Hard to Hold - 1 Hard to Hold by Stephanie Tyler

Author:Stephanie Tyler
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Romance
Publisher: Dell book
Published: 2009-11-25T08:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER

13

With Sarah driving through what were obviously shortcuts she knew well, they got to Ruyigi just before 1600, the wall of silence between them rarely broken. She’d thrown an old Eagles tape into the ancient radio, played it over and over until every skip and crackle of the songs was firmly embedded in Clutch’s mind.

She’d taken that tape from him. When she’d left, she’d taken the hope that had started to rebuild in his heart too, and that was something he couldn’t let go of.

He couldn’t let that matter—he was too busy thinking up plan Alpha, Bravo and beyond. If Sarah was still working for Rafe, he’d … well, he’d come up with something. He’d been mixed up with men far worse than Rafe, men who no longer killed because their lives depended on it, but because they’d begun to enjoy it.

There had been ten taken by GOST from different branches of the military, all of whom were originally under Witness Protection. GOST threatened to expose their identities—and the identities of their loved ones—to the people who’d wanted them dead, leaving the military men and women in the worst possible position.

They’d all accepted the offer, including Clutch. It meant moving to Africa, having their Witness Protection identities officially erased from the system, both military and otherwise.

After two months, the group had been down to eight. One had gone on the run—and gotten caught. Another had killed herself rather than live the way she’d been forced to live.

Clutch’s cell phone continued to buzz—every time it did, he rubbed the tattoo on his inner thigh through his cargo pants as though trying to ease the burn.

The Ako Ben tattoo etched on his inner thigh marked him, but only to the people who ran GOST, who knew to check that spot.

Countless times, he’d thought about taking a knife to the tender skin, cutting away the war horn symbol even though he knew it wouldn’t do any good—the black ink ran too deep to ever be fully erased.

He pulled his hand away impatiently and tried to forget he’d put Sarah’s life in danger in more ways than one—danger far greater than a man like Rafe ever could.

She’d stopped the car.

“We should walk from here,” she said. “It’s about a quarter of a mile—he’ll hear this hunk of metal coming, if he hasn’t already.” She was out of the car, around to his side and handing him his weapons as he was still pushing his door open all the way.

Clutch, in turn, stared up at the sky—dusk was coming, but not fast enough for his tastes. Still, waiting until nightfall might be too late, so his choice was made.

He slung his bag over his shoulder and followed her lead through the thick underbrush. Her steps were quick and quiet and sure, her weapon remained drawn—and all of it nearly broke his heart, just when he’d figured it had finally healed.

He should’ve known better. And when she stopped and pointed, he laid a hand on her shoulder out of habit, out of need.

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