Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
Shaw
E very second that passes makes my system more convinced that I should be crawling out of my skin. The helpless feeling is like nothing I’ve ever experienced, and it’s about to send me over the edge.
I’m like a caged lion, pacing Saylor’s hotel room. Her scent still lingers in the air, and I’d give just about fucking anything to have her here with us.
Leo uselessly flips her bags again for any clues or information that might help. I’ve already been through them twice. There’s nothing that can help us now.
The ache in my chest amps up to the point I bring a hand to it, absently rubbing against the pain.
Maybe I’m about to have a heart attack?
Fuck.
The doctor said I was in peak physical condition at my last checkup.
I’ve never been so close to losing my shit before. Honest to God, I don’t know what to do with myself. I haven’t slept since Leo took Easton’s call back when we were still in Boston, but my system is running off pure adrenaline and hate.
I’ve killed a lot of people in my lifetime.
I don’t know a single person who made it out of active duty without having to do things that they wish they hadn’t, but that’s part of keeping yourself alive. At the end of the day, I don’t let myself harbor guilt over those things that were done under orders. You’re the machine, not the operator, and I long ago came to terms with that.
My heels dig into the carpet as I pivot, pacing back in the other direction.
There’s no telling what kinds of people got their hands on Saylor, and it terrifies me to the core.
I’ve seen how ugly humanity can be.
It’s why I don’t lose sleep at night for doing what needs to be done.
My hands might be stained in blood, but at least since moving to the private sector, I’m confident those kills were for people who deserved it.
If something happens to Saylor…
It’s like my brain can’t even fathom it.
She’s happy and tender and so fucking open with her emotions.
And you just walked away without a goodbye .
I bring my hand up, wiping my palm over my face.
It was necessary .
She was too fucking young for me and Leo to stick around with the level of compatibility there. It doesn’t mean I haven’t spent the last few years cursing fate for the way everything went down, but it’s one of those situations I’ll always be resentful about.
She’ll be twenty-one in a couple months—still too young for me—but I’ve come to terms with the fact I’m not an upstanding citizen.
Once we get that omega back, I’m never letting her out of my fucking sight.
Not ever again.
She’s too trusting, kind, and a bunch of other words that mean she needs someone truly monstrous watching her back. That way, she can continue to live in her happy little bubble while Leo and I decimate anything that could ever cause her harm.
* * *
My phone rings, and I cross the room, snatching it off the desk in the corner.
Easton’s name flashes on the screen, and I answer. “This is Shaw.”
“You sound distraught,” he says in his normal bored tone. “Take a deep breath. She was alive as of six hours ago, but you aren’t going to like the rest.”
Leo appears at my side, slamming his shoulder into mine.
I put the call on speakerphone.
“Details, Easton, now!” I growl, trying to shake away the haze that’s creeping up on the edge of my vision.
“Calder followed the car they stuffed her into until there were no traffic cams or feeds he could gain access to, but I wasn’t about to call you with only that information or lack thereof.” Easton sighs. “The vehicle was headed toward a small airport that I’m not going to attempt to pronounce, because I will butcher it. Calder spent the last few hours tracking flights and checking the area for the vehicle, but that type of thing takes time. One hour and forty-seven minutes ago, we intercepted a call to the Callahan house.”
“Get to the fucking point,” Leo snarls.
My eyes widen.
He sounds about as bad as I feel, but Easton is spiteful. It’s best not to piss him off when you need him because he will make you pay.
“I’m going to ignore that little outburst, considering the circumstances. Mrs. Callahan fielded a call that she chose not to disclose to her husband. She also failed to immediately make us aware of what transpired.” Easton’s voice becomes muffled, like he’s speaking to someone else in the room with him, and then he’s back. “I would play the call back for you, but it wouldn’t help anything. Keir,” he says, referencing his personal bodyguard and part of his family pack, “called back the number at my instruction. As I said, Saylor is alive, and she was in one piece as of five or six hours ago. She’s being held in a facility for rabid alphas that is apparently so well hidden, it doesn’t have a name outside of The Facility …”
He goes on as my blood runs cold.
I’ve heard whispers of places like that where the CIA or MI6 dump assets they aren’t prepared to lose, but from Easton’s description, this particular facility isn’t just for government agencies.
Operations like the Bratva, the Mob, and even gangs can lock up their assassins…for a price.
“Keir made contact with someone named McCabe. MI6 is investigating the facility. His job is solely recon. He will be unable to break cover to assist,” Easton says calmly. “I paid the astronomical fee of three hundred and fifty thousand euros, but not for Saylor’s release.”
