“This is a terrible idea.” Agent Collins, who sat in the SUV’s driver’s seat, had muttered the same phrase repeatedly since he and his partner had picked up Rich and Webster fifteen minutes earlier. He clearly wasn’t happy about having two civilians on board, even if both were former Special Forces and more highly trained than his rookie self likely was.
Rich balled his fist and stared out the front window at the frigid morning. He wanted to punch the back of the young DEA agent’s seat, but Web’s knowing look stopped him. They’d only been allowed to ride along on this operation because Isaiah had stepped in. Apparently, he wielded more clout than Dana had let on. He probably also wanted someone he trusted near Dana. Isaiah had stayed behind with Emily to deal with the local police.
Collins muttered something about cowboys and arrogance.
Yeah? Well, that goes both ways, buddy.
They’d been issued a stern warning before they climbed into the vehicle. One interference and they’d find themselves on the side of the road. They were to remain in the building where the command center was being established and wait for Dana to be freed. No heroics.
Well, Rich couldn’t promise he wouldn’t get involved if Dana needed him.
He was about to start now. It was all he could do not to dump Collins on the side of the road. His deepest desire was to throw the guy out and floor the SUV to the office park where Dana was being held.
But he knew that wouldn’t do any good. If there was a purpose to this, then they needed to see it through to God’s end, not Rich’s. From what he’d picked up from the conversation between Collins and his partner, multiple federal agencies were prepared to converge on an office park outside Albany, waiting for the call to take down their targets. As the lead intel vehicle, the agents in the front seat had been tasked with verifying Dana’s location and the arrival of higher-ups from the Hernandez cartel and the Marquez family.
The female agent in the passenger seat held Web’s phone, tracking the shoes. As they turned in the main drive of the office park, Agent Drummond lifted her head and peered out the front window. “I’ve lost the signal.”
Rich leaned forward, the seat belt catching on bruised skin. They’d lost her. Because Hernandez’s men had discovered the tracker? Or because they’d tossed her lifeless body into a pond?
Digging his fingers into his thigh, Rich fought horrific images. Collins was right about one thing. This entire plan had been a terrible idea. They never should have let Dana out of their sight. They never—
Web’s elbow dug into Rich’s side. “Trust.”
Rich balled his fists. Trust. Trust Dana was safer in God’s hands than in his. How? He was used to being in control and having eyes on the target, not lying back and waiting for someone else to be the protector. If he didn’t have eyes on Dana...
Who was he kidding? He’d been right beside Amber, and she’d been poisoned before he even put together what was happening. Proximity meant nothing. Besides, he was unarmed. The agents had taken their cell phones and weapons before letting them ride along.
Web was telling him to trust. The man who’d lost a child and still believed God had a hand in his life.
It was hard to believe this was all going according to a plan he hadn’t been briefed on and would never understand.
Agent Drummond looked over her shoulder at Rich with a mixture of warning and compassion, then glanced at the phone. “Most likely she’s entered a building and the signal’s blocked. She could be in an elevator or stairwell. Her last location is the tall building at the back of the park, so we’re already on top of them. They have no room to slip past us.” The words were directed at her partner, but Rich had no doubt they were meant for his ears.
He leaned forward between the seats, desperate for a glimpse of the building the agent had indicated. A block away, a brand-new five-story building with reflective windows stood watch over the area. It had the perfect vantage point. Anyone inside could see who entered and left the park. If Rich was in that building with a high-value target, he’d have a sniper at every compass point, ready to fire at the first sign of trouble.
It was likely Hernandez’s men had done exactly that. “Approach is going to be difficult.”
“You think?” Collins was all sarcasm and newly minted agent swagger. “We’re working with the builder, and he’s found a narrow blind spot where we can breach. The team will stage in the building next door under the guise of an electrical truck. We’ve got this. You observe.”
Rich ground his teeth together.
