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A/N: This chapter includes one of the voting options for the November Writing Challenge for the Janet Evanovich Fan Fiction Facebook page. It wasn't the winner but I decided to include it anywayl.

Dialogue Prompt. "I'll do anything." "Even Kiss me?" "Okay not that."

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Chapter Twelve

"We need to get eyes on these guys, and fast. Chatter suggests they are moving her." Nikko told the room.

"Because Alexi said the location might be compromised?" Luca asked.

Nikko gave a negative shake of his head. "That was a calculated risk, but that doesn't seem to be it."

"What aren't you telling us?" Luca pressed.

"It's nothing concrete." Nikko replied and Luca just raised a brow and waited.

"We picked up some chatter about an auction. It doesn't make much sense. Why they would auction off Ashley?" Nikko responded.

"Maybe it's not Ashley." Ranger offered. "Alexi was brokering a deal for another shipment of girls. Maybe there are others."

"God, I hope not. That would complicate the shit out of things, now wouldn't it." Nikko pinched the bridge of his nose, willing himself to focus and concentrate, or maybe he was just willing himself not to scream at the sky. Stephanie wasn't sure. Nikko was right. Other prisoners would complicate things and dictate some tough choices.

"We just need to get eyes on the place and be ready to move." Nikko put his cup of largely forgotten coffee down and pushed off the counter.

Stephanie put her hand on his arm. "Can I talk to you?"

Nikko followed her into the study. Stephanie closed the door and turned to face him.

"When was the last time you slept? Ate?" She asked, keeping her voice soft and undemanding.

Nikko gave a dismissive wave of his hand and turned to leave, not bothering to answer the question. Stephanie grabbed his arm and turned him back to face her. His piercing gaze skewering her. She managed not to flinch and forced herself to meet his eyes. The energy coming off of him felt frenetic, almost feral. She hated to admit it, but he scared her just a little. She knew if he even sensed fear, this battle would be lost. Stephanie forced herself not to look away, even though she could feel the hair on her neck standing straight up and screaming at her to run.

"You're on the ragged edge, Nikko. That's when people make mistakes. That's when things get deadly." She tilted one shoulder up in a half-shrug. "I'm just starting to like having you around."

She watched him quirk an eyebrow at her. The only indication he'd even heard her.

"Let me handle the surveillance and the prep. You can grab a few hours of sleep and take a shower." Stephanie wrinkled her nose. Nikko really did stink.

"No, I've got this."

"No, you don't. I won't put my team at risk because you are compromised. This is what I do. You recruited me for this reason, now let me do my job." Stephanie's voice was sharp and authoritative. This was not a negotiable point.

Nikko glared at her, those amber eyes flashing with anger and maybe a little surprise. That look probably worked on most people, but Nikko had never met a girl from the Burg. His death glare was downright pathetic. Stephanie just crossed her arms and waited, giving him a bored look even though her heart was hammering against her ribs so hard, surely, he had to hear it. It seemed to echo in the room.

If Nikko thought he was going to win this battle of wills, he was wrong. Stephanie was not backing down. Nikko was about to hit the wall, and that could be deadly for all of them. Nikko wasn't used to ceding control, she got that. She respected that, but this is what he hired her to do.

Nikko collapsed down on the couch and ran his hands over his face and blew out a harsh breath. "Fine." The growl in his voice sent a little shiver up her spine, but she'd claim the victory anyway.

Stephanie was pretty sure in this case fine didn't actually mean fine. It probably meant she was going to pay for challenging him later. She had an almost overwhelming urge to wrap her arms around him and draw him close, but Stephanie wasn't the mothering type.

"Is any of that blood yours?" Stephanie asked instead.

"No."

She pushed Nikko back onto the couch. "Lay down." Stephanie ordered. "You're at that forget-food-fuck-showering-about-to-pass-out stage of exhaustion."

She didn't expect him to comply, but he did, telegraphing how close to the edge he was. She pulled the throw down and covered him up. Nikko was probably nose-blind to just how bad he smelled, but they would definitely burn the throw when this was over. Maybe even the couch.

Nikko's hand darted out and grabbed hers, giving it a little squeeze before letting it go.

"I've got this." She assured him and headed out.

