“Ivan—” She slowed as we sprinted around a corner of the hallway. “Ivan’s got one of the spies on the phone.”
“Where?” I asked. “Where? Where is he? Where is she?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know. I don’t know!” Not slowing for a second, she led me downstairs. “We were just coming by to pick up Lev and Misha, and he got a call.”
“What did he say? What?” I was too impatient. I had to know everything now. My father hadn’t held back in the search for Sadie. That was how much he trusted me. He trusted my trust in Sadie to go so far to find her. That meant Ivan and Alexsei and many others were working around the clock with me in this mission.
“Nothing.” She pulled on my arm, steering me toward the kitchen. “But I know. I just know. I can tell by the face he made that something’s going on.”
I lifted my hand to push open the door to the kitchen.
And I saw how right she was.
My cousin was on to something.
He was scribbling on a paper, his face so serious as he listened to a spy on speaker.
“Go. Get a teamnow,” he ordered before disconnecting.
“Tell me.” It came from my lips like a wretched plea and a sinister growl all at once.
“Afghanistan,” he replied, matter of fact and already making another call.
“A confirmed sighting?” Raisa asked. “Not another dead end and diversion?”
That was what I’d faced so far. She was kidnapped and taken again by someone else. She was moved too often to follow.
“Yes,” Ivan replied. Staring at me with a level seriousness, he nodded once. “We’re heading out in five.”
I swallowed hard, overwhelmed with hope. After I nodded once, I backed up and let him handle ordering the team to go with us as backup. Retrieving a hostage was a layered effort, but I knew without having to ask that I could rely on him and the others to arrange the transportation for us to move in and get my agent back.
Wait for me, Sadie. I’m coming. I’m really coming for you.
Getting ready to rush to the airport was a blur. Then when we were in the air, details seemed sketchy and irrelevant. Time was dragging now that hope had blossomed in my chest, but the closer we came to the coordinates that we were given by the spy, I let that hope harden and deaden into a lethal need to kill and protect.
I’m coming for you.
I didn’t dare ask if they knew how she was. If she was alive. If she was hurt. If?—
No. Stop. Focus!
I had to stay strong and ready to move. Emotions wouldn’t help the situation. She was relying on me to take control, once more, and I wouldn’t fail her.
We landed, and it was still a blur. We split into the cars arranged for us, and I didn’t lock down on any of it. I could only dig into my reserves of energy and stay determined to focus on her. On getting to her at last.
Ivan rode with me, a steady support next to me. Alexsei was off in Ireland, following another lead for me in this search for Sadie. That was why Misha was with the others at the mansion, being watched. Now that we had a solid lead, Alexsei would join us here as soon as he could.
Once we reached the site, it didn’t matter who was with me. I took in the scene of the abandoned military outpost that was taken over by rebels and knew no one would come out alive. None of them.
The spy who was in the area and had spotted her gave us the low-down, detailing how it seemed that Sadie had been moved herejust a day ago, driven in from a nearby city. The small group of thugs who brought her was always on the move.
“Half of them left twenty minutes ago,” he said. “I have men positioned to look out as you go.”
That was it. That was all I needed to hear. Backup would cover for me. Nothing stood in my way from rushing in to get my woman.
Ivan and I ran together, approaching the dilapidated structure that had taken many bullets before. Dust rose and swirled with our haste, and the heat pressed down on us under the harsh sunlight, presenting too many bold shadows. Exposed like this, it was as if we were rushing under a spotlight.
Men popped around corners and shelters as we ran close, but I killed them all. Clean shots to the head, and they were done. Dead. More to add to my long list of lives I’d taken.
