Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
S axon was working hard to keep a lock on his emotions. He wouldn’t lose it. He refused to.
He had to find Gia.
“Got something,” Ace yelled. He was manning the wall of flat screens in his office. “White Cadillac spotted in Chinatown.”
Saxon’s phone pinged and he yanked it out. His heart contracted. “Gia sent me a message.”
Vander, Rhys, and Easton crowded around him.
“Dammit, Sackler has her.” Find me. Those words speared through him.
“I’m tracing her cell now.” Ace’s face was serious as his hands danced over the keyboard.
Saxon forced himself to stand still and drag in a hard breath. His smart, sexy woman was busy trying to save herself. Fuck, he loved her.
Vander’s phone rang. “It’s Hunt.” He pressed the phone to his ear. “Talk to me.”
Rhys gripped Saxon’s arm. “Hold it together, Sax. I know how you feel, and it sucks.”
He met Rhys’s dark gaze. So similar to Gia’s eyes. They’d both inherited them from their mom. Rhys had suffered through Haven being taken—actually she’d been kidnapped several times.
“We’ll find her.” Easton’s tone was firm, unyielding.
“Ace?” Saxon said.
“Working on it.”
Vander strode back, his face grim.
Saxon’s chest compressed. “What?”
“Lex’s bullet-riddled body was found dumped in an alley on the edge of Chinatown.”
Easton cursed.
“There were also reports of a man carrying a woman off.”
“She’s alive,” Rhys said. “She sent that message. We know she’s alive.”
But for how long? Sackler wasn’t afraid to kill.
Rhys’ face hardened. “Gia’s beautiful, attractive. The rumors are that Sackler likes to have private auctions with his friends and sell off women.”
Fucker . Saxon’s hands balled, and he watched a muscle tick in Vander’s jaw.
“He’s going down,” Vander growled.
“He’s never been caught,” Rhys said. “There’s nothing to prove the rumors.”
“It’s enough,” Vander bit out.
“Got her!” Ace cried.
They all swiveled.
“Where?” Saxon barked.
“In Dogpatch.” Ace leaned over and tapped on the screen. “Looks like a warehouse.”
Saxon jerked. He wanted to move, jump in a car, and race there. But the soldier in him knew he needed more intel. He wouldn’t risk Gia’s life by racing in unprepared and out of control.
“Dammit, I lost her signal.” Ace cursed. “Her phone’s off, or it’s been destroyed.”
Shit, Sackler must have discovered it.
Vander met Saxon’s gaze. In his best friend’s dark-blue eyes, Saxon saw the same need to act.
“What info have you got on the warehouse?” Vander demanded.
“Pulling it up now.” Ace straightened. “It’s owned by a Hanes-Brown Corporation.” He tapped on the keyboard, then smiled. “Which is owned by Sackler Enterprises.”
“I want the schematics.” Vander turned. “Gear up. We’re going in and bringing Gia out.”
“Fuck yeah.” Saxon was already headed for the stairs to get to the locker room.
Downstairs, they geared up—black Kevlar vests, black cargo pants. From the weapons locker, Saxon strapped his Heckler no obvious weapons, but clearly armed—he saw the bulging shape of the guns under their jackets.
“We have no idea how many are inside?” Vander scowled.
“Vander, I’ve got a drone in the air,” Ace said. “Give me a minute, and I’ll run a heat scan.”
“Acknowledged,” Vander replied.
Fuck, that meant they needed to wait for the drone. Saxon blew out a breath. Waiting was always the hardest part of any mission.
He hoped to hell that Sackler only had a few guards with him. And Saxon hoped Gia was keeping her sassy mouth quiet for now.
“Lex had the gems,” Vander said. “And Gia.”
“And now he’s dead, and Sackler has Gia.”
“So, he likely has the gems as well.”
Their gazes met.
“All I care about is Gia,” Saxon said. “We get her first. The gems are secondary.”
Vander lifted his chin. “Hell, yeah.”
There was a click on their earpieces. “Vander, we’re in position on the other side of the warehouse,” Rhys said.
“Any visuals on Gia or Sackler?” Vander asked.
“No. All we can see in the warehouse is shelving stacked with boxes and other shit.”
“Acknowledged.”
“Drone is three minutes out,” Ace murmured.
Saxon knew Vander had spent a fortune on small, high-tech, military-grade drones. Ace treated the damn things like babies. They had thermal imaging, high-res cameras, and some were even weapons-equipped.
Suddenly, gunfire broke out from inside the warehouse.
Saxon’s heart stopped. He whipped up his M4 rifle.
Then he started forward.
“Saxon,” Vander hissed.
“I’m not fucking waiting. Gia is in there and I’m going to get her.”
Vander cursed and followed.
* * *
Okay, this warehouse was creepy.
Gia sniffed. There were only a few lights on, and weak sunlight filtered in from high windows. The place was filled with shadows.
When you were terrified, you imagined all kinds of bad things in the darkness.
That said, Gia was well aware that the most dangerous thing in the place was Sackler, who was walking ahead of her.
How did someone get so twisted?
The guard behind her shoved her and she shot him a glare over her shoulder.
Asshole . She mouthed the word and watched him scowl. The prick had found her phone when he’d dragged her out of the Escalade. He’d left it crushed in pieces on the street.
