Chapter 18
Cameron
“Feds aren’t going to release Vale’s funds or return the USB.” I push away from Liam’s kitchen table and start pacing. Frustration and fear for Lacey courses through me as I stalk around the room. “We’ve got to find Lacey before those motherfuckers kill her.”
Beckett puts a hand on my shoulder, stopping me. “Slow down. We bought ourselves another night.”
“We think we did.” I shrug off his touch, then storm back to the table and zoom in on the video call screen, locking my gaze onto Liam’s grim face.
He’s in a safe house with Vale’s ex-fiancée, protecting her while collaborating with us and our team to pinpoint Lacey’s location.
“She dropped her cell phone on the floorboard so there’s no way to use GPS signals. We’re officially blind.”
Liam shakes his head, and tunnels his fingers through his short, cropped hair. “I’ve still got a few tricks up my sleeve. Detective Reynolds interviewed several witnesses after the abduction. We’ve got make, model and color of the vehicle. We’ve got a partial plate from the security cameras.”
“Better figure out where the hell that car is then,” I say.
“We’re using satellite images from our covert rescue headquarters to scan the entire Atlanta metro area,” Liam says. “We will rescue her.”
Beckett joins me. “But you won’t be any good to the team or her if you reopen your wound,” he says. “You’re lucky our medics cleared you for this mission especially after they knocked you out cold. Could still be a concussion.”
“They thought I was dead.”
“Good thing they thought wrong,” Beckett says. “Otherwise, you would be.”
“They didn’t have time to confirm it. Too many cars entering the garage. Hell, I ditched the first tail, but they had a backup plan. Or maybe that was the plan all along.”
“The bastards took a huge risk which means they’re getting pressure from Vale. And desperate.”
“They’re stupid too,” Liam pipes in. “Vale’s only got so many places to stash Lacey now that he’s gone underground.
Plus, they’ve forgotten one important fact.
I’m protecting the woman Vale planned to murder after they got married.
She’s got a list of places the bastard had access to before he escaped arrest.”
“Feds and our team are collaborating too,” Beckett reminds me. “The USB might give us a clue about how he could use Stratford Industries to hide more than money. He was involved in human and sex trafficking, smuggling fentanyl into the country, and a shit ton of other illegal transactions.”
“I know everyone is busting their asses to discover where she is and to rescue her when we do.” I lean toward the laptop screen and inhale a deep breath to steady my racing heart.
When the drumming in my ears quiets down, I go on.
“Still doesn’t change the reality that every minute we’re digging for answers, she’s in danger and who knows what the fuck else those mafiosos are doing to her.
” God, even if we find her, get her out alive, this could scar her for life.
What if going through this hell puts a nail in the coffin and buries any chance I have to have her be a part of my life in the future.
Even worse, I never got the chance to tell her how I really feel about her. Because I’m a coward.
But I have faith in my team.
After we extract Lacey out of wherever Vale’s henchmen are holding her captive danger, I’ll inform my commander at Select Protectors that deploying overseas is no longer an option. After I rescue her, I want to spend every day saying hello to her and the fuck with the goodbyes.
A woman pops in behind Liam. “I have an idea,” she says.
The former bride-to-be’s fiery red hair tumbles around her elegant, beautiful face as she looks at us over Liam’s shoulder. He stiffens a bit like she’s making him nervous and a muscle jumps in his jaw. “Spill,” he says.
“The trafficking angle should narrow down your search,” Whitney Stratford says. “We’ve got contracts and buildings at a couple of different warehouse districts.”
“Where are they?” I ask.
“Gwinnett County in Northeast Atlanta and Fulton Industrial Boulevard,” she says.
“I’ll get someone in our satellite to scan the areas for the missing Honda.
” Beckett slides into one of the chairs at the table, keys in a command to the tech analysts at headquarters.
“Liam get us coordinates of drive times to either location. We’ll round up more of our team members to infiltrate the most likely candidate. ”
“Still no sign of the car at either location,” Liam says after a few tense minutes fly by.
“We’ve got to pick the most likely one,” I say. “Every minute we debate where to go, is a lost opportunity to get Lacey out of danger.”
Outside, a spring storm brews, and the clouds begin to gather, grow darker. Lightning flashes in the distance and thunderclaps shortly after. Rush hour is over, but if a mega storm hits, we’ll have another obstacle to fight since a torrential rainstorm clogs up the highways with accidents.
“Whitney, does Stratford Industries use the trucking facilities in Fulton?” Liam asks.
“Yes. I’ll bet that scumbag used fake OTRs to move those poor people he’s trafficking.”
“OTRs?” Beckett asks.
“Over the Road truckers haul our goods across the country,” she says.
“Our manifestos show the stuff getting delivered, but we’ve gotten a lot of complaints about messed up ones.
I bet that USB has the real manifestos on it.
” She pushes back from the table behind Liam and shakes her head.
“I can’t believe I fell in love with that bastard. ”
“You were an easy target,” Liam says matter-of-factly, then returns his attention to us. “I say go with Fulton Industrial Boulevard’s facilities. I’ll keep looking for heat signatures in the different buildings and warehouses while you coordinate the team extraction unit.”
“Rounding them up now,” Beckett says. “Everyone’s gearing up and we’ll rendezvous at the industrial corridor.”
“If the rain holds off, you should reach it in roughly twenty minutes,” Liam says.
“There’s a chance we could be wrong,” I say. “Do we have enough manpower to hit Gwinnet County’s warehouse district?”
“Three more besides you and me. Jeff, Max and Wyatt are on their way to our rendezvous point.”
I’ve worked with all three during different missions. They’re top in the field. All having served in military branches with honor and distinction before Select Protectors recruited them. “Excellent guys,” I say, grateful for them having my back.
“Yes. And Liam will continue to man the communications,” Beckett says. “We’ll bring Detective Reynolds in on our current intel. She doesn’t have enough to authorize a SWAT team, but with what I do tell her, she’ll have the clout to send a couple of unmarked squad cars to patrol the facilities.”
“Lacey’s been gone for two days. She might not have another one.
” I set my jaw and nod. “We’re rolling the dice on this extraction, but we can’t wait any longer.
” Another crack of thunder booms in the distance.
“Fulton Industrial Boulevard is located southwest of I-20, close to the main freeway that hauls shit west of Atlanta. The odds are in our favor. I say we take our chances.”
I’ve never been a gambling man, but I have to take a gamble here and pray that we’ve made the right choice. Otherwise, I’ll lose the best odds I have to spend the rest of my life with the woman I love.