CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Two days. Two fucking days and they hadn’t had so much as a sniff as to where India was. The security footage had shown them a group of men climbing over the wall and taking her as she’d opened the French doors. But despite all the people they’d spoken to and the money they’d offered, everyone claimed to know nothing. His phone buzzed and he glanced at the screen, then swiped it to answer the call. “Trev, did you find something?”
“I have your sister Lizz on the line.” Trev ignored his question. “She insists on only talking to you.”
“Tell her I’ll call her when I get back.”
“I can’t,” Trev replied. “She says she has information about Indy, and you need to hear it right now.”
Excitement bubbled in his belly. This was the break they were looking for. It had to be. “Put her through.”
“Hello? Dray, are you there?”
He swallowed hard enough that he knew Lizz heard him. “I’m here. Tell me everything.”
“When I came in the store this morning, I had a voice message from a number I don’t recognize. It’s in Congo, but Indy used all of our code words and said she’d been kidnapped.”
“When was it left?” Hope flared and he tamped it down. He needed the fear to help him concentrate.
“A couple of hours ago.”
If he hadn’t been sitting in the back seat of a Humvee, he’d have fainted or fallen on his ass in relief. “Give me the number.”
“What’s happen—”
“Not now, Lizz,” he snapped. “Give me the fucking number.”
“I’m going to let you get away with speaking to me like that just this one time,” his sister muttered. “But if you ever do it again, I’m going to pop you in the mouth and then tell Momma.”
“I’m sorry.” He was being a dick and he knew it. “Give me the number, please.”
She rattled it off and added on, “Where is Indy? Is she okay? Is she really kidnapped?”
He pinched his fingers into his eyes. “She’s missing. I’m looking for her. This helps.”
“Dray…”
“Not now, I need to have our tech guys run the number and see where it gets us. I promise I’ll call you back.”
“You better or—”
“I know, I know, you’ll call Momma.”
“Now he gets it,” she answered. “Maybe McDonalds does do brains after all.” The phone went dead in his ear. He lowered it to hit speed dial for Trev. “It’s me, Indy left a voice mail on the store’s phone sometime in the last few hours.”
“Hit me with the number.” He started to give the number Lizz had given him, but Trev cut him off. “Give me the number for your sister’s store; we’ll trace it from there.”
“Okay, I’ll shoot you over a contact card from my phone.”
“Good.” Trev was clearly working on the computer as the sounds of the keys on his keyboard could be heard clacking over the line. “Do it now.”
“As soon as I hang up.” For the second time in five minutes someone hung up on him and he didn’t even care. He immediately pulled up his sister’s contact number and sent it to Trev.
“What’s happening?” Wolf Steel looked over his shoulder then put his eyes back on the road.
“Indy left a vm on my sister’s shop phone. Trev is running a trace now.” Even saying the words gave him hope. But he couldn’t hope… hoping for good intel or a lucky break was asking for trouble.
“If she was talking, she’s good.”
“I know you mean well, Steel, but don’t—just don’t. ‘Kay?”
“Yeah.” Wolf nodded. “Just know I know how you feel. Most of us do.”
Before he could answer, the phone in his hand buzzed and he swiped answer. “Go.”
“Tex found something,” Trev said. “Coordinates are coming on Wolf’s team’s wrist devices now.”
“Thanks.” He leaned forward. “Check your wrist for coordinates.”
“Got it,” Dude answered next to him. “I’m getting a hold of Tex to give us directions.”
“Roger.” Wolf slowed the Humvee as they approached a crossroads. “I just need to know where we’re going.”
Draven bunched his fingers into fists. He’d spent most of the last decade and a half kicking in doors and clearing houses. Everything about the lead up to tonight had been so fucking routine it should have calmed the nerves which rioted inside him. Everything except that the hostage they were searching for was Indy. His knee bouncing up and down in the back of the Humvee and his opening and closing fists were the only outward sign that he was upset. But he figured they’d all been around the block often enough that none of the guys would comment on it.
Dude pointed across him. “Tex says go straight here, then left on the next street.”
“His left or mine?” Wolf asked.
“When has it ever been our left when Tex is giving directions?” Dude replied. “Just drive where he says and we don’t get lost.”
Wolf smacked at Dude when he tapped him on the back of the helmet. “I’m not gonna get lost.”
Draven ignored the bickering going on around him. They sounded enough like his own team for him to be comfortable that they would still get them to where they had to go. The shit talk was a way to keep their emotions on lockdown.
The Humvee rolled through the streets, taking them from the suburbs out of town and down a deserted road. It wasn’t long before he could tell by the feel of the vehicle going over ruts that they’d moved from a paved road to a dirt track.
“Right, then an immediate left,” Dude ordered. “Then it’s the gate directly in front of us.”
Draven braced himself against the side of the Humvee and flipped down his night vision rig when Wolf flipped off the lights of the truck.
“Thanks, Tex,” Dude said. “I’m leaving the phone open so you can hear what the hell is going on.” Clearly Tex had replied with a question, as Dude responded with, “Copy that.”
After making the final turn, Wolf pulled the Humvee into the side of the road, hugging the edge close enough that Draven would have to scoot across the seat and get out on the other side or risk falling down the embankment they were parked against. Every man in the vehicle checked their weapons were ready and scrambled quietly out of the vehicle.
Within seconds they were joined by Charlie team, who were given comms units so they were connected to the same tactical operations center as Wolf and his team were, and were making their way toward the compound ahead of them.
