He isn’t the only man whose blood Dawari spilled.
An image entered Van’s thoughts. Farzad Akimi’s bloodied and beaten body slumped over in a chair.
Thanks to the intel Akimi had gathered prior to his death, along with other information they’d been able to dig up alongthe way, all signs had led them to the woman still struggling against Van’s strong hold.
Can’t kill her, but I can damn sure shut her up.
With one arm wrapped tightly around the front of her neck, he held the crook of his elbow directly beneath her chin. At the same time, his other hand was placed strategically behind her head, and when he squeezed with just the right amount of pressure to avoid breaking any bones…
Kaamisha Dawari’s hands fell limply at her sides half-a-beat before her entire body grew limp under the weight of unconsciousness.
A choke hold would only keep a person down for ten, maybe twenty seconds, so Van knew he had to move fast. With one arm keeping the unmoving woman from falling, he pulled the syringe he’d carried with him from the back pocket of his black jeans.
He brought the end to his mouth, using his teeth to pull the safety cap free. Spitting it out, he paid no attention to where the small plastic piece landed as he inserted the needle into the side of the woman’s neck.
The drug he injected into her bloodstream was safe and held no long-lasting effects. But it would keep her ass out like a light for a couple of hours, which bought him and his team some much needed time.
“Van!”
He heard his name being called as he pulled the tip of the needle free. A quick toss sent it arching through the air and into a nearby dumpster.
“I’m here,” he hollered back, letting his former team leader and friend know he was okay.
Bending at the waist, he effortlessly hauled the woman up into his arms. Her head lolled toward his chest and her eyes remained closed.
“You good?” Logan Hayes jogged toward him from theSUV that had skidded to a stop at the alley’s northern end. The former SEAL’s hazel eyes landed on the beautiful brunette. “Shit. Is she?—”
“Drugged,” Van growled. “Just like we planned.”
Relief filled the other man’s gaze. It was easy to know what Logan was thinking, because it was the same thought that had run through Van’s mind.
If Kaamisha Dawari died, everything she knew about the ambush that nearly took out their entire team died with her. And that was the one thing they couldn’t let happen.
For one, they still needed the intel locked inside her brain. And two, as far as Van was concerned, death would be too easy of an out for someone like her.
He and the other four SEALS on his team may have survived that day in the mountains, but one of their brothers never made it back home.
We’re getting close, Hunt. We’ll get her to confess what she did, and then you can finally get the justice you deserve.
Hunter Garrison had been the best kind of man. A husband. Brother. And one hell of a SEAL.
But thanks to a barrage of enemy gunfire during an op that should have been a quick in and out, Hunt was dead, their Naval careers were over, and their enemy was walking around free as a fucking bird.
Before his death, Farzad Akimi had been a CIA asset working off-books for Michael Webb, the current Secretary of the Navy. Back in the day, Webb was often the man who gave Van’s SEAL unit their orders.
After the ambush that killed Hunter, Webb had fought for the team so they could keep their Tridents. In the end, the remaining members of DEVGRU’s Tier 1 team known as Black Squadron One were each given an Honorable Discharge and sent on their merry way.
But neither Van nor his teammates—or Webb, for that matter—had ever stopped fighting for the justice they alldeserved. For the past three years, they’d done everything they could to uncover the truth.
Van’s angered gaze lowered to the woman cradled within his arms. Her freedom ended today.
“Come on.” Logan turned as both men used hurried steps on their way to the SUV. “The others are waiting in the car. We’ll take her to the hotel and secure her there. Hopefully when she wakes up, we’ll finally get some damn answers.”
There was no “maybe” to it. One way or another, Van intended to find out everything he and his teammates needed to know.
“We’ll need to go through the back,” he reminded Logan of the next step in their plan. “The others can use the front door and keep the attendant and anyone else there distracted.”
“Copy that.”
