“Shh,” Brooke said. “It’s okay. I’m here now. I won’t let them hurt you.”
She didn’t know how she was going to do it, but she was determined to get Amy out of here without her knowing the sort of terror Brooke had felt at the hands of these kinds of men. Her stomach twisted and she shoved the nausea deep. She couldn’t think about that right now. Couldn’t worry that it would happen again.
She had to survive for Cade and Max. And she had to protect this little girl. There was nothing more important.
*
Cade locked his emotions down and went into crisis mode. He knew his team watched him warily, but he wouldn’t blow. Not yet anyway. Not unless something happened and they didn’t get Brooke and Amy back again.
It was a good thing Bert Lewis wasn’t in this room. Or, hell, this fucking building. Because Cade would likely snap his neck if he saw the man right now. Viking launched into an explanation of how Bert had manipulated Brooke into heading for an IHOP, presumably to comfort his wife, and how Lopez had directed the whole thing. He had promised that Amy would be released once the cartel had Brooke. But of course that’s not how criminals operated.
No, they operated by being as fucking evil as possible. They’d taken Brooke and they weren’t letting her go. It was also entirely possible that the cartel had killed Amy Lewis and dumped her body somewhere.
Ghost strode into the room, looking pissed as shit. Didn’t compare to Cade’s pissed, but whatever.
“What the fuck is going on over at the DEA?” he demanded of Viking.
Viking didn’t look pleased either. “Sir, Bert Lewis was cooperating. He wasn’t being held for anything.”
Because he was cooperating, the motherfucker. Cade knew how it worked. And yet he still wanted to strangle the dude.
“Yet they let him use his damned phone. They relied on him to tell them if it was Lopez calling so they could listen in—but he lied when the call came.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Jesus.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Have they heard from Lopez again?”
“No, sir.”
“What the utter fuck?” Ghost shook his head, hands on hips, looking pissed. Then he spun to Hacker. “What do we have in those files? Do we know where the weapons are yet?”
“No, sir,” Hacker said. “Working on it, sir.”
“Let me know when you figure it out. And be ready to fucking go when we find them. No way in hell am I leaving this up to anyone else to secure those weapons. HOT is going in.”
*
They were being kept in the dirty hold of a fishing boat. Brooke had fallen on ropes earlier. That was the bulky thing she’d hit with her hip. She and Amy had been sitting there for a long time, she wasn’t sure how long, when the chattering of voices came to her. She stiffened but kept her hands on Amy. The little girl had stretched out and fallen asleep with her head in Brooke’s lap.
Brooke didn’t know how long they’d been there, but it felt like a very long time. She was stiff and cold and nauseated from the scents of fish and brackish water. She was also terrified deep down inside, but she’d managed so far to keep it at bay behind a wall she’d erected in her brain. She simply couldn’t fail to be the strong one in this situation. Amy was six. She needed a strong adult, not a sobbing woman who couldn’t function.
The voices grew closer. They were speaking Spanish. Fear doused her in ice water as the door opened and a light shone in. Brooke blinked, turning her face away and covering Amy’s eyes. Two men came over and dragged her and Amy to their feet. Amy started to cry, but Brooke refused to show any emotion.
Though she knew she shouldn’t do it, she lifted her chin and faced the men squarely. Neither of them reacted. They simply propelled their charges toward the door and down the ramp. A big black car waited nearby. They were shoved into it unceremoniously and collapsed on the seat in a tangle of bodies.
Brooke’s hair fell across her face, covering her vision for a long moment while she worked to sit up and grab hold of Amy before she moved her hair. When she finally managed to shove her hair away, her gaze landed on the man sitting across from her.
The same man she’d seen in the hallway just a couple of nights ago. He arched an eyebrow and smirked at her. There was no warmth in his gaze, however.
“Well, Miss Sullivan. We meet again.”
“What do you want with us?”
His gaze flicked to the little girl and then back to her face. Brooke suppressed the shiver that wanted to slide through her at the coldness in his eyes.
