Lance had the phone to his ear and Ben could hear it ringing on the other end. “So, we can wait around and see if they come back tomorrow like he said—”
“Not a chance in hell he will,” Ben said, a dull thud in his chest.
By the time they got back into the car, Riley answered and Lance filled her in on the latest information. “I think I know where they went,” Riley said. “Flaherty found a piece of real estate the Truxton’s own in the Caribbean. Apparently, it’s a very small island between Key West and the Bahamas.”
“So, he was just trying to through us off?” Ben asked. “But why did he get his car. He had to know we could track him down here.”
“Maybe he thought you would look somewhere else if the yacht was still there.”
Plausible, but not very smart. But then, Kevin Truxton seemed more emotional than rational in his thinking. The truth of the matter was, they had no idea what was going on in the man’s head—which made him dangerous and unpredictable when shit starting coming apart. And Mia was in the line of fire.
“Abbott found out some information on the girlfriend, Belinda Reeves. Turns out a Belinda Reeves was found dead a month ago in an alley in Raleigh, North Carolina. Police believe she was attacked after leaving a nightclub. No leads on who may have killed her.”
A cold sweat broke out over Ben’s skin. “He killed his girlfriend?”
“There’s no way to know who killed her—no cameras in the alley.”
“It didn’t seem as if his parents knew she was dead,” Ben said.
“They may not have known, if Kevin didn’t tell them. Her death didn’t make national news, and they wouldn’t have seen it on their local news.”
“So, what’s the plan?” Lance asked.
“You need to head over to MacDill,” Riley said. “SOCOM has a couple of RHIBs for you, as well as other gear. The rest of the team is en-route and should be there within the hour. They had just touched down in DC when I got them on a hop from Andrews.”
Lance confirmed the information, disconnected the call, and they started the thirty minute drive to the Special Operations Command on MacDill Air Force Base. Ben cracked his knuckles and tried not to think about what Kevin had done to Mia the last time he had kidnapped her. Was he beating her? Torturing her? Or had she resisted him? Fought back?
Was she injured?
His breath choked in his throat.
Or was she already dead?
Chapter Fifteen
Mia curled into a ball, and covered her head to protect it from any more blows.
No, no, no, no, no!
It couldn’t be true. Her kidnapper wasn’t the RRA like she had thought—it was Kevin. Her thoughts went back to the last time he had kidnapped her. The pain of being used as a punching bag whenever she didn’t answer him correctly resurfaced as she held tight to her ribs—the latest place he had brutalized her. The feel of his hot breath on her skin made her cringe and shudder, the feeling not dissipating even though he had lifted his head.
She felt his hand on her hip and stifled a cry that he wouldn’t force himself on her. She pressed her thighs together as tight as she could, knowing that it wouldn’t prevent him from spreading her legs apart and taking what he wanted. What he needed to make himself feel in control.
The mattress dipped and he got off the bed, stalked to the door, and slammed it so hard it shook the walls. She stared after him for some time, expecting him to come in and commence the beatings—or worse—all over again.
It wasn’t until the sun was high in the sky and sunlight flooded the room that it registered with her that the door had not fully latched. The two-inch gap between the door and the frame didn’t offer her any insight to what lay beyond the room. But it did offer her a chance to find a way to communicate with Ben. A way to save herself and the team. A way toward freedom.
She slid out of the bed and padded quietly across the room. Slowly, she opened the door a little bit at a time, fearful the hinges would alert Kevin to her attempt to flee. A long hallway opened to a large, airy room. The exterior wall was all glass, offering breathtaking views of the water. The same cliff that she could see from her room came around to this side of the house, and she was sure it ran the entire length of the island.
She searched the space. There had to be a cell phone...or computer around somewhere. Perhaps and iPad or laptop—something she could use to send a message to Ben. Her chest was numb and her body trembled. Nothing.
A woman came into the room, halting when she saw Mia. She had long auburn hair, and bright green eyes. If Mia didn’t know better, she’d swear she was looking at her reflection in a mirror. The woman glanced around the room, her eyes wide. “What are you doing out here?”
“Please,” Mia said, taking a step toward the woman. “You have to help me. I need a phone—I need to get a message to my boyfriend. He’ll get us out of here.”
The woman frowned. “Get out of here? Why would I want to leave?”
“We can’t stay here. That man—”
She nodded. “Kevin.”
“Yes, Kevin—he’s not a good man.” Mia wrapped her arms around her waist. “He kidnapped me. He’s holding me here as his prisoner.”
“I know,” the woman said. She tilted her head to the side. “I understand that you don’t want to be here—I don’t really get why you wouldn’t, but who am I to judge—but why would I ever want to leave?”
“He’ll hurt you,” Mia’s voice cracked. She turned her cheek toward the woman to show her the bruise that was beginning to turn a nasty shade. “He hit me—punched me in the face and ribs and tried to strangle me. He’ll do the same to you.”
The woman shook her head. “No, he won’t. He loves me, and as soon as he realizes his plan to bring you here is a failure, he will be able to give himself to me completely.”