Draven held his breath while Mozart and Benny approached the big door-like wooden gates cautiously and checked to see if they were locked. His stomach fell when Mozart shook his head and moved back to the wall where the rest of them were lined up. Benny cupped his hands and Mozart placed his boot in them, taking the boost to get up on the wall.
The routine of an infiltration he’d done more times than he could count in Iraq and Afghanistan did more to snap his brain to where it should be on the mission than anything else could have. But unlike in the Middle East where most of the gates were unlocked, this time they had to wait for Mozart to let them in.
Finally, the gate opened a crack, and Draven held his breath, waiting for it to creak or an alarm to go off. But if there was an alarm, it was either a silent one, or only sounded in the house. They moved in formation across the open space between the wall and the house and stacked up on either side of the door while Dude moved into the breacher position and made short work of picking the lock.
Both teams entered and together they flowed through the house, clearing room to room. Just before the final door at the end of the hallway, Wolf held up his closed fist, and they immediately all stopped. Wolf touched one hand to his ear and cocked his head to one side, silently telling them to listen.
Draven strained his ears, listening for the familiar sound of Indy’s voice, but all he could hear was soft snoring. Ahead of him, Wolf and Mozart communicated in hand signals. Even though all of Nemesis’ teams also used hand signals and sign languages, and he himself had come from teams, the ones Wolf and his guys used were slightly different, but he got the general gist of it. It looked like this part of the DRC was similar to the Middle East in having the women and children sleeping in one room. He glanced at the ceiling.
Does that mean the men are on the roof?
Fuck, I hope Indy is with the other women.
A tap on the center of his back snapped his focus back into place in time to see Wolf pull his head back out of the room and shake his head.
Damn, she’s not there.
Lucian and Archer stayed at the room where the women and children were sleeping. Hopefully, they could find Indy and get her out of here before anyone was any the wiser. They continued clearing the house, making their way to a staircase which the house plans Tex had somehow produced earlier showed led to the rooftop.
Just like when they went after bomb makers, insurgents of doing different things, different bad things, they had the intel packet Tex and Trev had put together and sent them. Draven hated that tonight felt almost like a mission in any other theater of war he’d been in across the globe. Almost, but not quite, because tonight every move he made, every room they cleared, and each step he took to the roof, was tinged with fear for Indy.
They paused just below the open door to the roof as Wolf peered through the fly curtains. Waiting while the mission leader scanned the area sucked, until Wolf turned and gave him a thumbs up.
She’s there? He mouthed the words, barely daring to believe it. Indy was there.
Wolf repeated the thumbs up sign and emphasized it by nodding his head twice. She’s there!
They moved through the curtain-covered doorway carefully, ensuring the beads didn’t rattle as each man stepped onto the roof. Draven’s eyes darted around, searching for the person he wanted to see most of all. His gaze landed on her, hogtied on the roof between two tangos who slept on either side of her. Not an ideal position, but he knew they could make it work.
Indy.
As if she heard him saying her name in his head, her eyes opened, and she stared at him. Draven raised one finger to his lips, asking for silence. She blinked once, and he smiled at her acknowledgement. At least it better be a freaking acknowledgement, as he was already reaching for the set of zip-tie cuffs from one of the pouches on his belt.
Across the room at the tango he was standing over, Wolf opened one hand wide and dropped each finger to count them down until his fist was closed. The teams moved as one, carefully sliding the cuff over one wrist and zipping it closed while their targets slept.
It never failed to amaze him how often these tangos didn’t wake as they cuffed them.
He doesn’t know I’m right here. I could take his life and he’d never know about it until it was too late.
The tango snorted out a snore as Wolf gave the signal for the next step. Draven figured the man on the sleeping mat was probably dreaming that he was being flipped over in his sleep. Draven and the guys rolled the tangos over to put the zip-tie on the men’s other hands. He zipped his wrist in nice and tight and glanced around to make sure all the others were ready.
On Wolf’s soft command, Draven gripped the man and shook him hard. “Wake up, motherfucker.”
The tango jerked awake, already struggling. With hands tied behind his back, he bucked and rolled, flopping around like a fish out of water. Draven flipped on the light on his helmet. “America’s here, asshole.”
“Draven,” Indy whispered, her voice hoarse as if she’d been screaming or shouting a long time.
“Brat.” He nudged the asshole further away from her. “Wha—”
“Look after your woman.” Dude smacked him in the center of his back, making him stumble forward. “I’ve got the asswipe.”
“Thanks.” He dropped to his knees next to Indy, and used his knife to cut the rope which tied her hands to her ankles. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I am now.” She shook her hands out and rubbed at her wrists. “Kick that one.” She nodded to the man he’d captured. “He’s a dick who likes to hurt people.”
He stilled, fighting against the rage bubbling up inside him. “Did he hurt you, Brat?”
“Yeah, but also his kids. Assholes like him should never be allowed to have children.” She allowed him to help her to her feet. “Just let me…” She stepped around him and drew back her leg. As much as Draven wanted to allow that kick to land, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her away from her target.
“Get her out of here, Bravo,” Wolf ordered. “We’ve got this.”
“Yes, Sir.” He totally agreed. Getting Indy out of here was the best option. She’d been here long enough, and maybe by the time they made it to the Humvees, he might have found those nerves of steel he usually had. Right now, he was holding his crap together by a rope which was unraveling by the second.
“Thanks, because one of these assholes is going to tell me the combination to the safe downstairs.” Wolf scowled at the captives.
He’d been expecting that; there was no way a SEAL team wasn’t going to gather every bit of intel they could find. You never knew when or if there was a thread the DOD analysists could pull which would lead to more missions.