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He was probably worried we’d all pound the shit out of him.
It certainly crossed my mind, but he was far more useful to us alive and unharmed.
“I didn’t mean for any of this to happen. You have to know that I wouldn’t ever get involved in hurting a pregnant woman or a kid,” Jayden said with insistence. “I want to help. Let me talk to Enzo and see if we can get DeLuca to turn over the girls and the kid.”
Mason’s scowl hadn’t left his face. “Do you honestly think putting Enzo in the middle of this is going to help anyone? We don’t need to get indebted to a mobster. We’ll handle it Eagle Tactical style,” Mason said.
“If you mean we go in guns blazing and blow-up DeLuca’s compound, I’m all for it,” Lincoln said.
I had no objections. We needed to act quickly.
I headed outside for the truck, the guys falling in step just behind me. Our weapons and tactical gear were all back at the Eagle Tactical office.
Besides, we needed blueprints or some type of schematics so that we weren’t going in blind.
It would take time to devise a foolproof plan, a commodity that we didn’t have a lot of considering what we were up against.
We hightailed it back to the office where Declan and Aiden were busy doing research, trying to track the girls’ phones, and getting us access to security footage inside DeLuca’s compound.
Lucy, the receptionist, jumped up the moment we came inside. “I’m so sorry. I just heard what happened,” Lucy said, following us down the hall. “If there’s anything I can do to help, I know how much your daughter means to you, Sir.”
I exhaled a heavy breath. It wasn’t just Izzie missing, although she was at the forefront of my mind.
Ariella had also been taken, and given her medical condition, I wasn’t too keen on her being detained by a mobster. Not that I was happy any of the girls had been abducted at gunpoint.
“That’s appreciated, Lucy,” I said.
I recognized that she wanted to help. It’s why she wasn’t hidden behind her desk and actually taking an active role in what we did for a living.
But I couldn’t involve her or put her life at risk. She wasn’t former military. Lucy had no tactical training. She was well versed in answering the phone, making appointments, and keeping the office stocked.
I probably sounded like an ungrateful ass. Yes, I was grateful for Lucy’s offer to help, but I wasn’t going to risk her life to save the girls.
In all honesty, there was nothing that she could do.
“Guys,” Aiden’s voice carried through the hall.
I hurried with a brisk pace to his office and poked my head inside. “You got something?” I hoped he wasn’t just telling us hello.
My heart was like a jackhammer, pounding against the torn pavement. I felt on edge, ready to scream and unleash a fury that I hadn’t known I harbored until today.
My baby girl was in danger.
Ariella was in danger.
The two people in the world that mattered the most to me could die today.
It wasn’t a thought I could handle or a reality I was ready to live with.
“I got a ping off one of the phones, Ariella’s,” Aiden said. “It was brief and only lasted a second, but we’ve got the vicinity narrowed down.”
Declan carried his laptop into the office and joined us, along with Mason and Lincoln.
“Jayden’s convinced they’re being held at Angelo DeLuca’s compound,” I said. I caught him up to speed with what he and Declan had missed.
Jayden hung out in the hallway, his arms folded. He appeared remorseful, but uncomfortable. Probably because we were prepared to string him up by the balls if anything happened to any of the girls who had been kidnapped.
“You should see this,” Declan said. He had hacked into surveillance footage for DeLuca’s residence, which also happened to be the location of his compound.