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Chapter Twenty-Three
Jaxson
“I’ll kill him!” I shouted, staring at my phone. The bastard threatened my daughter’s life and then, like a coward, hung up.
Lincoln rested a hand on my arm. “We’re not going to let anything happen to Izzie, and we know Ariella is with her. She’ll protect her. What’s the plan?”
I couldn’t think straight. My heart slammed against the walls of my ribcage, trying to break free of its prison. I took off on foot for our car, parked on the other side of the blockade.
“Someone tipped Nikolai off,” I said.
Lincoln, Hazel, and Aiden followed after me. Lincoln dug out the car keys from his pocket for the rental car. While Hazel kept up with my pace, walking alongside me.
“Do you think it was Franco?” Lincoln asked. He hit the button on the remote to unlock the doors.
I hustled to the car and climbed in.
“Doubtful,” Hazel said. She opened the door and hopped into the backseat. “Franco was convinced that Nikolai had arranged a flight home when he found out I was back in Chicago. We were waiting for him to return home. I thought he was en route.”
Lincoln and Aiden climbed into the car. Lincoln started the engine and tore out of the neighborhood for the airport.
“Who else knew you were in Chicago?” I asked and turned around so that I could face her. I didn’t think she’d lie to me, but I also wasn’t sure what the hell was going on anymore. Why the hell was Nikolai at my house threatening my daughter and Ariella?
“Does it matter?” Lincoln asked. “We need to come up with a plan. I’ll call Declan and let him know what’s going on. He can stake out your house. Maybe he’ll be able to slip inside or at least know how many men we’re up against.”
“At least Nikolai and his driver, Sacha,” Hazel said. “They go everywhere together. I’m surprised Nikolai didn’t marry me off to him.” She shifted in the backseat and stared out the window.
“Can you go any faster?” I asked, glaring at Lincoln. Traffic may not have been Lincoln’s fault, but we definitely weren’t taking the best route. I wasn’t familiar with Chicago, but there had to be another way to get to the airport.
* * *
Driving to the airport had been tedious, but not as painstaking as the flight home. We had a private jet, but it didn’t mean we arrived any quicker than flying commercial.
When we eventually landed, we texted Declan.
Flight landed. On our way. Please tell me you have good news.
I wanted the mission to be over with, and Izzie and Ariella to be safe and the operation behind us. That was wishful thinking.
Declan didn’t answer. We rushed off the plane and straight to my truck. I threw myself into the driver’s side, not letting anyone else take the reins. It was hard not to crave control, especially when it was your family on the line.
“Are you sure you don’t want to call the sheriff and involve the local police?” Aiden asked from the backseat.
“No. We’re doing this off the books.”
In the backseat of Declan’s truck was a stash of weapons and supplies for us. It would keep us from having to make an extra stop at the Eagle Tactical office.
“Any word from Declan?” I asked. My phone was buried in my pocket, but I had group texted our message so that any of the guys could answer if he responded.
I glanced at Lincoln beside me in the front seat.
Lincoln pulled out his phone, viewed the texts, and then shook his head. “Nothing yet. Don’t you have surveillance cameras with your security system?”
“They’re disabled along with the alarm system. I attempted to access the system while we were catching our flight, but I couldn’t get into the Wi-Fi system.”
“Do you think he cut the power?” Hazel asked.
“I don’t know. There’s a battery backup system, but he could have disabled that if he knew how to hack into the system. It looks like the system was disarmed and hacked.” I had hoped it was impenetrable, but Declan could have hacked it. I wasn’t sure about Nikolai’s abilities or the man who tagged along with him.