“Joe took Naomi on a cruise. They’ll be at sea for the next two weeks.”
“And that takes his mother out of Eddie’s reach. Very good.”
Iona’s skin was crawling. What was taking Z so long? He should have reported Elias’ position by now. Unless he couldn’t, and the only reason she could think of for the trackers not to work didn’t bear thinking about. To do so would paralyze her. She couldn’t bear to think of Elias suffering in silence while his father’s cronies beat him. “Zane, please tell me you have Elias.”
“I’ve got him. The signal is strong.”
Thank God. Now she had to plan a rescue and get her man back. “Where is he?”
“About twenty miles from your position and moving away fast.” He paused. “Too fast for a car.”
Oh, man. That wasn’t good. “Plane?”
“Based on the speed, I’d say yes.”
“Can you track him?” Brent asked.
“As long as the trackers are working, I should be able to.”
“Do it. Stay on him, Z. Where is the rest of the team, Iona?”
“Incoming. They should be here in two minutes or less.”
“Make it less. We need to move fast to stay on Elias’ trail.”
“Not we. Me.”
More silence from her boss, then, “Care to explain why you want to go after Elias on your own?”
Iona shivered. She recognized the voice that hinted if you weren’t very careful, you could be out the door with your walking papers. “Respectfully, sir, if we take a team of nine to track Elias, we’ll attract attention. They’ll see us before we see them, and that could be deadly for Elias. Eddie will want me as leverage against Elias. He’ll come after me no matter what we plan to do.”
“And yet here you are, planning to hand yourself over to a man who will torture you to force Elias to cooperate. If I sanction that plan, Elias will come after me once he’s free. In what universe does that plan make any sense?”
“The one where I’ll be hunting Eddie while he’s hunting me.”
“Did you consider Eddie has surrounded himself with motorcycle club members who eat naïve women for breakfast?”
“I’ve forgotten nothing, sir.”
“Unless you have a superhero suit, your plan won’t work.”
“But, sir,” she began.
“Iona.”
The warning in Brent’s voice had her closing her mouth.
“Taking the Reckoners on alone is a suicide mission. I would end up losing two of my best operatives in one mission. The answer is no.”
Iona gripped the phone tighter. She was doing this with or without her boss’ permission. She’d rather do this with Brent’s approval, or she would definitely walk out of his office with a pink slip. Iona loved her job, but she loved Elias more. She was getting him back no matter what it took to accomplish that goal. “Permission to speak freely, sir?”
“Granted, as long as you remember who signs your paychecks.”
“I’m not an idiot, Brent.”
“Could have fooled me. That suggestion was straight out of Dutch King’s playbook and unworthy of one of my operatives.”
“Sir, I didn’t plan to take on the Reckoners alone. I plan to make it appear I’m alone. While I expect Eddie to capture me, I also expect Echo and Artemis to ride to the rescue. I’m not a big fan of pain. Sir.”