Beside him, Web chuckled. Naturally. He’d always been the one on missions trying to lighten the mood and keep everybody loose. He’d definitely find Collins’s arrogance amusing.
Rich sure didn’t.
Agent Drummond rolled her eyes. Clearly, she was no Collins fan, either. “We’ll be in the staging area, but we’re not to be involved.” She turned almost fully around in her seat and pegged Rich with a commanding stare. “You are not to be involved.”
He forced himself to loosen his jaw, chafing under an order he honestly wasn’t certain he could follow. “Yes, ma’am.”
They cruised the office park, and Rich scanned the area. He couldn’t act, but he could gather intel. A few of the buildings were occupied, with Christmas trees shining in lobby windows. As they turned onto the street near their target, a grounds crew eyed the vehicle, watching it go by as they chatted around a truck that held mowing equipment. “Lookouts. The lot hasn’t been sodded. No need for the equipment.”
“Yep.” Agent Collins nodded. “That’s why we’re nothing more than a project manager and his crew, stopping by to check on construction.” He tossed a quick wave to the men and eased around the curve, as nonchalant as a dude trying to wrap up business before the holidays. “We’ll reel them in with the sweep.”
They rolled up to the two-story building across a small alley from Dana’s prison and parked next to an electrician’s van. Everyone climbed out, slamming doors and talking loudly about blueprints and building codes.
Rich was careful to keep his head down when all he wanted was to burst through the doors with guns blazing to rescue the woman he loved. It took all of his training, along with Web’s presence close behind him, to keep his feet moving in the right direction.
As he neared the door, the low rumble of a powerful engine and the hum of tires on pavement slowed his steps. In the reflection, a large SUV slipped by and pulled up to the five-story next door. Rich hesitated as the others entered before him, pretending to inspect the metal door frame as he watched the mirrored glass.
Web stopped beside him. “You seeing this?”
“Yeah.” Rich pointed at a random spot on the glass, and Web leaned closer, pretending to discuss it.
In the reflection, two big guys who looked like they could take out half of the neighborhood with a hand clap exited the front of the vehicle. One took a position near the passenger doors, scanning the area.
Rich kept his posture loose to keep from betraying his anxiety. He must be nailing the whole nonchalant thing, because the guy eyed him for only a moment before he returned to his surveillance.
The second man opened the back door and ushered out a tall, slim man and a woman who moved with the elegance of a ballet dancer.
A woman who had Dana’s chin and eyes.
His breath hitched. Jairo and Rachel Marquez had actually shown up? Did the feds see this?
Web opened the door. “We need to get inside. Now.”
No. Something was about to go down. He wanted to be a part of the action. Needed to charge into—
“Now,” his buddy commanded again.
Somehow, Web had matured into his voice of reason. Rich jerked open the door, trying to keep his hand steady and his gait nonchalant. He had one foot over the threshold when a series of pops rang out from next door.
He whipped toward the building as Jairo Marquez shouted an order. Goon Number One rushed toward the driver’s door while Goon Number Two shoved Jairo and Rachel into the back seat of the vehicle.
More gunfire on the fifth floor. A window splintered but didn’t break.
Then silence.
Heedless of the danger, Rich ran toward the gunfire with Web on his heels, like so many missions in the past.
Only this wasn’t a mission. Dana was in that building.
And the silence screamed he might already be too late.
Dana jumped the last three stairs and flung herself beneath them onto the landing, straining to hear above the ringing in her ears. Two flights above her, men shouted. It would take them a few minutes to sort out the chaos and get their feet under them again. Their bulletproof vests might have saved their lives, but the pain she’d inflicted was all too real.
She’d bought herself a minute or two, but she needed a place to hide and wait for the federal team to infiltrate the building. She had no intel on the threats surrounding her and no idea where the next danger hid. Waiting for rescue was her best option, especially since she’d angered Hernandez’s men.
