Read Online Shadowed by Kariss Lynch - Free Book Online Page A

was launching anyway. Her boat. Last confirmed location.
Everything was a go.
    A knot built in Nick’s gut, and no amount of prayer eased the uncertainty. But he
shoved it aside. No room to think about possibilities. They had a job to do.
    Nick’s head breached the water, his eyes barely above the surface. The Jupiter bobbed
two hundred feet away. Micah touched his shoulder then submerged again, approaching
the sleeping vessel. With his teammates by his side, Nick sliced through the water,
taking slow breaths through his face mask, feeling the cool currents of the Black
Sea moving around his body. Somewhere nearby Titus and Jay lurked in black Zodiacs,
monitoring the area around them.
    Micah hit the boat first, pulling himself up on deck and immediately scanning the
decks, corners, and recesses with his rifle. He waved them on, and within seconds
Nick knelt next to him with Colt and Logan by his side, their wet suits leaving growing
puddles on the deck.
    Logan signaled that Nick and Micah should check the cabin while he and Colt took
the deck. They moved in perfect sync, the only sound the gentle lap of waves on the
hull of the boat. A cruise ship sat anchored farther in the harbor, and Nick hoped
no one lingered topside.
    Nick followed Micah below, his senses alert for any sound or movement. The ship lay
in stillness. Too quiet.
    â€œCabin is clear.” Micah said, radioing the rest of the team. The two of them lowered
their guns and looked around.
    Lush blue carpet blanketed the floor. A bed flanked one wall, adorned with cream
and gold coverings and pillows. Gold-filigreed trinkets sat throughout the room,
and leather armchairs made up a small sitting area. Plush and lavish. Nick had to
agree with their intel. Janus enjoyed comfort and had expensive taste.
    â€œMaybe we missed her.” Micah broke the silence, still studying the room. He approached
a small desk sitting below a circular window and glanced through a few papers, careful
to leave them undisturbed. “Maybe she stayed in a cushy hotel tonight or is enjoying
a late night in Yalta drinking Ukrainian booze.”
    Nick approached the desk and immediately stilled. Lying on top of the letters and
papers was a note written on thick, cream-colored stationery. The precise Russian
lettering told Nick more about their target than the room ever could. His face drained
of color as he read.
    â€œHawk, what is it?” Micah looked harder at the papers.
    Nick picked up the stationery and turned it toward Micah.
    Micah stilled, his brown eyes scouring Nick’s face.
    â€œIt says, ‘Catch me if you can.’ Someone ratted us out.”
    Glass broke as a bullet whizzed through the window, embedding in the cabin wall
opposite them. Nick and Micah immediately hit the floor as their radio erupted with
Colt’s shouts. “Shooter! Man down, man down.”
    Logan . Nick’s stomach sank. Kill the shooter, then get Logan home to his family.
He issued instructions to the men on the Zodiacs. “Jay, T-Brown, see if you can get
eyes on our shooter. One shot through the portside cabin window.”
    â€œThree shots on the bow,” Colt shouted. “I think it’s a sniper, but he’s an awful
shot.”
    Sniper. Nick’s own trade. He pushed his body up enough to catch a small glimpse of
the cruise ship anchored just inside shooting distance. He should have known. He
pounded a fist on the carpet.
    â€œT-Brown, get eyes on the top deck of that cruise ship. Take this jerk out so we
can get off this boat. Jay, radio HQ. Tell them we need surgeons available as soon
as we get back.”
    â€œHawk.” Logan’s voice shook over the radio, but Nick’s heart leapt knowing he was
conscious.
    â€œHang in there, man. Let’s get off this boat.”
    â€œGrab anything we can hand over. We need more intel on Janus . . . ” Logan sucked
in a breath. “We need more to catch her.”
    â€œOn it.” Micah