Jagger added a belated, “Watch your backs. And remember…Talia is the priority.”
“We’ve got you, Brooks.” Gwen’s big eyes met his. “If she’s here, we’ll find her.”
With that, the members of Echo Team took off around the building with their weapons up and at the ready. They followed Emmett’s silent commands as Jagger began making his way to the building’s front entrance.
“Dammit, Brooks. Wait up!” Christian hissed from behind.
He refused to wait. Talia needed him, and every second could be the difference between life and her death.
I’m coming, darlin’. Just need you to hang on a little while longer.
Jagger entered the building first with Christian and the others covering his six. His gut churned and his heart sank to his feet when they followed a trail of blood to the room at the end of the narrow hall.
A man lay dead in the middle of the floor. The back of his skull had been viciously bashed in.
“Think this was her?” Rocky asked no one in particular as the Delta men and Ryker stood around their second corpse of the night.
A small pool of blood was in one corner of the room, the wall behind it smeared with more of the same. More of the crimson liquid marred the floor in smears and splatters.
Jagger stood beside the others, staring back down at the beefy corpse. From the damage to the guy’s head, if Taliawasthe one who’d killed him, she’d been damn pissed when it happened.
That’s my girl.
Speaking of Talia, they’d cleared the building and there was still no sign of her or Miller, aside from the terrifying amount of blood.
“Echo One, this is Delta Six.” Jagger used the borrowed comms unit to speak directly to Emmett.
“Echo One, copy.” Emmett’s deep voice sounded through the tiny mic in Jagger’s ear.
“Building’s clear,” Jagger informed the other man. “Any sign of Talia or Miller out back?”
“Negative, Delta Six. But there’s still a lot of land and trees to cover. We’re heading into the trees now.”
“Be careful,” he ordered next. Looking to Christian and the others, he assumed, “We’ll cover the land to the west.”
She’s here, somewhere. She has to be.
Jagger started across the room, a sudden and unexplained certainty growing with each step he took. When he got back outside, the cold breeze striking his skin helped clear the spiraling emotions and thoughts filling his head.
“I’ll go meet up with Emmett and those guys,” Christian told him. “Help them look through the trees.”
He gave his team leader a nod as Brody, and Rocky followed. Meanwhile, Cade, Liam, and Ryker chose to stay with Jagger.
Together, the four men headed for a large lot of tall, smooth grass. Jagger’s heart raced as he told himself over and over that Talia was still alive.
He loved her. He couldn’t lose her now. And sure as hell, not like this.
Come on, baby. Show me where you are. I need to see you and hold you and know that you’re okay.
Despite the innate sense that she was alive and she was here, Jagger’s next few steps brought with them a growing sense of dread. But then?—
Liam’s hand shot out, grabbing hold of Jagger’s upper arm and pulling him to a stop. Staying quiet, the other man pointed to something up ahead.
It took Jagger a few seconds to locate what his teammate had seen.
A body.
The bile that had been churning in his stomach threatened to shoot straight into his throat. He took off in a dead sprint, his own safety be damned.
