Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty-One
She was late.
Chase paced the length of the hangar, pausing each pass to stare at his phone.
It had been nearly two hours since Greer had headed off to Buck’s, and she still hadn’t texted.
Not that it necessarily meant anything. Cell coverage was spotty around the county, and she could have gotten tied up on another call.
Was merely talking to a farmer out on one of the rural lanes like she’d done a thousand times before.
That fact didn’t stop him from worrying. Obsessing, really. Like he’d been doing every day since they’d stopped Hodges. Some deep-seated fear that he’d missed something. That it wasn’t quite over. That he could still lose her.
You won’t be able to save her.
Those words sounded in Chase’s head. They’d been looping through his mind all week, like some kind of prophesy.
Zain shuffled in beside him, clapping him on the back. “She’s probably helping some local find his missing cow.”
Chase nodded, the voice in his head already screaming. “Not like her to forget to text, though.”
Zain nodded, no witty comeback like Chase had expected. “Did you try the station?”
Chase snorted. “And be that guy? She’s the freaking sheriff. I have to let her do her job without hyperventilating every time she’s a bit late from a call.”
“True.” Zain looked him dead in the eyes. “Or, you call Shirley and find out where she is. Screw what anyone else thinks.”
“You’re supposed to be the voice of reason.”
“Not storming over there is being reasonable.”
“Does Saylor know about this side of you?”
“Hell yeah. Loves me anyway.”
Chase palmed his cell when the damn thing rang. He juggled it a few times, nearly dropping it on the hangar floor before shaking his head. Tapping the screen. “Remington.”
“Where the hell is Greer?”
Chase frowned. “Nick?”
Nick grunted. “Who else would it be? Is Greer with you?”
“She’s out on a call. Should be back soon. Why?”
Silence, then Nick muttering to himself.
Chase put the guy on speaker as his buddies gathered around. “Nick. If Greer’s in trouble, you’d better start talking.”
“I’m sending you a photo. Open it.”
Chase’s phone pinged, the message popping up on the screen. He tapped the icon, waited as the image loaded, then stared at the picture of a guy walking through an airport. Clothes mismatched as if he’d yanked them off a rack in a hurry.
Chase zoomed in on the man’s face. Froze. Chest squeezed tight, heart vibrating uselessly against his ribs. “Is that Royce Carver?”
Nick huffed. “I wasn’t sure with the obvious burn marks and scarring, but… He looks older. Frayed.”
“Why the hell are we just seeing this now?”
“Because we’d focused on Hodges. On tracking his movements until one of my guys came across this.” Nick blew out a rough breath. “It’s from nearly a year ago.”
Chase fisted his hand at his side, stilling the urge to punch a hole in the wall. “So, this means what? It’s not over. Hodges wasn’t acting alone?”
“It means we need to track down Greer and get her ass somewhere safe while I mobilize a team. This isn’t just about you and your buddies anymore.
After all that shit you told me Hodges ranted about, this is a threat to national security.
” He paused, something tapping in the background.
“I’m on the next flight out. I’ll be there in six hours. ”
“If she’s not answering her phone, I doubt she has that long.” He held the cell off to the side. “Foster, fire up the chopper. Zain, get Bodie to text us Buck’s location. We’ll check with Shirley but…”
Another ping, Greer’s name showing at the top of his cell.
Chase inhaled. “Greer just texted.”
He switched to her thread, opened the text.
Nick practically growled into the phone. “What the hell does it say?”
“Nothing, it’s coordinates. Foster…”
Foster glanced at the numbers, then punched them into his phone. “It’s thirty miles south of here. Near that decommissioned water treatment facility. The exact point’s in a river just up from the coast. Some kind of old trestle bridge.”
Kash frowned. “Why would she send us that?”
“She wouldn’t.” Chase swallowed the rush of panic, shoving it all down until nothing remained but cold determination. “It’s Carver.”
Zain covered his phone for a second. “Bodie says she hasn’t checked-in since she headed off to Buck’s. He’s sent the location, but…”
“She’s not there. He has her. Nick? I’m gonna have to call you back.”
Chase ended the call, then hit Greer’s number, heart in his throat, sweat slicking his palms. He clenched his jaw, counting the rings before the line picked up, nothing but heavy breathing on the other end. “What do you want?”
No response.
Chase grunted. “Damn it, Royce, I know it’s you. So, stop fucking around and tell me what the hell you want, because this is obviously some kind of game to you, and I can’t play along if I don’t know the rules.”