"Don't get caught, and don't get shot." Nikko called after her. His eyes already closed and fatigue drawing him under.

Nikko might be one of the best, but even Nikko had limits. It was pretty clear Nikko hadn't spent the night waiting around on a phone call. The blood on his shirt, and god knows what else, betrayed that fact. Nikko had been kicking down doors and burning the city to the ground, looking for leads. It irritated her he'd gone off by himself. She got he was a lone wolf, but sometimes having a pack was useful.

Stephanie went back into the kitchen where four sets of eyes turned to her, waiting for instruction. Stephanie pulled in a big breath and exhaled slowly.

"Santos, Ranger, we need supplies. Guns, vehicles, maybe an explosive or two."

"On it." Les replied and Ranger nodded.

"Jack, Luca, you are with me. We need to get eyes on the location and keep eyes on it. I want to see what we are up against."

Stephanie pulled up a satellite photo of the location in question.

"Is that a …" Jack's voice trailed off.

"Yeah, a church." Stephanie confirmed.

"That's got to be some bad karma." Jack continued shaking his head in disbelief that sex traffickers and terrorists would stash girls in the church.

"If you count the thick stone walls and the echo chamber of the nave, then yeah, that seems like bad karma." Luca sighed. "For us."

"It makes explosives trickier." Stephanie confirmed. "The approach is also going to be a problem, although the cemetery gives us some cover."

"We don't know anything about these guys." Ranger stated. It wasn't really a question.

"Not really, just what Nikko uploaded to our phones. Unknown player, unknown number, unknown tactics." Stephanie shrugged. "Really, what could go wrong?"

Ranger's lip tipped up into an almost smile. "I'm always up for a challenge."

Stephanie smirked back. "Easy is boring." They both knew they weren't just talking about the extraction.

"You two are nuts." Les grumbled.

Stephanie couldn't argue that point.

Stephanie, Jack, and Luca drove out of the city center, past the ornate buildings, down the cobblestone streets, until the buildings gave way to farmland. They meandered down the packed dirt road past the old stone church towards the nearby town. It was a single nave gothic style country church, that had been abandoned for a more modern version in town. It was poorly maintained but rumored to still be used by the locals occasionally. A cemetery surrounded the building on three sides.

The first pass didn't yield any clues. No cars were parked out front and no signs anyone was in the building.

"Did we get blueprints?" Jack asked as he navigated around a pothole in the road.

"The original structure was built in 1181. Burned down, rebuilt, added on to. I don't know how accurate it is, but we have some crude drawings of the layout. The nave, some offices, residence, baptismal, and an underground crypt. My money is on the crypt." Stephanie replied as she craned her neck around to get a better look with her binoculars.

"Let's park down the road and hike back to that wooded area." Jack gave a grunt of acknowledgement.

Stephanie, Luca, and Jack fanned out and hunkered down, watching and waiting. The waiting was always the worst part of any job. Stephanie wanted to fidget, instead she stayed seated on the cold hard ground, hidden by undergrowth. At least it was November, and the bugs had long since died off and the snakes were underground. At least, she hoped they were. It was better than sitting in a steaming jungle, but not by much. Just a different torture.

As the minutes clicked by, the cold seeped into her bones, and her muscles stiffened. About an hour in, her ass was asleep, and they were no closer to knowing anything. Stephanie forced herself to remain motionless as frustration swept over her. She was itching to get closer. Jack and Luca both had nixed her idea of wandering up to the church, pretending to be a tourist. That plan was looking less risky and silly by the minute.

"Bravo one, this is bravo two. We have a vehicle approaching."

Stephanie didn't let herself get too excited. The last vehicle had just driven on by and that had been over forty minutes ago. Stephanie's pulse quickened when a SUV with blacked-out windows turned down the little gravel road that led to the church.

It pulled up and parked on the side of the church hidden from the road. Four men got out. They had bags of food and automatic rifles. That didn't seem like your average visit to the house of the lord and Stephanie was betting whatever was in the bags was not a tithing.

One man hauled a woman out of the back. She stumbled, and he hoisted her up by her arm, dragging her along. Her wrists were bound with duct tape, and she was barefoot. She was wearing a short black skirt and silver halter top. She looked like she had been out clubbing when she was drugged and kidnapped.

