“No shit. That’s why we’re here.”
I’m so angry with the man in front of me. How could he send his son away, let him think he’d lost everything, and never contact him? If Angelo had kept Nash with him, maybe…
Then he wouldn’t be…Nash. But he might be…safe.
Living in the world of “what ifs” won’t help me save him. Or do anything but leave me two sandwiches short of a picnic.
Nash knows he’s going to die. It was in his eyes. His body language. His desperate attempt to warn his father. The man I’m falling in love with—who am I kidding? I’ve fallen, hard—could barely move. Bloody, bound, beaten…
“We’re in position,” Ryker says over comms.
Angelo grabs my wrist. I don’t think. Sweeping my arm across my body in an arc, my free hand holding his in place, I twist and send him to his knees. “Not. Another. Word.”
On my laptop screen, five green blips move toward the target. Before Ryker and West deposited us in this hotel suite, Angelo gave them the location of the DeLuca compound, and they’re about to breach, hoping to find Nash long before 8:00 p.m.
“Body cam on,” West adds. “Sierra, check the feed.”
Scrambling for the computer, I pull it with me and take a seat on the bed. I made Ryker promise he wouldn’t keep me in the dark, but I never expected this. When did we get body cams?
The GPS signals move closer to the house, each with one letter inside the little dot letting me know who’s who.
From Hidden Agenda’s warehouse, Ripper pilots one of the new drones over the grounds. “Two heat signatures,” he says.
Only two? That can’t be right. Five minutes ago, there were at least three people in that basement. Nash, Enzo, and the guy holding the gun. Even if they shot Nash the second the call ended, his body heat would still register. And there’s no way in hell the place isn’t crawling with muscle.
“Say again, Base?” West asks.
“Two heat signatures. And yes, the drone is working. I see the five of you outside the perimeter, and another dozen folks on the street within a two mile radius. Sending the data to your wrist units now.”
Something’s very wrong. The two red dots on screen move from one room to another, but casually. Slowly. Like they don’t have a care in the world.
“What’s going on?” Angelo asks. “You’re worried.”
“You’re goddamn right, I’m worried. DeLuca’s so crooked, if he swallowed a nail, he’d spit out a corkscrew. Now hush up. They’re about to go in.” I tap a few keys, and link our comms system to the laptop’s speaker.
West’s body cam shows him scaling a twelve-foot-tall stone wall. He’s up and over so quick, he’s not even winded.
Lush grounds, covered with dogwood and redbud trees in full bloom, provide cover, and the green dots creep closer and closer to the house.
“Indigo, any movement?” Ry asks.
“Negative. It’s a ghost town.”
“Tango and Golf, prepare to breach.” West finds the junction box, places a small det charge around the conduit, and backs away. “On my mark. Three. Two. One. Mark.”
With a loud crack and a hiss, the explosion takes out the power. The two red dots stop moving. Less than a minute later, Graham shouts, “On your knees, hands in the air!” But it’s his next words that make my heart sink. “Both hostiles surrendered. Looks like the chef and a housekeeper. Securing them now.”
“Dammit!” All my pent-up fear and frustration spill over. “Check the basement,” I say. “The target has to be…”
“I’m there now. This isn’t the same room.” West turns in a circle, shining his flashlight to give me a better look. Enzo had Nash against a concrete wall. Sitting on cement. Natural light came from above his head. This room is completely underground, with wood-paneled walls and white, shiny tile covering the floor.
He’s not there. He was never there. Any chance we had of finding him before tonight slips away before my eyes.
“Fall back. Bring the two hostiles. We’ll stash them away until this is over so they can’t tell Enzo anything about us,” the SEAL orders, and I cut the comms feed from the laptop.
Angelo paces, his cane making soft thumping noises on the thick carpeting. “Stash them away? What does that mean? Their bodies? How would they tell DeLuca anything?”
I tap my comms unit to mute it. “They’re still alive. My guess? Enzo left those two in case you sent anyone to his compound. There might have been a panic button somewhere, or he was countin’ on you lettin’ them go when you didn’t find Nash.”
