The Protector

by Cristin Harber

  Parker smirked but didn’t deny it.

  Boss Man shook his head then slammed a fist on the table like a judge ordering a court to order. “Thane Insurance. Everyone knows them?”

  Hagan snorted and leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms. “Who doesn’t?”

  Sawyer hummed their familiar jingle.

  Camden chucked a pen at Sawyer. “Thanks, asshole. Now I’ve got that stupid jingle in my head.”

  “‘Risk it all. We’ll cover your ass,’” Sawyer belted for Camden’s benefit.

  “Right. Those people,” Jared confirmed. “And you all know Dax Thane.”

  Chance nodded. Some of the guys rolled their eyes. It wasn’t possible to exist in this world and not know Dax Thane. A world-class pretentious prick. Dax Thane might be the exception to Chance’s belief he could get along with anyone. The guy was a social media showman, the P.T. Barnum of the insurance world. His recognizable face was plastered on every Thane Insurance ad, along with that smiling donkey in the football helmet.

  Sawyer took the pen that landed in front of him and tucked it behind his ear. “What’s that walking ego gotten himself into now?”

  “Something that needs a rescue.” Hagan elbowed Sawyer.

  Jared rolled his eyes. “You guys need to get out more.”

  “That’s the truth,” Parker chuckled.

  “Our newest client is Thane Insurance.” Jared’s lips thinned before he added, “And their esteemed leader has found himself in something of a hostage situation.”

  The room settled down. Chance leaned forward. Hostage situations were interesting, even if they involved Dax Thane.

  “Everyone’s favorite billionaire stepped in it big this time,” Jared explained. “In one of the most dangerous places on the damn planet.”

  Of course Dax did. But, where? Each man in this room would have a short though debatable list of the worst places.

  Jared pursed his lips. “We’re going in for the rescue, but be prepared to hear online about how far Thane Insurance will go to protect its client base.”

  They were going to risk their lives so Dax Thane could score a few publicity points? Chance wanted to work but maybe not as much as he’d thought.

  Hagan hunched forward, dragging his hands down his face as he shook his head. “You’ve got to be shittin’ me.”

  Jared’s face darkened. “We can bitch and debate all we want about that guy. But this is the game changer. He brought along his loving family.”

  “His wife and four-year-old son,” Parker clarified.

  At that, a low grumble erupted from around the table. Jared and Parker remained stoically expressionless, but neither told the team to shut up.

  After the ‘what the hells’ and ‘asshats’ were done, Jared called for quiet again. “Our job isn’t to provide a running commentary. It’s to save lives and keep our own.”

  “So where we are talking about, boss?” Sawyer asked. “Syria?”

  Syria was the leading contender on Chance’s list of shitty places to avoid.

  “Bingo.” Jared’s jaw twitched. “Parker, fill ’em in.”

  “From what we can tell.” Parker shut his laptop. “The Thane family is in or near a Syrian refugee camp outside of Aleppo.”

  “Sounds like a high-stakes mission for a high-stakes—” Hagan caught a short look from Jared, obviously censoring himself as he finished, “client.”

  “They’re high-value targets.” Jared’s glare eased. “No one is in better position to rescue the HVTs than this team.”

  A totally preventable hostage situation. Chance chewed the inside of his mouth. The HVTs should never have been in Syria. That was the problem with people with too much money. Were they so bored that they had to invent life-or-death problems?

  Parker removed a folder from a shelf behind him and passed out the mission details. “We have five HVTs.”

  Chance flipped to the page profiling the family.

  Parker continued, “Dax Thane; his wife, Gigi Thane; their son, Teddy Thane. Then there’s the nanny and a photographer.” He retook his seat and ran through pertinent information on the family. “No security.”

  Chance skimmed ahead, disgusted that the parents had brought their kid, and of course, that they couldn’t leave the nanny and photographer behind on their suicide mission.

  “Forty-eight hours have passed since they landed,” Parker explained. “A ransom request of fifty million dollars came into Thane HQ last night. The abductors swear that once that money is deposited into their account, they’ll let the prisoners go.”

