm and steered her back
to the janitor s closet.
Once inside he let her go.
Why did you stop me? I could have taken him out before he even knew what hit
him! Annie got right up in his face.
Yeah, but could you have done it before he radioed his buddy? I m just as pissed
off as you are, but we have to think with our heads, not our emotions.
He s going to rape one of my nurses! I can t allow that!
Stop freaking out and use your training. You can t let the fate of one person
jeopardize hundreds of lives.
What do you know? You re a man. You have no idea what it s like to fear rape.
It doesn t mean I want it to happen! Mace stepped back from her and looked her
in the eye. Look, I ll do everything in my power to keep your staff safe, but we ve got
to do this according to plan or we ll both be dead.
Annie swallowed the fear and anger and tried to focus on what he was saying. If
she went charging into the café, guns blazing, she could very well end up killing
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Charming Annie
innocent civilians before she stopped Brett. Even worse, he could radio their location
and reinforcements could come down.
But it could be one of her nurses! One of her friends. Annie s mind struggled with
the idea of letting one of her friends get hurt. She had to put the good of everyone first,
no matter how much it galled her. He was right, damn it. Let s set the freaking
charges.
That s my girl! Mace pulled her close and planted a kiss on her.
But when the time comes, Brett s mine.
No problem, as long as I get to watch.
* * * * *
Mace set the charges in the parking garage in the farthest spot he could find. The
area looked a little weak, but he wanted these guys to take a long time to find out it was
only a decoy.
He really wished he had paid more attention to that explosives workshop. At the
time it seemed ridiculous. He was a pilot; all he needed to know was what they looked
like if they were in his copter. Live and learn. He hoped. He had a lot more living to do.
Looking over his shoulder, Mace felt his breath catch at the sight of Annie holding
the weapon on the door to the garage. Her angelic face didn t hold one hint of softness
now. He almost pitied Brett. Then he remembered what Brett was thinking and all
pitying thoughts vanished.
One of those bastards better not try to rape Annie. Mace would blow the whole
hospital up before he let that happen.
Stop! He couldn t think like that. One life wasn t more important than hundreds,
isn t that what he just told Annie? He looked at her again and his heart did a slow
thump. She was worth more than a million lives, and he d do anything, everything to
protect her.
Come on, Captain, we ve got work to do. Annie headed towards the door.
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Arianna Hart
Yes, ma am!
Mace checked the charges one more time and followed Annie out the door. It was a
good thing she knew her way around the building, because he would have been lost
hours ago.
I was thinking, Annie started.
Why do I think I m not going to like this?
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