A SEAL Always Wins

by Holly Castillo

  “No. I don’t trust the military—or the government for that matter. You’re all corrupt. Elena is coming with me. You’ll meet my demands, and then I’ll let her go.”

  Frantically Elena scratched at his hands, trying to gain her freedom. Jonas cursed under his breath and moved further backward. She suddenly realized the noise she had heard was a door opening in the wall. It had been hidden so perfectly none of them had seen it. “Shoot him, Santo! Shoot him! I don’t care if you hit me. Shoot him!”

  Jonas yanked her backward one last time and slammed the door shut. For a moment she couldn’t see anything, since the area he had pulled her into had all the lights on and her night-vision optics responded poorly. She struggled to pull them off her face so she could see again.

  Jonas slid a large metal bolt across the door and whirled her around, pressing her against the concrete wall. “We don’t have much time,” he said. “The transporters will be here soon. You’ll do exactly as I say and I won’t kill any of your friends. I have spots all over this place where I can take aim and destroy each one of them.”

  “Then why haven’t you?” Elena demanded, glaring at him.

  Jonas smiled at her. “Always thinking, aren’t you? I know when one goes down, another one will appear, and there isn’t a way to stop them from coming. So it’s in my best interest to get them to do what I ask of them.”

  “They’ll never do what you want,” Elena growled. “Your plans, whatever they are, end here. I will never help you.”

  Jonas shifted to the side, a bemused expression on his face, and Elena swallowed hard. “If you won’t help me, then at least help them. Because if you fail me, I’ll kill each and every one of them in front of you and make you watch.”

  Staring back at her were the haunted faces of the hostages. Elena began to tremble. These people were meant to be sold as slaves, to be treated worse than animals. From the pictures she had seen of Jonas, she knew he had it in him to murder each of them in front of her without any qualms.

  Jonas smiled broadly at her. “I can see you understand the gravity of the situation. You’ll do everything I tell you to do, and without hesitation. Do you understand me?”

  “You’ll never get away with this, Jonas. Never. They know all about you. Your entire operation will be shut down.”

  “I’ll get away with this because of you, my dear. I knew if things got to this point, the only way for me to escape required leverage. And you are the perfect leverage.” He shoved her in front of him, guiding her within the interior corridor closed off from the hall that had opened up outside.

  “You’ve lost your mind, Jonas. They won’t let you get away. Even if it means I have to die.”

  “That’s where you’re wrong. I saw the look in that man’s eyes. He cares about you. I’ve been watching you as you’ve worked the puzzles, and the other man with you obviously cares for you as well. Who are they, Elena? How do you know them?”

  “As if I would tell scum like you! You don’t deserve to be in the same room with those men. They are better than you in every possible way.” She gasped as he yanked her to a stop, his grip punishing around her upper arm. He pushed her against the wall again, thrusting his face into hers.

  “You’re going to break. You are weak. If only you had accepted my advances. You could have been a part of this entire empire I’m building. I have connections you could never imagine. I’m going places, and you could have been a part of all of it.”

  “You’re going to hell. That’s exactly where you’re going, Jonas. And I certainly have no desire to take that trip with you.”

  He sneered at her, then forced her to turn again and walk along the narrow corridor. He brought her to an abrupt stop in an area where a narrow crack appeared in the concrete. “I want you to tell them there are two transporter trucks arriving any minute. Tell them to let them through, or I’ll begin killing the slaves.”

  “They aren’t slaves yet. They’re hostages. These people deserve to be free. You have no right to sell them, to treat them like animals, to—”

  “You need to learn to watch what you say to me. I might kill one just for the hell of it because you piss me off. Now speak. Directly into that hole. It will be amplified through the barn for all of them to hear.”

  Elena turned and faced the crack in the concrete again, trying to control her trembles. She closed her eyes and mouthed a silent prayer. The lives of the hostages and the team now rested in her hands. She needed all the strength she could get.

  Chapter 26

  “What the hell happened?” Phantom struggled maintain his composure. He had barely finished checking the newly opened section of halls when he heard Santo yell Elena’s name. He rushed back in time to see a door close seamlessly into another hidden area of the facility, Elena nowhere in sight.

  “By the time I heard the door opening, he had already grabbed her,” Santo said, his hands, just like Phantom’s, running along the wall in search of any give in the passage. “The bastard stayed crouched behind her the entire time. I couldn’t get off a single clean shot.”

  “He intended for us to bring her here all along. We played right into his hands.” Phantom cursed under his breath. There wasn’t a crack to be found in the concrete. The man had obviously designed the facility exactly as he had originally thought—it was a fortress.

  “We had no way of knowing he was still here. And we never would have been able to crack the puzzles without her. The whole setup is a nightmare.”

  “Ph-Phantom?”

  His gaze slammed into Santo’s, and they both lifted their weapons and looked around the hall for the source of her voice. “Elena? Where are you? Are you hurt?”

  “No. I’m fine. The-the hostages…they’re all here, Phantom. They’re being kept in cages like animals, and—” Her voice suddenly broke off and Phantom’s gut clenched. For all he knew, Jonas could be hurting her, torturing her to say what he wanted.

