Page 27 of Hazard

He looked into the distance, right at the massive green beast that mocked him. His gut clenched even tighter. “I think they’ve taken them into the gap, Skull.”

“Hazard!” Iceman called, his stance was as no-nonsense as it got. “Did I tell you to play tracker!”

Hazard stiffened. “No, Master Chief.” Hazard wasn’t immune to Iceman’s outburst and his boss was dealing with his own feelings of guilt. The fact was that no one thought some wayward Italian underworld money man would steer them out here where Leigh would be vulnerable for the purpose of devastating their leadership and kidnapping her. But they couldn’t think this way in the future. Alzate was not just ruthless, but cold-bloodedly manipulative. They wanted to protect their cocaine business, and he had to wonder if there was something else driving this whole train wreck. Something they weren’t seeing. Working like hell to keep his tone neutral, he looked at Skull who gave him a sympathetic squeeze.

“Don’t patronize me. Get your ass in here and get me a comm.”

Hazard tucked the picture of Leigh inside his vest and double-timed it back to the ruined TOC. Iceman grabbed his vest and jerked him close. “I know what you’re going through. You know that I know. When I lost Rose…” His voice trailed off. “But we have to stay on point now. If we're going to catch up to them, I need to contact command. Get it done.”

“But—”

“No buts, Hazard. We don’t have time for that. Move your ass.”

He gave him a not-so-gentle shove toward the building, and Hazard went inside, tamping down his suspicions. Leigh might be the catalyst, but they could have gotten to her anytime in the US. While he searched in the wrecked mess of the equipment, his mind twisted with the possibilities. Why wait until she was fortified behind concrete walls? It was because the cartel wanted to make an even bigger statement…like ambushing a whole team of SEALs and taking out their leadership in a coordinated effort. That would give the US government a black eye, especially for the team who had taken down NSH. That would have been an embarrassment of monumental proportions.

“Any luck?” Ice asked.

“No, it’s fried.” No matter how he jerry-rigged the transceiver, he couldn’t get it to work. He angrily swiped at the equipment, trying not to look at the bodies placed in a row under the awning of the building, realizing the last person to touch this equipment had been Jack. He was consumed with getting to Leigh and Anna and every minute they stayed here was ink on their death warrants. “We’re wasting time,” Hazard growled. “They’ve taken them into the gap, Iceman. I know it. It’s a straight shot from here, and they think they can get lost in that deathly maze. We have to go now. You know they’ll kill them—execute them publicly. They have no qualms about killing a federal prosecutor and a CIA operative.”

He went to rise, and Kodiak pushed him back into the chair. “Take off your shirt.”

“We don’t have?—”

“We have time. Ice is still formulating his plan. Now take off your shirt, or I’ll do it for you.”

“I think he means it, Goldilocks,” Boomer said, his expression telling him to stay calm and dial it down. Boomer had tempered his reactions to things, and in a TOC full of their dead, he was being a huge team player.

Seriously, could Hazard do any less? And on top of it, he trusted Iceman with his life. Hazard would follow him anywhere. Sending their medic a sour look, Hazard stripped off his vest and unbuttoned and pulled off his shirt with jerky movements. He could see butterflies, bandages, and smell antiseptic. The big man was making his rounds, and now it was Hazard’s turn.

His boss set his hands on his hips. “Ice, if they took them into Panama, we can’t make a decision to go into another country to retrieve Anna and Leigh without an okay.”

He looked at Preacher, and Hazard was already getting ready to protest.

“Sit still, Hazard,” Kodiak ordered.

Hazard gritted his teeth and complied as the big man cleaned his shoulder. With his gaze focused, he stitched inside his wound, then outside with just topical anesthesia, but the repair of his bullet graze didn’t hurt as much as his heart.

“Ice, we should have seen this coming,” Preacher said.

“Goddammit, Preach. I fucking realize that. What a major clusterfuck.” His chest expanded, and he released a hard breath, his features tightening, smothering his emotions. “Finish, Kodiak. We need to move,” he said quietly. “I’m making an executive decision. We’re going after them wherever they took them…into the gap, into a dragon’s maw, into hell.”

The team exchanged glances. “Now we’re talking,” Skull said.

“Hoo-yah!” Boomer yelled.

Hazard looked over to the six CNP members who were left from the eight who had been assigned to them. The man wouldn’t meet his eyes and shifted uneasily.

“What’s up, Manuel?” Iceman said, nothing escaping the man’s attention.

He looked toward the gap and shook his head, swallowing hard, fear clear in his eyes. They were going to lose six guns. “We will not go in there.” The whole team stopped what they were doing and turned toward Manuel. He shifted again, clearly uncomfortable, taking a step back. “We’re not authorized to go into that place.”

“Our people were taken into that place,” Boomer mocked, his shoulders tightening as he set his hands on his hips, a hard, cold expression on his face, his jaw set.

“I am sorry for them, but we cannot go.”

“That’s bullshit, Manuel. You’re just afraid of the gap,” Skull said, staring at him, his eyes flat and hostile.

“I’m sorry,” he said again, then turned, motioning to the others as they filed out of the razed TOC and walked away.