Silence, then a low, grating laugh. His phone rang, the incoming video call from Greer’s cell.
Chase switched over, breath held, anger burning beneath his skin as the screen flickered, Royce’s face filling the frame.
The guy grinned. “I have to hand it to you, Remington. I thought you’d need a few more clues to figure it out.”
“Where’s Greer?”
“She’s with me. She’s fine…” He grimaced a bit. “Well, mostly fine. She’s alive.”
“Show me.”
“You’re getting ahead of the play.”
“I don’t care. Either show me she’s still breathing, or this becomes a hunt.”
“It always was, but…”
The screen flipped, the sight dropping his stomach.
He’d tied her to a chair, head bowed forward, her auburn hair sticking up in every direction.
Blood stained her right shoulder, more splattered across her shirt.
Gunshot wound, though, he couldn’t tell how bad.
If it’d gone right through or ricocheted somewhere far more deadly.
Royce sighed. “It’s been a while since I used my skills to save anyone, though, I didn’t do half bad.”
“I’m the one you want. Why didn’t you just knock on my damn door?”
“Oh, I want you, Chase.” The camera flipped back to Carver, the left side of his face marred with burns and scars, just like Chase had thought he’d spotted from Rhett’s room that last night, when that figure had walked past. “I want you to suffer. To know how we felt, lying there, waiting for you to come back. Killing you would be too easy, but this…” He laughed. “This way you get to choose.”
“Choose what?”
“Who you’re going to save. You see, I brought along another friend…” Carver angled the phone until Buck appeared behind him. Similar position minus the blood. “It’s just like old times.”
“Just tell me when and where.”
“I assume your teammates already plotted the coordinates. Be here. One hour. No helicopters. You can catch a lift from that boat captain your buddy Everett’s in love with.
Bring him and Sinclair, though, in the end, it’ll come down to you.
” He pulled the phone away, then stepped back into the frame.
“I mean it. If I hear one hum of a rotor, see Beckett’s face anywhere close to me — I’ll kill them both. See you soon, Remington.”
The line cut off, eerie silence filling the room. Chase stared at the screen, Greer’s image playing in his head. He never should have left her alone. Vulnerable. If she died…
He’d be lost, and nothing would bring him back.
Zain clapped him on the shoulder, snapping him out of his thoughts. “Saylor’s readying her Zodiac. She’ll have it running by the time we get there. I’ll pack… everything, though, I’m sure he’ll make us discard any weapons.”
Foster had his chopper on the tow cart. “I know he said no helicopters, but I’ll find a place to set it down before he knows I’m there. Mac, too. We’ll get her back.”
Chase looked his best friend in the eyes, his own uncertainty mirrored in Foster’s, then grabbed his medic bag.
He tossed in extra supplies, strapped on his Sig, then made a beeline for his truck.
Nick rang his cell, but he let it go, typing out a quick text as he slipped behind the wheel — got the engine purring.
Kash jumped in with Nyx, tossing more bags in the back. “Bodie’s on his way. He’ll head out with Foster, while Jordan flies with Mac. In case we need a double rescue because there’s no way we’re making Greer wait.”
Chase merely nodded before he peeled out, Zain following behind. He took the road at an insane speed, his wipers tapping out a steady rhythm. He hit the turnoff a few minutes faster than usual, bumping his way down the winding lane before skidding to a halt in front of the pier.
Saylor looked over at them from behind the helm, the Zodiac’s engine chugging in the background. She seemed oblivious to the wind and the rain, waving them over as the last of the light bled into black.
The boat dipped as they piled on, crowding under the canopy as Zain tossed in the lines, then jumped onboard.
Saylor hit the throttle, guided them out, the surf pounding the shore, spraying across the bow and down the sides.
The wind howled across the deck, dropping the temperature as she picked up speed — skipped the damn vessel across the water like a stone.
Chase stared into the darkness, heart hammering, his sanity a distant memory. He couldn’t talk, could barely breathe, as they headed south, each minute another chance for him to lose Greer.
Kash bumped his shoulder. “Your head in the game?”
Chase glanced at him. “Completely focused.”
“We’ll get her back. Royce obviously has something grandiose planned. That’ll be his undoing.”
“Unless he’s set it up so there’s no way to win.”
“We’ve beaten the odds before, brother. We’ll do it, again. Ride or die.”
Ride or die.
No hesitation. No doubts.
Just his team against Royce. And Chase wasn’t about to lose.