Chapter 2
––––––––
HARRISON STRODE INTOa building on Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, a plan formulating in his mind.He’d ridden his motorcycle to the secluded beach and jogged a few miles on the sandy shore as the sun rose, trying to clear his head and calm the adrenaline spiking through his bloodstream.It might be a Saturday, but he was unsettled by the intelligence he’d received overnight.Unsettled and spurred into action.He quickly moved down the hall to his office, letting the door shut behind him.There were staff and service members on base twenty-four-seven, and he didn’t need to be disturbed at the moment.
Crossing the room, he fired up his laptop and grabbed the file folder he kept sitting on top of the pile on his desk.Flipping it open, he quickly scanned over the contents once more and then looked at the photograph of the woman gazing back at him.He had an entire dossier on the missing nurse, but it was that damn picture that got him every time.
Luciana Rodriguez was hauntingly beautiful.More than a decade younger than him, she had delicate features and caramel skin that was a stunning contrast to her jet-black hair.But those eyes.They were what slayed him.They were soft brown yet sharp with knowledge.This was a woman who’d seen something—who’d endured plenty in her lifetime.Harrison may have only seen a photograph of the woman, but looking at it had felt like a sucker-punch to the gut.The knowledge that she’d been kidnapped by a cartel was troubling enough, but once he’d seen her picture?
He wouldn’t rest until she was safely returned home.
His mind played over the rescue op his team had deployed on a month ago.Ryan “Renegade” Pierce had led the charge to track down his girlfriend Avery Nielsen, who’d been kidnapped alongside Luciana while working as a nurse in Bajo Chiquito.Avery happened to be the sister of another one of his men, Aaron “Anchor” Nielsen, which was all the more reason the SEAL team had been particularly vested in this op.Harrison had ordered them to move in of his own accord, without explicit orders from those above him, and they’d brought Avery home unharmed.
The trouble was, when they’d descended on the home they’d tracked Avery to in Central America, Luciana hadn’t been with her.
That made his next options tricky.He wasn’t authorized to launch another rescue mission to Panama.Luciana wasn’t an American citizen.Avery was already safe and sound here in Oahu, and Luciana was collateral damage in the plot of a crazed U.S.doctor who had worked with them both.The doctor had been deep in debt and was trading vials of drugs smuggled in from the U.S.for cash.The cartel was eager to get their hands on the boxes of drugs, using them to sedate women.Except his evildoings had grown more sinister, and he’d kidnapped the two nurses, handing them over to the cartel.
It made Harrison sick to think no one was likely even searching for Luciana.The local Doctors Without Borders staff simply didn’t have the funding or know-how to find a Colombian nurse who’d disappeared a month ago.They’d been unable to assist much at all in Avery’s rescue.The SEAL team had the knowledge to get the job done, and they’d completed exactly that.
But Luciana?
She’d vanished without a trace, until not one but two recent sightings.While there’d been a possible sighting of her a month ago, it had been deemed a false alarm.The intelligence he’d gotten overnight, however, was credible, from a reliable source in Panama City.A woman had seen Luciana and reported it to the authorities.Her appearance might have gone unnoticed, except she’d been with two known members of the Clan de Gulfo, or Gulf Clan.The source had indicated one of the men had a distinguishing feature—a jagged scar on his face, recognizable by many of the locals.While not the kingpin, Pedro Gomez was high up the chain of command.He was both dangerous and deadly, and Harrison was filled with rage at the knowledge that Luciana was his prisoner.
Harrison couldn’t fathom why Gomez had brought Luciana out in public along with him into Panama City, but it was the break he needed.The homes belonging to the cartel members were well-known to the locals and police alike.It seemed Luciana hadn’t been sold off to a foreign buyer in some twisted exchange after all.She wasn’t untraceable, halfway across the globe.
Luciana was still right there in Panama City, being held against her will.
Flipping through the dossier he had on Luciana, Harrison paused.She’d grown up in Colombia, part of a wealthy family.At seventeen, she’d been kicked out of her home by her father for unknown reasons.Luciana had left that life behind, severing all connections with her family.She’d managed to do odd jobs to work her way through school and eventually began practicing medicine as a nurse in the region.He doubted she was highly paid given that many of the medical professionals who worked with Doctors Without Borders were volunteers.Money was used for medical supplies for the patients they treated, many of whom wouldn’t receive medical care at all without their services.
Luciana had managed to hold her own, making a life for herself on her own terms, until that shitty American doctor had handed both Avery and her right to the cartel.Anger coursed through Harrison.She was a dedicated nurse, a caregiver.She was no doubt smart in order to obtain a paid nursing position through Doctors Without Borders.Yet rather than living as peacefully as anyone could in that region, she’d been kidnapped.
Harrison hated to even consider what horrors she’d faced.She could’ve been assaulted or raped while in captivity.Used by multiple men.She’d no doubt need medical attention once he located and rescued her.And while Avery had been in relatively good health after the kidnapping, all things considered, Luciana had been imprisoned significantly longer.In addition, there’d been blood in the storage room from which they’d been taken.And given that Avery had been uninjured, Luciana had been the one hurt.
Grabbing his phone, Harrison called one of the men under his command, Wyatt “Wildcard” Miller.Wyatt led one of his SEAL teams, and Harrison had been keeping him apprised of the situation because of the possibility the team would deploy when Luciana was found.
“Good morning, sir,” Wyatt said as he answered.“Is everything all right?It’s early to hear from you on a Saturday.”
“Yes and no.There’s been an additional sighting of Luciana Rodriguez in Panama City, this time from a credible source.I received word overnight that she was spotted with two known members of the Gulf Clan.”
“Wow,” Wyatt said, sounding relieved.“That’s an incredible lead.We’ve been waiting for news like this.Are we moving out?”
“Not yet.I’ll be reviewing the intelligence and assessing maps and satellite imagery of the area this morning.There are several possibilities as to where she’s being held, most likely at the home of one of the cartel leaders.I need to reach out to my contact in Panama for some additional details.”
“Should I call in the team for a briefing?”Wyatt asked.
“Negative.We aren’t authorized to move in on this.Luciana is not an American citizen, and we have no other reason to be in the region at this time.”
“Well let’s fucking make a reason,” Wyatt said, sounding frustrated.
Harrison cursed.It would be the ultimate irony to have finally located her but to not have the go ahead from Uncle Sam.“I’m working on it.If I get clearance to move in on this, the team will go wheels up in the morning.That’s a big ‘if,’ however.I nearly got my ass handed to me for sending the team after Avery without going through the proper channels first.It would’ve been approved in due time, but you know how DOD moves—at a goddamn snail’s pace.I’ll loop you in when I find out more.I understand the team is meeting today?”
“Affirmative, sir.Callie and I are having everyone over this evening.It seems we can’t have a party without something eventful happening, so this is just par for the course.We’ll be ready to move in if necessary.”
Harrison cleared his throat, glancing at the time on his watch.“I know you will be, Wildcard.Keep this between us for now.You can fill in the team this evening when I have more information.”
“Understood, sir,” Wyatt said.
Harrison ended the call, then scrolled through his contact list for the number of his friend in Panama City.The tip they’d gotten overnight was their big break, and Harrison had work to get done.