The side door to the church opened and Stephanie saw at least two men inside.

"We have at least six hostiles." Stephanie whispered into her comms.

They were definitely in the right place for something. Stephanie just hoped Ashley was among the women being held.

They watched for another hour and a black town car pulled up. Two men in the front, presumably guards, and one man in the back. Stephanie's stomach gave a lurch of excitement. This was it. This was the guy in charge. Probably the guy supplying the women. They had the chance to cut off the head of the hydra if they played their cards right.

She couldn't get a good look at his face as his bodyguards flanked him and he entered the church. He had a fedora and a trench coat that obscured his features. Other than being short, she couldn't tell much about him. That niggling frustration prickled her spine. Not much to go on for an ID.

That made eight hostiles and this guy. It looked like Nikko was right. They were getting prepped for something and not just transport. Whatever it was had to include money, otherwise this guy wouldn't be here.

Stephanie watched for a few more minutes. The entire time they had been watching the church, not a single guard had made a perimeter sweep. Stephanie had a feeling she knew why.

"Bravo one is going to take a closer look." Stephanie could imagine Luca's pinched face about now, but they needed better intel, and he'd just have to get over it.

Stephanie belly crawled towards the cemetery, ignoring the rocks that poked at her ribs and the briars that scratched at her clothes. Every foot seemed like a mile, but she kept inching forward, eyes sweeping in all directions. Then she saw it. The sinister little trip wire winking in the sunlight. Just like she thought. It could be explosives or a motion sensor. Her bet was on motion sensor. Otherwise, every rabbit, deer, fox, and skunk would have been blown to smithereens.

Stephanie inched back to the cover of the woods. "Be advised the perimeter is wired."

"And here I thought this was going to be boring." Jack drawled.

"Bravo three, Bravo two and Bravo one are bugging out."

"Roger that." Jack replied.

Jack would stay and watch the church while Stephanie and Luca headed back to prep for the extraction.

Stephanie met Luca, and they climbed into the SUV and headed back to the city.

"Seemed like a lot of food." Luca commented. "How many do you think?"

Stephanie chewed on the question for a minute as she eased the SUV over a rut in the road. "I just don't know. Maybe half a dozen women plus the guards? Maybe more." Stephanie scrunched up her nose. "It's a lot of guards, and those are just the ones we saw. There could be twice as many. I don't like this."

"We know more, but you're right, we are still going in blind." Stephanie could see the grim set of Luca's jaw, which told her just how skeptical he was of success. "That was a lot of fire power." Luca reached up and rubbed the back of his neck.

"And we still have no idea who the boss man is. This has disaster written all over it. The only good news, with Alexi out of the picture, getting to the rendezvous point may be easier."

"Do you still want to create a diversion?" Luca asked, staring out the window, watching the scenery whip by.

"Probably. I guess we will know more when we get in there." Stephanie hedged.

Stephanie could see the tension in Luca's face, in his body language. She knew it wasn't just the unknowns that were bugging him. Luca calculated risk and then he accepted it. That's what made him good at his job.

"If you have something to say, just say it Luca."

A minute of strained silence stretched between them.

"What's going on between you and Nikko?" Luca heaved out.

"Nikko?" Stephanie didn't quite keep the surprise out of her voice. A Ranger question she expected, but not a Nikko one.

"Yeah, Nikko." Luca repeated. "Are you involved with him?"

"Involved?" Stephanie realized she was back to sounding like a deranged parrot.

"Yeah, Steph. Don't play games. If you want me to spell it out, I will."

"Are you insane?" Stephanie hissed, giving him some serious side eye.

"Probably, but that's not an answer." Luca shot back.

"No, to both." Well, mostly, Stephanie thought. She definitely wasn't 'involved' with him and wasn't going to get involved with him. That didn't mean she hadn't thought about what he might look like naked. She was a living, breathing woman after all.

"No? Why not?"

"Because I'm not actually crazy, despite what you seem to think."

Luca raised an eyebrow at her, giving her a questioning look.

"He's an assassin Luca. I don't even know who he works for." Stephanie snapped.

