As if he’d read Gray’s mind, Levi turned his head. “We need to discuss your dating strategies.”
“Now?” It was still ten minutes until go-time. He listened, but couldn’t hear the chopper’s blades yet.
“You see a Starbucks where we can grab a coffee while we wait?” Levi’s teeth were a slash of white in his face paint.
Gray shifted slowly on his belly, easing into a more comfortable position. The jungle floor was no Barcalounger. “If you want to try and have a heart-to-heart while we’re setting up an ambush, be my guest.”
“You can get up and leave. Not without blowing the mission.” Satisfaction filled Levi’s voice.
“Is this payback?” He racked his brain, but he couldn’t remember tweaking Levi about his love life recently.
“Friendly advice.” The other man eased up on his elbows and scanned the road.
“Since when do you play psychoanalyst?”
“Since you forced me to overhear your sweet goodbyes with Doctor Laney.” Levi grimaced and sank back down, near invisible on the jungle floor. “Plus, I’m bored. Anyway, you need to work on both your delivery and your content.”
“That was private.” He’d hoped.
Levi grinned. “Don’t be such a girl.”
“I could quit,” he warned. “Text Uncle Sam my resignation right now and walk away.”
Levi snorted. “And Uncle Sam could take his own sweet time accepting your resignation. Remy’s been waiting six months to hear back on his.”
“I could shoot you. Solve my problem quicker.”
“You like me.” Levi grinned. “Besides, I’m going to hand you the keys to Laney’s heart.”
“We’re not serious,” he said. Which was a stupid thing to claim because if he knew one thing, it was that Laney confused the hell out of him. She was sweet and open and trusting. While he...was not.
Levi shook his head. “Keep telling yourself that.”
“Shut up.”
Of course Levi didn’t. The man was unstoppable when he had something, and he only had about eight minutes to get it said before Marcos landed and they both got more than a little busy.
“She asked where you thought the two of you were going. That, my man, was the part where you should have told her that you were glad the two of you were having that conversation. If you’re in a sharing mood, you tell her you’re really interested in her. Bottom line, you let her know she’s more than a convenient hookup.”
“Noted.” Was that a helicopter he heard? Action would be welcome because, damn it, he was sick and tired of lying here like a log with only Levi and his thoughts for company. He knew that this thing with Laney was more than sex, and it scared the hell out of him. Shooting something would be a welcome change of pace. And since he doubted Marcos would go down without some kind of fight, he estimated his wish would come true in approximately seven minutes.
The rhythmic thwup-thwup of an incoming helicopter interrupted Levi’s answer, followed shortly thereafter by the sound of tires crunching over the dirt track. The first jeep came into focus: two bodyguards, the resort driver, Marcos and the girlfriend. The second jeep carried two more guards and a mountain of Coach luggage. He repositioned, sighting his rifle.
As soon as the first jeep crested the track, Levi lobbed a flash bang into its path. There was a bright flash followed by a clap of sound. The grenade would disorient the jeep’s occupants for a few seconds.
“Let’s move.” Surging to his feet, Gray ran for the lead jeep.
The SEAL in the driver’s seat had hit the brakes hard. One of the guards had been thrown clear, and Gray signaled for Levi to take charge of him. The driver had gone for bodyguard number two.
“Manos arriba,” Gray barked. “Arrondilese.”
Anyone stupid enough to ignore the order and draw would be picked off by the sharpshooters up in the trees. The girlfriend turned out to be a shrieker, but Sam took care of that fast, wrestling her off the jeep and to the ground, one palm over her mouth.
Ramming his shoulder into Marcos, Gray secured the perp’s handgun and tossed him onto the ground. The man fought like a son of a bitch, surging back onto his feet, and Gray had to hand it to him. The guy knew how to take care of himself. Maybe hand-to-hand was a required skill in the drug trade these days. One well-aimed punch to the jaw took Marcos down, however, and Gray zip tied the man’s hands behind his back and patted him down for weapons.
Two guards down, Marcos and the girlfriend secured. Check, check and check. He swept the area, looking for potential issues. The other unit was all over the second jeep, but then gunfire erupted. Shit. Both the sharpshooters and Gray’s team had silencers. Any noise had to be coming from the two bodyguards in the second vehicle.