Chapter 23
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
“Knox checked the hotel surveillance,” Luke told Jessica and Owen as soon as he ended the call. “The guy broke into the suite above ours and dropped down onto the terrace by rope. He tried to catch up with them on foot, but they’d disappeared before he even made it downstairs.”
“Shit.” Owen rushed a hand through his blond hair.
Why’d she have to take off those damn earrings? Luke tucked a fist inside the palm of his hand as he bowed his head, trying to figure out what the hell to do. “Whoever took her won’t go far, not if they think the safe is nearby and they’re looking to use her as their bargaining chip.”
“The guys will find—” Owen started.
“I should be the one looking!” Luke pointed to his chest.
They were still at Malik’s home, waiting for the safe to be packed up, but how could he sit around when Eva was out there?
“We need you here to help strategize.” Jessica placed her hand on his forearm as if she could calm down his racing heart.
“It had to have been a pro hit,” Owen said. “Dropping in by rope . . . Other than us and MacGyver, who the hell does that?”
“It’s gotta be someone with the CIA, probably former military.” Luke’s nostrils flared. “Maybe even a CIA asset, not necessarily an agent.”
“No one outside the agency knew of the safe house, and only a select few knew Harper was there,” Jessica reminded them.
“We need names of anyone stationed within a hundred-mile radius of our location, someone who could get to Harper fast enough to stop her from coming our way,” Luke snapped.
“Will should be able to give us a name, but he’s still in the air,” Jessica replied.
“We don’t have time to wait,” Luke was quick to say. “Something is in the safe that will tell us who the hell wants that information buried—something to reveal this prick’s identity.”
“We’ll find it.” Owen gave a quick nod. “We’ll get Eva back.”
“Can you hack the CIA?” Luke peered at his sister, knowing he was asking her to break a dozen laws.
“Luke,” Owen grit out. “You can’t ask her to do that, man.”
“Eva could die, probably will die, if we don’t do something.
” He paused to take a breath; he couldn’t let thoughts of her being tortured enter his head, or he’d completely lose all control.
“This guy will offer her as an exchange, and you and I both know shit will go belly-up. This isn’t like last night. ”
“I have friends in the agency. People I can trust. I’ll make some calls,” Jessica said.
“What if you put a target on their head, like Harper’s?” Owen countered, which had Luke gripping his teammate’s shoulder.
“The mission is now about Eva. It’s about her survival, you got it? We do whatever it takes to bring her back safe.” He shook his head, realizing he’d gone over the edge or was sure as hell about to.
He staggered back, his black boots rubbing against the tiled floor. He couldn’t think straight, not with Eva in danger. His heart beat furiously in his chest, and he wanted to claw out the damn organ that was making him feel so much right now.
“There’re only four people outside of our team who know what we really do. How would anyone else know of the hotel, and that we’re there?” Owen asked after he’d given Luke a minute to cool down.
“Someone could’ve been watching Harper, and when they realized she’d been looking into Reggie, they pressed the gas on their plans,” Jessica rationalized.
Owen held his palms face up as if to say hear me out. “Or, it’s one of the big four who don’t want the contents of the safe exposed. Who better to clean up the mess than a team that doesn’t exist. Let’s say, for argument’s sake, it’s CIA Director Rutherford. He forced Reggie to take out Odem—”
“Why send me to Berlin to get the USB, though?” Luke interrupted.
“Maybe Reggie was the fall guy all along, and the plan had always been for us to complete the mission. Pin everything on Reggie and Malik, and no one would be the wiser,” Owen pitched.
“I mean, how the hell did they find out Reggie’s specific location in Berlin so fast?
Not to mention the fact Reggie wasn’t in the city, but on the outskirts of town in some place where no one would witness your shoot-out. ”
“I didn’t have orders to kill,” Luke reminded him.
“Maybe a sniper was in position from higher ground, prepared to put a bullet in Reggie’s head after you got the USB,” Jessica said.
“I don’t believe it. The director’s a good man.” Luke pressed a fist to the bar top counter.
“You were the only one commissioned to go after Reggie in Berlin. Will said the director didn’t want to draw attention from German officials or anyone in the CIA by sending too many people,” Owen added.
“Had more of us been with you, we’d have prevented Ender from shooting you, and we could have spotted a sniper in the wings. ”
He couldn’t digest this. He couldn’t stomach the idea of such betrayal from someone he’d trusted with his life. “It’s not uncommon for us to be sent individually to protect the integrity of the mission or to prevent compromising our team.”
“I don’t want to believe it, either,” Owen said. “But, we have to consider the possibility that someone from our side is—”
“Excuse me,” Malik interrupted, standing at the edge of the hall. “One of your guys sent me to grab you ASAP.”
They hurried to the safe, and Luke rushed out, “Did you find something?” He knelt alongside one of his crew who was on his knees, holding a set of images.
His teammate flicked his finger at an image of two SEALs with guns in hand, standing before a dead woman and child.
“That’s Reggie, right?” he asked. “It’s a side view, but I have a few more shots—some of them actually shooting the unarmed woman and child.