"But you trust him."

Stephanie blew out a harsh breath. "Yes, I trust him. Yes, I like him. He's a good man."

"He's an assassin." Luca pointed out, trying to keep a straight face.

"I said he was good, I never said he didn't have flaws." Stephanie gave him an eye roll.

Luca's mouth twitched up. "Fair enough."

"What's this all about Luca?"

Luca ran a frustrated hand through his hair, the unruly lock flopping back on his forehead. "I don't know. I guess I'm just….." Luca's voice trailed off while he looked for the right word. "Jealous, I guess. It took you years to even crack the door and let me in, even a little. With him, it's like you would follow him into hell and you've known him less than a week."

Stephanie took Luca's hand in hers. "I met you at a dark time in my life. We both have a lot of demons and neither of us were ready to just tear open our wounds, but you and I both know the only reason I'm still here. The reason I can let the Nikkos of the world in is because of you. You and Jack. You were there when I needed you. You didn't push, you just let me heal. That isn't nothing. I'd follow you right into hell, too. The difference is, you'd never ask me to go."

Stephanie thought it was all kinds of ironic that Luca was complaining about Stephanie not letting Luca into her life. She knew nothing about him. Nothing. Luca never talked about himself, and the few times she had asked, he'd shut the conversation down. When Gabriel died, Luca was there for her. No questions asked, no emotional conversations, just quiet support. He helped her pick up the pieces and move forward, but their relationship had always been distant. Emotionally anyway. If she was honest, physically too. Sex with Luca was good. Damn good, but it wasn't all fire and magic. She'd never once been afraid of losing herself in him.

Luca gave her hand a squeeze. "I feel like things are shifting under my feet. Things are changing between us and it scares me because I don't know what it means. I don't know what I want, what you want. Things that were so simple now seem so complicated."

Luca brought her hand to his lips. "I'm sorry. I know we agreed to table this discussion. Just know the one thing that never changes is my friendship."

Stephanie swallowed past the lump in her throat. Luca was right. They had history. While it might not be fireworks all the time, she knew him. Luca was a good man, and a good friend. She loved him. Maybe not in a romantic sort of way, but a comfortable way, and sometimes that was enough. Luca would never break her heart. With Ranger, she was afraid she was in real danger of losing everything to him. Something she vowed would never happen again.

Luca was solid and constant. Was she really going to just throw away everything between them just because she had chemistry with Ranger? She knew nothing about Ranger other than he could make her forget her own name and being near him robbed her of good judgement and common sense.

It seemed odd that Luca was more threatened by Nikko than he was of Ranger. She tried not to dwell on that too much. Maybe he believed her denial about Ranger, maybe they'd managed to hide things. Whatever the reason, she was secretly grateful. She knew Luca would have seen through her denials about Ranger in thirty seconds or less. Especially after last night and this morning. This thing with Ranger was a runaway train, and she was deathly afraid it was going to derail in spectacular fashion. She and Luca were friends with benefits. She'd like to think they could be just friends if that time came. Losing Luca was unacceptable. Then again, losing Ranger was rapidly becoming unacceptable as well. Stephanie swallowed a sigh. When had life gotten so complicated?

Stephanie and Luca parked and made their way to the safe house. Nikko was in the kitchen pacing like a caged panther. His eyes snapped to hers the minute they entered the door. He looked better, and he had showered, thank god, but the nervous energy was buzzing around him.

Luca gave her a nod. "I'm going to check in with Santos." Nikko and Luca eyed each other for a minute and then Luca headed up stairs.

"What's up with him?" Nikko asked.

Stephanie couldn't help the blush that stained her cheeks. A ghost of a smile passed over Nikko's face.

"So, mister silent and broody thinks we are having brain-melting, sheet-clawing, take-the-lord's-name-in-vain sex, and he's not happy about it. A little territorial, that one."

Stephanie felt the stain on her face go scarlet. "You're wrong." She managed to choke out without entirely sounding like a small animal being strangled.

"About which part?" Nikko was grinning, obviously enjoying her embarrassment and Luca's misconception.

"The brain-melting, sheet clawing part." Stephanie smiled back at him. "He thinks it's just plain vanilla."