“I only want my shipment, Miss Sullivan. Tell me where it is, and you will be free to go.”
“Shipment?” She shook her head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You were Scott Lloyd’s woman.”
She shook her head harder. “No. Definitely not. We were friends. That’s all.”
The man crossed his legs at the knee. He somehow managed to look elegant and polished in spite of the evil in his demeanor.
“That is not how he described it. You were his partner.”
Brooke’s mouth went dry. “He said that to you?”
The man shrugged. “He implied as much. He said that if anything happened to him, you had the evidence to take down his enemies.”
Shock zapped into her neural receptors. “That’s not true. I don’t know anything. We weren’t romantic, and I was most definitely not his partner.”
“You will understand that I cannot simply take your word for this.”
Brooke wanted to ask the man if he’d killed Scott. She knew the answer, but she wanted to hear him say it. And yet she couldn’t ask with Amy sitting there and crying. The poor kid was already traumatized.
“I can’t tell you anything when I don’t know anything. But I can promise you that this child knows absolutely nothing—why don’t you let her go? You have me, in spite of the fact that I can’t do anything for you.”
He laughed. “Ah, Miss Sullivan. I begin to understand why Mr. Lloyd was infatuated with you. Charming. Shrewd. And very beautiful.”
Brooke’s stomach dropped. Nausea rose in her throat. No. You control your reaction. You will never be a victim again. Fight.
“Flattery will get you nowhere, Mister….?”
“Surely you have guessed by now, Miss Sullivan.”
“I truly haven’t. How could I?”
“Persistent, aren’t you?”
“I’m only speaking the truth. I don’t know you, I have no idea what Scott was involved in, and hoping I can tell you anything is going to prove fruitless for you.”
“Then you can tell me where the files are.”
A flush rose on her skin. “Files? What are you talking about?”
He tilted his head to study her. “Ah, finally, something gets a reaction. The files, Miss Sullivan. The ones that your lover deleted off his computer after making a copy. Where is the copy?”
She didn’t think that lying about it was going to do her any good at this point. She clearly wasn’t good at lying, and he could tell that she knew something. If she continued to insist, then he would never believe her about anything she said.
And maybe he wouldn’t anyway, but she wasn’t going to lie about something that so obviously made her look guilty. “It might be in a book that Scott returned to me the day he died. But I don’t know that for sure, and I don’t have the book anymore. The military has it.”
“The military? You mean that rather large man you entertained at your apartment the other night?”
“Yes, that’s exactly what I mean.”
He shook his head. “Well, this is regretful.” He pressed a button on the arm of the seat beside him and said something in Spanish. The car started to move, gliding away from the marina.
“Where are we going?” Brooke burst out, her fear getting the better of her.
“Columbia, Miss Sullivan. You had better hope your military man is willing to negotiate—or that you remember som
e of the information you claim to have forgotten—or you will not enjoy your little trip in the least.”
Chapter 21
Six hours later…
*
“Jesus, is there no end to the sheer amount of contraband this man was involved in shifting around?” Ghost stood there, looking over Hacker’s shoulder, scanning the files that seemed endless.
“It was quite the operation, sir. For someone who only worked at Black Eagle for a little under a year, Lloyd built a network of customers unsurpassed by anything I’ve seen. He sold a lot of weapons.”
“Not an easy thing to do,” Ghost grumbled.
Cade paced, his mind on Brooke and what she was very likely going through right now. She had just broken through her fear and managed to share what had happened to her two years ago. Then she’d crossed another barrier when she’d been intimate with him. If anyone touched her this time, he would kill them with his bare hands and deal with the consequences in whatever court he had to. He just prayed that not only did she not suffer abuse but that she also came out of this with her mental health intact.
Though he wasn’t sure how that was going to happen. She was still suffering from PTSD over the event two years ago. He hadn’t said those words to her, because she’d agreed she needed to go to counseling and that was all he wanted. But now? He truly had no idea what was going to happen to the strides she’d made.
