Page 8

The tree line offered solid cover, shrouding Callum, Bear, and Theo in the nighttime shadows as they moved silently toward the farm compound.

This was happening right fucking now.

This wasn’t the way Callum would’ve run a mission. He had a team that was too young and green, limited weapons, incomplete intel, and no backup.

Normally, he would’ve taken the afternoon and done loops around the property to make sure they were completely familiar with the layout. They would’ve monitored for any changes in the guards’ behaviors and watched for anything Lincoln’s intel had left out.

But with the drop deadline looming, they didn’t have the option to do any of those things. Their chance to get Marissa out was right now. And fucking it up could cost her her life.

Fifty percent was better than zero percent.

“You good, Callum?” Bear asked. Callum looked over to see both of the younger men studying him.

Fuck, if he got these boys killed, their parents—some of Callum’s closest friends on the planet—would skin him alive. Literally.

“Not going to lie, I’m not sure we’re not about to make a big fucking mistake. Maybe we should just take our chances with the drop.”

It was Bear who reassured him. “I can handle myself. I don’t have the experience of either of you, but I’d rather keep our choices more closely under our control than give the choices over to the Kozaks to make.”

Theo nodded. “I know this is messy, but we have the element of surprise on our side. We lose that tomorrow. I say we go.”

Callum hadn’t lived in Oak Creek but for the past seven years, but he’d known these boys since they were in diapers. They’d turned into fine men.

“Then let’s do this.”

The night air was damp and heavy, filled with the scent of rotting vegetation and distant wood smoke. The moonlight barely penetrated the thick cloud cover, leaving the overgrown fields and dilapidated buildings in darkness. All of that worked in their favor.

Callum was literally getting ready to move when he got a message from Lincoln.

New intel. 911.

“Fuck,” Callum muttered. They had no laptops with them, and there was no way they could talk freely. New intel didn’t mean abort, but 911 meant something important.

Can you text it? We’re about to move in.

Two hostages.

Callum stared down at Lincoln’s message. What the actual fuck?

Confirmed?

I just intercepted a text about BOTH hostages being in the southwest cellar.

Roger. We’ll see what we can do.

Callum slipped his phone back into his tactical vest. “Okay, looks like the game just got a little more exciting.”

Theo grinned. “Just the way I like it.”

“We’re going to help this other person if we can, but Marissa Getty is still our priority. If we have to leave the other person behind, then we will. But only if there’s no other choice.”

Both of the other men nodded.

“Okay, comms in. Let’s do this.”

They all slid their earpieces in and began moving forward. Callum scanned the area, his sharp eyes catching the faint glow of a security light near the barn. One guard paced nearby, his movements lazy and distracted. Another faint silhouette could be seen near the farmhouse’s front porch.

“Sloppy,” Bear murmured, his voice barely audible.

“Remember. In and out. No unnecessary risks.”

Theo nodded, his dark clothing blending seamlessly with the night. “Perimeter’s thin. Back door should be clear.”

The three men moved silently, skirting the barn, keeping to the shadows, and reached the back of the farmhouse. Callum tested the door—it creaked slightly, but it gave.

Inside, the air was thick and stale, carrying the faint odors of damp wood and sweat. The hallway was dimly lit but quiet. They could hear a television running in the farthest room. No doubt the guards would rather be there than out in the cold night.

Theo motioned toward a narrow door at the opposite end of the hallway. “Cellar should be through there and attached to the tunnel.”

Callum nodded and led the way. The old wooden door groaned softly as he opened it, revealing a steep, narrow staircase descending into darkness. A faint light flickered below, casting eerie shadows on the stone walls.

They descended quickly but quietly, their weapons at the ready. At the bottom of the stairs, the tunnel began. They kept to the wall, ready to take out any guards, but none seemed to be around.

A few feet farther, they found a heavy metal door. Callum gave Theo a look, and the younger man stepped forward, working quickly to pick the lock—a skill Callum knew he’d learned from his mother. It clicked open a few seconds later.

Bear covering him, Callum pushed open the door, hoping they weren’t about to find dead bodies inside.

Bear dropped low, swinging his weapon to the right, Callum staying right behind him, higher, moving to the left. Theo remained out in the tunnel to cover their sixes.

