Page 129 of Fatal Intent

Selfish jerk.

Ellis tightened his grip on her upper arm and forced her back toward the house. “If you’re smart, you’ll keep your mouth shut and do everything I tell you to do. Otherwise, I guarantee you’ll pay the price. My woman does exactly what I tell her to do, or she pays the consequences. Might want to remember that, Rayne.” He threw open the back door and propelled her through the doorway.

Gino looked up, his eyes narrowing when he saw Rayne with Ellis. “What’s going on?”

“Found our hostage outside, running across the open field in the back. In another two minutes, she would have been long gone.” Ellis glanced around. “Where are the others?”

“Upstairs, trying to break down the door to Rayne’s room.” He turned his head and gave a loud whistle. “Kitchen. Now,” he called out.

Booted feet stomped down the stairs. Soon, four men joined them in the room. Gino’s team glared at her. The fourth man, Donovan Vance, showed no expression. He simply stared at her as if she were a bug under a microscope. Of all the men in the room, he scared her the most.

“How did you escape?” Barry demanded.

“You know how to escape zip ties. So do I.”

“We should have done what Ellis suggested,” Chase muttered.

Nice. Another soldier with zero honor.

“That’s enough.” Gino glanced at Ellis. “Secure her to one of these chairs. Do a good job this time.”

Rayne wrapped her hand over her tactical watch and pressed the button on the side, signaling Fortress she was in trouble and that they should keep communications open.

Ellis shoved Rayne into a chair and took the duct tape Gino handed him. “Hands behind your back. No funny stuff, or you’ll pay.”

The men were quiet while Ellis secured her to the back slats and legs of the chair. When he finished, Rex asked, “What are we going to do with her?”

“We stick to the plan,” Gino said. “She’s bait.”

“Are you sure they’ll come for her?” Barry asked.

“You saw Bowen,” Ellis said. “He’s nuts about her. As soon as he figures out where she is, he’ll come. You can count on it.”

“I don’t like this.” Chase looked from one to the other. “You know Echo unit’s reputation. They’ll come, and come hard. No way will they let this slide.”

“Listen to him,” Rayne said, voice soft. “Chase is right. Echo protects its own by any means necessary. Turn me loose and walk away before they arrive. If you do, you might survive to see the sun rise.”

He swallowed hard, exchanging glances with his teammates.

“Which of you killed Eileen?”

Rex stared hard at Ellis.

Rayne wasn’t surprised. Ellis seemed to enjoy hurting women. “I thought you would have asked Donovan to do the job.”

“He has his own agenda with other priorities.”

Echo unit. “He’s working with you?”

A shrug from Gino. “We’re friends.”

“Why is he killing the people who survived Red Dawn?”

Donovan straightened. “They deserved it,” he snapped. “They deserved to die.”

Oh, boy. He was obsessed with something. “What did they do, Donovan?”

“They set up my brother. The dishonorable men on that mission set Hal up to die. They’re all going to pay.”