Chapter 13 #2
Without him in the picture, Ally could be lost forever.
That was the only thing that had kept him sane.
The only thing that was helping him maintain a semblance of sanity now.
It wasn't that he doubted Delta Force team would do everything in their power to rescue Ally. Nor did he doubt that they would succeed. Of course, they would. They were the best of the best, but it wasn't the same. He had to be here. Ally needed him to be here.
Falcon was right about that. Mateo had spent an entire lifetime trying to prove to the world that he wasn't selfish like his family had been that long-ago night.
It was what had led him to become a cop, then to join Prey, and it had almost caused him to leave his girl behind because he never wanted anyone to compare him to the family he hated.
“We need to get a better idea of what we’re expecting when we get in there,” Gage “Lefty” Haskins reminded him as though he’d forgotten.
Just because he hadn't served in the military didn't mean that he didn't understand how to run an op like this. Well, at least he understood the basics. Maybe undercover work was what he’d dedicated most of his adult life to, but the underlying principles were the same.
Gather as much intel as you could and only make your move once you were sure it was the right one.
There was no denying that they didn't have intel yet to make a move, it was just that for the first time ever, he didn't care.
“Good news is there doesn’t seem to be a large number of guards,” Kane “Brain” Temple piped up.
“From what we’ve seen so far, there are half a dozen men who patrol the perimeter.
Even if we assume that they switch out at the twelve-hour mark, that still only means there are a dozen guards. That’s less than a two-to-one ratio.”
“Could be more inside,” Porter “Oz” Reed added. “But even if there are, with the low number of guards, I’m guessing there wouldn't be more than two assigned to be with Koa Rolland at any time, so I still think the odds are more than in our favor.”
“Once dark hits, we’ll make our move,” Troy “Lucky” Schmidt, continued.
“Chances are, by then, the guards who are off duty will be asleep, along with everyone else in the mansion. We take out the guards doing the perimeter checks silently, and we can make it inside before anyone even knows we’re here.
Then all we have to do is find your girl and get her out. ”
It vaguely crossed his mind to mention that Ally wasn't his girl, but that would be a lie. She’d always been his.
He’d picked the wrong path in his attempt to protect her, chosen secrecy when he should have chosen honesty, but that didn't change the facts. When he got her back, he’d do whatever it took to earn at the very least her forgiveness.
Even if she could no longer love him after what she’d been through because of him, he wasn't walking away again.
Made that mistake once before, and he had no intention of repeating it.
In whatever capacity she’d let him, he was staying in her life.
If it had to be as friends, then he’d respect that, but he loved her and wanted to find a way to get back what they’d shared before he’d messed everything up.
Somehow, he’d find a way to protect her in the future, balance his job with a relationship with her.
“Place is remote, so he probably won't be able to get in more guards if anything goes wrong and they’re alerted to our presence,” Craig “Doc” Wagner said. “So whoever is here is all that we have to deal with.”
“Remoteness probably also means that the guards don’t go home when they’re not on duty,” Fred “Grover” Groves added.
“The location has made him complacent. He thinks that he’s too far away from the cities, from law enforcement, that no one is going to know what he’s doing out here.
Now that’s going to work against him. There are five villages within a twenty-mile radius.
Doubt they have the means to come and defend Koa Rolland even if they wanted to, which I'm guessing they don’t. ”
“Most of them probably enjoy the employment opportunities here, though, so we shouldn’t count on the fact that there’s no loyalty there,” Trigger reminded them.
In the end, it didn't matter to Mateo how many people he had to kill to get to his girl. He’d flatten the earth to save her, whatever it took.
“I don’t see any outbuildings so far other than the main house,” Doc piped up. “Means wherever he houses staff is far removed from the mansion.”
“Maybe some make the journey home. Even if they all stay, there won't be more than we can—”
“Look,” Mateo said, cutting Brain off as he noticed something he didn't like in the least.
“More cars are arriving,” Trigger said from beside him.
“Guests, not staff,” Lefty added. “Because that was a limo.”
“Think he’s throwing a party?” Grover asked. “To show off his new acquisition?”
If Koa Rolland was throwing a party to show off the woman he’d just bought, he doubted he was just going to stand her on a pedestal and have everyone look at her and congratulate him on his purchase.
If he was throwing a party to show her off, that meant she was going to be the star attraction, which would likely involve, at the very least, Koa Rolland touching her during the party.
What exactly that looked like, he had no idea, but the man would want to put on a show.
The worst-case scenario was that she was the entertainment for the evening.
If she was …
“I think I have an idea, but I'm pretty sure that you're not going to think it’s a good one,” he warned the others.