Chapter 21
“It’s quiet,” Jagger whispered from a crouched position in the grass beside Liam.
Too quiet.
The two R.I.S.C. teams and Ryker took precious minutes to survey the scene. They’d parked their vehicles behind each other along the two-lane road leading to their targeted location.
“Time to end this.” Jagger exited Liam’s rental car ready to kill.
As he did, the other men in that and the other two vehicles did the same, gathering in a large group for a last-minute check of their equipment and weapons. Thanks to a powerful snap of Ryker’s fingers, both Delta and Echo had been equipped with protective vests, guns, and comms to go around.
The perks of being friends with one of the U.S. government’s most influential men.
Christian lifted a hand and motioned for the teams to begin moving. Trained in the art of approach, they covered the distance as one using almost identical, broad, near-silent steps.
The 1800s colonial stone building they suspected Miller owned was still a good distance from where they were.
But thanks to the very first stirrings of an early morning sunrise, Jagger and the others had the advantage of assessing their surroundings while still under the protection of the night’s remaining shadows.
“Jagger, look,” Liam whispered, jutting his head toward a beat-up car parked in the front of the building.
A shot of renewed fear set in when they got closer, and Jagger saw the condition of the driver’s side door.
It was open. The window was shattered. And there was blood.
So much blood.
It was everywhere. On the tiny shards of glass on the ground, and those still stuck in place. It was splattered and smeared on the window’s metal frame. The driver’s seat, console…and beyond.
Talia.
Jagger and the others stopped in their tracks.
“If that’s hers...” He couldn’t bring himself to finish the thought for the feeling that his heart was being savagely forced from his chest. “Ah, fuck. Christian…” His fingers gripped the butt of his pistol tightly.
Sharing a look that said the man was there for him, no matter what the outcome may be, Christian cleared his throat and took control of the situation once more.
To Echo Team, he said, “Just like we talked about.” He lasered in on Emmett. “We’ll take the inside, you and your team clear the perimeter and then stand guard.”
“Copy that.” Emmett gave a single nod of his dark head.
Jagger added a belated, “Watch your backs. And remember…Talia is the priority.”
“We’ve got you, Brooks.” Gwen’s big eyes met his. “If she’s here, we’ll find her.”
With that, the members of Echo Team took off around the building with their weapons up and at the ready. They followed Emmett’s silent commands as Jagger began making his way to the building’s front entrance.
“Dammit, Brooks. Wait up!” Christian hissed from behind.
He refused to wait. Talia needed him, and every second could be the difference between life and her death.
I’m coming, darlin’. Just need you to hang on a little while longer.
Jagger entered the building first with Christian and the others covering his six. His gut churned and his heart sank to his feet when they followed a trail of blood to the room at the end of the narrow hall.
A man lay dead in the middle of the floor. The back of his skull had been viciously bashed in.
“Think this was her?” Rocky asked no one in particular as the Delta men and Ryker stood around their second corpse of the night.
A small pool of blood was in one corner of the room, the wall behind it smeared with more of the same. More of the crimson liquid marred the floor in smears and splatters.
Jagger stood beside the others, staring back down at the beefy corpse. From the damage to the guy’s head, if Talia was the one who’d killed him, she’d been damn pissed when it happened.
That’s my girl.
Speaking of Talia, they’d cleared the building and there was still no sign of her or Miller, aside from the terrifying amount of blood.
“Echo One, this is Delta Six.” Jagger used the borrowed comms unit to speak directly to Emmett.
“Echo One, copy.” Emmett’s deep voice sounded through the tiny mic in Jagger’s ear.
“Building’s clear,” Jagger informed the other man. “Any sign of Talia or Miller out back?”
“Negative, Delta Six. But there’s still a lot of land and trees to cover. We’re heading into the trees now.”
“Be careful,” he ordered next. Looking to Christian and the others, he assumed, “We’ll cover the land to the west.”
She’s here, somewhere. She has to be.
Jagger started across the room, a sudden and unexplained certainty growing with each step he took. When he got back outside, the cold breeze striking his skin helped clear the spiraling emotions and thoughts filling his head.
“I’ll go meet up with Emmett and those guys,” Christian told him. “Help them look through the trees.”
He gave his team leader a nod as Brody, and Rocky followed. Meanwhile, Cade, Liam, and Ryker chose to stay with Jagger.
