Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen
Devon was about to knock on the still-closed door when it swung open, and he took in Ian’s wild expression. He knew immediately what he saw in the blue eyes so similar to his own—terror… sheer terror. “What’s wrong?”
Instead of telling him, his brother shoved his phone in Devon’s face, so he could read the text Ian had received seconds earlier.
Angel
Kidnappers called. They’re at 1795 Route 301. I’m trading myself for Jenn. Hurry.
“Ah, fuck!”
Ian ran to the reception area. “We gotta move! Now!”
The team, former SEALs, Chase’s men, Carter, Athos, the feds, and cops came running and followed the Sawyer brothers into the parking lot.
“We’ve got an address. Not only do they have Jenn,” Ian paused and looked directly at Athos, “but they contacted Angie on her cell, and she decided to play Wonder Woman. She’s on her way to trade herself for Jenn. ”
Athos’ eyes mirrored the same fear which was in Ian’s.
Around them was a chorus of curses and frustrated groans.
The men knew there was no way the kidnappers would let Jenn go, even if they had Angie.
Not meaning to, Ian’s little angel had made their job twice as hard, and when he got a hold of her, she wouldn’t be able to sit for a month.
He’d make sure of it, but first, they had to rescue the two women he loved.
“Where are they?”
The question came from Stonewall, and Ian looked at Carter, who gave him a slight shake of the head.
Ian agreed. They were doing this without the local law enforcement’s involvement.
This is what his team did best. If they let the cops and feds show up at the scene, it would become a cluster-fuck in the first degree, with Jenn and Angie’s lives on the line.
The FBI and Tampa P.D. had protocols that, by law, they had to follow.
Trident didn’t have those restraints, and it was better to apologize later than ask permission before they acted.
Carter pulled out his cell phone, one of his many throwaways, and dialed a number from memory while stepping away from the group.
Stonewall saw Ian’s hesitation, turned bright red, and yelled, “Oh, no, Sawyer! Not again! You’re keeping us in the loop on this, or I’ll arrest all of you right here, right now!”
As much as Ian wanted to race to save the two women, he knew if he took off, the feds and locals would be right on his tail. He assumed Carter was calling Keon and forced himself to wait a moment.
While the SAC continued to rant, his two subordinates and the local police didn’t look too thrilled about trying to arrest seventeen hyped-up men. Men who’d killed plenty of terrorists and criminals while in the military and were currently out for blood.
Most of the specially trained operatives ignored the irate agent and gathered around Marco’s vehicle.
The communications specialist was handing out headsets so they could all talk with each other without needing their hands.
Weapons were being double-checked, and Jake loaded up his favorite sniper rifle and backup MK11, which he would loan to Carter if needed.
Amid the commotion, Kristen came running down from the residences with Beau on her heels.
She ran straight to Devon and blurted out that Angie was missing.
He explained what had happened, and a look of shock came over her face.
He grabbed her chin for her attention. “I need to know you’re safe.
Tiny and Mitch are in the club office. You’re to go directly there and do everything they tell you, Pet.
I can’t do my job if I’m worried about you.
If you give them trouble, you’ll get a public spanking you’ll never forget. Understand?”
She knew he was serious when he’d said the word ‘public’ because, while she loved to watch other subs be disciplined in front of everyone at the club, she wasn’t thrilled when it was her ass on display. “Yes, Sir. I love you. Be safe.”
He kissed her on the lips. “I love you too. Now go. Beau is coming with us. I’ll call you as soon as we have them safe.”
Devon ordered Beau to heel as his fiancée headed straight for the building that housed the club.
The dog’s rear end spun around, and he attached himself to Devon’s right leg, not looking happy to see his previous protection detail walk away without him.
His human reached down and scratched behind his furry ear.
“It’s all right, boy. She’s fine. We need to rescue Jenn and Angie and maybe even give you someone to sink your teeth into. ”
While Dev knew the dog should understand very little of what was being said to him, the canine seemed to know exactly what he meant. Beau barked excitedly at the prospect of biting someone who deserved it.
In the meantime, Carter had stopped talking on his cell and approached Stonewall.
