11. Aiden
Aiden
Thirty bloody minutes.
That’s how long I’ve been sitting here listening to my engine idle while Pauly’s drone sweeps the area. Thirty minutes too long. Five miles is all that separates me and Isabel. Seconds tick by while I’m stuck out here doing fuck all.
If it were my call, I’d already be inside. Guns up. Safety off. Let the rest sort itself out after.
But my men are keeping level heads, treating this like any other mission. Smart. Controlled. The way it should be.
Doesn’t mean I like it.
The longer we sit, the worse it gets. My gut burns, warning me we’re running out of time.
I stop pretending I can sit still. I shove my door open and climb out.
“Fuck it. You all sit here and wait. I’m going in.” The tailgate of Lane’s truck slams down under my hand as I gear up, movements sharp, controlled—barely. “She’s here. I know it. And I don’t give a damn who we piss off getting her back. No one inside walks away.”
Ryan’s at my side before I even finish. He refused to be left behind earlier. Said it was up to him and Marty to bring her back safely.
Under any other circumstances, I’d have given him an earful and put him in his place.
Not tonight. I don’t have the time or patience. We’ve waited long enough.
Slipping on my vest, I fix Ryan with a hard look. “Get in my way and I will shoot you. You’re backup. Nothing more. Once we have Izzy, she’s mine to protect. Understand?”
Ryan nods, pulling a vest over his head. “As long as you let me shoot the fuckers who drugged me.”
“You’ll get your chance.” I grab a tactical belt and toss one his way. “Extracting her is top priority. Once she’s safe, what happens after that all depends on what kind of shape she’s in.”
Marty steps in beside me, already gearing up, jaw tight. “My brother’s mine.”
I toss him a belt and a couple flashbangs. “Then make sure he doesn’t get back up.”
Lane and Zander are the last to join us. They don’t say a word, just gear up.
Pauly’s voice crackles through our comms. “Got eyes on the prize. Southeast room, rear of the house. Two extra vehicles in the drive. Three tangos sweeping perimeter. Place is quiet.”
I strap on two additional handguns, grab my carbine, and load up enough ammo to level the place if needed. “Best entry point?”
“They’ve locked it down. Walls lined with razor wire. Whoever’s inside knew trouble would come.”
Lane jumps in. “Front gate, then. Can you get us through?”
“Do monkeys like bananas?” There’s a brief pause as Pauly laughs at his own joke. “You’re going in on foot. A vehicle will trip alarms. I’ll nudge the gate open. No alerts. Cameras are already down.”
“We’ll need a clean exit,” I remind him. “She’s not making five miles on foot. Closest we can get without being seen?”
“Half a mile out. Service road near the pastures. Cover is scarce.”
“We’ll make it work.”
Ready to roll, I slide into the passenger seat of Lane’s truck. “P, you and T stay sharp. Anyone gets within three miles of that house, you call it.”
“On it.”
With Pauly’s go-ahead, Lane takes the wheel while the other three pile into the back.
“Scoot over, fucker,” Zander grumbles, forcing himself next to Ryan. “Who thought this through?”
“Shut it!” I snap.
“Where’s the princess supposed to sit on our way back?” Zander leans forward, making Ryan’s life worse.
“You can jog back,” I tell him, motioning for Lane to move out. “You’re getting soft in the middle. Could use the exercise.”
He falls back, grinning as he lifts his shirt and smacks his stomach. “I’ll ask your lady what she thinks.”
“You will do no such thing. You don’t talk to her.”
The side road comes into view, and I snap my fingers, pointing it out to Lane. “I take point. Lane on me. Ryan and Marty, tight behind. Zander, rear.”
Once the truck is parked and hidden from the main road, we do a quick gear check and move out. The darkness is on our side. The only light comes from the moon, which is dimmed by thick gray clouds.
We arrive at the rock wall quickly, tracking along it until we reach the corner that leads us to the front gate.
“Hold,” Pauly’s voice cuts through the comms. “Movement.”
I hate not seeing what he sees. In a proper op, we’d have a live feed. Right now, we’re blind.
“What kind of movement?”
“Someone’s leaving. Female.”
“The package?” My jaw clenches as my pulse spikes.
“No. Three tangos escorting her. She’s speaking with someone just inside the door. Can’t get a visual,” Pauly informs us.
A slow, drawn-out creak cuts through the night as the gate slides open less than three hundred yards away.
We drop low, bodies still as headlights sweep through the dark.
Tires crunch on the gravel as it passes through the gate.
Once it passes, the wheels spin faster, and the noise fades as it speeds up.
The gate starts closing.
“Go.”
We’re up and across in seconds, slipping through the narrowing gap before the gate seals shut behind us.
No alarms. No lights. Just darkness.
We melt into the shadows as the night settles back in. A symphony of crickets chirp, their high-pitched song the only sound breaking the silence.
Twenty feet from a door, I raise a hand, stopping the team. “Pauly, you have heat?”
“No heat. Malfunction. You’re going in blind.”
Not ideal. Would be nice to have infrared, but such is life.
I nod and hold up three fingers. Three men took Isabel. They could still be inside. There could be more, which is why we’re taking this slow.
“Moving in. See you on the flip side.”
“Roger that,” Pauly responds. “I’ve got eyes out here. T’s on the roads.”
Taking a deep breath, we move. I take the lead, Lane right on my rear. With practiced ease, we breach the house, the floorboards creaking faintly beneath our weight.
Tension settles in fast. This could be an ambush—it likely is—but I don’t slow down. I don’t hesitate. Whatever’s waiting inside, we’ll handle it.
As we’re clearing the house, something crashes above us, voices breaking through right after. Then a loud high pitch scream. A woman’s scream. The stairs are right there, and everything in me wants to take them two at a time.
But I don’t. Not yet. Not blind.
We finish the floor, and the second we’re clear, Lane moves for the stairs. I’m on him, tight, covering his back as the others fall in behind us.
At the top, we pause, taking in what’s waiting for us. There are several doors, all closed. Each room will need to be searched. No shortcuts.
He reaches for the handle of the first door when another one opens halfway down the corridor.
Lifting our guns, we ready ourselves to take out any fucker who shows himself.