Free The Omega Team: Assisting Aimee by Susan Stoker

see him. And he’d certainly succeeded in that. He was being seen all right.
    Jones had tried to let Mr. Santoro, Tony, know that he was Delta, but had no idea if his subtle clue had worked. Using “quiet” and “professionalism” was a direct reference to something Delta soldiers said many times, no matter where they were stationed or trained. It was an unofficial motto that had been passed down through the years. Jones had no idea what branch of Special Forces Tony had been, but he hoped he’d recognize the reference regardless.
    Deltas were known as quiet professionals because they were top-secret and did what they had to do without anyone knowing about it. The world knew about Navy SEALs and what they did, but Deltas were the great unknown. People knew they existed, but every single mission was top secret and even knowing who was on the teams was kept quiet.
    Knowing Bill was done talking to him, that nothing he was saying was getting through to the young man, Jones hoped like hell the Deltas were ready. This was about to be over in a very bloody way and he’d done all he could to make sure the elite Army team had enough time to get into place.
    Looking at the video in front of him, all Jones could do was watch, and wait, for the shit to hit the fan.
     
    * * *
    Aimee had been concentrating so hard on watching Tony’s eyes, seeing the emotions play out in them, that she almost missed his signal. Bill was still whispering in her ear, but she’d tuned him out. It was if she was in a long tunnel, and the only thing she could see was Tony at the end of it. Sounds were muted, and she felt as if she was watching the scene from the rafters lining the gym ceiling instead of being in the middle of it.
    Tony’s eyes shifted. He looked down, then back up at her. He did it again, this time lowering his chin at the same time he dropped his eyes. Aimee wanted to believe it was a signal, but she couldn’t be sure. Unfortunately, she had no time to wait around and try to decide if what she was seeing was really a signal to drop to the floor or not.
    It’d be tricky, she was currently being held up by Bill’s arm around her throat, but she’d do it. Anything was better than her brains being splattered across the gym floor. And if she was wrong, misinterpreting Tony’s actions—it was possible it was just a tick or something—maybe her actions would force Bill, Tony, the cops outside, Jones… someone to do something.
    Bill was mid-sentence, saying something about making history, when Aimee let herself go limp in his arms. His hold around her neck tightened painfully, completely blocking her air for a split-second.
    Aimee wasn’t a big woman, but she was muscular. Her weight, and the surprise of her dropping, made Bill lose his grip on her and her knees crashed into the hard wooden floor of the gym.
    What seemed like simultaneously, shots rang out and echoed across the gym. Aimee whimpered in fright, waiting for the pain of a bullet to hit her, sure Bill had pulled the trigger as he’d been threatening. Her eyes involuntarily squeezed closed, shutting out everything around her.
    Sound was muted, she heard noises, but wasn’t sure exactly what she was hearing. Grunts, moans, and shouts…but she stayed huddled on the ground in a small ball, trying to make herself as inconspicuous as possible.
    Aimee felt herself being embraced. She wasn’t moved, wasn’t shifted in any way. Arms and warmth surrounded her as she shook in delayed reaction to everything that had happened. She didn’t dare open her eyes, too scared of what she’d see. It was cowardly of her, but she’d reached the end of her rope. All thoughts of dying as she looked into Tony’s eyes were long gone.
    Slowly, her senses returned and she heard words being murmured in her ear, over and over.
    “I got you. It’s okay, I got you, Aimee. You’re okay. You’re safe. We’re all right. I got you.”
    I got you.
    She knew in an instant it was Tony crooning