Nikko's eyebrows went up. "I'm crushed." He said with mock horror.

Stephanie couldn't help but laugh.

"What do we know?" Nikko asked, turning the conversation to something safer.

Stephanie shook her head in disgust. "Not much. Minimum of eight hostiles, at least one other hostage, probably a lot more, some serious fire power, rigged perimeter, and some little short boss guy showed up."

"What did the boss man look like."

Stephanie shrugged. "Not sure. I didn't get a good look. All I know is he is short, like really short."

"Son-of-a-bitch." Nikko murmured under his breath.

"You know him?"

"Yeah. That sounds like Vivek. Mean as a snake. He runs girls, drugs, guns. Whatever makes money. We've been tracking him for a while now. He rarely leaves his compound, but Ashley would be a big win for him. He probably decided to sell a few girls while he was at it. He's all about the money."

"I wish we knew more." Stephanie sighed. "Maybe we should watch the church for another day?"

"No. We know more, just not everything we want." Nikko reasoned.

"But if we had a little more time." Stephanie started.

Nikko interrupted her. "Look Stephanie, the kidnappers sent another video, we have to do this tonight."

Icy fear slid over her. "Let me see it."

Nikko gave a negative shake of his head. "No love, you don't need to see it."

She locked eyes with Nikko. "It's that bad?" She hated that her voice cracked.

"She's still alive. That's what counts."

Nikko was only partially right. Sometimes dying was better than living with the aftermath, but she kept that to herself.

"It's going to be a risky extraction. Especially since we have to extract an unknown number of hostages and get them to safety. We need to reconfigure the extraction plan." Stephanie was thinking out loud more than discussing.

Nikko held up his hand. "Our contract is just for Ashley. Normally I'd agree with you, but Ashley is a high value target. We can't get distracted on this one."

"Come on Nikko, we can't leave them." He greeted her plea with silence. "Just tell me what we need to do. I'll do anything."

She watched his amber eyes darken. "Anything?" His velvet voice caressed her, and Stephanie immediately recognized anything wasn't something you offered to the devil, because anything could be everything. She held his gaze anyway.

"Even kiss me?" That voice, those eyes. It felt like he was physically touching her. Sweat pooled at the base of her spine, and her mouth was suddenly dry. Note to self. She was not ready to tangle with Nikko.

Stephanie crossed her arms. "Okay, not that." She used her best Sunday school teacher voice, and it still came out sounding like a porn star.

Nikko smiled at her and put his hand over his heart. "You wound me."

"Not as much as Samara, or whatever her name, if you actually kiss me." Stephanie gave him a pointed look.

Nikko laughed, a genuine one that came from the belly. "Now you're just breaking my heart."

Stephanie thought that seemed unlikely, since she wasn't entirely sure Nikko had a heart to break or if he was even human. The silent, languid way he moved reminded more of a panther than a person.

"So that means you have one?" Stephanie asked.

"One what?"

"Heart."

Nikko just shrugged. "Debatable."

"Which means you won't leave those girls behind." Stephanie pressed.

Nikko pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "Fuck me."

"So that's a yes." Stephanie prodded.

"You're the kind of woman that makes men drink too much and drive off bridges. You know that." Nikko grumbled.

Stephanie just shrugged. "So, we get them all out."

"Yeah, we get them all." Nikko confirmed.

Stephanie stepped up to Nikko and pulled his head down. She pressed a soft kiss to his cheek. "You're a good man Nikko."

"The jury is still out on that one." Nikko replied. "I'm going to go grab a few things, and meet you and the team back here in about an hour."

Stephanie nodded. "OK, I'll get started."

Nikko stopped at the door and turned to face her. "Just so you know, love. There wouldn't be anything vanilla about it."

Stephanie stood there immobile, with her mouth opening and closing, no sound coming out. She couldn't think of a single pithy reply. Nikko winked at her and left.

Stephanie sunk down into a kitchen chair, her knees suddenly weak. It was a good thing this was just one job. She'd never survive another one. Nikko was full on batshit crazy, his friends were downright scary, and she was really starting to like him, which made her a full-on barking lunatic. No wonder Luca thought she was nuts.

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A/N: Thank you for the reviews and feedback!