“No. You haven’t.” Ellena pulled against the painful ties. “There are men who saw what you did. Important men who won’t stop until they find me and destroy you.”
God, I hope that’s true.
“I’m counting on it. Well…not the destroying part.” He chuckled again. “But I do hope your husband and his little group of toy soldiers join us soon. I have something very special planned for them. Oh, and I almost forgot.” Reaching toward her ear, he pulled out the tiny com. “You won’t be needing this.”
Without another word, Radcliff turned and walked out the door. This time, Ellena did scream. She screamed and cursed and pulled against the plastic ties until they cut into her skin and made her bleed.
I have something very special planned for them.
It was another set-up. One Radcliff had created for Gabe and the others.
Tears fell down Ellena’s cheeks when she realized the asshole had set another trap for the man she loved. And she was the bait that would lure him right in.
* * *
Gabe woke from an uncomfortable position in one of the chairs in the Kole’s cabin, pissed for having dozed off for even a minute. Gabe knew he was running on fumes, but every time he closed his eyes, his tortured mind began to imagine the worst possible scenario of what Ellena might be going through.
His stomach was in a constant state of nausea, and he was terrified for his wife, but Gabe forced himself to focus on what needed to be done.
Several hours had passed since his world came crumbling down, but the rest of his team was still there, along with Jenna and Ryker. The Homeland agent had been on the phone since they’d left the demolished hanger, first smoothing things over with local authorities, and then running through his contacts and calling up favors owed him.
The guy knew he’d screwed up by not filling them in on his full agenda and had been trying to make up for it ever since by gathering as much intel as he could.
According to the blinking red dot on Ryker’s laptop, the plane had landed somewhere near the southern tip of Mexico. Nate had immediately entered the GPS coordinates and began working up satellite imagery to give them the best, most accurate visuals to go by.
So far, they knew the plane was parked on a private air strip about an hour away from a one of Radcliff’s many vacation residences. Ghost and the other Delta men took off almost immediately, preparing to gear up and fly there on one of Homeland’s jets.
The plan was for Delta to get immediate boots on the ground and gain as much information as they could as quickly as they could. As much as he hated waiting back with the others, the SEAL part of Gabe understood they needed proof that Ellena and Walker were at the governor’s ranch before implementing a strike and rescue mission.
To prepare, Ryker’s people had somehow produced blueprints of Radcliff’s property. Gabe and his team studied the layout of the modest, ranch-style house until they could each enter and maneuver their way through it with their eyes closed.
Gabe was surprised at the structure’s simplicity and the fact that there was only one small, almost run-down shed next to it. No fancy outbuildings. No other structures of any kind.
The satellite images of the property gave them additional information needed to begin planning their approach. Ghost and his guys were already on their way to the property to do recon from the ground.
Matt came into the living room with two steaming cups and handed one to Gabe. “Here. Figured you could use this.”
“Thanks.” Gabe took the cup. To Ryker he asked, “Have you heard from Ghost? Have they seen Elle yet?”
“They’re still ten minutes out. They’ll need to get into position, his team will observe, and then they’ll report in. Right now, all we can do is wait.”
“This is bullshit.” Gabe set his mug down and rose to his feet. “We know where they are. Why the fuck are we waiting?”
Apparently, the terrified husband in him had overridden the logical SEAL.
Zade’s expression softened to a level of sympathy Gabe couldn’t stand to look at. “We want to get her back just as badly as you do, man.”
“No offense, King.” Gabe shook his head. “But you don’t.”
“Fair enough.” Zade stared back at him. “But you know as well as I do, an extraction like this takes time.”
“We don’t have time, Zade!” Gabe pointed to the satellite images of Radcliff’s house that had been printed and laid out on one of the tables. “She’s there right now, going through God knows what, while we’re sitting here with our thumbs up our asses!”
“We don’t even know she’s there yet,” the former Marine argued. “All we know is that plane landednearthere. They could have stopped somewhere on the way to the ranch or landed there just to throw us off and then started back in the opposite direction.”
“Zade’s right, Gabe,” Matt chimed in. “You can’t go storming into Radcliff’s place half-cocked, or you’ll end up getting yourself killed. Which, by the way, won’t do your girl a damn bit of good.”
“They’re both right.” Kole stood as he defended the other two men. “You know as well as we do this kind of mission usually takes days to plan. We’ve only been at this a few hours.”
