Chapter 4 #3
“I know,” Brick said. “And something’s wrong. Very fucking wrong. Last I knew, she was in Russia. I’ll be there in a minute.”
“I’m here, and Tiny’s on his way,” Pipe said.
“The line’s being recorded, right?” Brick asked.
“Of course. Like always.”
“Good. Have someone call Tex. I have a feeling we’re gonna need him.”
“You don’t know that. She might be calling to play a joke or something,” Pipe said reasonably.
“No. Not Alaska. Something’s happened, and I may need Tex to help fix it,” he said without hesitation.
“Right. I’ll get Owl to call Tex. I’m waiting by the back door.”
“Thanks. Be there soon.” Brick clicked off the phone and picked up his pace. He had no idea what was going on, but he knew without a shadow of a doubt, it wasn’t good.
When he got to the lodge, he ran through the door Pipe was holding open for him and didn’t slow down as he headed for a small office in the back. It wasn’t used very often, but had a computer and phone that were both connected to the ones their admin used at the front desk.
He took a deep breath to calm himself. “Line one?” he asked Tiny, who’d arrived at the same time he had.
When his friend nodded, Brick put the phone on speaker then clicked the flashing light that said line one.
“Hey, honey! What’s up?” he asked in a tone that was as laid-back and relaxed as he could muster.
Meanwhile, his hands gripped the edge of the desk hard enough that his knuckles turned white.
Pipe had a phone in his hand, holding it up so whoever was on the other end could hear what was happening. Brick prayed it was Tex.
“Drake?”
Alaska’s voice was thready and he could hear it shaking.
“It’s me,” he told her. “How was your tour today?”
“Um…yeah, about that,” she said. “I’ve found myself in a bit of trouble and need your help.”
“Anything. You know that,” he said, letting reassurance bleed into his voice.
“I need you to transfer two million dollars into an account as soon as you can, otherwise I’m gonna be sold to a guy in China.”
Brick had expected something to be wrong, but this was…he didn’t know what this was. Repulsive. Shocking. Horrifying.
He didn’t doubt Alaska for a second. She wasn’t the kind of woman who would call him out of the blue asking for huge chunks of money. “Holy fuck, honey,” he breathed, not even sure what to say at the moment.
“I know,” she said with a small, very unamused laugh. “Crazy, right? You were right when you told me I shouldn’t come to Russia on my own.”
Brick felt awful. He had told her that. But in his worst nightmares, he couldn’t have imagined this would happen to her.
“I’ll get on it as soon as we hang up. What happens after I send the money?”
“I…I don’t know. But they promised if you sent the money, they’d let me go.”
“Okay, honey. Stay strong. I’m on this. Understand?”
“Yeah. And, Drake? I’m so sorry.”
Fury rose hard and fast in Brick. There was no need for her to apologize. It shocked him that she felt as if she was in any way responsible for some piece of shit kidnapping her to sell for sex. “Is the person who took you there? Can he hear me?”
“Yes,” she whispered.
“Please don’t hurt my wife,” he said, playing his role. What he really wanted to tell the fucker was that if he hurt one hair on Alaska’s head, he was gonna regret it. He went on in as calm a voice as he could manage. “I want proof that you’ve set her free before I send you a dime.”
He heard a deep chuckle in the background. Then a man spoke with a Russian accent. “Wrong. You send my money, then your wife is let go. Here’s the account.” He rattled off a series of numbers.
Brick didn’t worry about writing them down. The call was being recorded.
“Got that?” the man asked.
“Yes,” Brick said between clenched teeth. “It’s going to take some time to get the money together and wired. I want your promise that nothing will happen to my wife in the meantime.”
“I make no promises to anyone for anything,” Alaska’s kidnapper said. “But because you’ve both been so…accommodating…I’ll give you some time. Don’t fuck me over. If you do, she’s as good as dead.”
“I won’t. Al, hang in there. No matter what, I’m gonna fix this… Alaska? Are you there?”
“The call’s been dropped,” Pipe confirmed.
“Fuck!” Brick yelled, then picked up the phone and threw it against the wall as hard as he could.
Anger swam through his veins, impossible to control.
He hadn’t felt as helpless as he did right now in a long time—not since that day over four years ago, when he’d watched his battle buddies get blown to bits.
He turned to Pipe and thrust out his hand for the phone he was holding. “Tex?” he asked Pipe, as he took it from him. His friend nodded.
“I’m tracing the call,” Tex said as soon as Brick put the phone up to his ear. “Since it took a few minutes for you to get to the office, there was time to trace it. Also got my computer working on that account number he gave you. We’re gonna get her back.”
“I want in,” he said.
“Brick, you’ve been off the teams for four years,” Tex told him.
“I don’t have to be on the strike team, but I have to be there.
She’s gonna need me,” he told the older man.
He couldn’t explain how he knew that, he just did.
Whatever Alaska was going through was bad.
He felt it in his bones. Heard it in the tone of her voice.
She was scared shitless. And there was no telling what would happen to her between now and when her kidnapper received the money.
Even though the man had said he would wait for the money to appear, Brick didn’t trust him, not one bit.
Tex sighed. “All right. I can make a phone call and get an extraction team on their way. They don’t often work outside the US anymore, but they’ll make an exception for this. If I get a plane to Los Alamos in twenty minutes, can you be on it?”
Brick didn’t even ask how the hell Tex would be able to commandeer a plane, let alone getting it to the small town nearby in twenty minutes. “Yes. And Tiny will be coming with me.”
Tex didn’t argue. “Remember, you’re both in the peripheral on this one. Got it? Support only.”
“Ten-four,” Brick agreed. He didn’t care if he was the one to take down Alaska’s kidnapper or not. He just needed to be there for her.
“That piece of shit won’t get away with taking one of our own,” Tex said. The conviction in his voice went a long way toward making Brick relax a fraction. “Twenty minutes. Be there.” Then Tex severed the line.
Brick handed the phone back to Pipe. “Thanks,” he said with a nod. He turned to Tiny. “You okay going with me?”
“Fuck yeah,” he replied.
Brick was relieved. He’d picked Tiny to accompany him because, one, he was in the room and already knew what was happening, and two, because he’d been a SEAL.
He had nothing against the other men he worked with.
They were just as deadly and competent. But there was a level of familiarity and comfort with Tiny simply because they’d both been SEALs.
The men ran out of the office, ignoring Becky, who was asking what was happening.
They didn’t have even one extra minute to explain.
Alaska’s life was on the line and it was going to take a bit of time to get to her.
There was a good chance that whoever had kidnapped her would go ahead and ship her to China without waiting for Brick’s money to arrive.
If that happened, it would be almost impossible to find her—but Brick wasn’t going to give up.
Tex would take care of the money transfer, making it seem as if the cash was on its way, that the transfer was pending when it actually wasn’t.
Brick wasn’t concerned about money. If Tex had to literally send the ransom for real, he’d gladly spend the rest of his life repaying the former SEAL. All that mattered was getting Alaska back safe and sound.