Chapter 12
Chapter
Twelve
Hopefully, he was getting closer.
For hours now, Voodoo had been tracking Indigo through the forest.
It wasn't as easy as it would seem to be, especially on his own.
There was no Lion with his amazing eyesight to see miles ahead of them and give them a heads-up on anything he spotted.
No Dragon who could pick up a scent just like a dog could and follow it almost indefinitely, so long as too much time hadn't passed.
No Blade either to hear things nobody else could and point them in the direction of where the closest group of people was.
Doing this on his own wasn't what he was used to. For ten years, he and his team had been each other’s everything.
They always had each other’s backs, they supported one another even if that support was just their presence and didn't include words. This would be a hell of a lot easier if he’d gotten a response from his comms unit.
But he hadn't heard anything since they’d split up, and he wasn't sure if it was because either his unit or theirs had been damaged, or if there was something jamming the signals.
Without them, he found it harder than he would have guessed to track the vehicles that had taken Indigo through the woods.
Not that he was giving up. He’d killed all the men left behind, stripped them of their weapons, and then gone through any electronics they had on them to try to gather more intel.
He’d kept anything else he thought might be useful, including the least blood splattered uniform, never knowing when something like that might come in handy.
Following the small road had been the easy part, and he’d done it for miles, keeping hidden in case more vehicles came out looking for the men he’d killed.
Not that he’d ever seen any. More than likely, those left behind had been expendable.
Whoever was funding Dr. Gardner and his research seemed to have a bottomless pit of money.
What it would cost to run the labs, then the money he kept throwing at mercenaries willing to attempt to get the contracts on Rose and Cassandra’s heads, plus hiring this many guards, meant the financial backer likely wasn't worried about a few extra deaths when they could always just go and hire more.
As he walked, Voodoo did his best to keep his emotions locked down tight. If he didn't, concern for Indigo would override everything else.
Common sense would be lost to fear.
Training would be lost to fear.
Years of experience would be lost to fear.
And the anger raging inside him, screaming to be let out, to be given a target, would find a crack in his armor and slither free.
If it got free after being caged for so many years … he didn't even know what would happen.
Over the years, he’d seen his teammates slip every now and then. Dragon, in particular, had always been the one to struggle the most to keep his rage in check. Several times the man had lost control, as recently as a week or so ago when Blade first brought Whitney home.
Of all of them, he’d always been the one who had struggled the least. Of course, that anger had always been there for him, just as it was for the others, but his healer instincts always seemed to balance it out.
Not that he thought his brothers enjoyed killing, they didn't, it was just part of the world they’d chosen when they joined the military, but they didn't find it as objectionable as he did.
They were better able to compartmentalize.
For so long, he’d thought that was a weakness on his part.
That he was lacking somehow. Not as good as the others.
But then he’d come to realize that what made him different than the others was actually his strength. He balanced the team and was a calming force for all of them.
Now he was the one who needed a calming force. It was his girl who had been kidnapped by Dr. Gardner’s men, it was his girl who was in danger. It was his failings that had led to that happening.
His team was coming, he didn't need a comms unit to know that, but they might not make it before he lost control.
At the moment, pretty much the only thing keeping his fury somewhat contained was the fact that he didn't have an outlet for it.
Caught up in his head as he was, Voodoo almost didn't see it.
Just up ahead, hidden amongst the trees, was a vehicle.
It was black, and since it was dark out, he might have walked right past it as he battled to keep his anger caged and not allow his terror over Indigo cloud his instincts. Which they quite obviously were.
Palming one of the weapons from the dead men that he’d slung over his shoulders, it was a little awkward walking with all ten of them, but he’d rather have more firepower than less, he slipped behind a tree and watched.
While his instincts might be urging him to act, run, jump in, to do something, he knew he had to play this smart.
Smart meant taking his time, assessing, and making a plan before he acted.
The more time Indigo spent with these people, the more he risked her being hurt, but in the end, her life was more important.
