Jagger agreed, as well, but he still refused to let his hopes get too damn high. “We still don’t even know for sure Talia will be at this place when we get there.”
They were minutes from an old, colonial homestead that, from what they’ve found, had been left to defend itself against the elements for years. It couldn’t be a coincidence.
This has to be the place.
“She has to be there.” Liam nearly parroted his thoughts as he slowed the car to make a right-hand turn. “It’s close to Washington, the property’s owned by a man with the same name Miller used when he was still with the CIA,andit’s in the middle of Bumfuck, Maryland.”
Where no one will hear her screams.
That was the unspoken point Liam was trying to make. If Miller’s end goal is to torture Natalia before he killed her, an abandoned building in the middle of the country was the perfect place to do it.
“Drive faster,” Jagger demanded gruffly.
His every nerve ending was firing at full blast, and his protective instincts were at a level unlike any he’d experienced before. Talia had to be here, and she had to be alive.
He may have had his moment of spiraling thoughts, but that shit was done and over with now. For him, there was no other choice.
Jagger couldn’t—he fuckingwouldn’t—think any other scenario than with her being okay. As for the rest, the only acceptable way this for this to end was with Julian Miller dead.
21
“It’s quiet,”Jagger whispered from a crouched position in the grass beside Liam.
Too quiet.
The two R.I.S.C. teams and Ryker took precious minutes to survey the scene. They’d parked their vehicles behind each other along the two-lane road leading to their targeted location.
“Time to end this.” Jagger exited Liam’s rental car ready to kill.
As he did, the other men in that and the other two vehicles did the same, gathering in a large group for a last-minute check of their equipment and weapons. Thanks to a powerful snap of Ryker’s fingers, both Delta and Echo had been equipped with protective vests, guns, and comms to go around.
The perks of being friends with one of the U.S. government’s most influential men.
Christian lifted a hand and motioned for the teams to begin moving. Trained in the art of approach, they covered the distance as one using almost identical, broad, near-silent steps.
The 1800s colonial stone building they suspected Miller owned was still a good distance from where they were. Butthanks to the very first stirrings of an early morning sunrise, Jagger and the others had the advantage of assessing their surroundings while still under the protection of the night’s remaining shadows.
“Jagger, look,” Liam whispered, jutting his head toward a beat-up car parked in the front of the building.
A shot of renewed fear set in when they got closer, and Jagger saw the condition of the driver’s side door.
It was open. The window was shattered. And there was blood.
So much blood.
It was everywhere. On the tiny shards of glass on the ground, and those still stuck in place. It was splattered and smeared on the window’s metal frame. The driver’s seat, console…and beyond.
Talia.
Jagger and the others stopped in their tracks.
“If that’s hers...” He couldn’t bring himself to finish the thought for the feeling that his heart was being savagely forced from his chest. “Ah, fuck. Christian…” His fingers gripped the butt of his pistol tightly.
Sharing a look that said the man was there for him, no matter what the outcome may be, Christian cleared his throat and took control of the situation once more.
To Echo Team, he said, “Just like we talked about.” He lasered in on Emmett. “We’ll take the inside, you and your team clear the perimeter and then stand guard.”
“Copy that.” Emmett gave a single nod of his dark head.
