Chapter 39
Chapter Thirty-Nine
COLE
I stare through binoculars at the cluster of men coming and going from the warehouse. Unloading boxes. This has been going on a while. I relay what I’m seeing. “There are four total.”
“Breathe, man.” Simona tosses an ink pen at me from the passenger seat. “You’re gonna pop an aneurysm if you don’t get that under control.”
I clench my teeth against the overwhelming urge to scream my fucking head off at the woman.
She’s right. I know I need to breathe. I’m a highly trained Pararescuer. I know the importance of emotional control. It’s just never been this hard for me before.
Twenty years of high stakes missions and I’ve never been wired so tight. The woman I love has never been held by deranged maniacs before.
And the men in that building aren’t just everyday criminals. They are trained killers that know the most brutal torture methods known to humankind.
Army Rangers.
Corrupt special forces operators.
I’m smart enough to know doing this wrong could get Sierra killed. Doing this right means we get a chance to start over.
Simona touches my arm, then pretty much reads my mind. “They aren’t torturing her. No way they’d do it in broad daylight. Too many people around this complex. Everyone would hear.”
I blow out a hard breath, that sticks in my lungs like it has barbs. “I just pray you’re right. I thought the same thing, but they could have a basement in there. Bad shit happens in basements right under people’s noses.”
“Roark reviewed the building permits. It doesn’t look like there are any official basements.”
We both know that there are plenty of unofficial basements and rat infested holes in the ground. This thought makes a low growl rumble through me.
I can’t think like that.
She tips up a water bottle and sips. Casual. Totally relaxed. Who is this woman?
“Take it easy, Cole. Save your energy. As soon as it’s dark, we’ll move.”
Glancing at the sun, I curse, “Fuck. That’s too long.”
“One hour.” She tugs the binos from my hands. “Then we’ll get your girl and make these Army boys wish they’d never been born.”
I lean back and close my eyes for a few seconds, trying to center myself.
Simona quietly watches the building for a while. I open my eyes when I hear her shifting around.
“Cole, you did the right thing. At least your heart was in the right place, I mean, when you called the police all those months ago.”
As I scrub my hands over my face, I feel the weight of that night in my bones. Crushing and dark. I clear my throat. “I knew he would hurt her if I didn’t do something about it. And killing him was going to wreck her life and mine.”
Her jaw goes hard. A wave of something harsh crosses in her gaze. “I wish someone had the balls to call someone on the man who raised me when he was beating me unconscious. But no one did.”
“Your father?”
Her voice lilts with the traces of her Czech accent. “That word isn’t in my vocabulary. Monster is, though.”
I grit my teeth. The thought makes me furious. “I don’t get men like that. How can someone twice your size lay a hand on a woman? Women are meant to be honored and cherished. I’d never hurt a woman on purpose.”
Simona’s eyes turn sad. “I wish more men were like you.” After a few silent seconds, she changes the subject. “Why do you think they have Sierra?”
“Two reasons are all I can think of. She knew something about what her brother was up to, or they’re going to use her to get to him somehow.”
Simona taps her chin and turns her gaze back to the warehouse. “If he’s alive, they are both liabilities to these guys.”
“Exactly. And from what Marshall told me, they are turning a heavy profit in selling drugs they’re importing from countries where they run missions. So, the stakes are high.”
She hisses and pulls a face. “Disgusting. I hate men like them. What was her brother like?”
“I don’t know exactly how all of this played out with Bryan.
When I started seeing Sierra, he was already a mess.
He’d just gotten a dishonorable discharge from the Army, which broke him.
But he was using god only knows what kind of drugs, and there’s no way he was functional as a soldier.
And the guy is big and mean, so that’s a perfect storm you never want to see.
Sierra never knew if he was going to be irate or be a zombie.
I’ve seen people messed up on drugs before, but Bryan’s behavior was just plain bizarre.
Of course, who knows what he was mixing.
And if he’s on what Marshall says these guys are dealing, then it might just explain some of it. ”
Simona adjusts the focus on binoculars as she holds them to her face. “Her brother was using, but these guys don’t seem to be.”
“Yeah, I have no idea how all that played out. I came into the situation after it had been going on for a few months. All I know is that Sierra and his girlfriend were trying to get Bryan into a treatment facility the night I found him beating the hell out of her.”
God, how I wanted to beat him to death and throw his body over her balcony.
Anger surges through me, making my hands clench into fists. “I literally wanted to kill him with my bare hands. But I got myself in check and called the cops. I’d already made it clear the police needed to be involved before he hurt someone badly.”
“I’m sure it broke her heart. It’s really hard to know you can’t fix your brother.”
I’m about to ask what she means when she asks, “Why did you walk away from the woman you loved after that night?”
I stare at the warehouse with fury boiling inside me. “Because I was going to finish her brother. If not that night, then the next time. And that wouldn’t just kill her brother, it would destroy her too.”
As I check the cartridge in my pistol, I let that fury take up residence deep in my marrow. I turn to look at Simona. “Which might still happen if I find out he’s responsible for her being hurt.”