Chapter 1
Pierce “Midas” Cagle crept along the vast desert, all his attention on his targets.
He and his SEAL team had been dropped by helicopter about three miles back, well away from where two hostages were being held.
Their objective was to rescue the American and Danish hostages and kill or capture the kidnappers.
This would’ve been a fairly routine mission for Midas and his team, except for one thing.
He knew one of the hostages.
Midas had gone to high school with Lexie Greene. He hadn’t seen or talked to her in almost fifteen years, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t immediately remembered who she was when he’d read her name.
Lexie had begun attending his high school their senior year.
Midas might not have exchanged more than two words with her except for the fact that they’d been paired together for an assignment in English class.
She’d been funny, friendly, and smart. Much to Midas’s surprise, since she’d normally kept to herself and rarely met anyone’s eyes.
Midas, in contrast, had been outgoing and popular. He was the captain of the swim team and a state champion in the sport as well. And the ladies liked him, so he’d never had to work too hard to find someone to date.
After graduating, Midas had gone his own way, joining the Navy and becoming a SEAL, and he hadn’t thought twice about the shy girl he’d once known. Until he’d read the report about the hostages in the Somali desert.
Since realizing Lexie was the girl he’d known in high school, Midas had almost obsessively watched the videos the kidnappers had taken of her and Dagmar Brander, an auditor for Food For All, the international aid organization Lexie also worked for.
She and Dagmar had been walking out of the Food For All building in Galkayo, a town near the border of Somalia and Ethiopia, when they were thrown in the back of a truck and driven into the desert.
That was three months ago, and the kidnappers were demanding ten million dollars for the safe return of Dag and Lexie. At first it had been five, but when the money had quickly been raised by Dagmar’s brother, the kidnappers decided no—it was five million for each hostage.
Lexie and Dagmar had languished in the desert for months while negotiations continued.
But word had come down that Dagmar wasn’t well. He had heart problems, and in the last video, Lexie begged that the money be paid, as she believed her boss had experienced a stroke.
After hearing that, the United States and Denmark had agreed it was time to act. The SEALs were moving in with a Danish Jaeger Corps team. They were Denmark’s elite special forces, and their assistance was welcome.
Intel had said there were ten to fifteen men guarding the hostages in the desert, and satellite photos had given Midas and the other men the general layout of the crude camp.
There were a few scraggy trees, which Lexie and Dagmar spent most of their time under.
They didn’t seem to be tied up or otherwise restrained…
because honestly, where were they going to go?
It was at least ten miles to any kind of outpost, and even farther to get back to Galkayo.
Midas looked over at Mustang, who was indicating that he and Aleck were going to head to the right. Nodding in agreement, Midas pointed to the left and then to Pid. Mustang gestured to Jag and Slate and swirled his finger in the air.
The command to spread out and surround the camp was their agreed upon plan. The Danish special forces would do the same, staying back a bit farther, making sure none of the kidnappers managed to slip by the SEALs.
For the first time in ages…maybe ever…Midas was nervous about a mission. He knew it was because of his personal connection to the hostage.
He was also curious about Lexie after reading her file.
She’d been working for Food For All for the last fourteen years.
She’d traveled all over the world, lived in a dozen different countries…
and yet, she somehow still had an innocent look about her in the videos.
What she must have seen in some of the poorest parts of the world apparently hadn’t made her jaded or hard.
Not like Midas felt his experiences had done to him.
It was ridiculous to think she was the exact same girl he’d known in high school, but still, looking at her photo in the report and seeing her on the videos the kidnappers had recorded, Midas had a feeling she hadn’t changed much.
The thought of her being hurt or killed in the next twenty minutes was abhorrent.
He also wondered if she’d remember him.
It wasn’t likely.
Most of the time the people they rescued were strangers.
Names on a piece of paper. Unfortunate men and women who’d gotten embroiled in dangerous situations, often through no fault of their own.
