“Thank you.” Mac gave the other man a tiny smile.
She didn’t even bother to ride his ass about the ‘letting her’ comment. As it was, she was lucky they didn’t toss her in a trunk and go in guns blazing without her.
“Let’s go over it one last time so we all know the plan.”
“Good idea.”
All heads turned toward the door. The same door Jake had just walked through.
“What are you doing here?” Mac blurted more loudly than intended.
Jake’s dark brows arched. “Last I checked, I own the place.”
Mac shook her head, not the least bit intimidated by the formidable man. “That’s not what I meant, and you know it. You should be at the hospital with Olivia and the baby.”
“Olivia thinks otherwise.”
That bit of news surprised her. “She does?”
“After I got off the phone with you and explained what had happened, she all but kicked my ass out. Told me, and I quote, ‘Do not come back until you know for sure Mac and Coop are both safe’. End quote.”
Mac’s heart swelled, but she still felt guilty. “Today shouldn’t be about me and my mess, Jake.”
“It’s not.” His blue eyes stared into hers. “It’s about family. You and Coop, and everyone else on this team and Bravo, are every bit as much mine and Olivia’s as Lillian Rose.”
“So, what you’re sayin’ is you’re like our daddy.”
Everyone looked over at Derek, who was grinning ear-to-ear.
“No, asshole.” Jake’s words were harsh, but humor hid behind his feigned scowl. “What I was trying to say was—”
“We get it, Jake,” Mac assured him. “Thank you.”
“So.” He clapped his hands together. “If my timing is right, we have thirty minutes to get in, neutralize the target and any additional threats, and get Coop out.”
Trevor nodded. “Sounds about right.”
“Well, then.” Jake winked at Mac. “What the hell are we waiting for? Someone tell me how you’re planning to pull this off.”
Fifteen minutes later, after briefing Jake on their plan, Mac was pulling up to the old brick building the kidnapper had described. Like everything else in its surrounding area, the structure hadn’t been used in several years.
Thankfully the light pole next to the graveled parking lot was still in working order, illuminating the immediate area, as well as the entire front of the building.
According to what Derek had found, it used to be an old community center. Mac’s first thought was that it would make the perfect Halloween haunted house.
Or the perfect place for a ransom exchange.
There were three other cars there, which meant there were at least that many playing for the opposite team.
Derek’s voice hit her ear as he began listing off the owners of the vehicles. “Okay, so the Camry belongs to a guy named Paul Studer. Thirty-two, local, record for assault, battery, and unlicensed sale of a firearm.”
“Sounds like quite the catch,” Jake mumbled.
“The other two cars are even more interesting,” Derek went on. “Plates on those are both registered to names belonging to the dearly departed. A woman named Suzie who passed in twenty-thirteen, and a man by the name of Howard Polk. That poor bastard died all the way back in ninety-three. So either we’re about to become the newest ghost busting team, or the people inside aren’t the most honorable of folks.”
“Shocker,” Mac responded sarcastically.
Parking the company SUV Jake had insisted she take—probably due to its bullet-resistant windows and body—she drew in several deep breaths before getting out of the car.