Mia rubbed her forehead, pressure in her head close to exploding. “His plan? What plan?” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Had she wandered into a Twilight Zone episode? What the hell was going on? “Who are you?”
“Belinda Reeves, Kevin’s girlfriend, although soon I guess I will change to your name.”
“My name?”
Belinda nodded her head. “Once Kevin finds out you are trying to escape, he will come to realize that you will never love him. Not like I love him. I will become the love of his life—a better, more loyal companion than you could ever be.” She smiled at Mia. “A better version of you.”
Chapter Sixteen
Lance drove around the white Special Operations Command building and parked in the parking garage. Their commanding officer, Colonel John Holt, and made arrangements for the team to gain access to the SCIF so they could be briefed via secure video teleconference, or SVTC, with Riley back in Newport.
Ben followed Lance into a conference room that looked like a mini-TOC, with almost as many screens along one wall. Around the table were the rest of his teammates from The 13, including Mason.
Ben walked over to where the man sat, and put his hand out. “Tink, what are you doing here? You’re supposed to be on your honeymoon?”
Mason stood and shook Ben’s hand. “Do you think either Jess or I could’ve enjoyed ourselves knowing Mia was missing?” He shook his head. “We’ll have plenty of time to take a honeymoon later. There’s no place I need to be other than right here, brother.” He gathered Ben in one of his patented bear hugs.
The world seemed to be taking on its natural shape now. Knowing the rest of The 13 was behind him, both right there in the TOC and back in Newport, calmed Ben’s nerves. He took a deep, steadying breath and sat down.
“We’re all here, Riley,” Lance said.
Riley nodded and then gave directions to Flaherty, who couldn’t be seen. One of the screens filled with a map of the southern United States. She circled an area on the map out in the middle of the ocean. “The Truxton property is situated between Key West and the Bahamas. Don’t bother squinting to see the island on the map�
�it’s too small to register. However, according to the land records, it three miles wide and four miles long. Only a small amount of that is inhabitable.”
A 3-D rendering of an island popped onto one of the other screens. “As you can see, there is an area about a mile to a mile-and-a-half wide on top of the plateau. That’s where the house is situated.”
“One top of what?” Mason’s look-alike, and an Army Delta named Dex, asked.
“Shear cliffs surround the entire island,” Riley said. A satellite image popped onto the screen. “As far as we can tell, the best approach will be from the north. There is an inlet here—” she manipulated the image so they could get a closer look at the area she was discussing—“lot’s of coverage by the trees and other vegetation.”
“Should make remaining unseen as we get to the house easier,” said the Marine Raider sharpshooter, Lucas.
“If it’s traversable,” Mason replied. “Looks pretty thick with foliage—might take longer to cut through all that crap than finding a route with less dense coverage.”
“Yeah, but out in the open,” said one of the Air Force PJ’s, Noah. “Any idea of the security in place on the island, Riley?”
“Unfortunately, no. I would expect Truxton will have something, given that he seems to have planned Mia’s kidnapping, but you’ll be going in blind.”
Groans sounded from around the table. This was not the way an op typically went down. Usually there was longer planning period, with more intel—satellite images, drone footage perhaps, schematics of the security.
“Any floor plans of the house?” Ben asked, hoping for some information to give them some sort of a bump and level the playing field.
“Not really, but Abbott, Flaherty, and I have been going over the satellite images from every angle, and have come up with what we think are the main areas.” A picture of the top of the house, along with a grainy close-up of one side of the structure, populated two more of the screens. “As near as we can tell, this is the main living area,” she drew an arrow pointing to a long group of floor to ceiling windows on the grainy shot. “And we think we have isolated it to this region of the house.” She drew a large red circle on the aerial shot of the house.
“How are we supposed to delineate that from other parts of the house?” Ben asked.
“The room is on the south side of the house,” Riley said.
“So, at least we will be coming in from the flank,” Lance said, rubbing the scruff on his jaw. “That’s some cover and potential element of surprise.”
“Yeah, as long as there aren’t cameras on the beaches that alert him to our arrival,” Dex piped in.
Lance didn’t respond. Dex was right—they were going in blind. And that’s how men got killed. Were any of these men’s lives worth less than Mia’s? Ben wouldn’t be able to live with himself if any of his brothers died while trying to rescue Mia.
But Mia was his life, and he would gladly sacrifice his own in order to save hers. He just didn’t want any of his teammates to make that sacrifice.
“There is a hop leaving MacDill in an hour to get you to Key West,” Riley said. “From there, it is about another hour to the island. Two RHIBs will be waiting for you.”
“Low chance of success, high likelihood of death—what are we waiting for?” Lucas asked.
“Easy for you to say,” Gabe replied to Lucas. “You’ll be up in a tree, safe and secure.”
“Don’t hate on me, brother,” Lucas said, a shit-eating grin across his face. “All you had to do to join me was learn to shoot better.”
Gabe laughed. “Fuck you.”
“Only if we can do it monkey-style—can you climb a tree, Gabe?”
“Let’s gear up,” Lance said.
“Good luck, gentlemen,” Riley said. “I’ll be on comms with you.”
Mick smiled at the screen. “Our good luck eye in the sky.”
