Chapter 31
“You can’t bring Sidney to him.” Roger practically lept out of the chair.
Again, they were gathered in the conference room with a timer on the monitor to let them know how long they had to put a plan together. They weren’t even sure if he had any other men or women helping him.
Crash sat with his hand tangled in his hair as his head dropped down. Allyson was his world, and he would do anything for her, but he couldn’t risk Sidney’s life, and nobody would let him.
“He’s not getting her,” Titus said with his hands placed flat on the table.
“You don’t have any say in what we do here. Don’t forget, you’re the reason we’re all in this fucking mess.” Axel glared at the man.
Keith, James, Nick, Aaron, Crash, Roger, Sandy, Axel, and Rex sat around the conference table trying to put a plan together that wouldn’t put Sidney in danger and get Allyson home safely.
Elijah paced behind Crash, his hands linked, resting on top of his head. Allyson was his family, but he agreed Sidney couldn’t be put in danger.
They were discussing different plans, but Crash only half listened as he watched Titus at the end of the table. There was something he wasn’t telling them, and Crash was about to ask when the door of the room slammed open.
“I want to help,” Sidney said through heavy pants.
“How did you find out about this?” Roger jumped up to his feet.
“Mom told me what was going on, but you should’ve been the one to tell me. Allyson is in trouble because he wants me, and I’m not going to let her get hurt.” Sidney glared up at Roger.
“You’re not doing this,” Roger raised his voice.
“I’m a grown woman with as much tactical training as most military personnel. I can do this.” Sidney wasn’t backing down.
“You’re not going near that psychopath,” Titus shouted as he shot to his feet.
The room went completely silent as all eyes turned to Titus, who was practically vibrating at the end of the table. Crash never saw the man lose his cool, ever.
“Who the hell do you think you are?” Sidney scoffed.
“I’m your father. That’s who I am, and that man isn’t getting close to you.” Titus stopped as if he realized what he’d said.
Roger’s eyes narrowed, and Sidney’s mouth opened and closed several times, but nothing came out. The rest of the room was dumbfounded. How did nobody know about this?
“You’re her father?” Axel said slowly.
Titus fell back into the chair and let out a string of curses. He clearly didn’t want this secret revealed at all. He pulled his hands down over his face, and Crash saw the tears in the man’s eyes.
“You were never supposed to know,” Titus whispered.
“You’d rather I believe my father abandoned me and my mother and left us with a murderer?” Sidney finally spoke.
“It was what your mother wanted.” Titus’s pained expression told Crash this wasn’t easy for the man.
“Why?” Sidney asked.
“Because Emir would’ve killed her and you. I met your mother when she came to visit a friend in Canada. Emir brought her with him, but he allowed her to stay with her friend. He’d given orders that Halima wasn’t to leave the house without an escort.” Titus blew out a slow, shaky breath.
“The friend didn’t listen,” Sidney said.
“No, her friend was married to Virgil. She was also from Syria, but she’d moved here with her parents when she was a teenager. It’s why Virgil could speak the language,” Titus said as he glanced between Crash and Axel.
“He knew about this too?” Crash asked.
“He didn’t know Sidney was my daughter, but he knew Halima and I were in love.” Titus looked back to Sidney. “Emir had arranged for her to marry a man in Syria, but I think somehow he figured it out.”
“Why would you say that?” Roger asked.
“Nasir said he was suspicious. He was the one who planned the extraction to make it look as if he wasn’t involved. He wasn’t the monster I led you to believe. The name on the papers you received was changed from Emir to Nasir, but everything went wrong when Emir suspected his brother of helping me.”
Titus picked up a folder and held up a picture of a man. He looked familiar, but Crash couldn’t place him.
“This man double-crossed Nasir and told Emir about the plan, but it ended up biting him in the ass because he ended up very badly burned in the fire after the explosion. They arrived the same time you did, and his men were the ones who killed Virgil and Dale.”
“Torch was the man who went to Emir,” Keith muttered.
“Yes, he’s been Emir’s right hand, and if what Nasir told me was true, the guy would die before he crosses Emir,” Titus said.
James was on the phone right away, calling someone to make sure the men arrested were put on suicide watch. The last thing they wanted was these guys taking the easy way out.
“Why the fuck do you have to keep countless secrets?” Crash shot to his feet. “If we’d known this…”
“What? You could’ve been extra careful? This guy won’t stop until he gets what he wants or someone takes him out.” Titus stood up. “We have less than an hour to put a plan together, but you,” he pointed at Sidney. “Are not getting involved.”