There were other words he hadn’t said to her. Important words. Right now it was killing him to think he might never get the chance. Because, damn, he’d fallen for the girl. Hook, line, and sinker. She was unlike anyone he’d ever met. She did things to him that he still didn’t understand.
And when he was inside her, rocking into her and hearing her sweet little moans and sighs, there was no other feeling like it in the world. Yeah, he’d fucked his share of women. Had one-night stands, had relationships that went a little longer, relationships that fizzled out after the first hot burst of sexual contact wore off.
But Brooke? No, he wasn’t anywhere near done with her. He wasn’t sure he ever would be.
He was pissed at her, no doubt about that, because she’d left Grace’s house after he’d told her not to, but all he wanted right now was to get her back safe and whole. He’d deal with her inability to follow orders later. After he kissed her a million times or so.
She’d tried to call him, but his phone hadn’t been with him because he couldn’t bring it into the secure areas of HOT. He’d discovered her message when he’d taken a break and checked it a few hours ago. Hearing her voice had been both painful and breathtaking at once. Painful because it was too late. Breathtaking because it was Brooke.
Now he paced and growled and lashed out from time to time. His teammates kept a wide berth, but they didn’t seem to hold it against him.
“Fucking hell,” Hacker said excitedly. “I think this is it right here.”
Ghost went and stood behind him again. Cade strode to them and peered over Hacker’s other shoulder. There were manifests of weapons displayed on the screen.
“Manufacture date,” Hacker said, pointing. “Two months ago. Ten thousand, all shipped to… Yes! They’re sitting in a container in Panama.”
“You’re sure those are the guns the cartel wants?” Cade demanded.
“Yep. There’s nothing else that matches. Other shipments have been delivered. Others are in the pipeline.” He peered a bit closer at the screen. “Looks like there was a dispute over prices. The cartel agreed to one price and then tried to renegotiate when the shipment was delayed. Looks like Lloyd shopped it elsewhere… He had another buyer willing to pay more.”
“Holy shit,” Cade said. “Dude sold guns to the Espinozas and then sold the guns to someone else? No wonder they killed him.”
“Delta Squad is currently in the Central American theater. I’m sending them to seize control of the shipment,” Ghost said. “At least we’ll have something to negotiate with when Lopez finally gets in touch.”
As if on cue, Viking’s phone rang. Considering the speed with which he answered, it had to be his wife. A chill slid down Cade’s spine. Standing there as if his life wasn’t breaking apart while waiting for any news about Brooke was the hardest thing he’d ever done. And he’d done some hard shit over the years.
By the time Viking was finished on the phone, Cade knew it was bad. The SEAL looked grim. “Lopez called Bert again,” he said. “He has Brooke and Amy—and they’re on the way to Columbia.”
Cade’s heart dropped. “He’s taking them to the Espinoza stronghold.”
“Seems so, yes. He has your number, Saint. He wants to deal with you.”
Cade didn’t have to ask why. If the cartel had been watching Brooke’s building, then they’d seen him. And she had his number. He didn’t blame her for giving it to them. What choice did she have?
He turned to Hacker. “Can you—”
“On it, boss,” Hacker interrupted before he could finish. “Forwarding your calls to the secure line in here.”
“Thanks.” It wasn’t easy trying to separate out duty from love, but he was working on it. He loved Brooke and would do anything it took to get her back. But he had a duty to perform and that came first. Saving her life depended on how he reacted under pressure—and he wasn’t reacting unless he absolutely had to. This was not a job for anyone who couldn’t shut off the emotions when necessary.
Even if those emotions beat like hell against the lid he’d slammed down on top of them.
Ghost strode from the conference room out onto the command post floor. He left the door open and they could see him go over to coordinate with Major Kennedy, the controller who had responsibility for the teams on the giant map tonight. It was kind of like a game of Battleship, but with dots on a globe instead of ships. The dots weren’t trying to sink each other. Rather, they were trying to sink the bad guys wherever they existed.
