Chapter 36
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
Liam accepted a flute of champagne, offered by one of the tuxedo-clad servers circulating the ballroom, and handed it to Emily.
There was a full orchestra performing atop the raised platform at the center of the room and a dance area off to the right, but no one was actually dancing. The entire event felt stiff. Boring. And he was way out of his element.
Most guests were crowded around the “top minds” of the world engaged in conversations about the latest tech or whatnot from what Liam could tell.
He glanced Wyatt and Harper’s way as they talked to a couple at their table—the table where Hans was supposed to be. And then he did a quick survey of the rest of the room, ensuring all other targets were still present and accounted for.
He glimpsed Jeremiah out of the corner of his eye off to his nine o’clock talking to Elliott and Connor near the only door that led to the outside exit opposed to feeding back into the hotel lobby.
Connor had been Elliott’s plus one, no surprise there.
Asher had breached Connor’s flat as soon as it was clear but hadn’t found anything, so he returned to the hotel and was parked outside in a Range Rover waiting for the next steps.
Luke was on overwatch across the street, and Jessica monitored all the hotel camera feeds from outside in the back of a rental van they’d converted to their temporary command center.
“You look stunning in that dress,” Liam said once his eyes landed back on her.
Her black gown showcased her curves, and her hair cascaded in soft waves over her shoulders, which had him remembering the hour they shared together before heading to the event.
Her hair had been up in a tight bun, but the moment she’d walked out of the bedroom in her dress—well, he couldn’t resist her. He wound up destroying her hairdo as they made love like it’d be their last time.
“And shouldn’t you be looking somewhere else?” she asked with a smile.
“Everyone is in position.” Except Hans. “It wouldn’t look realistic to be here with you and not have my eyes on someone so beautiful.”
“Mm. Good point.” She shifted to the side and eyed Hans’s empty seat. “Will he show?”
“TOC, any movement on our HVT?” he asked into his mic, which was tucked beneath the sleeve of his blazer.
“We’re thirty minutes in, and he hasn’t left his hotel suite. I don’t know if we can trust him to do the right thing,” Jessica answered. “I’ll keep you posted.”
“Copy that.” He shifted the sleeve of his blazer back in place.
“Anything?” she asked.
“Still in his suite.”
She took a sip of her drink, trying to act casual, but he could see her nerves in the way her lashes fluttered. “How do you think Elaina’s doing?”
Elaina was still at their safe house with Jared, plus Knox for extra protection. The team had decided it’d be best to keep Knox away from the event with so many people who shared a connection to Knox’s politician father.
“She’s a tough kid. She’ll be okay.” And she would be. When this all ended, he’d make sure of it.
“What’s going to happen when he discovers Patty won’t be showing up with Elaina?” She glanced Elliott’s way before returning her focus to Liam. “Patty hasn’t even cracked, yet. Do you think she’s innocent?”
“Hans is on the move with his bodyguard,” Jessica said, her voice popping into his ear as he eyed Connor leaning in to whisper something to Elliott. “He has his luggage, and he and his bodyguard just exited the lobby. Looks like he’s not coming to the gala as planned.”
“And he’s not the only one on the move,” Liam said when Jeremiah and Connor left out the street exit. Elliott was on his way toward the lobby.
“Echo Two and Echo Four—pursue assigned targets,” Jessica ordered.
Echo Four announced, “I have a visual on my target. He’s hopped in a black Audi R8. Following.”
“Copy that,” Jessica said.
“Hans is leaving the hotel,” he told Emily and reached for her free hand.
“Looks like they found out.” She set down her champagne flute.
Liam connected eyes with Harper and Wyatt who were now excusing themselves from their table.
“Elliott has to be heading to the rooftop helo pad,” Wyatt said when he neared Liam’s location. “Luke should have eyes on him soon. Too bad Owen can’t follow in his chopper.”
“What do we do now since Hans is making a run for it?” Emily asked.
“Same plan. We follow the targets,” Harper answered and left with Wyatt to get to their next required position.
“What about Hans?” She looked toward Liam, worry in her eyes. “Are we letting them grab him?”
“Hans shouldn’t have run,” he said. “But like Harper said—nothing changes. We follow and then take them all down once they get to their final destination.”
“Okay,” she murmured as if hesitant about the plan. “I just . . .”
Liam closed his eyes, his mind racing. That shit feeling in the pit of his stomach moved around to his back and hit the base of his spine before a chill zipped north.
Whatever doubt Emily was experiencing, it’d hit him, too.
“TOC,” he said into his comm. “Can you get Bravo Five on the line?”