  “Elena? Talk to me!” Phantom called out, moving slowly through the passageway, his eyes searching every corner, every seam.

  “I’m-I’m supposed to give you a message. There are two transport trucks that should be arriving any minute. You need to let them through. If you don’t, Jonas will begin to shoot the hostages.”

  Phantom wanted to scream his frustration. They didn’t negotiate with terrorists. They never had, and they never would. But if they could get a little extra time, possibly find a way to bring Jonas out of hiding and take him down… “We’ll allow them through. But Jonas has to show us a gesture of goodwill so that we know he isn’t going to hurt anyone. He has to release you.”

  “He-he says no. Phantom, he says that you need to do what he asks, and there will be no further discussion.”

  Phantom ran a hand through his hair. “We’ll allow them through.”

  Santo stared at him as if he had lost his mind. “We can’t allow this to happen. He’s going to try to walk out of here with all the hostages!”

  “He won’t make it. We’ll find a way to take him down, one way or another.” Phantom kept his voice hushed. Elena’s voice traveled so clearly through the halls that he didn’t know how easily they could hear him. “Go to Stryker and communicate to Verduzco. We need to let those trucks through.”

  With a grim face, Santo nodded. He turned and moved quickly and silently through the halls out of the barn and to the rest of the team standing guard on the perimeter. “We’ve communicated to Verduzco,” Santo said over the coms. “What’s your plan, Phantom?”

  Phantom noticed a small crack in the concrete halfway through the longest portion of the hallway. “I’ll let you know when I have one.”

  Fifteen minutes later, two large trucks pulled up outside the large barn facility. The team faded into the shadows, as they had told Verduzco to do, so that the delivery drivers would be none the wiser. The trucks were backed up to the main e
ntrance to the barn and then sat in silence.

  “He must be communicating to them from within the hidden area,” Stryker said. “There’s no movement by either driver in their cabs, other than over their radios.”

  “Buzz, can you dial into their frequency?” Phantom asked.

  “I don’t have the right equipment here. If I go back to the ranch—”

  “Do it. Drive like a man possessed. We need to hear their conversation—every bit of it.”

  Santo came back into the barn and rejoined Phantom. Phantom held his finger to his lips and pointed to the crack he had found in the concrete. “Elena? Say something so I know you’re all right,” he called out loudly.

  “I’m fine, Phantom. It’s just getting a little hot down here. Jonas is getting anxious to be on his way.”

  “Transportation just arrived. We’re getting things into place now.” Phantom’s eyes were suddenly drawn to something that looked unusual at the base of one of the large wooden beams surrounded by steel that held up the main rafters of the barn. He squinted his eyes and moved closer to it.

  “Santo—we need to find a way to stall them. We need to put a glitch in their plans, and fast.” Phantom’s blood pulsed with adrenaline.

  “Why? What have you found?”

  “I think I may have just found our way to bring this whole thing to a finish.”

  * * *

  Elena wiped at the sweat on her brow. She hadn’t been making light talk when she told Phantom it was getting hot. With Jonas’s elaborate planning, he obviously hadn’t considered the need for good air flow in an area that didn’t have good ventilation to begin with. Add a group of over fifty humans trapped in cages and the sweltering heat of summer, and it made the atmosphere practically dense.

  “What are you going to do from here, Jonas? Do you really think they are going to let you walk out of here with all these people? It isn’t possible!”

  “It’s exactly what I expect, and it’s exactly what will happen. You’ve always been so naive. So completely unable to see the things around you. I’ve always been a planner. I’ve always been prepared for any scenario. Do you think it is a coincidence that I built this barn with you in mind?”

  “I don’t know what goes on in that sick, twisted mind of yours.” She shook her head at him. “You always repulsed me. I knew there was something wrong with you all along. Now I know it is because you’re a depraved human being who gets pleasure at the abuse of others.”

  Jonas looked over at the hostages in their cages. He chuckled and pulled her farther down the corridor and into one of the small rooms that sat under one of the larger secure rooms above. The air was slightly cooler and she drew a steadying breath, unsure of what his next move could be.

  She had to find a way to stop him. The thought pulsed through her brain. There had to be a way to bring him down. She glanced around the room that had been set up like an office and grimaced when he shoved her into one of the chairs. He moved around the desk and pulled out a decanter of alcohol and two tumblers. He poured heavily into each and handed her one.

  “A toast, my dear. Surely you’ve figured out by now that you’re coming with me. After all this time, you will be mine. You may fight me at first, but eventually you’ll come around and see things my way.”

  Her hand clenched around her glass as he tossed back his drink. He had just lowered his arm when she hurled her glass at him as hard as she could, not pausing long enough to see what happened. She heard him grunt and the glass shatter, but she was already racing down the corridor toward the door he had used to pull her inside.

  “Phantom!” she yelled at the top of her voice. “He intends to take me with him as part of his escape plan. You can’t let him succeed. I don’t care what it takes! All these people—oh!” She cried out as Jonas’s body slammed into hers, throwing her to the floor. His weight heavy on top of her, he prevented her from any attempt to escape.

  “That was very foolish of you. I told you it will take time. Trust me, Elena. Just give in to the inevitable.”

