“Yes, Dad,” Emily stated. “Is Jamie coming home, too?”
Sal nodded. “I already called him, and he’s on his way home now. He just needed to get his homework assignments from his professors.”
TJ had gone into the Marines, and Jamie was now attending a local university. Emily was already fifteen and not far behind him. Luckily, we had a few more years with Mikey, Rosy, and Bella before we were fully childless.
I hated how quickly time went by, they were all growing up so fast, but I couldn’t be prouder of each and every one of them.
“The house is on lockdown for right now,” Sal continued to explain. “Until we know if there is a real threat or not, it’ll stay that way. I don’t want any of you going anywhere until this is over, okay?”
Four little heads nodded.
Sal pressed a kiss to each of their foreheads and then shooed them toward the door. “Get going.”
My heart sank a little as I watched them all walk out of the study. I hated that we had to keep the information of their grandmother being kidnapped from them, but I hoped to have her home before they found out. I didn’t want to break their little hearts.
During the next ten minutes, everyone else arrived. I was hanging out, hovering over Lyn, watching the video feed from the traffic cams. Sal was talking to his team, filling them in on everything we knew on the storyboard plus what was happening to my mother. I was in no way surprised when they all went to the armory to gear up and gather weapons.
“Okay,” Lyn called out, “they’ve stopped. I followed them as far as a warehouse over on the east side, but I can’t follow them into the building.”
“Keep monitoring the situation, Lyn. If the situation changes or more people show up, let me know,” Sal said. “We’ll take it from here.”
Lyn nodded.
Sal glanced at me. “Are you sure I can’t convince you to stay here?”
I just looked at him.
Sal sighed before grabbing me and reeling me in. “Sometimes, you are a big headache.”
I knew that wasn’t an insult.
I smiled as I tilted my head back and looked up at him. “I’m your headache.”
Sal let out a small snicker. “You’re a mess, not a headache.”
There was a difference?
Sal pressed a kiss to my forehead, as he had done for the children, and then turned to the rest of the room. “Everyone who is going needs to load up. We’re leaving in five minutes.”
I was already ready to go.
Remembering my promise, I gestured to Marcus and Dmitri and headed for the car. There were three vehicles parked right out front. I climbed into the first one, knowing that would be the one Sal rode in.
I did climb into the middle seat, however. Marcus and Dmitri climbed in on either side of me, casing me in. Clarke took the driver’s seat with Sal in the front passenger seat. I had no idea where the rest of them were except in the two cars behind us.
Hell, I didn’t even know who all was going.
“Lany, do you have your earpiece?”
I nodded and pulled it out of my pocket.
“Put it in your ear.” Sal held out earpieces to both Marcus and Dmitri. “If I tell you to leave the scene, you leave the scene. Understand?”
I nodded, knowing he would only tell me to leave if things went south. Like he had said, he needed to not worry about my safety. He needed to concentrate on rescuing my mother. I wasn’t going to do anything that might mess that up.
I wanted my mother back.
I could feel the tension in the tactical unit even before we got out on the road. As much as I knew these guys were trained for missions like this, this one was different. This time they were going after my mother. One wrong step and she could lose her life.