She’d managed to surprise her captor and render him unconscious with a blow to the chin and a chokehold. Instead of the knife she’d expected, he carried a Glock 20. The ten-millimeter handgun was a lot of firepower for an underling in any organization. Her ears rang and her hands stung from the roar of the shots. The sniper and two guards had dropped, all wearing bulletproof vests, a clear indicator they were prepared to take the fight with Jairo and Rachel to the extreme. As soon as they gathered themselves after the force of the blows to their vests, they’d all be searching for her.
Below her, the seal on one of the heavy metal doors popped and footsteps slowly ascended the stairs. There was no way to tell if a friend or a foe headed her way.
She checked the magazine. Ten rounds left. The last thing she wanted to do was blast her way out of the building and risk taking a life unnecessarily. With a quick prayer that no sound would give away her position, she eased open the door to the third floor and slipped inside. She could hide in an office or find another closet or—
Her stomach dropped at the sight before her. Or she could give up now.
The third level was a wide-open floor plan with pillars spaced throughout as support. Floor-to-ceiling windows dominated three walls, pouring light into the room. She checked behind her. A nonworking elevator. The stairwell door. The framework of four smaller offices waiting to be enclosed with Sheetrock.
There was literally no place to hide. Returning to the stairwell was too risky. Whoever was headed up the stairs could be right outside the door. She’d have to make do with what she had.
Faint shouts rose from the windows on her left. Lots of shouts.
A slight smile quirked her lips, and momentary relief took the edge off her tension. If she had to guess, the tracker had done its job and the team was already outside. With a quick glance at the stairwell door, she slipped close to the wall studs and peeked out the window.
Three stories below, teams of heavily armed federal agents surrounded an SUV. Two large men lay facedown on the ground, guarded by multiple agents. A man and a woman were on their knees, hands behind their backs as federal agents took them into custody.
Her heart seized. The ringing in her ears intensified, drowning out the sounds from below.
Jairo and Rachel Marquez.
Against all reasonable sanity, her birth parents had shown up for the meet. “Why?”
Cold steel dug into the base of her skull, stopping her next breath. “Because they wanted to look their family disgrace in the eye. Their reach is farther than you know. They’ve known where you were all along. With the knowledge of your position with the government leaked to our community, no one would trust them if they left you alive. They were losing their business to me.” The voice was smooth, heavily accented and deadly with intent. “Now, hold your hands out to the sides. Grip the weapon loosely.”
The pain escaped in a soft whimper and she obeyed without thought. She’d been prepared for physical blows, but her already wounded emotions cracked under what the man didn’t say. Her birth parents wanted to look her in the eye when she died. They were prepared to sacrifice her for their business, and they’d planned to pull the trigger themselves.
Her throat tightened, and her eyes burned. The depth of betrayal, of apathy for her life. They hated her for who she’d become.
But they weren’t her true parents. Her parents had sacrificed everything for her, had laid their lives on the line for her. So had Rich.
Her shoulder straightened. Her resolve firmed. She would not die today. She would not allow Rich or her mother to endure that kind of pain.
Dana pulled in two breaths. Her training had prepared her for a moment like this. “What now? Jairo and Rachel are already in custody. You’re next.” She lifted her arms slowly higher, calculating her next move.
Whoever this guy was, he’d made one fatal mistake.
He held his gun within reach of a woman who knew how to turn the tables.
Ducking away from the barrel, she whirled and stepped under the man’s arm, throwing her hand up and over his. She twisted his arm down and away.
The gun fired into the floor.
Dana twisted harder and jerked his arm. With a cry, the man released the weapon. It fell at her feet.
She released him and stepped back to aim her pistol and solidify the upper hand in this fight.
He swung his foot, buckling her knee and stumbling her sideways. Before she could regain her balance, he swung again, his fist connecting with her chin in an explosion of stars and a roar of pain. Her pistol flew from her grip. She toppled backward into the window and slid to the floor, fighting to keep the darkness at bay. Fighting to stay alive.