Together, the four men headed for a large lot of tall, smooth grass. Jagger’s heart raced as he told himself over and over that Talia was still alive.
He loved her. He couldn’t lose her now. And sure as hell, not like this.
Come on, baby. Show me where you are. I need to see you and hold you and know that you’re okay.
Despite the innate sense that she was alive and she was here, Jagger’s next few steps brought with them a growing sense of dread. But then—
Liam’s hand shot out, grabbing hold of Jagger’s upper arm and pulling him to a stop. Staying quiet, the other man pointed to something up ahead.
It took Jagger a few seconds to locate what his teammate had seen.
A body.
The bile that had been churning in his stomach threatened to shoot straight into his throat. He took off in a dead sprint, his own safety be damned.
A few feet from where they body lay, he was overcome with relief when it became clear that the unmoving form was male. With his weapon trained, Jagger finally reached the body. A quick and cautious check for a pulse confirmed whoever he was, the man was dead.
He reached down with his free hand, grabbing hold of the guy’s shoulder, and pulling until the body was lying flat on its back.
“Holy shit.” Cade came to a stop next to where Jagger was still standing. “Isn’t that—”
“Julian Miller.” Jagger nodded.
Someone had shot the asshole. And from the looks of the hole in his chest, they’d struck him square in the heart. Whoever it was, they’d taken the shot from behind.
And they had damn good aim.
What the hell happened here tonight? And where the fuck was Talia? Had she gotten free and then hunted down and killed the man responsible for her abduction? If so, where the hell did she go?
Cade got on the comms to update the others, and in the background of his whirling thoughts, Jagger heard Christian respond with something about heading back to get the cars.
“Shit.” Liam looked to Jagger. “I have the keys to the rental.”
“Go,” Ryker ordered. “We’ve got this covered.”
With Jagger’s nod of approval, his closest friend spun around and ran.
“I’m guessing that’s Miller’s gun.” Cade pointed to something on the ground next to the body.
Ryker bent down and carefully picked it up. “It’s a Glock. Nine mil.”
“Hey, what’s that?” Cade turned and started walking through the grass. He stopped a few feet away. He squatted down to look at whatever he’d found, and his shoulders fell with a disheartening, “Fuck.”
Jagger and Ryker rushed over to see what the other man had discovered. A fresh onslaught of fear struck when he spotted the set of handcuffs along with a sizeable pool of blood.
With wooden movements, he bent down and picked up the cuffs. He lifted them a bit higher, letting them dangle from his finger. Smeared blood marred the otherwise silver surface.
“Look.” Cade pointed to a set of tiny, flat keys in the grass near the sole of Ryker’s boot.
“She got free,” Jagger inferred, hope flourishing and making his pulse spike as he looked around. “Talia!” he shouted her name as loudly as he could while spinning around in slow, assessing circles. “Call out for me, darlin’! Show us where you are!”
He held his breath and waited, but there was no response. Seconds later—
“There!” Cade pointed to yet another portion of the grass not far from the cuffs.
They’d been so busy looking outward, scanning the area at a distance, they almost missed the very thing that could lead them straight to the woman he loved.
A trail of fresh blood marked countless long blades of grass. At first glance, it appeared to lead from the scene of Miller’s death toward the two-lane road.
His heart flew into his throat knowing she’d gone that way in search of help.
“Talia!” Jagger took off, his legs moving faster and harder than ever before.
Tears blurred his vision when he finally saw her. From relief and also—
No!
“Natalia!” He pushed his body to its limits in order to reach her.
“Oh, shit.” Ryker almost caught up to him. “Ah, fuck. Please tell me we aren’t too late.”
I can’t be too late!
Jagger finally reached her. He immediately dropped to his knees by her side. Those around him ceased to exist, and though everything that happened next transpired in a matter of seconds, to him, it was as if his entire world had come to a stop.
Talia lying was on her stomach with her head turned to the side. Her eyes were closed, and she wasn’t moving. A bullet had pierced her back, just above her left shoulder blade. As he continued with the visual triage, Jagger found another wound lower, in the fleshy part of her right thigh.
Ah, baby.
With the start of the sunrise barely trickling its golden light above the horizon, he could easily make out the dark crimson red of the blood on her hands and wrists. It was also soaked in the material surrounding both of her gunshot wounds.
Please, please, don’t take her!