  “Right,” one of the other guys said. “We all know how honest rebels who abduct billionaire families tend to be.”

  “In your mission packets, we’ve designed a plan for every contingency,” Parker said. “Ranked by threat analysis and a risk assessment to human collateral.”

  That was a cold, scientific way to categorize the situation, including the possibility of death. Chance grumbled, “We’ve got intel on the exact location of this refugee camp?”

  “Nothing’s exact, and there’s more than one camp.” Parker flipped through their briefing papers. “Best we can do is piece together a series of delayed satellite shots and layer it with a thermal map from friendly drones.”

  “Sounds far from exact,” Sawyer added.

  Parker’s jaw tightened. “Statistically, we have a pretty good idea of the location.”

  “And that’s saying a hell of a lot,” Jared grumbled, continuing to explain the best option that came with the smallest amount of risk. Their course of action depended on how the ransom exchange and ensuing negotiation would fall out. The quick and short explanation was for a secondary team to fly in and haul ass out, preferably with the HVTs in tow, when the ransom exchange went bad.

  Parker directed the room to turn the page of their briefings to the possibilities of schematic. Various entry and exit points were mapped among what was an always-changing landscape. They didn’t have hard data on the site, because blocks of what was once a city were now obliterated, abandoned buildings.

  Some called it a fucking wasteland. Others, a humanitarian crisis. The only thing Chance knew for certain about Aleppo was that the urban area had been decimated by war over the years, making it completely uninhabitable. Anyone still living there was in danger, while anyone who fled for their life had been labeled a refugee.

  “We’ll divide into two teams. One will arrive by vehicle.” Jared thumped a fist on the schematic. “The area’s marked on your map.”

  “Who chose the location?” Hagan asked.

  “Thane Insurance agreed to the ransom and terms prior to contacting Titan Group.”

  “That was smart,” Sawyer muttered, rolling his eyes.

  “When the deal goes south,” Jared said by way of agreement, “the secondary team will already be airborne. Collect the family and go.” Jared met the eyes of all the guys, one by one. “Got it?”

  They all nodded.

  “We’ve got to do this right the first time,” Jared added. “We fuck up, and there’ll be hell to pay.”

  Chance shifted to the edge of his chair.

  Jared cracked his knuckles again. “One final thing that’s not in your briefing. You know what kind of trouble to expect in Syria, but you need to know what kind of people we’re going in for.” He paused as though searching for the right words. Tension ticked on his face. Diplomatically, he continued, “The contract was for the family. No specifics for the staff.” Jared’s jaw set. “Once you’ve thought that over, forget about it. We don’t leave without everyone.”

  Whoa. That kind of disloyalty hit Chance like a concrete-cast sucker punch.

  “Any other questions?” Boss Man met every person’s gaze, one by one.

  When he reached Chance, his personal turmoil brewed. He had several questions, starting with what kind of idiot would work for Dax Thane? And, what kind of parent would travel to Syria despite the government travel warnings? Chance didn’t want
to be around any of those people, whether they were family or staff.

  “Midas?” Jared asked.

  “None,” Chance managed.

  The meeting wrapped, and they filed out, marching orders in hand.

  Syria occupied Chance’s mind. He’d been there years ago. Right outside of Aleppo, too. His first tour. When he’d left, he clearly remembered thinking the same thing. You couldn’t pay me enough to go back there. Guess he was wrong.

  If there wasn’t a kid involved, Chance might wonder if it would be better to let natural selection do its job. But the kid didn’t deserve to die just because he was surrounded by fools.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  “Ready to get this shit-show on the road?” Hagan asked Chance as they flew over Syria in the back of the stealth copter.

  “As I’ll ever be.” Chance peered out the open door of the copter. Night had fallen, but the orange glow of little bonfires occasionally lit up the ground below.

  The night breeze whipped against his face, cooler than the oven of daytime. It felt good to be back in the saddle again, back in tactical gear, but he couldn’t say the last memories he had of Syria were pleasant ones.