Ben followed the men out the door, glancing back for one last look at the picture of the house. Mia was in there. She had to be.
And he was going to risk it all to save her.
Chapter Seventeen
Mia’s head was swimming in a sea of confusion. The hair on the back of her neck lifted and a chill ran through her. “I don’t care what you do—what name you use—I just want to get off this island and get back to Ben.”
Belinda snorted. “You can’t actually be that naive.” She chuckled. “You really think Kevin will let you leave here alive?” She took a step closer to Mia and grasped her chin. “How could he have ever fallen in love with you? Weak…and stupid. What did he ever see in you?”
Mia’s breath hitched, and she yanked her head out of Belinda’s hold. Heat flooded her neck and face, and her hand curled into a tight fist. Mia was going to relish bashing this bitch’s nose into the back of her throat.
Footsteps sounded on the tile behind them.
“What’s going on here?” Kevin said as he came into view.
“She left her room and was trying to get me to help her escape,” Belinda relayed as if telling him she had averted world war three.
“Kevin, please let me go—I swear, I won’t tell anyone about this place. No one will have to know you are here. You and Belinda can live here, and be happy, and I will never bother you. I promise.”
“But I don’t want Belinda,” Kevin said. He looked at Belinda and ran his fingers through her hair. Belinda closed her eyes and leaned into his caress. “She worked very hard to become you—and she came very close, too.”
“She doesn’t want to be here,” Belinda said, a dreaminess to her gaze as she looked at Kevin. “She doesn’t deserve you. She doesn’t love you like I do. I will never disappoint you like she has. I will never forsake you for another man.”
“I know that, my sweet Belinda,” Kevin said as he stroked the side of her face. “But there can only be one Mia—” he pointed at Mia—“and I choose her.”
Taking a gun tucked into the waistband at the small of his back, he aimed it at Belinda.
She lifted her hands in front of her face, and backed away.
“No!” Mia screamed. Her stomach lurched and her knees buckled.
Kevin pulled the trigger. Belinda dropped to the floor, blood pouring from the hole in the center of her face.
Chapter Eighteen
The boats moved into the cove of the Truxton island by late afternoon. Seven men were in one boat, five in the other. As soon as the boat slid onto the beach, the men jumped out, M-4’s at the ready, and crouched beside the inflatable. With heads on swivels, they surveyed the area, paying close attention to any movement in the trees. The thick foliage in the humid tropics was a disadvantage for them, along with no real intel on the terrain.
A break in the trees to the right of Ben caught his eye. “I think I spot a trail,” he said into the headset built into his helmet. “At our two.”
“Tally,” Lance said when he located the area Ben had found. “Ben, take point. Looks like one man wide—single file behind Ben. Be frosty. If someone is out there, they know this forest a lot better than we do. Lucas, take your place up a tree and give us the lay of the land from the crows nest.”
“Roger, going up,” Lucas acknowledged.
Ben stayed low until he broke through the tree line. The path looked as though it hadn’t been used in many years. No doubt there were less treacherous places on the island to come onto the property. Only frogmen dared to enter where the team had landed.
“In position,” Lucas said. “Have eyes on the house. And Riley, you will be happy to know you were right. I’m staring into an open area—looks like a family room with a kitchen at the back.”
“Ecstatic,” Riley responded, her voice the same professional tone she always had when the team was on an op.
“What else?” Lance asked. “Anyone in the room.”
“I don’t have a good vantage point from here. I see one military aged male. He appears to be talking to someone, but I can’t see who.” Lucas grunted. �
��I’m going to shift to another tree and see if I can get a better view.”
Ben continued up the trail. The trail zig-zagged back and forth up the steep elevation. When he reached the top, the trees cleared. A lush green carpet of grass stretched to the house. He remained hidden in the trees and waited for the rest of the men to gather around.
“Ben, you go in and see if you can find Mia, and get her out without being discovered. If you find her, and cannot safely get her out, you wait for back-up,” Lance directed. “I want teams of two around the house in case there are other means of ingress. This is a catch and kill, but no guns unless absolutely necessary. We don’t know how many are inside, and there is no need tipping others off to our arrival on the island.”
Lucas joined the group. “There isn’t a tall enough tree to see into the house,” he said. “I’m guessing they had them trimmed down so the view wasn’t blocked.”
Lance squeezed Lucas’s shoulder. “I need you in position.”
“On my way.” Lucas dashed through the trees without a sound.
A woman screamed from inside the house. A gunshot echoed through the trees. Ben bolted upright and turned toward the door. Lance grasped his arm before he could take a step toward the house. “Keep a cool head, Humps. You can’t help her if you’re dead. Mick, go with him in case anyone needs medical attention.”
Ben and Mick crouch-walked to the glass door, and quietly slid it open. Stepping inside, they cleared two rooms—one bedroom and one study, and made their way toward the main living area where Lucas had seen the man.
Ben’s heart pounded in his chest. He focused on his breathing, not letting the very real possibility that he was moments too late to save Mia consume him. There was a chance it was not her that was shot. Even if it was, Mick was with him. With his training as a field medic, she would have a better than average chance of surviving.
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