Her abductor’s identity and motive were a far second place behind her need for survival. Lucky for her, she’d been training her entire adult life for situations exactly like this.
For now, all she could do was sit with her back to the corner of the room and wait.
“So we’ve got nothin’.”Jagger fumed as he stood with his feet shoulder-width apart. His hands went to his hips as he looked around the room. “That’s what you’re all tellin’ me, right? That we’ve got nothin’ to go on, and not one iota of a clue as to where to even start lookin’?”
Dear God, in Heaven.
It had been four hours since Ryker had woken him up from a dead sleep. An eternity, or so it seemed, since he’d beendreaming of Talia and a little girl with those same, beautiful eyes.
His gut churned with nauseating dread from knowing she’d been taken against her will. And while she’d been enduring only God knows what, he’d been sound asleep in her bed.
“We’re going to find her, Brooks.” Ryker made a promise they all knew he may not be able to keep.
“How?” he demanded. “We don’t even know where to start.”
“We’re trying, brother.” Liam stood with a determined expression next to Blake Savage. “We’ve been going through everything again, all the way back to the beginning in case there’s something we missed.”
In their hands were near-identical tablets, and the two computer geniuses looked as eager as ever to get to work. The rest of Jagger’s teammates, as well as the other Echo Team members were also present.
Minus Jimmy Baxter, of course.
From what Ryker had shared, not long after Jagger had left the two men in the parking lot, Baxter was officially dismissed of his duties via a phone call from R.I.S.C.’s creator, Jake McQueen. The incompetent operative was fired on the spot and sent back home.
“The beginning?” Jagger sent Liam a frown. “You’re talking about the port op in Chicago?”
Liam gave his shoulder a shrug. “That’s the night everything started. You said before that was when Talia found the first piece of evidence that someone had been stalking her?”
“The photo left inside her hotel room.” Jagger nodded. “It was a picture of Talia with an old friend.”
Christian chimed in next with an added, “That was the same friend whose obit was left on her car the other night, right?”
“Julian Miller,” he gave another confirming nod. “He was former CIA. Died three years ago on an op in Afghanistan. Fromwhat Talia shared, it was all a set-up,” Jagger explained. “There was an explosion that took out Miller and nearly killed Talia, too.” The second the words were out, another thought struck. One that had him muttering a low and angry, “Sinclair.”
“Who?”
All eyes turned to Gwen Winslow, who’d been listening from the other side of the room.
“Keith Sinclair,” Ryker answered the blonde explosives expert before Jagger could respond. “Makes sense, given their history.”
When he’d first flown her here, Jagger had felt guilty for having doubted Talia’s loyalty regarding her knowledge of Sinclair’s involvement with Sanchez. Now he was damn glad he’d decided to make the trip.
The members of Echo listened while Ryker gave them a quick rundown on Sinclair’s time working with Talia and Miller. As he spoke, Jagger looked around the room at all who were there to help.
Ryker, Jagger’s teammates, and the members of Echo were here, and ready to do whatever it took to get Talia back. But first, they had to figure out who was behind her abduction.
“Wait, what?” Gwen’s brown eyes grew big when Ryker got to the part about Sinclair having been at the port. “One of the men we took down in Chicago used to play spy games with Agent Foster?”
Echo’s Draven Brown gave an equally disbelieving shake of his head. “No way that can be a coincidence.”
“You think this was Sanchez’s doing?” Cade looked over at the weapons specialist. “His way of getting back at those who fucked up the delivery of the weapons that night?”
“It’s too soon to be sure.” Christian chimed in with his two cents. “But it’s definitely something we need to figure out.”
Jagger sent his team leader an appreciative stare. Every man on their team knew the torture of believing their soul mates were in danger of losing their lives. At one time or another, in a bizarre twist of fate, they’d all suffered evil’s afflictions toward those who mattered most.
For Jagger, that person was Talia. The incredible woman was his absolute everything. She was the one he wanted to spend the rest of his life loving.
A true partner in every sense of the word. Today. Tomorrow.