“I can’t,” Jessica said. “I just tried. Jared’s not answering either.”
“Keep trying.” He grabbed Emily’s arm. “We’ve gotta go.”
“Where to?”
“The safe house. I think Elaina’s gone.”
“You don’t have cameras at your safe house?” Emily asked Jessica from inside the back of their mobile command center.
Thankfully, at 8 p.m. on a Thursday night, they didn’t have to deal with too much traffic leaving the city for the safe house. Luke was driving, but he couldn’t see or hear them from the front. They’d been updating him through comms the same as the rest of the team.
“We do have cameras. They’ve been disabled.” Jessica clutched the sides of her computer to keep it from falling off her lap when Luke hit a bump on the back road as he drove the van.
Liam reached across and grabbed hold of Emily’s hand, gripping tight. It was a toss-up as to who he was trying to reassure, her or himself.
“How would Elliott know Elaina was there? Or that we’re in London?” Emily looked up at him, and he let go of her hand and scooted back onto the bench.
“They wouldn’t,” he responded, his voice grim. “Inside job. Right under our damn noses.”
“Are you saying you don’t trust everyone on your team?” she asked in surprise.
Jessica glimpsed at Liam from over her shoulder, guilt stretching across her face.
“Not my team.” He tensed. “Jared.”
“I gave Elaina butterfly earrings earlier just in case . . .” The earrings had a tracker, but the way Jessica spoke, that meant the tracker had been turned off.
“Jared knew about them,” Liam hissed.
“He played us the whole time, and we helped the bastard deliver Elaina to London.” Jessica’s eyes narrowed, her pupils nearly obscuring the blue.
“But we don’t even know if Elaina’s gone, right? There could be another reason why they aren’t answering the phones, or why the security cams went down.” Emily was grasping at straws, and he didn’t want to be the one to tell her because he wished more than anything Elaina was safe.
And then there was Knox to consider. Did Jared take him out? Kill him?
He pounded his fist onto the metal bench off to his left, needing to physically vent his frustration.
If anything happened to Elaina or Knox, he’d rip Jared apart. Limb from fucking limb.
“I never asked. I’ll bet it was Jared who first approached POTUS about Carballo’s ten mill payout to kidnap Elaina,” Jessica suggested. “How could I have missed this?”
“It’s my fault,” Emily said, and when Liam peered at her, tears were developing in her eyes. “I vouched for him.”
“No,” he responded firmly. “This is on us.”
“Jared’s been after Carballo for years. It’s hard to believe the double cross.” Jessica grabbed her radio when it came to life with a pop of static, A.J.’s voice on the line.
“Connor ran Hans’s town car off the road in Notting Hill. He shot the bodyguard and forced Hans into his Audi. They’re heading west.”
“Opposite direction as us,” Liam muttered.
“I’ll update you,” he told them. “Harper and Wyatt are with the bodyguard waiting for the medics to arrive.”
“We get a location on Jeremiah from Echo Four?” A.J. asked.
“Jeremiah’s heading northwest,” Jessica replied. “I’m assuming Connor will be shifting north soon. As soon as they reach their destination, I’ll have our British counterparts get ISR over their position.”
“Roger that.”
Jessica set the radio on the other side of the bench off to her side.
“So,” she began, the wheels of her mind back to spinning, calculating possibilities of how shit went wrong.
“I assume Jared hired the Lamond brothers to come after Emily and the AG to throw everyone off his scent since he had custody of Elaina at that time.”
“He wanted us on the case, didn’t he?” Liam asked. “He wanted us to make the connections. Discover Elliott was after her.”
“He may not have counted on the fact Elaina would’ve been able to provide the coordinates to the ports,” Jessica noted. “But the video we made of Elaina to get Don’s wife back—”
“His sole purpose could’ve been a way to let Elliott know he had her and to call off the free-for-all bounty,” he finished for her.
“It’d make sense as to why Jared wanted to make sure Lamond died. He didn’t want the guy talking to us,” Jessica pointed out.
“This is crazy,” Emily said, nearly under her breath. “Do you think Elliott will really pay Jared the thirteen million bounty?”
“With his experience, Jared will have an exit strategy,” Jessica answered. “Blackmail, or something to ensure he walks away alive after he hands over Elaina.”
“Good.” Liam stood once they stopped. “That way we can kill him ourselves.” He grabbed a Glock from the weapons arsenal in the back of the van, as well as a flashlight, and opened the door. “Stay here with Jessica until Luke and I clear the house.”
“Yeah,” she replied. “Be safe.”
He hopped out of the van and met up with Luke. The place was pitch-black, not a light on in the home.