“I haven’t reached the bastard yet. What do you want?”
“Montoya’s goons have Harper’s friend Shana. They want an exchange—Harper for her friend.” Her father swore crudely. “Don’t worry, that isn’t going to happen,” Chase said. “I’ve got a couple of men I can count on, but from the way things went down last time, the three of us won’t be enough. I’d rather not involve the police. I’m hoping you can help.”
“No cops. How much time we got?”
“Not much.”
“I got a couple of guys I can call. Give me the address, and I’ll have my men there.”
“I’ll be in touch.” Chase ended the call, his foot hard on the gas all the way to Blackburn Street.
“What are you planning to do?” Harper asked as he roared through a yellow light without looking back.
“We need enough men to keep Montoya’s thugs busy while we go in and get Shana out.”
A chill went through her. She couldn’t help thinking of the shoot-out and how close Chase had come to dying.
“You’re going to need my help,” she said. “That’s the only way it’s going to work.”
Chase just shook his head. “No way. You aren’t getting anywhere near these guys.”
Harper didn’t argue. Chase wasn’t a fool, either. Sooner or later he’d figure out she was right. Montoya’s men wouldn’t let Shana go unless they believed they’d get Harper in exchange.
Chase parked in the lot behind The Max, and they went in through the back door.
“Hey, lady.” Maddox walked toward her, concern stamped into his handsome face. “How you holding up?”
She kissed his cheek. He always seemed to be there when they needed him. “I’m okay. Shana’s in trouble.”
“Yeah, I know. We’re going get her out of trouble, okay?”
She swallowed and nodded.
Maddox introduced her to the man beside him. “This ugly SOB is Jaxon Ryker.” Around six feet tall, Jax was all solid muscle, dark-haired, dark-eyed and handsome as sin. “Jax is going to help us. He’s an ex-SEAL, so he knows a thing or two about hostage rescues.”
Harper managed to smile. “Thank you, Jax. My friend Shana’s in trouble because of me. I’ll do whatever it takes to get her back safely.”
“That’s good to hear,” Jax said, “because if these guys are planning to trade you for her, they’re going to expect you to be there.”
“Harper isn’t getting anywhere near these guys,” Chase said as he walked up. “That’s not open for discussion.”
Harper pinned him with a glare. “It isn’t your decision, Chase. It’s mine. If you’ll stop being so bullheaded, you’ll see there’s no other way it’s going to work.”
“You aren’t going.”
“I’m going.”
Ryker rested a hand on Chase’s shoulder. “If you want the girl out alive, you’re going to need Harper’s help. You know it and so does she. Now, let’s stop wasting time and figure out how to make this happen and keep Harper safe.”
Chapter Forty-One
Chase softly cursed. Jax, Harper and Maddox were all looking at him as if he needed to get a grip. Apparently, he did because he knew they were right.
“Fine, we do it your way. Jax, you’re the snatch-and-grab expert. Let me lay out what I’ve got in mind and you can punch holes in it, find any weak spots.”
“Sounds good.”
“As I see it,” Chase continued, “our biggest obstacle at the moment is not knowing the location of the meet. Once we have that, we can figure the best approach, set things up.”