  Just as they’d expected, the exchange was starting to fall apart. The kidnappers wanted more money, and now they were only willing to give up half the family. The plan had been all of them or nothing.

  Hagan growled. “Could’ve called that one from half a world away.”

  Chance tightened his gloves on his wrists and got ready for the drop. “Then let’s get to it.”

  ***

  Jane jumped at the sound of more gunfire outside, just when things had been settling down.

  They’d spent what felt like hours walking toward the compound. As the sun set, the men had led them into a crumbling building and left them in a room with a dirt floor and no furniture. That had to have been over an hour ago.

  They sat, shivering, in total darkness, except for a slim shaft of moonlight that shone against the far wall. In quiet whispers, Gigi and Dax kept repeating more of the same: “This is fine. We’re okay. Everything will be all right.”

  Jane had started to think they really were losing it. No job was worth this. How dare they risk her life like this? And their own son’s? She’d considered telling them both to go to hell, and she would have, if not for Teddy.

  She’d just curled her body around Teddy, trying to make him comfortable, when a sound much closer than the gunfire cracked the air.

  “What was that?” Gigi hissed.

  Dax rose to his feet and pulled his wife next to him. Jane lifted Teddy’s sleepy body to hers. Joe didn’t move as fast. Jane assumed the poor lighting and anticipated picture quality made him slower.

  “I can’t see a damn thing,” Joe complained.

  “Figure it out. It’s your job,” Dax snapped.

  Yeah, because who wouldn’t want to recall these happy memories of a family vacation… Jane held Teddy close and pushed herself from the floor.

  “Janie,” Teddy mumbled against her neck.

  Her ears hurt to make sense of the sound of footsteps shuffling in the corridor outside their locked door. “Everything’s okay.”

  “They’re coming closer,” Gigi warned.

  Dax put his arm over her shoulder. “Everything will be fine.”

  Metallic clicks turned on their door, and it flew open. Jane jumped back. Gigi screamed. Dax and Joe shouted in surprised as several men poured into their cell.

  “Dax! Dax! What’s happening?” Gigi screamed.

  Their captors reached for Gigi. She clung to Dax’s arm as they pulled her away. Jane didn’t know what to do. Help Gigi? Protect Teddy? Joe and Dax stood like shocked statues as Gigi kicked and yelled, acting for the first time like she might be in danger. “Dax!”

  Other men held Joe back as he lurched into action. Dax still didn’t move.

  “This isn’t supposed to happen! Dax!”

  As much as she hated Gigi and Dax, she couldn’t handle this. Jane covered Teddy’s ears and held him against the wall, promising that everything would be okay in a whisper-prayer against the back of his head.

  “Gigi.” Dax jerked from his stupor. “It’s okay. All right? Everything’s good. Just listen and do as they—”

  The door slammed shut. Gigi and the armed men were gone. Their cell was eerily quiet.

  CHAPTER SIX

  “They’re splitting us up,” Dax announced as though he were well-versed in terroristic abduction tactics and strategy. “No one will hurt her. Or us.” The door flew open again. Two men entered. Dax held out his hands. “Ease up. Okay? You’ve made your point.”

  Additional armed men flanked the two Dax faced off with. Joe and Dax stood shoulder-to-shoulder. Jane curled around Teddy, trying to become one with the wall.

  A flourish of words flew around the cell. As fast as the armed men had entered, they easily subdued Joe and Dax then dragged them away.

  Jane trembled. Her knees threatened to buckle. She wanted to shield Teddy’s eyes, but he already knew what was happening, and there wasn’t anything left to see.

  “The door didn’t shut,” Teddy whispered.

  “What?” She wanted to cry, and rubbed Teddy’s back. Holding him nearly took all her energy, but she couldn’t let go—for both their sakes.

  “It didn’t shut. Like when Mom and Dad fight. They shut it so hard it stays open.”