Callum could hear gasps as they entered, but he discarded the sound, recognizing after just a split second it was coming from the hostages.

Hostages —plural. Lincoln’s intel had been correct. There were two people in the room sitting on the ground, hands tied.

“Clear,” Bear muttered, lowering his weapon.

Callum took a couple more steps, making sure there were no surprise guards behind the now-open door, then did the same. “Clear.”

His attention turned to the women sitting on the ground, hands bound, on opposite sides of the room from each other. He narrowed his eyes when he couldn’t immediately pick out which one was Marissa Getty…

Because they both looked too similar.

Two faces were peering up at them, both pale and bearing the marks of exhaustion and fear.

That was to be expected. What wasn’t expected was that they both had the same long, dark hair and similar delicate features that he’d seen in Marissa’s file on the plane.

There was no fucking way these two women weren’t related. Sisters, definitely. Hell, possibly twins.

The only immediate difference was their eyes: one had soft brown eyes that glared at them with irritation, while the other’s clear blue eyes widened in wary hope.

Bear realized the same thing and looked over at Callum, shock in his own eyes. Callum could only shrug because he had no fucking idea what was going on.

There were two Getty sisters here. Even if they had stuck to Dustin’s plan and gone straight to the exchange site, he should’ve told Callum two sisters had been taken. Was there a second exchange planned? Not having this info could’ve been potentially deadly.

“Thank God,” the brown-eyed woman—that had to be Marissa, according to the file—hissed. “Get me out of here now!”

“Marissa Getty?” Callum already knew the answer, but since they seemed to have dropped into the middle of a Twilight Zone episode, he thought he better confirm.

“Yes,” she said, her tone sharp. “Get these ropes off me. Now. My father will pay you whatever you want, but we need to go. Leave her—she’s not important.”

Callum blinked, momentarily stunned by the words. Why would Marissa be saying to leave her own essentially twin behind? He shifted his gaze to the other woman, who was watching him silently. Her lips pressed into a thin line, those striking eyes filled with terror, she looked like she wanted to say something but held back.

“Who’s she?” Bear asked, already cutting through Marissa’s bindings with a knife.

“I’m Sloane,” the blue-eyed woman said quietly. “Her half sister.”

“That’s not important,” Marissa snapped, rubbing her wrists. She jumped up and immediately grabbed Callum’s arm, clinging to his side. “She’s fine. Just focus on me. My father would never forgive you if something happened to me because you wasted time on her.”

Callum stared at her, frowning. Why the hell would she suggest leaving anyone here, much less her own blood? “We’ll get you both out.”

He heard the tiny sigh of relief from Sloane. Jesus. She had actually thought they were going to get only Marissa out?

What in the actual fuck?

“We have to hurry,” Marissa said, her voice rising slightly. “We can’t waste any time. You’re here for me.”

Technically, they weren’t supposed to be there at all. But this whole situation was fucking weird. Something was definitely wrong here.

“Quiet,” Theo hissed, his sharp eyes scanning the cellar.

Marissa huffed but lowered her voice. “I mean it. Just get me out of here.”

Callum turned to Sloane, ignoring Marissa’s death grip on his arm. “Are you okay to move?”

Sloane nodded quickly, her expression grim. “I’ll keep up.”

“Good. Stay close. I’m Callum. Theo and Bear.” He pointed to each man respectively.

They were barely out of the room before shouts echoed from above, followed by the sound of boots pounding against the wooden floor.

“Damn it,” Bear muttered, raising his weapon.

“We’re blown,” Theo said, moving to cover the staircase.

Gunfire erupted, deafening in the confined space. Callum shoved Marissa and Sloane behind an overturned table, as Theo fired up the stairs. A guard tumbled forward, collapsing in a heap, but more followed. Sounds were coming from the west, evidently from one of the secondary tunnels.

“We need to move. Let’s go.” Callum kept his voice even despite the roar of the gunfire. Bear and Theo could hear him through the comms unit without shouting.

Bear and Theo fell back, still firing up the stairs as Callum motioned for Marissa and Sloane to start heading down the dark tunnel.

Sloane went with no problem, obviously understanding the need for quickness and stealth, but Marissa clung to him as she passed by. “Don’t leave me! You can’t let them get me! You don’t know what I’ve been through. One of them groped me. Touched me.”

