Page 75 of The Knight

“Package is lost, repeat, package is?—”

“Visual contact north of?—”

“Red team, immediate response required?—”

“Leo, no visual on primary?—”

The voices of his team faded to white noise in his earpiece. All he heard was the absence of the one voice he needed. Freya was being taken further from him with every second.

He pitched out of the alley and onto the main street. People were everywhere. Disorientated, milling in confused knots that disrupted his sight lines and slowed the approach of fire engines. Blue emergency lights from police cars sluiced color from the night. The Dorchester’s facade loomed behind him while London traffic flowed in both directions. It was impossible to tell what car Freya might be in.

Fuck.

Rain plastered his clothes to his skin, but he was oblivious to the cold. His gun was useless metal in his hand.

They had Freya. His Freya.

A hand landed on his shoulder.

He spun, the contact serving as touch paper to ignite his fury. “They have her. How the hell did Korolov have an extraction plan this refined?”

Kat jerked backward. The Glock in her hand looked too comfortable. “Diversionary tactics, tranq dart—this was a prepared operation.” Her words cut through the rain. “Someone’s been feeding Korolov intel.”

“I said this was too dangerous—” Something snapped inside him. His pain was unstoppable.

He lunged for Kat.

40

A hard bodyslammed into Abe, toppling him sideways.

Fox.

Abe stumbled, then regained his balance. “She?—”

Fox hammered his fist into Abe’s jaw. “You won’t find her like this. Get yourself under control.”

Abe staggered backward, cradling his throbbing jaw. The pain penetrated the fog in his head, his heartbeat slowing as his thoughts regained clarity.Fox is right.

Fox stepped closer and gripped his face, forcing eye contact. He swatted the tender spot he’d inflicted on Abe’s jaw.

Abe flinched, hissed in pain. “Fox, what the?—”

“That’s your reminder,” Fox said in a commanding voice. He released Abe’s face and gripped his shoulders, eyes locked on his. “I know she’s everything, and I know you’re hurting. We’ll find her. But not like this. We need clear heads, or we’re both fucked. You good?”

Abe took a breath, forcing himself back on line. He was no use to Freya any other way. “I’m good.”

Fox released him with a clipped nod.

“What do we know?” Leo materialized from the crowd, his white shirt soaked and plastered to his body. The look on his face promised extreme violence.

“Track and trace options are limited.” Fox shook his head. “Her earrings have an embedded locator, but maximum range is five hundred feet. We need a general location first.”

“Intel compromise confirmed.” Kat’s voice was winter-cold. “Korolov had inside information. This was a precision extraction.”

“Only people in that meeting knew.” Zak’s eyes were dark.

“We’re missing one person from that meeting.” Abe holstered his weapon and yanked out his phone.