Page 113 of Defending You

Even if the man did expect him to march right up to the gate, they’d be there, wouldn’t they? Watching? They should be.

Asher held the enemy’s comm unit to his ear, desperate to learn what they were doing. He’d heard nothing but low static until a voice cracked over it.

“Status of the second team?” Gagnon barked.

A second team? How many more men had Gagnon called in? When? And why?

“Surveying the perimeter,” a man answered, “then moving in.”

Another voice cut through the transmission. “Switch channels. We might be compromised.”

The static cut off, leaving silence.

Heart pounding, Asher tapped his own comm, understanding now why Gagnon’s men weren’t looking for him.Gagnon must’ve thought that, if Asher didn’t march up to the front gate as promised, this second team would find him.

“Grant, we’ve got a problem.”

“Go,” Grant said.

“There’s a second team. They’re closing in from the perimeter.”

“What? Where?” That was Callan, and he sounded furious. “Alyssa, report.”

She’d been providing regular reports with information she got from the drone she flew overhead, another gadget Bartlett had pulled from his trunk.

Seconds ticked by, but she didn’t answer.

“Alyssa!”

Grant said, “Don’t jump to?—”

“I told you it wasn’t safe!” Callan’s voice exploded through the channel, drowning out the rest of Grant’s response. The raw panic in his tone made Asher’s stomach drop.

In trying to save Cici, had he put her sister in harm’s way?

“Check on her,” Grant said. “Alyssa’s probably finding cover and keeping quiet. Stay out of sight. They don’t know we know they’re coming. Keep it that way.”

The comm went quiet for a heartbeat before Grant’s voice came back, steady and controlled. “Asher, with you in possession of the SD card, what do you think Gagnon’s play is, bringing more men?”

“He’s lost a couple,” Bartlett said.

Asher had taken out two, getting their numbers closer to even.

“There was that gunshot earlier,” Bartlett said. “Whiteman reported it. So maybe they’re down three.”

“Best case scenario, that leaves nine,” Grant said. “Maybe he thinks he can capture you? Torture you until you give it up?”

“No reason to capture me. I just agreed to go to him.”

“But he didn’t know you’d do that.”

True.

Asher hadn’t stopped scanning the forest, but there was no movement anywhere.

His mind raced through possibilities. Did they plan to torture him? Maybe Gagnon thought he could break Asher.

Or maybe he planned to tortureCiciand force Asher to give up the SD card to protect her.