Ranger chimed in, “Sorry, boss.”
They kept their voices low, but from the way Marley stiffened it was obvious she heard every word. Damn, he didn’t want her to hear anything of what they said. But if they stepped farther into the woods, he’d lose sight of her. Besides, he had her cell phone now. She wouldn’t be communicating with anyone.
“Then you know our pilot here was leading us into an ambush.”
Marley stiffened even more and Mack forced his gaze from her. A couple of the guys glanced at her and then promptly ignored her. Part of him was glad they were keeping silent. The last thing he wanted to do was put himself between his men and Marley. Because despite the fact she’d stabbed him in the back, he’d still protect her.
Pansy.
“Boss, sounds like she might not have had a choice,” Hunter offered quietly.
“Really? You don’t think she could have made the choice to tell me when she first got the message? Or when she gave us the coordinates of a fake airport so that Mankel could have us killed?”
“Maybe,” Hunter shrugged and fell silent. “She seemed pretty eager to talk to you just now.”
Maybe? What the hell kind of answer was that? Well, it didn’t fucking matter. Nothing mattered except getting to Jack Mankel and planting a bullet between his black eyes.
“It doesn’t matter. What matters now is we know it’s an ambush. He will have men there waiting. And he is tracking us through her cell phone. He’s been tracking us all along.”
What Mack didn’t understand washow. He’d checked himself and Marley didn’t have a signal. There definitely weren’t any cell phone towers in the middle of the jungle.
“Mind if I take a look?” Ethan asked.
Mack handed off the cell phone to the tech genius and waited for him to do his magic. Ethan quickly hacked into the phone. “He’s using a satellite service through her GPS. Don’t want to admit it, but the man’s got some serious gonads with this high-tech shit. Our intel people just got this technology last year. Cutting-edge.”
“Here’s our challenge. We have to make it look like we’re unaware of Mankel’s plan, but we still have to get to that location before his men do and set up our own welcome party.”
Marley shifted and drew his attention. Mack narrowed his gaze at her in warning before returning it to his men. “Someone’s going to have to stay here with the GPS and then head in that direction in the morning.”
“We’ll be traveling at night. It’s gonna be dangerous.” Hunter’s mouth thinned into a straight line.
“Good thing we aren’t Marines, otherwise we’d get lost,” Ranger said.
Jared Crowe, who had transferred into the unit from Marines special operations command, punched Ranger in the shoulder. “Marines can see in the dark, everybody knows that.”
Ranger rubbed his upper arm and smiled. “You’ve got them mixed up with the Rangers.”
Merc cut in, his deep voice silencing the group, “Everyone knows the special operations group wipes the floor with both of you.”
Normally Mack could enjoy their banter, but right now he couldn’t enjoy a damn thing. It was all he could do not to stare at Marley. She was wound so tight, she was ready to explode.
“I’ll stay behind,” Aaron offered.
“Perfect. Hunter, let’s see that map.” Mack waited on Hunter to pull out his topographic map and spread it out on the ground. Ranger clicked on his flashlight and Mack crouched beside him. “Should take us about four hours to make it in the dark. Aaron, you start heading out about two hours before sunset. When you get close, toss the phone and rendezvous with me here.” Mack dragged his finger to the south side of the location. “Jared and Hoyt, I want you up in the trees. You can signal when Mankel’s group arrives.”
“Ranger, Ethan, and I will set up on the west to lay down heat from that direction,” Hunter said. “Merc, you stick with the colonel so we can cross those suckers out without them even knowing where we are. Hoyt and Jared can pick off the stragglers from the trees and we’ll decimate Mankel’s team.”
Hunter’s hand curled into a tight fist. This mission meant as much to his team as it did to Mack. Jack Mankel had ultimately been responsible for Shane’s death and had betrayed them all. He’d kidnapped their women, too, and now it was time for him to pay.
“No! You can’t do that.” Marley ran to Mack’s side and gripped his shoulder, her nails digging into his arm through his T-shirt.
Mack carefully peeled her fingers back before answering her. He couldn’t stay cold and hard when she touched him. “Why not?”
If she was going to in some way defend the men who worked for Jack Mankel . . .
“Because then he’ll know I tipped you off and he’ll—Maddie—” Marley cleared her throat and crossed her arms over her chest, the gesture defensive and self-soothing. “He will have my daughter killed.”
Shit, he didn’t want to admit it, but she was right. If they went in with guns blazing, there’d be no way to hide the truth, especially since Mankel would be closely monitoring the situation.
They’d have to do this the old-fashioned way. “She’s right. We’ll have to go in quiet, get them alone, so they can’t alert Mankel, and then separate the leader from the pack and keep him alive.”
Merc pulled a long black knife from the sheath strapped to his ankle and lifted the blade. The glow from the flashlight cast shadows across the blade and his face, making him look more Grim Reaper than a man.
“That’s my kind of style.”