With a glare that had made some men tremble in their boots, Carter handed him the phone.
The fed blanched and looked confused but took the device.
Trying to salvage his authority, he barked into the speaker.
“This is FBI Special Agent in Charge Stonewall. Who the hell is this?”
Ian, Devon, and Athos watched as the last of the man’s blood drained from his face. “Yes, Director Moran, sir… I understand, sir… no problem, sir…”
Without waiting for the SAC to finish getting his ass handed to him by his boss, the men, minus the law enforcement, scrambled for their vehicles and flew out of the compound single file behind Ian’s SUV.
Carter and Athos sat in the back, behind the Sawyer brothers, with Beau between them.
The dog seemed to be anticipating the upcoming mission as his tongue hung from his panting mouth.
Ian drove while Devon sat in the passenger seat, bringing up the GPS coordinates.
After that, he dialed his cell phone and waited for Tiny to pick up.
When the head security guard did, he told him, “I need you to take Kristen and lock her down in the panic room until further notice. Tell Mitch to stay locked inside the club if he doesn’t want to go with you, but make sure he’s armed.
Shut down the gates whether the cops leave or not. ”
When the big man confirmed the orders, Devon disconnected the phone and looked over his shoulder at Carter. “Did you really use one of your get-out-of-jail-free calls to Mr. Big? Why didn’t you just call Keon?”
The spy shrugged, but his face remained expressionless.
He rarely contacted Director Moran unless necessary, preferring to deal with the deputy director instead—fewer politics.
“Actually, I tried calling Larry, but he didn’t pick up, so I went up the ladder.
The director was already in a foul mood and all too happy to threaten the jackass with a transfer.
I think he might’ve mentioned some town in Alaska with a population of two. ”
Devon let out a sharp bark of laughter and shook his head in disbelief before Brody’s voice came over everyone’s headsets.
On his laptop was a live stream from one of the many satellites orbiting the Earth, and it was zoomed in on their destination.
“Don’t ask whose SAT I’m using because you don’t want to know.
” A few chuckles came through the headsets.
“Ian, when you get to 301, you’re going north.
Four-point-three miles up, there’s a dirt road on your right.
Take it about a hundred yards in and approach from the south on foot with a two-minute ETA.
“The address has two warehouses on it running west to east. There are three vehicles—it looks like your Audi is one of them, and I think another is the DEA sedan from yesterday, but I can’t be positive without seeing the plates.
The other vehicle is a dark SUV. From their parking jobs, I can’t tell which building they’re in, so we need to check both.
A second team can drive past without suspicion, pull off about a half mile up the road, and come in from the north. ”
Ian acknowledged the information and asked for a breakdown of who was in which vehicle.
When he had the info, he broke them down into three teams. Marco would lead Team Two while Ian took Team One.
Marco had Jake, Brody, Rick, Bannerman, and Rad with him.
Ian’s team consisted of the three men in his vehicle, along with Boomer, Urkel, and one of Chase’s men, Tanner.
And, of course, Beau. The remaining four contract agents would take position across the highway, storm the driveway after the entry teams breached whichever building held the hostages, and intercept anyone trying to run for it.
Less than ten minutes later, the vehicles were in position, and the men poured out of them.
While waiting for information back at the compound, Dev had instructed Chase’s men to load up the vehicles with equipment they would all need to stage a rescue.
The men had worked with Trident on several missions and knew what was needed.
Now, all three teams were suiting up with bullet-proof vests, KA-BAR knives, sidearms, and flash-bang grenades.
Colt M4 Carbines or HK MP5s would be used, depending on each man’s preference for their assault rifles.
Jake and Carter would carry their sniper rifles.
Individuals grabbed other equipment that the team needed but wasn’t necessary for each member to carry.
Beau was outfitted with a harness and specially designed canine bullet-proof vest. The dog’s ears and tail twitched excitedly while his paws eagerly danced, but he remained silent.
There would be no need to worry about him barking and alerting anyone to their presence since he’d been trained well, and the team often practiced different drills with him.
Beau would do his job as precisely as his human counterparts did theirs.