Sidney slowly stood up and rested her tiny fists on the table. She leaned closer to Titus and looked him straight in the eyes.
“You don’t and won’t tell me what to do. You may be my biological father, but you don’t own me. Isn’t the reason I’m in danger because my uncle wants to run my life. No. Nobody is doing that. If I have to become the bait to get Allyson back to her family, I’ll do it, and you can sit down and shut your mouth.” Sidney’s body shook with rage.
There was no way out of it. She wasn’t going to back down, and from what Roger told them, she was very well trained. As the plan was put together, Crash watched the time tick down, waiting for the call. Titus looked as if he’d been chewing glass, and Sidney didn’t even flinch as they set out the plan before her.
“We’ll have you in view the whole time. We’ll make a better plan when we know where this is happening,” Keith explained.
“I trust you guys. Plus, I’ll be armed, too.” Sidney pulled a black box out of her backpack.
She pressed her thumb against the top of it, and there was a soft click. When she pulled out a Walther PDP F-Series and proceeded to take it apart and put it back together again, the whole room watched with wide eyes.
“That’s a nice piece.” Nick whistled.
“It’s my favorite. I have a Sig Sauer P365, too,” she said proudly.
“They’re registered,” Roger answered James before he could ask the question.
“Good,” James replied.
Crash’s phone rang, and everyone turned toward him. He glanced at the number, but it wasn’t Allyson. Sandy tried to ping her phone after the call, but she had no luck. He tapped the screen and waited a second before he spoke.
“Hello,” Crash stared at the phone.
“Hello, my friend. Are we ready for the exchange?” Crash looked up at Sidney, and she nodded confidently.
“Yes,” Crash replied.
“Really? That seems almost too easy,” Emir said with a sinister chuckle.
“Where do we make the exchange?” Crash snapped.
“Oh, there won’t be an exchange…”
“You son of a bitch, you said if I brought her to you, Allyson would be returned.” Crash fisted his hands on either side of the phone, which sat on the table.
“Such nasty language, but I did say you’ll get her back when I have Aya, and you will, but I’ll send her your location when Aya and I are free.”
“How do I know we can trust that Allyson will be safe?” Crash didn’t trust the man for a second.
“I’ll give you my word,” Emir promised.
“And I’m supposed to take the word of a killer?” Crash probably shouldn’t be provoking him.
“If you want her back, yes.” Emir sounded annoyed.
“Fine. Where am I meeting you?” Crash asked.
“Oh no, B, my friend. Aya will receive instructions once you send me her number. I’ll instruct her where to meet me and when I have her with no tricks. I’ll send Allyson’s location.”
This guy was nuts if he thought they were sending Sidney by herself, but he had to think he was winning. Crash gave him the number of the phone Keith issued to Sidney when the whole thing started.
“She’s to come alone, or my men will make sure nobody leaves this location alive. She’s to be there first thing in the morning,” Emir said before the call ended.
Sandy had Sidney’s phone up on the large screen, waiting for the text from Emir. Minutes seemed to tick by like hours, and when Crash thought the bastard tricked them, a message appeared on the screen from an unknown number.
Sandy immediately started to let her fingers fly over the keyboard of her laptop, bringing up a map of the large area about twenty minutes. It was a large area of woods between Hopedale and Summerbrook. Hunters used shacks during moose season, but Crash wasn’t familiar with the area himself.
“That’s a pretty big area,” Axel said.
“I’m assuming that red pin is where he wants her to meet him,” Sandy pointed to the flag.
“How the hell is she supposed to get in there? That’s a lot of thick woods and brush.” Crash could see there wasn’t a whole lot of open space.
“I know that area.” Elijah moved to the map. “My dad and Uncle Lewis used to take me there hunting.”
Elijah turned around with a huge smile on his face.
“I know that place like the back of my hand,” Elijah slapped his hand against the screen.
“Are you sure? You’ve been away for years. That could’ve grown in a lot since then.” Keith scanned the map.
“I’m sure. Uncle Lewis still hunts with Dad, and they go there all the time. The only problem is, with the snow, it’s going to be a hard hike to that clearing.”
Crash didn’t care what it took; he was getting to Allyson, and if what Elijah said was true, she was in one of those shacks. Hopefully, the ones showing on the aerial shot of the area were the only ones there.
“He wants me there by morning so we can go scope out the place before it gets dark.” Sidney pulled her backpack on, but her gun was tucked in the waist of her jeans.
“Let’s go,” Crash shot to his feet.”