I can see why he’d rather shoot Odem than risk these pictures seeing the light of day. ”
“Reggie was a SEAL? He killed those people in Afghanistan?” Jessica whispered and snatched another image.
“It was the start of the war over there after 9/11. Shit must’ve gotten hairy, but that’s sure as hell no excuse—” Owen began.
“Is that who I think it is next to him?” Jessica cut him off, her voice grave.
Luke’s throat tightened, and he nodded. “Yeah, the fucking Ghost.”
No calls. Nothing from the man who took Eva.
Two hours had passed, and not a damn word, but Luke was pretty sure he knew why.
“Will’s here. Knox spotted him in the lobby,” Jessica announced. “He’s taking the elevator now.”
Luke looked around at his remaining crew in the hotel room: Asher, Owen, and his sister. The rest of his team waited in position at Malik’s home, and Liam was still at the hospital with Harper while she was in surgery.
“We ready for this?” Owen huffed out a breath.
“I’m always fucking ready.” Asher tipped up his chin and made eye contact with Jessica. “How about you, Peaches?”
Jessica rolled her eyes and checked the ammo in her piece before strapping it to her ankle beneath her pant leg. “I still can’t believe this is happening, or that there’s not some other explanation.”
A knock on the door had Luke’s muscles tensing.
“It’s me,” Will called out.
Luke buried his anger the best he could and let him in. “You could’ve told us you were hopping on a flight over here.”
“I was in a hurry.” Will walked in and directed his focus on Jessica. “It was a pleasant surprise to get off the plane and find out you’ve completed the mission.” A tight grin met his lips. “Where’s Malik now?”
Jessica’s gaze skated to Luke’s as he stood behind Will. “He’s being held by some of our team.”
“I’m surprised you got him to hand everything over without a fight,” Will noted.
“It took some arm-twisting,” Luke said.
“Well, I talked to POTUS on my way here.” Will twisted his neck to the side to catch sight of Luke. “He’s pleased. Says good job.”
“Unfortunately, what Jessica left out of her text was that we’ve encountered a new problem,” Luke said. “Eva, the woman who got mixed up in all of this, was abducted this morning from the hotel. We believe someone else is after the safe, and they’re looking to make a switch.”
Will crossed his arms and fully faced him, a pinch of irritation on his face. He swiped a hand through his dark hair as his eyes fell to the floor. “Did you get some sort of ransom request?”
“Not yet.”
“If this man is working with the men who were originally after Odem Yilmaz, it could prove highly problematic. We can’t let them get access to the safe,” Will said.
“Agreed,” Luke said. “So, we’ve come up with a plan.”
Will raised a brow. “And?”
“We swap both codes and the location of the safe for Eva,” Luke replied.
Will’s green eyes narrowed. “What?”
“We’ve already removed the contents of the safe and placed them in a secure location, but Eva’s captors won’t know that.”
“You opened the safe?” Will scratched at his jaw. “Did you get a chance to look at anything?”
“No time. It was all hard copies. Nothing electronic. We put everything in boxes for now,” Jessica interjected.
“Where’s the intel being kept?” Will asked.
“The fewer who know about it the better, so none of us would be tempted to make a deal with Eva’s kidnapper.
Particularly this guy,” Jessica said, jerking her thumb toward Luke.
“Two of our men took the boxes outside of Monaco. They’re with them as we speak, and we’ll radio our guys once Eva’s safe and her captors have been taken out. ”
“Smart.” Will tucked his hands in his pockets.
Jessica nodded. “So, now we wait for her abductor to call, so we can make the exchange. We have men in position to grab her kidnapper when he shows up at Malik’s residence to access the safe,” she explained.
“Do you think this man is working with anyone over here?” Will asked.
“The same man who grabbed Eva also took down Harper. We believe he acted alone, but he probably has a team on standby to go after the safe. He’ll suspect we’ll have men in place to try and stop him at Malik’s.” Jessica’s gaze softened.
“What the hell happened to Harper?” Will’s mouth tightened.
“She was shot; her body was abandoned on the way here.” There was a tight strain to Luke’s words as he reeled back his desire to unleash his anger.
“Christ.” Will touched the platinum wedding band on his ring finger. He still wore it, even though his wife had died in combat in 2003.
Grief burrowed into the pit of Luke’s stomach as a wave of emotions crashed to the surface. I can’t lose Eva. She can’t go out like this, not because of me.
“I have a hard time believing he’ll trade Eva without confirming the contents of the safe first,” Asher said from behind. “She could get killed if anyone opens fire.”
Three, two, one . . .
Will released a heavy sigh. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but—call your people, tell them we’ll arrange a meet if the abductor calls. Explain you’ve already emptied the safe and can show them the files only if Eva’s safe.”
Luke feigned surprise, his mouth agape. “You’d be willing to risk the files getting in the hands of an enemy to save her?”
Will cupped a hand over his mouth.
What a fucking actor . . .
“I trust you guys to get the files back once we’ve secured Eva. When he runs, you’ll find him in time. It’s what you do.”
Luke’s forearms tightened at his sides. “You’re right,” he said in a low voice. “We always get our man.”