But personally knowing a kidnapping victim was new for him.
He’d been trained to focus on the job at hand and block everything else out.
But he couldn’t stop thinking about the Lexie he’d known years ago.
How she’d blushed shyly when he’d complimented her on having good ideas for their project.
How she used to scrunch up her nose when she was thinking extra hard.
How she’d stopped to help a boy pick up stuff he’d dropped in the hall one morning.
How Lexie had paid for a girl’s lunch when she didn’t have enough money, and then had to put back the sandwich she’d been planning on eating herself, since she was short the necessary cash.
The fact that Lexie worked for an international aid organization was proof that the kind girl he’d known was now a thoughtful and giving woman. And Midas wanted to make sure such a person lived to see another day.
His resolve hardening, he returned his attention back to the task at hand. Lexie and Dagmar had suffered enough. It was time to get them out of the desert and to safety.
Elizabeth Lexie Greene lay on her back under what she considered “her” tree and stared up at the stars.
It was amazing how bright they were without any light pollution getting in the way.
The desert was pitch dark when the moon wasn’t full, like tonight.
Their kidnappers had lanterns and flashlights, but it was late, and most of the men guarding them were asleep.
There was a fire over by the men’s two trucks, but it had mostly burned down to embers.
Dagmar snored lightly a few feet away, and Lexie turned to look in his direction.
She couldn’t see more than a vague outline of his body on the ground, but she was reassured by the fact she could hear him breathing.
More than once she’d thought that he might be dying.
He’d most definitely had a stroke at some point, as his words were slurred now and his left side was weaker than it had been.
She hadn’t known the man very well before they were kidnapped.
She’d been in Galkayo almost six months before Dagmar had arrived to do a review of processes and to make sure everything was running up to Food For All’s standards.
She was fairly used to the inspections. After years of working for the organization, Lexie was well aware that the board regularly sent in auditors to review the various operations around the world.
Dagmar had been there for just a week, and they were heading out to inspect one of the organization’s gardens in a nearby neighborhood when they were snatched off the street.
It was the scariest thing Lexie had ever experienced. One second she was enthusiastically telling Dagmar about everything they’d done to help the locals and how well the garden was working out, and the next, she was thrown into the back of a truck and looking down the barrel of a rifle.
The first few weeks had been the worst. Trying to get used to living in the open desert, trying not to say or do anything that would get her beaten, and hoping against hope they’d be released.
But after hearing how much the kidnappers were asking for ransom, Lexie was slowly beginning to resign herself to the fact that it was likely she wouldn’t make it out of the desert alive.
Dagmar might be able to convince their captors to let him go.
He had money. Lots of it. And his twin brother had been doing everything in his power to get him released.
But Lexie? She was expendable. She was one of thousands of Food For All employees. And she had no family to speak of. No one was going to pay five million dollars for her. No way in hell.
She was shocked when the original ransom amount had been raised within days by Dagmar’s brother, but instead of letting them go, the kidnappers had gotten greedy.
They’d changed the terms of their release, demanding five million for each of them—and declaring that neither would be freed until the entire ten million had been handed over.
They’d obviously been confident that if five million could be raised so quickly, another five million would be easy.
They were wrong.
Lexie felt guilty as hell that she and Dag were both still in the desert after his brother had raised the original ransom.
Especially considering Dagmar’s health. He needed to see a doctor.
Needed a hospital. And instead, they were lying on the hard, sandy ground with only a dying tree above their heads to protect them from the elements, praying something would happen to make their kidnappers finally set them free.
A noise in the distance caught Lexie’s attention.
Normally, she wouldn’t have thought twice about odd noises, but she’d been in the desert long enough to know what was ordinary and what wasn’t. She lifted her head and stared in the direction where she thought the noise had come from, but because of the darkness, she couldn’t see much of anything.
Then suddenly, all hell broke loose.
What seemed like dozens of men began yelling all at once. Telling everyone to stay down. To put their hands in the air.