They walked between two long rows of metal shelves that went almost to the ceiling. The entire place was filled with shelves loaded with boxes and crates.
They reached the end of the row, and a small table and chairs sat in an open space. There were more guards there as well.
Gia swallowed. Saxon and Vander would come. They could deal with these guys with their eyes closed.
Taking a breath, Gia followed Sackler.
Then, she spotted the cage.
She stumbled, and felt like her chest caved in. It wasn’t big—waist high, made of metal.
Two women sat inside of it. Gia sucked in a sharp breath. They were both terrified. Maybe a few years younger than Gia, and it was hard to guess their nationalities. One had pale skin and long, black hair, while the other had dark-brown skin and brown hair. Both were extraordinarily beautiful.
Burning-hot rage scalded Gia’s veins.
Sackler had stolen these women. Was keeping them in a cage like animals.
She pressed a hand to her thigh, her nails digging into her skin. He was going down. Whatever happened here today, Gia vowed to free these women and make sure Sackler was stopped.
He halted at the table, and eyed Gia. “I have a cage for you, too, lovely Gia.”
“Fuck you.”
His lips twitched. “Would you like to? I can make you enjoy it.”
Ugh . Gia’s stomach revolted. The bastard wasn’t laying one finger on her.
With a laugh, Sackler upended the velvet bag. Colored gems spilled all over the table.
Then he lifted the pale-pink diamond.
“Ahh.” He held it up.
It was beautiful. It looked wrong resting in the asshole’s ugly hand.
“Yes, everything’s worked out better than I’d hoped. That idiot Dennett learned a lesson, I got my diamond back, and, as an added bonus—” he stroked Gia’s hair “—I got you.”
She jerked her head away. “I think I’m going to vomit.”
His face hardened, and he turned to the guards. “Go and check the warehouse.”
With nods, his men disappeared into the shadows, and Gia’s pulse jumped like crazy.
Sackler yanked her close and tried to kiss her, but as soon as his lips touched hers, she bit him.
With a growl, he shook her.
“You won’t get away with this,” she cried. Ugh, that sounded like a bad line in a movie. “My brothers and my man will stop you. I’ll stop you. I’m freeing those women, I’m taking that diamond, and if I’m lucky, I’ll get an opportunity to shoot you.”
Sackler threw his head back and laughed. Taking her chance, Gia punched him in his soft belly.
The air rushed out of him, and he grunted in pain and surprise.
Using all her strength, she kneed him in the face, and snatched the diamond out of his hand.
With a strangled, agonized sound, Sackler fell to his knees, cradling his head.
Gia spun and looked at the women. “I’ll be back, I promise.” Then she sprinted down one of the rows of shelves.
She clutched the diamond, which was surprisingly warm to touch. Then she scanned the rows of shelves. Exit . She needed a way out.
Somewhere behind her, she heard a bellow. “Find her!”
Shit .
Then she heard guns firing, and almost tripped.
“Alive,” Sackler shouted. The gunfire immediately ceased.
At least her bare feet kept her footsteps quiet. She ran to a junction in the middle of the warehouse. Damn, the place was a maze. She needed a way out. Come on, come on.
She turned left, but a second later, heard someone coming down one of the rows.
She pulled back and ducked down.
A guard thundered past her. She heard the squawk of a radio.
“Anyone got a visual?”
“Haven’t seen her yet.”
Gia backed away, then turned and jogged in the opposite direction. Her fingers clenched on the diamond. She turned a corner.
And found herself face-to-face with a guard.
His brows drew together, and he reached for her.
Shit . Gia jumped on him.
She caught him by surprise and they fell. The guard hit the ground first, Gia’s weight on him, and she heard the air wheeze out of him. Good. He was winded.
She stuffed the diamond down the front of her shirt, then rolled to the side. She got her arms around his neck in a chokehold that Vander had drilled her in about four thousand times. She didn’t need brute strength to choke someone, she just had to hit the right spot before they pushed her off.
The guard stiffened, and Gia put all of her strength into the chokehold. It was the longest two seconds of her life, but finally, the guy slumped against her.
Thank you, God.
She heard his radio squawk. “Sutton, you there?”
Gia leaped to her feet.
“Sutton, respond.”
Shit . She heard footsteps coming her way.
Turning, she ran and bolted down another aisle. Then she heard more voices ahead of her. Her chest locked. Crap . She was trapped.
She looked at one of the shelves and spotted a gap between two boxes. She squeezed into it, sliding past the two big boxes, and came out in the next row. But more footsteps were running toward her.
Shit, shit, shit.
“Sutton’s down,” someone yelled. “She’s close.”
“I want the woman and the diamond back now!” Sackler yelled.
Heart pounding, Gia ran, but at the far end of the row, a guard stepped into view. When he spotted her, he lifted his handgun and fired.
Gia ducked and squeezed through the next shelf. For a second, she got stuck, and she cursed her curvy hips, but then she was free.
Damn, they were converging on her. She looked up at the shelves. Could it work? She was out of other options.
She pressed her foot to the box on the lower shelf, and gripped the shelving above her head. Then she climbed. She made it up two shelves and squeezed into a space between a crate and a box.
Down below, two guards sprinted past.
Gia closed her eyes, and tried to quieten her breathing. She thought of Saxon.
Come on, Hot Stuff. Now would be an excellent time for a rescue .