Colt jumped in, waiting until Cannon gave the signal. Then, they were moving. Racing down that road then splitting up. Taking parallel routes. Avoiding getting spotted in case McCormick had men watching. Following behind. Cannon was calling out directions, obviously from the drone. Kam was bitching in the back, trying to shove Ice off her. Demanding a damn phone so she could trace Ellis’ GPS—ifthe other one kicked in.Ifit worked as planned.
Six made a sharp right, sliding a sideways glance at Colt. “She’ll be okay. She’s tough. And we’ll be there to bust in before he can finish accessing her server.”
“If it all works out. If the drone doesn’t get sidelined. If that bastard hasn’t killed her, already. If that fucking GPS works.”
He shook his head, holding onto the frame as Six threw the vehicle around another turn. “If he hurts her, he’s dead. I don’t care what it costs. How long it takes. I’ll hunt the bastard to Somalia. Afghanistan. Russia. Jungle, desert, mountains. There won’t be a square inch on this Earth he’ll be able to hide that I won’t find him.”
“How about we just take him out, here, and save you all that travel.”
Colt looked over at his buddy. “You shouldn’t even be here, let alone driving.”
“I’m fine. Spent forty-eight hours sitting on my ass. Besides, I’d rather not end up wrapped around a pole because you’re too fixated on Ellis.”
“I’m perfectly calm.”
Six sighed, glancing at Ice and Kam in the back. “I’m not judging, Colt. If that crazy bastard had ahold of the woman I loved, I wouldn’t be seeing straight, either. In fact, you probably would have had to tie me up because I wouldn’t have had the strength to go through with this. Would have been selfish and just hogtied her in my car and disappeared.”
“I was considering that until El took down that CIA guard with some spinning, ninja move. She’d have my balls before I could get the rope.”
“I heard. Would have liked to have seen that.”
“You might still get the chance because there’s no way in hell this isn’t going down without a fight. I just hope she doesn’t get caught in the crossfire.”
“We’ve never let a brother down before on a mission. Not starting, now.”
Colt looked over at Six, praying the man was right. That the confidence wasn’t misplaced.
“Vehicle just entered a factory warehouse. Hold and stay sharp.”
Cannon’s voice. Steady. Commanding. Bringing back memories of all the missions they’d been through. Six was right. They’d always brought their brothers home. Not always without injury, but home.
Six pulled over behind a parked vehicle—blended in as they waited. Kam had Ice’s phone. Had accessed the secure server that would track Ellis’ GPS once it came online. Nothing to do but wait.
Long, endless silence. Eating up Colt’s sanity. Testing that calm he’d just mentioned to Six.
A blast of static, then Cannon. “Shit. Four identical Suburbans just left the warehouse. No plates. Midnight, take the one going south. Rigs, North. I’ll go east. Six, stay on the one heading northwest.”
Six grunted, pulled out then hit the gas. Cannon called out a few street names, and Six took the next left, peeling around the corner. Fishtailing the Jeep into his lane. He raced through a red light, dodging the cars as if he could see them coming before he got there. Down a few side streets, over two alleys, and the vehicle appeared in front of them.
His buddy slowed, snuck in behind two other cars as he kept a safe distance back. It was impossible to tell if this was the one holding Ellis. The windows were heavily tinted, not even a dim outline showing through. And with it still pitch-black outside, they were stuck wondering. Hoping.
Colt looked back at Kam. “Anything, yet?”
She shook her head.
Six’s hand landed on Colt’s forearm. “Ellis said it would take twenty to thirty minutes for that gelatin barrier blocking the battery to dissolve—allow it to complete the circuit and start sending out a signal. And that was just an estimate. It’ll work.”
“I can’t believe I’m trusting her life to a damn parlor trick.”
“A brilliant one. I’m not sure I would have thought to delay the transmitter by wedging a piece of a capsule between the contact and the battery. Then swallow it. Let her body do the rest. That is why she kissed you, right? To cover up swallowing it?”
“That, and I’m a great kisser.”
“Right. That girl’s something else.” Six nudged him. “You finally going to tell her you’re still insanely in love with her? Or are Ice and I going to have to beat it out of you?”
“Why don’t you worry about keeping on this guy’s tail, and I’ll worry about what I’ll say to El.”
“Opting for the beating. I’ll let Ice have the first round.” Six slowed the vehicle. “Shit. They’re going into one of the piers under the port authority. We don’t have clearance for that.”
