I force it all down.
I force myself to breathe.
I force myself to be the version of me that can do this, that can get her back, that can walk into that basement and bring her out alive.
Rafael appears beside me.
"You sure about this?" he asks quietly.
"I've never been surer of anything."
"If she's not there—if Declan moved her somewhere else?—"
"He didn't. He's there. She's there." I check the rifle sight and my voice is completely certain even though inside I'm screaming. "I can feel it."
"That's not exactly scientific?—"
"I don't need scientific. I need right. And I'm right about this."
I have to be right about this.
Because if I'm wrong, if she's somewhere else, if I just wasted time we don't have, I will never forgive myself.
He doesn't argue, just helps me adjust the vest and checks my magazines.
Across the room, Matteo is giving final instructions to the team leaders, his voice calm and controlled and deadly.
"This is a rescue operation with extreme prejudice," he's saying. "Anyone who gets between us and Isabella goes down. No hesitation. No mercy. We get in, we get her, we get out. Anyone who wants to surrender can do it after we have her safe. Clear?"
A chorus of affirmatives.
"Good. Move out."
We head for the vehicles and I end up in the same SUV as Matteo, Dante driving, Rafael in the passenger seat, Luca in the backseat with me and the tension is thick enough to cut.
No one speaks.
I'm grateful for the silence because it means I can focus on breathing, on staying present, on not letting my mind run through every nightmare scenario of what might be happening to her right now.
She's strong.
She survived this once before.
She'll survive it again.
I just need to get to her.
The drive to Red Hook takes twenty minutes and I spend all of them visualizing the approach, running through scenarios, preparing for every possibility, and forcing down the panic every time it tries to rise.
We're three blocks out when Matteo's phone buzzes.
He looks at it and his face goes dark.
"What?" Rafael asks.
"Message from Declan. Photo." He turns the phone so we can see.
It's Isabella.
