sent him a caustic glare.
He gave her half a smile and a small salute. “You’re welcome,” he said quietly back.
She turned slightly, aimed her gun as fast as she could, and fired off a round. Before Bjornolf could turn and see what she’d shot, a thump sounded as a body fell from a tree. He stared at the dead man, bullet hole in his temple.
“We’re even,” she whispered to Bjornolf.
He could read her plainly and smiled. They would never be even.
After confirming there were no more surprises waiting for the rescue team, Bjornolf followed Anna into camp where the rest of the team had gathered.
“Look what Anna dragged in,” Paul said, his brown eyes widening. He gave Bjornolf a small smile.
Last time Bjornolf had observed him, the SEAL had just arrived on the Oregon coast from Florida, dressed in blue jeans and a Hawaiian shirt with hot-pink palm trees and green flamingoes that was the most god-awful thing he’d ever seen. If Bjornolf hadn’t witnessed Paul in action before, he would have wondered if the guy could handle any kind of a mission. He was less muscled than Bjornolf, but he was quick on his feet and where Hunter’s sister, Meara, was concerned, Paul had been protective and wary of Bjornolf before he knew him.
So he chalked that up as good points in Paul’s favor.
Hunter and Allan glanced his way, both checking the rescued family over for injuries, both smiling a little at Bjornolf.
William Wentworth III and his brother, wife, and five-year-old twin daughter and son were dirty, disheveled, gaunt, and tired, but otherwise unharmed. Mom and the kids were crying, and Bjornolf wanted to slap the husband for bringing his family here. Sometimes rich folks had more money than sense.
All the family members had raven hair, their eyes varying shades of blue. The two men looked similar, except that the brother was a little taller and a little skinnier. All wore jeans, the guys attired in Western shirts, the woman in a once-clean white shirt, now stained green and brown. At least they were wearing boots. Deadly venomous snakes could cause fatal consequences for humans who weren’t properly dressed out here.
Next time, maybe they’d plan a normal trip for a couple of five-year-olds this close to Christmas. Like a vacation at Disney World where the bad pirates wouldn’t threaten to kill them if someone didn’t pay a ransom. Bjornolf would have felt sorry for William Wentworth III, but the adults should have known better. Not only that, but their ignorance had also put the team in danger, just to bail them out.
“Who are you?” William asked.
Hunter said, “Special ops contracted to take you out of here safely.”
He didn’t explain any more than that; he didn’t need to. The man nodded. The woman sagged a little with visible relief. Brows furrowed and looking pensive, the brother glanced at William.
Bjornolf watched the interaction between the two. The brother, Jeff, was younger, the follower, he could tell from their nonverbal actions. But something else passed between them. A guarded communication. Worry. Doubt.
“Seems Bjornolf can’t stay away from us. Maybe we ought to make him one of the team, Hunter.” Paul sounded like he was half joking, half hopeful, maybe getting used to the SEAL joining them on missions without Hunter’s approval.
Bjornolf working for someone else and with a team now that he’d retired? Not likely.
He did find some appeal in the way the team worked together. After they arrived at a safe destination, they’d share beers or tequila, whatever was easy to obtain, thanking their lucky stars that they made it out alive after another difficult mission. They’d joke and let down their hair, commiserate, blow off some steam.
While he went his own way. They never even knew he’d shadowed them on another mission, taking down the bad guys they hadn’t realized were after them. He meant to revert to his old way of doing things. As a loner on his own, no family to worry about, no pack obligations.
A team like this would soon become family. He didn’t need or want the distraction.
The problem was that he couldn’t have taken out the guard who targeted Anna without her seeing him do it. So he was stuck being part of the team this time around. Just like the last time.
“Glad you could join us,” Hunter said to Bjornolf, his expression mostly somber because of the still precarious situation they were in. His dark brown eyes studied Bjornolf, judging him. Bjornolf could almost see the wheels in Hunter’s mind working furiously through the situation. Did Bjornolf want to be part of the team now? “We can certainly use your help in getting the family out of the jungle and safely home.”
“Couldn’t have my favorite SEAL team, and
She cast him a quizzical glance over her shoulder, their gazes locking.
Unable to stop himself and amused at her reaction, he winked at her. He swore she had to be blushing under all that jungle paint as she gave him an annoyed look and continued on her way to provide security with Finn.
Catching sight of Bjornolf’s reaction to Anna, Allan snorted and folded his arms. “More likely Anna’s got his attention.”
Yeah, he was ready to spar again with the woman to prove to her that one alluring she-wolf would never get the upper hand with a SEAL. He’d wanted to kiss Anna ever since he’d met her during his last mission, gotten the best of her, and tied her up with her pantyhose, but he couldn’t make himself do it.
He shook his head at Allan. The man had a boyish charm. When he turned ninety in human years, he’d probably still have that look—wide-eyed innocence, dimples, raised brows. The look was totally deceiving. Under that charming appearance, he was all hardness like the rest of them.
“I don’t know about the rest of the guys, but I missed you, Bjornolf. Good to see you’re still kicking.” Paul clapped him on the shoulder, then crouched down and talked to the five-year-old boy. “What’s your name, son?”
“Jimmy.” Tears left a path of white streaks through the dirt on his face and his lower lip was trembling, but at least the question stopped his and his sister’s bawling.
“I’m going to give you a lift as we move through the jungle, okay? Piggyback ride?” Paul asked Jimmy.
The boy looked at his dad, who nodded. As dehydrated and fatigued as the dad and his brother appeared, Bjornolf knew they would have a hard enough time keeping up and staying on their own feet without having to carry a couple of kids.
Allan didn’t offer to transport the little girl. Finn safeguarded them from some distance away, leaving the others to decide how to handle the logistics of the situation. Hunter was in charge of the operation, so he needed to keep his hands free and his thoughts on the team and the freed hostages and couldn’t haul the girl himself. Anna didn’t seem to be into kids, but even so, she couldn’t carry a child that far without the effort putting a real strain on her.
Bjornolf sighed and stepped forward, towering over the tyke, and said, “Wanna horsey-back ride?” He thought a horse sounded much better than a pig.
She gazed up at him with wide, blue, tear-filled eyes. She was wearing tiny snowman earrings in honor of the season, reminding him again how she shouldn’t be here. The girl glanced at her mother.
Mom nodded. “Go with the man, Elsie. He’ll help get us out of here safely.”
“I’m Bjornolf,” he said, carefully pronouncing his name
He probably should have met her eye to eye, like Paul had done with her brother. Then again, his face was covered in camouflage face paint like the rest of Hunter’s team. The strange streaks of olive green, black, muddy brown, and woodland gray markings all over their skin had to look scary.
Her lip trembled and he was afraid she would begin to bawl again. He quickly crouched down in front of her and dug out a camouflage face-paint stick.
“You want to wear some of this so you blend in with the jungle like the…” Bjornolf was going to say “snakes,” but he didn’t think that would appeal to her. “Jaguars who are covered in rosettes, spots,” he clarified. “It makes them almost invisible in the shadows of the jungle trees.”
Allan chuckled. Turning to look at Bjornolf, Anna raised her brows. With her mouth curved up and her eyes sparkling with humor, she looked highly amused. He wanted to ask if she needed any of her camouflage makeup