  “I will fight you with all my strength until I can’t fight you anymore!”

  “Don’t make me kill you, Elena. I don’t want to be forced to do such a thing. I like you. I like the passion that burns in you. We’ll make a good pair in many ways.”

  He pulled her to her feet and leaned down, forcing her to make eye contact with him by holding her chin firmly with one hand. “Don’t fight me anymore tonight, Elena. There are too many things that still must be done.”

  “Elena? Elena, talk to me.” Phantom’s voice drifted through the walls to them, and she fought back the burn of the tears in her eyes. She needed to stay strong for the team to be able to do their job.

  “I’m fine, Phantom. Do what you do best, please. Do what you do best.”

  Jonas growled and pulled her back toward the office, once again tossing her into one of the chairs. “Who are they? How many of them are out there? You need to answer my questions, Elena. If you refuse to answer me or lie to me, you will pay dearly.”

  “I’m already paying. Just being in your presence is painful enough.”

  Jonas lifted his hand abruptly as if to strike her, then slowly lowered it. “No. I will not let you provoke me like this. It’s what you want. You don’t want me to think clearly tonight. I won’t let you do that.”

  “I won’t give you what you want.” She glared at him.

  “You’ll give me the answers I need. Who are they? How do you know them?”

  “They’re simple ranchers. I work with them on one of the ranches I call upon.”

  “Simple ranchers don’t have these kinds of skills. Do you know how many guards I had stationed around this ranch tonight? Do you even know if they’re still alive? Answer me, Elena. Do you? What makes you think these men you are with are any better than me? They’ve probably killed several men tonight already, and I haven’t killed anyone.”

  Elena brushed her hair back from her face with trembling hands. She knew that killing came with the work of a SEAL. She knew Phantom would have only killed someone if there wasn’t any other choice. He was a good man. She would do everything she could to make sure his mission was successful.

  She lifted her head to stare blankly up at Jonas. “I don’t know the answers to your questions.”

  Jonas glared at her, then turned to the desk and pulled out a radio. “Both of you stay in the trucks. I don’t know how many men surround the area right now. Have you seen any movement since you arrived?”

  “No sir.” A voice with a heavy Texas accent came over the radio. “I haven’t seen anyone. It’s been smooth the entire way.”

  “They’re out there. I’ll have the cargo open the doors to the trailers when the time is right.”

  “Listen to yourself!” Elena exclaimed. “You’re referring to human beings as cargo!”

  “Don’t be a fool. They’ll have better lives in the United States than they ever did where they’re from. The world isn’t as pretty and simple as you are delusional enough to believe.”

  “You’re the one saying foolish things! What kind of life do you think a sex slave has? She’s going to be tortured and raped and probably kept heavily drugged. They talk about it on the news all the time. It’s a horrible, horrible crime!”

  “We’re going to walk out of here, and no one will stop us. Just as they can multiply, my resources can too. Go ahead and stay silent for as long as you like. I don’t need your help.”

  There was a crackle on the radio. “I have a problem,” another voice spoke, and Elena assumed it was the other driver.

  “What’s the problem?” Jonas barked.

  “One of my tires has a slow leak. I must have picked up some old fencing wire or a nail on the drive up to the ranch. I won’t be able to make it out of here without repairing it.”

  “Son of a bitch,” J
onas fumed. He stood and paced back and forth behind the desk for several moments. Finally, he spoke into the radio again. “Get out and fix it. Take your handgun with you. Be ready to shoot at anything that moves.”

  “Copy.” The man’s voice came over the radio once more, then the room fell silent.

  Elena watched Jonas pace back and for and wondered if he was close to cracking. His plans were starting to fall apart. How would he react? Would he kill her and all the hostages as revenge? She couldn’t let that happen. At the very least, she had to save the hostages. She just didn’t know how.

  “Time for a new message,” Jonas said, grabbing her arm and hauling her to her feet. She yanked her arm free of his grasp.

  “There’s no reason to treat me like one of your hostages. If you want me to ever look at you with anything less than contempt, you’ll treat me with dignity and respect.”

  “Respect is something you have to earn. And you’ve done nothing so far to gain my respect. Now move.” He shoved her forward toward the same crack in the concrete he’d used to project her voice, and she stumbled over her own feet deliberately, trying to stall.

  She knew Phantom had to be behind the leak in the truck tire. He had to have a plan of some sort, and she needed to do everything in her power to help him. Her heart squeezed painfully. She wondered if she would ever be held in his arms again. She had already made her decision to stop Jonas, even if it meant her own death.

  “Tell them to help the driver. Tell them to move quickly.”

  “Phantom?”

  Silence responded, and anxiety coursed through her. He wouldn’t leave, would he? Had they decided not to receive any more of Jonas’s demands? Or did they simply wait for him to make his next move in the shadows with intentions of taking him by surprise?

  “I’m here, Elena.” His voice warmed her and made her heart jump with hope. What if the plan he had would save her while still taking down Jonas? She couldn’t give up. She had to have faith in Phantom.

  “One of the trailers has a problem with a tire. Jonas is asking you to help the driver replace it as quickly as possible.”