If taking his time meant getting her out alive, he had to do it, even if he hated it.
As he watched, he saw two men standing nearby. Even without his night vision goggles, he could spot them because they were both smoking, and the little red glows caught his attention.
If he could get into that vehicle, then he could use a GPS to find his way to wherever Indigo was being held.
Voodoo was holding out hope that it wasn't too far away.
He felt sure if Dr. Gardner knew they were out there, and he was positive that the scientist did know Delta Team was there, then he wouldn't leave the area without trying to lure them into a trap.
A trap with Indigo as the bait. As much as Dr. Gardner needed her alive, he needed Delta Team more. They held greater value because they were already a highly trained special ops team, and thus of more use to him.
Deciding on a plan, Voodoo began to move. He wanted these two men dead without any bloodshed, wanted to be able to use their uniforms without needing to worry about someone spotting blood and things blowing up around him, if he could make inroads into wherever Indigo was.
So he snuck around the men, waited until their soft voices told him they were deep in a conversation they shouldn’t be having when they knew that he and his team were out there somewhere, then made his move.
Snapping a neck wasn't necessarily as easy as it was portrayed in movies, but if you knew what you were doing, then it wasn't particularly difficult either.
Of course, as soon as he pounced, grabbed the closest man, broke his neck, and let the body drop at his feet, the other man was already shouting in shock and fumbling for his weapon.
Guess he’d never learned the basics of never parting with your weapon while in the field.
Trying to keep him alive to interrogate would only be a waste of time.
These men were afraid enough of Dr. Gardner that they wouldn't talk, would only find a way to get him to kill them anyway like the man had earlier. So he merely slammed his foot into the man’s chest, sending him sprawling backward with a yelp.
His rage wanted to make the man suffer, wanted to rip him apart limb by limb, demanded screams to satiate it, but he didn't give in.
Time was of the essence.
Playing things smart and wasting time pandering to his own desires were two different things, and he wouldn't indulge the second.
So he leaned down, snapped the other man’s neck, and then moved on to stage two of his plan.
Dragging the body along with him, he hoisted him up into the passenger seat, trying to balance him so it wasn't obvious at first glance that he was dead.
Voodoo had no idea if there was a checkpoint to enter whatever compound Indigo was held at, and if there was, he didn't want anyone catching on that he wasn't the other dead man.
After that, he stripped off the guard’s uniform, it was slightly different than what he was wearing, and again, he wouldn't take any chances.
Well, any unnecessary chances.
Because this was taking one pretty damn huge chance.
Worth it though.
More than worth it.
Once he was in the vehicle, he turned on the engine and powered up the GPS system, praying it would lead him straight to where his girl was waiting for him.
Luck was definitely on his side, because a location only a few miles away was programmed into the system.
That had to be it, had to be where his girl was being held. Indigo was close, so damn close he could feel it, but there were still a mountain of obstacles standing between him and his girl, and he wasn't sure he’d be able to overcome them and get her back.
But he’d rather die trying—rather risk being captured again—than give up on her.
January 25th
12:00 A.M.
Something was happening.
There was a charge in the air that hadn't been there before, and Indigo assumed it either had to do with her and the plan to use her as bait, or it had to do with Voodoo and the guys.
Please don’t let them be caught.
As much as Voodoo had given her a reason to keep fighting, a reason to want to live, she wasn't so selfish that she wouldn't give her life in a heartbeat to save his.
In a sense, nothing had changed since he and his team first found her hiding in that supply closet, broken, bleeding, ravaged by infection, even though it felt in some ways like everything had changed.
She was still just her, alone in the world, no family, no friends, no job, no home, no one to miss her if she was gone, or care that something had happened to her.
And Voodoo was still Voodoo. He had his team, people who had become his family, brothers in every way that mattered.
They would miss him if he were gone, care that he’d been lost, and he had a job where he saved lives.