“Then, what was the money for?” I scoff, already mentally planning what kind of backup we’ll need to storm a place like that.
“He put me in touch with the facility’s director. As it turns out, I have two rogue agents who have recently passed the line from feral to full-blown rabid.” Easton chuckles. “Don’t worry, Keir and I will be leaving to meet with the senator and his wife as soon as we disconnect. That man will be paying me back for your admission fees. He just doesn’t know it yet. He also has no idea what a snake he’s married to, but I’ll be sharing that information as well.”
“So we’re going into a facility for rabid alphas, to what?” Leo asks. “Break Saylor out from the inside?”
Easton hums. “I would consider that a last resort. You’ll have no backup, outside of Ridge. The MI6 operative made it clear that he wouldn’t be able to assist in any capacity, outside of putting me in contact with the facility director.”
“Then, how the hell do we get back out?” I ask.
“Investors don’t drop three hundred and fifty thousand euros for six months unless they anticipate getting their assets back.” Easton tuts. It almost sounds like he’s insinuating we should have gotten this by now. “Bonding an omega brings back a rabid alpha. Saylor Callahan is a scent match for both of you. Find your target, secure her safety, initiate a bond, and I’m told they’ll initiate your release within five to seven days.”
My jaw falls, while Leo growls, “What?”
“The pickup location is set for a hotel over an hour away. Calder will text you the address and room number. I can’t give you an exact time frame for when they’ll come for you. They didn’t share the specifics with me, but it should be soon.” Easton pauses. “I suggest putting up enough of a fight to make your mental status believable, but not taking it to the extreme, where the employees wish to punish you. I have no way of determining how the facility is run or if you’ll risk being put in isolation.”
“You’re instructing us to bite the senator’s daughter?” My heart thumps erratically. I’m not opposed to the idea. It’s always been part of my three-year plan. It used to hover somewhere near the bottom, since I thought I’d let her graduate college first, but Leo and I have spent the last few years working our asses off so we can retire and still be able to provide for her when the time comes. The moment Saylor went missing, it flew up to number one. If anything happens to her in the future, I’ll have a bond to track her with. Still, I don’t see her father being happy with this course of action. “You know bonds can’t be dissolved?—”
“Based on the way the two of you dropped everything to fly to another continent upon learning she was missing, I can’t seem to determine why you would want to dissolve anything,” Easton says, sounding condescending as fuck.
We probably did tip our hands there. Then again, I’m pretty sure he’s known we were emotionally attached to that omega since before we had to quit her service. In the time we were working with Saylor, I never let my head go anywhere but friendship. The difference is, she’s an adult now, and I’m done waiting.
I’ve missed the hell out of her, and if nothing else, this has been a huge wake-up call that even worse things can happen than her ending up with guys like me and Leo. At least we’ll treat her right and protect her with our lives.
“Ridge has been named as my liaison. He will deal with the facility in my stead, since I’m not in Europe at the moment,” Easton says, drawing me out of my thoughts. “Once you’ve bonded, they will contact me, and I will give confirmation that you are to be released to him.”
“And you’ll be warning Senator Callahan about all of this?” Leo asks.
Easton chuckles a cold, dead sound. “The man’s wife ignored information about his daughter’s whereabouts. She essentially told McCabe to keep her. We have no information to indicate she even mentioned the call to her husband.”
“That bitch,” I whisper, shaking my head. She’s always been awful to Saylor, but this is next-level evil.
“The senator will be informed that he will be reimbursing all costs related to Saylor’s retrieval if he would like to see his daughter alive again.” Easton hums. “If not, he really doesn’t need to know anything about whatever methods we employ to get her back. Now, pack your shit and head to the address that Calder is sending through…right now, actually.”
I have so many questions, but my brain is fried. The only directive that matters is getting to the extraction point so the facility team can kidnap me and Leo.
“I’ll get Ridge.” Leo strides off toward the adjoining room.
Ridge stayed over there to watch Saylor’s original team and Avery.
“You should have Anderson and Daniels escort Avery back to the US,” I say quickly before Easton can hang up.
He snorts. “It’s almost like I hadn’t already thought of that. Be careful, Shaw. I’m not prepared to lose my best snipers. Watch your backs and be smart.”
“Thanks, Boss,” I say, flicking over to check the text message with our destination.
Easton might be a straight-up dick ninety-nine percent of the time, but it’s that one percent when the shit hits the fan, and he ruthlessly watches your back, that builds loyalty.
He hangs up, and I get myself together.
There are so many variables and things that can go wrong, but I’m not even letting my head go there.
We’ve got an omega to rescue and bond…when she probably hates us for disappearing all those years ago.