They are hurting her.
Rodrigo had built a fortress around his heart, brick by impenetrable brick, but Giana had always been the one crack in his walls. A fissure he had ignored for years, pretending it wasn't there. Now, fear for her was prying it open with a crowbar, and the fury he kept locked away was about to pour out.
"Izabella," he said, trying to keep his voice steady. "Can you isolate the face and run it against every database we have? Interpol, FSB, MI6, CIA. Your private network. I want a name."
"Already on it," she said, her fingers flying again.
"I need a strike team."
"I'll make the call," Dario said immediately, pulling out his phone. "Our best unit is on standby in Cyprus. We can have them in Izmir in four hours."
"No."
"Rodrigo," Dario said carefully. "They are Colleoni men and are the best."
"They are," Rodrigo agreed, his gaze still fixed on the still image of the alleyway, "which is why they are currently deployed protecting shipping routes for a client, a fact that isnotpublic knowledge."
He turned to face them, letting them see the frozen calm that had settled over him at last.
"Giana was taken from a café in Bodrum with a professional crew. They knew her schedule and that she had no security to reach her in time. They moved her north to a major port city, a known hub for smugglers. This is not a random kidnapping for ransom."
He let the implication hang, heavy and poisonous.
"This was an inside job," Dario breathed, the realization dawning on his face. "You think someone in our organization sold her out?"
Rodrigo gave a sharp, definitive nod. "You were watching her, Dario, and using our people to do it, which means a Colleoni asset gave Giana's kidnappers the intel, whether it was intentional or not. We can't trust a Colleoni team to bring her back right now."
Rodrigo looked at Leo, whose connection to the Edgeworth family through his engagement to Dante Hill was now his best chance of getting Giana back. "I'm not using our people. I'm…asking for your help. Please,Leone. Help me get her."
Leo's eyes widened slightly. He understood the magnitude of what Rodrigo was asking. To request the Edgeworths was to admit a vulnerability and incur a debt.
Leo's assassin smile flickered. "You're asking nicely. This must be serious. Should I warn them we might be dealing with more than just guns?"
"I don't know yet. That's what scares me." Rodrigo hated to admit weakness, even to his brother. "If it does involve magic of some kind, I'm going to need people who can handle that too."
"Okay, I'll wake up Dante," Leo said, getting to his feet with a grin. "He's crashed out in the spare room."
"No. Get me Silas, if you can. He's the boss." Rodrigo knew this was not a request he could delegate. He liked and respected Silas, and this was a debt he would own personally.
Iz's hands paused over her keyboard. She looked from Rodrigo to Leo, her expression unreadable but for the flicker of understanding in her sharp eyes.
"Let me call. He's less likely to growl at me than at you at this time of night," she said and reached for her phone.
Iz was Silas's soft spot, and if anyone could convince him to get out of bed and go on a retrieval mission at a moment's notice, it would be her.
Leo still disappeared into a room and came out moments later with his hair ruffled and lips reddened, a sleepy and bedraggled Dante behind him. Tall and blond, his little brother's new fiancée was another mercenary whose hands were as bloody as his own.
"Where are we going, and who are we killing?" Dante asked and stretched.
"Izmir and everyone," Rodrigo replied without hesitation. "We leave as soon as possible. I'll need Athena and Kon, too. I need ghosts. Hunters. So tell Athena no flamethrowers or explosives."
Dante pulled a face. "You're not giving her much incentive to get out of bed."
"She can take as many blades as she likes?" Rodrigo suggested.
"She usually does," Leo said, a vicious little grin on his face.
Rodrigo folded his arms. "Well, if she can'thandlea smash and grab without all the toys, then maybe she should stay behind."
