Page 86 of Covert Operation
The man holding my hair shoves me hard, and I flail as I start to go down, landing hard against an unforgiving wood chair. Myhead’s spinning and my heart’s racing as my brain tries to make sense of things.
The man takes full advantage of my disoriented state, quickly zip tying my legs to the chair and my hands behind my back. He pulls the plastic so tight it cuts into my skin and cuts off circulation.
Lydia is slammed down into a chair next to me before being bound in the same way. Unlike me, she is full of fight and rage.
The man wrestling her grunts as she manages to get a kick in. But before she can try for a second, the guy who grabbed me backhands her across the face, leaving a trail of blood leaking from a cut across her cheekbone.
Seeing her assaulted, snaps me out of my stupor and I turn to him. “Who are you? Why are you doing this? We haven’t done anything to you.”
The man’s eyes linger on Lydia. “She hasn’t.” His attention comes my way. “Butyouare the reason my brother is dead.” He leans down, resting both hands on the arms of my chair as his face hovers in front of mine.
A face that seems oddly familiar.
“If it wasn’t for you, Ivan would still be here and we would still be making fucking money.” He leans closer, bringing us nearly nose to nose. “But you fooled him, didn’t you? Made him think you cared about him. Convinced him to let his guard down.” His breath is hot as it fans over my face. “Because of you I lost everything. My brother. My business.” His lips pull into a sickening smile. “And now the same thing is going to happen to you.” He straightens, pulling a phone from his pocket beforesetting it up on a tripod aimed directly at me. “And your sister’s going to get to watch every second of it.”
THIRTY-SIX
ZEKE
“WHAT DO YOU mean Maddox’s phone is off?” I push my foot closer to the floorboard, accelerating as I fly down the interstate, the rest of my team following in a line behind me.
“I mean his phone is off.” Isaac’s voice is tense. “I’m pulling up his last calls and searches now to see if we can find out where they were going.”
“Do it fucking faster.” Maddox is with Savannah. He never would have left her side, so if we can figure out where he’s at, we’ll figure out where she is.
Luca’s phone starts to ring beside me. He shows me the screen displaying Christian’s name before answering it. He listens for a second, brows lifting. “You did? Give it to me.” He reaches for the GPS displayed on the screen in the dash, typing in an address as Christian feeds it to him. After calculating for a second, it displays our route options and the time each one will take us. Luca chooses the fastest route, shaving ten minutes off the ETA before giving it to Christian.
I grip the wheel tighter, making it creak as I weave through traffic.
“Do you want me to alert the authorities?” Isaac asks.
If I knew the cops would handle this the way I would, I wouldn’t hesitate. But if this turns into a hostage situation, it won’t end well. “No. They’ll just get them killed.”
I don’t know exactly who is behind this, but I can narrow it down. There’s only one reason anyone would be after Savannah, so this must be connected to Ivan and the group that attempted to blackmail Sadie into helping them smuggle drugs and weapons into Russia. I can’t imagine they’re attempting to pull off the same thing twice, so it’s got to be retaliation.
That means the only way Savannah and Lydia will survive this is if I get to them before they’re killed. There is no way they will let the women live through this, so I have to take the pricks out first.
Beside me, Luca ends his call with Christian, immediately connecting to another incoming, brows pinched together as he answers.
“Fuck.” He swears loudly, raking one hand through his hair. “When did this happen?” He swears again before turning to me. “Drive fucking faster.”
“Who is that? What’s happening?” My foot is on the floor and I lay on the horn, trying to get some asshole in a Mustang out of my way. Giving up on him moving, I jump onto the shoulder to go around him.
“Someone just sent Sadie a video of Savannah.”
My heart stutters to a stop. “Is she alive?” If she’s not, the next drive I take will be right into one of the concrete dividers.
“In the video she is alive.” Luca says it carefully, because unless it’s a live stream, there are no guarantees.
“Send Jamison the address. I want as many people there as we can get, because I’m getting her out of there alive.” There is no alternative. I can’t go through this again. I can’t lose her. I won’t survive it.
I loved Kendra. Would have probably married her if things had been different.
But Savannah... There’s no way I could go on without her here.
Beside me, Luca rattles off the address then ends the call.
“Heidi and Harlow are trying their best to get eyes on the place, but it’s in the middle of nowhere.” Isaac’s voice startles me. I’d all but forgotten he was still on the line.