“Why don’t you sit down,” Viking said, and Cade blinked. He’d been so intent on Ghost that he hadn’t noticed everyone taking a seat.
Cade dragged out a chair and sank into it. It might be hours before Lopez called. Or it might be minutes. And Cade would spend every single moment of it wondering if Brooke was okay or if this was the thing that sent her spinning so hard over the edge that she never came back again.
He prayed it didn’t happen that way. That he could get to her and help her before it did.
It was half an hour of hell before the special phone in their secure room rang. Everyone jolted upright. Cade reached for the receiver and then hesitated, exchanging a glance with Hacker, who nodded slowly, verifying that the call was coming from Columbia.
“Hello?” Cade said, though he knew who it was. Best not to seem like he knew too much though. He didn’t want Lopez getting suspicious about what was going on at this end of the conversation. Namely, tracking his ass to a location.
“Ah, Mr. Military Man. It is nice to speak with you.”
“Can’t say as I feel the same about you, Lopez.”
Lopez laughed. “It is going to be like that? Well, never mind. We will get right down to business then. All I want from you is this: my guns. Miss Sullivan says that you have Scott Lloyd’s computer files, so you will know where they are by now. Give those to me and you may have Miss Sullivan, as well as Mr. Lewis’s delightful little daughter, back again.”
Cade burned inside, but he kept the emotion under wraps. “How do I know they’re alive and unhurt?”
There was a long pause, and then Brooke’s voice came on the line. “Hi, Cade.”
The phone was on speaker so everyone could hear it. It killed him that it had to be that way, that everyone would hear her fear and doubt, but it couldn’t be helped. A swell of emotion choked him.
“Angel,” he said as coolly as he could manage. “Are you okay?”
“Yes. I’m fine. Amy is fine too, though she’s scared.”
“I’m going to get you out of there, angel. I swear it.”
; “I know that, Cade. I really do.”
Her faith in him rocked him to his core. “Brooke, I—”
“That’s enough,” Andreas Lopez said. He must have snatched the phone from Brooke and walked away because Cade couldn’t hear her at all. His heart thumped and his brain pulsed with fury. “My guns, Cade Rodgers. I want them.”
“I don’t have them.”
Lopez snorted. “Yet. But you will. And when you get them, you will arrange transport to my warehouse in Columbia. If you do not, then I will grind Miss Sullivan and Miss Lewis into little chunks of shark bait. You have two days to make it happen.”
“Those guns could be anywhere. How the hell am I supposed to get them to Columbia in two days when I don’t even know where they are yet?”
“You will find a way. Or the females will die.”
The line went dead. Cade slammed his palm into the table and swore. A hand closed over his shoulder and squeezed.
“We’ll get them out,” Ghost said. “Hacker, you got a pin on that call yet?”
“I have him. He’s in a house in the jungle… Deep in the jungle, near the Brazilian border.”
“Good fucking job, soldier. Now let’s get to work and start planning our assault.”
*
They were being held in a stone house that sat in a clearing surrounded by a dense, wet jungle. The house had shutters from floor to ceiling that opened to let in air, and there were fans whirring overhead. It was hot, oppressively so. Sweat trickled between Brooke’s breasts.
She and Amy had been shoved into a small room with the shutters open and the fans limping along. There was a small bed pushed against one wall, and a bathroom with warm, rusty running water and a stained tub.
Brooke strode to the shutters and stepped out onto the balcony. They were on the second floor, but she could immediately see that escape was not possible. Yes, there were trees that grew right up to the balcony she stood upon, but there was nowhere to go. Plus there were men in dark green fatigues, sweat streaking the fabric beneath their arms and over their chests, who paced back and forth while hugging automatic rifles.
Not the kind of place one escaped from unnoticed. Brooke turned with a growl and headed back inside. Amy lay on the bed, curled into a ball, and quietly sobbed. Brooke went over and sat beside her, rubbing her back as soothingly as possible.
HOT Angel: Hostile Operations Team - Book 12 Page 17