Page 66 of Fighting for Lucy
He had no idea how he knew that, but deep down in his gut, something told him it was true.
If he wanted to find a way to save her, he had to open his eyes, gather as much intel as he could, and pray for a miracle.
It wasn’t rocket science to know that the miracle was really all that was going to work.
Last time he would have died along with his team if they hadn't been rescued. Why should he believe that this time was any different?
Why should he believe that rescue would arrive at all let alone in time?
In time to save Lucy at least.
Because if he watched her die and then was rescued, he didn't want to live. He wasn’t even sure that vengeance would be a strong enough motivator to keep him alive. Already he’d learned that there were more important things in life than revenge. For eighteen months it had kept him alive, but the best decision he’d ever made was letting go of it for Lucy’s sake.
She came first.
Before everything.
Including himself.
This time around, he wouldn’t be holding back, wasn’t going to be silent, if there was a way to talk their abductors into letting Lucy go and taking his life instead then he would gladly take it.Whatever pain he suffered before his life was over would be well worth it if it kept his girl alive.
“Zander?”
The weak call of his name from the woman he was well and truly prepared to die for was enough to drag his weak and uncooperative body out of its haze.
His eyes snapped open and immediately he wished they hadn't.
Given Raul Castillo’s stubborn streak and inability to let things go even when he was pursuing something that was no long in his best interest, Zander had expected to find himself and Lucy back in Mexico, prisoners of the weapons dealer.
But this sure as hell wasn’t Mexico.
There was no jungle. Instead, around them were the rocky mountains he remembered far too well. Scenery that was forever burned into his mind’s eye along with the stench of blood and the echoes of agonized screams.
This was Syria.
They hadn't been taken by Raul Castillo, they’d been taken by Zimraan Mostafa.
How was it possible that the brother of a Syrian terrorist cell had been able to find him on the other side of the world within hours of the raid that had killed his brother and broken up the cell?
Simply put, it shouldn’t be possible.
While in theory there was a chance that Zimraan might have been able to track him down, it would have taken both time and money. Given that the cell had been raided and most of their men killed with a few captured, money should be an issue. But even if Zimraan still had access to money, how had he managed to get the location of both Zander’s house and Prey so quickly?
And how had the man even known that Zander was associated with Prey?
He’d been Delta Force before his team’s capture and subsequent deaths, no affiliation with Prey, although he had worked a joint mission years ago with one of Prey’s teams. But there was no possible way that a young Syrian wannabe terrorist could know that he was working with Prey to help bring down a feared weapons trafficker.
Unless …
Was it possible that the mole at Prey had somehow managed to make contact with Zimraan and sold the intel?
If so, why?
What could they possibly have to gain by having him and Lucy abducted and murdered?
It was one thing to sell off the Reactivator, the drug that Lucy, Scarlett, and their team had been working on. The drug would give soldiers a substantial advantage in the field so it was a definite game changer and could save thousands of lives. Selling it would have gotten the mole a bag full of cash, and that was something he could see motivating a person.
But this …?