Page 132 of Stealth Mission

Now our movement is slower, more precise. Evan doesn’t have to tell me to be careful. I’m scared mindless.

“Don’t look,” Evan commands as we near the moaning man.

I keep my eyes on the ground. Until my peripheral vision catches something moving and I jump. Instinct makes me look up.Evan catches me as I stumble.

But it’s too late. My stomach is in my throat. “Ohmygodohmygodohmygod.”

“Keep moving, Mari.” Evan’s command is a growl in my ear.

I’ll never forget what I saw. The blood. The agony on the man’s face. His hands clutching at his bleeding body. “He had a stake sticking out of his stomach.”

“Keep moving.”

“But…”

“His teammate is going to get him down and take care of it.”

Black dots wave in front of my vision.My legs aren’t cooperating.

Evan stops abruptly and flips up his night vision equipment. His gloved hands cup my face as he forces me to look up at him. “Eyes right here. Focus on me.”

It’s hard to see him through the wavy tears.

“I need you to concentrate on what we have to do.”

“I…I’m trying.”

His eyes soften. “You're amazing. You’re part of the team now. Keeping yourself in check helps keep us all safe.”

Emotion swells my chest, making my throat so tight, I can barely swallow. I never thought of it like that. But it makes absolute sense. They need to focus on what they have to do.

I have to help keep all of the men safe.

He drops his lips to mine for the lightest kiss. “I know you can do it.”

“I won’t let you down. Let’s go.”

But I sure am grateful when we reach our hide. Or so Evan calls it. To me it’s a spot behind a big fallen tree.

I almost kiss the ground. My knees haven’t worked right since I saw Vik’s guy hanging in a tree with a bloody spike sticking out of his lower belly.

My stomach coils at the memory. I hug myself as a shudder rocks me.

Evan grabs my coat and tugs me to him. “Good girl. You did it. Now we watch for anything that looks like trouble for the others.”

He digs in one of those mile-deep cargo pockets on his pants and pulls out a small oblong device and passes it to me. It’s bigger than a cigar, but smaller than the cardboard center of a paper towel roll. It’s very heavy for its size.

He shifts into position, laying down on the ground with his rifle pointed at the compound. “That’s a night vision scope. With it, you can help me keep an eye on what’s going on down there.”

I put it to my eye. Mind blown, I whisper, “Wow.”

“Shhh. We need to be quiet.”

Mimicking him, I stretch out on my stomach, resting on my elbows, and direct my scope toward the metal garage.

Off to one side, I see Vik’s team approaching the fence.

Suddenly it feels like I’m in a Mission Impossible movie. Only there are real bullets and snares and bloody stakes.