  Jane turned toward the door. Teddy was right. The door had been slammed shut so hard the latch hadn’t caught. Carefully, she inched over, waiting for the guards to burst in again. Minutes passed. They felt like hours. Finally, Jane reached for the door and tried the knob. It didn’t turn—but the door moved. “You’re right, Teddy.” She kissed his cheek, pulling the door farther ajar. Jane peeked into the semi-dark hallway and didn’t see anyone.

  “Are we going to go home?” Teddy asked.

  “Absolutely.” She squeezed him close but realized her arms were shaking with weakness. If they were to leave, she couldn’t carry him. “But I need you to walk. Can you do that for me?”

  “Yes.” Teddy wriggled from her arms.

  Oh, God. She hoped this was the right thing to do. Jane inched it open. A dim, flickering light danced on the wall far from their cell. That had been the direction she’d heard the noise and gunfire come from. The other way seemed much darker, but quieter. She opted to head away from the gunshots. “Let’s go.”

  Hand in hand, they rushed down the hall. The uneven floor and winding walls didn’t make sense. Her free hand helplessly felt around in front of them.

  Teddy tripped. “Ow! Janie! My knee!”

  “Shhh!” She pulled him back to his feet and lifted him to her chest. Her muscles ached under his light weight. “We’ll check on it later.”

  Walls pocked with gaping holes allowed moonlight to guide their way. They stumbled over uneven ground. “There has to be a way out.”

  Gunshots fired again. But this time, they were so close that Jane was surprised her heart continued to beat. Teddy clung to her, shaking and whimpering, and she let him bury his face in her shoulder. At least then, he couldn’t see what a clusterfuck his father had created.

  They raced from the sounds until she had to stop and catch her breath. They leaned against what had at one time been a wall. Now it gaped and allowed the frigid night air to blow over them.

  Her eyes swept a half-circle around them, scanning outside their building, trying to make sense of the dark landscape. Far away, bonfires glowed. Maybe they were from refugee camps. Maybe someone from the UN or NATO would be there and could help. But, the longer she stared, the more impossible it seemed to reach the lights.

  Suddenly, hands came down on her and Teddy. She fought against the powerful hands wrenching the boy from her grasp. “No!” Relinquishing Teddy was one thing she was prepared to fight to the death over, and not just because it was part of her job description. She slammed the heel of her palm under the man’s chin. His jaw snapped back u
nder her force, and she kneed him in the groin.

  The man toppled forward, and Jane released her grip on Teddy. She dropped a leg back into her fighting stance. She could barely see her target and didn’t want to hit the boy between them, but sighted him as best she could, pulled her knee up, and attacked with a kick that landed only because of years of repetition.

  The man grunted. Teddy fell between them, and Jane scooped the crying boy to her chest.

  “What are you doing?” Teddy cried.

  “Baby—” She rounded a sharp corner. “We have to run.”

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  On the ground, the men stole toward the orange light. The compound was nothing but a shithole of burned-out walls fortified by rubble and whatever the refugees could get their hands on. They had scattered about, huddled around bonfires under the starless sky.

  Hagan motioned with his hand, indicating that the team should spread out. After volunteering to do the clean-up sweep of the compound, Chance hung against the wall, waiting for the signal to engage.

  In his earpiece, Headquarters calmly stated directives to the first team. But other than that, he might as well have been alone. The only sign something was wrong was the faraway rattle of gunfire.

  His radio crackled with a teammate checking in. “We’ve located Subject Five.”

  “Subjects One and Two have also been located,” another voice said. “We’re bringing them out. Rendezvous point Alpha.”

  On the other side of the compound, Chance barely saw anything of interest. He continued his scan. The broken transmissions crackled in his earpiece, and Headquarters responded, “Stand by for incoming helo extraction.”

  “Good,” Hagan grumbled. “The dad is giving us shit. Says he wants everything fucking documented, and I’m doing everything I can to keep the mom from screaming her head off.”

  Chance kept his aggravation quiet. If he was in Hagan’s place, there was no telling what he’d say to the mother. They’d purposefully flown into a wasp’s nest. What did they except?

  “Who we got left?” someone asked.