He tried to have some patience and sympathy for what she’d been through, but right now, they needed to get the fuck out of there.

“Just move.” She wasn’t letting go of his arm, so he used it to propel her along.

The tunnel walls were cold and damp, the air heavy with the smell of earth and mildew. Callum led the way, his flashlight casting a narrow beam of light ahead as they moved in single file. Theo and Bear stayed behind, weapons ready to cover their retreat. Marissa clung to Callum’s jacket like a lifeline, while Sloane kept pace silently, demanding nothing.

Thank God. If both of them had been like Marissa, he might have had to knock them unconscious to get them out.

Gunfire echoed behind them, loud and jarring in the narrow space, followed by the chaotic shouts of men.

“We’ve got to get them going faster, Callum.” Theo’s voice echoed in his ear as the man laid down suppressing fire. The flash of his muzzle briefly illuminated the tunnel, casting jagged shadows against the walls.

“Move faster,” he told the women.

“I’m moving!” Marissa shrieked, her voice grating in the enclosed space.

“Jesus, could she be any louder?” Theo muttered. “She might as well send an engraved invitation to our location.”

Knocking her unconscious wasn’t completely out of the question. Callum could hear the rapid approach of boots slapping against the stone floor. The Kozaks’ men weren’t far behind, and they were gaining.

Theo stopped abruptly, twisting to fire a controlled burst into the darkness. A man screamed, his body hitting the ground with a thud.

But it was the sounds coming from the other direction that concerned Callum. “Shit. They’re going to cut us off if we don’t move faster.”

The tunnel narrowed farther, forcing them to crouch as they moved. The sound of footsteps grew louder, closer. The men chasing them weren’t just armed—they were angry, and they weren’t about to let their payday slip away without a fight.

Theo snarled a curse as he spun and fired again, hitting another target. The body collapsed, tripping the man behind him. But more still came.

Bear turned, aiming down the tunnel, his face grim. “They’re closing in.”

Callum swore under his breath and shoved Marissa forward. “Go! Get to the end of the tunnel and wait for us there. Theo, lead the way.”

“I’m not leaving without you!” Marissa shrieked, her fingers digging into Callum’s arm.

“You’ll do what I say, or I will knock the shit out of you right now and drag you out,” Callum growled, his patience fraying. “Go!”

Marissa stumbled forward reluctantly, her face twisted in a mix of fear and indignation. Sloane stepped past her, giving Callum a brief nod before hurrying ahead.

Callum turned back to Bear, who was still holding his ground. “We need to slow them down.”

“It’s gonna get loud,” Bear said.

“No stopping that now. Use everything you’ve got.”

They both moved quickly, firing and using the brief reprieve to put distance between themselves and their pursuers. As they moved past the intersection of a second tunnel, Callum turned to lay down fire there. But damned if this tunnel didn’t seem endless, the darkness stretching ahead like a gaping maw.

Another round of gunfire erupted around them, the ricochet of bullets sparking off the stone walls. Callum felt the rush of air as a round zipped past his head, too close for comfort.

Callum dropped to one knee, aiming steadily as he picked off two more men in quick succession.

It gave them the break they needed. Ahead, the faint glow of moonlight signaled the tunnel’s end.

“We’re almost there.” Theo’s voice echoed in his ear, followed by, “Lady, if you want to live, let go of me.”

Jesus. Callum had no doubt he was talking to Marissa. What a fucking piece of work. “Knock her out if you have to.”

That wouldn’t be optimal. Theo couldn’t protect the women and carry an unconscious dumbass.

“Roger. My pleasure.”

Theo was saying something to Marissa, but Callum tuned it out as he felt the heat of a bullet grazing his arm, the sting sharp but manageable. “Fuck.”

“You hit?” Bear asked, returning fire.

“It’s fine. But let’s get the hell out of here.”

They retreated farther toward the tunnel’s exit, their movements synchronized, firing more rapidly just to give them a chance of getting out. Theo was frantically whispering something to Marissa, but Callum couldn’t work it out over the gunfire.

“Get them to the vehicle!” he yelled into the comms. “We’ll meet you there.” He and Bear would be much faster than the women.

If they could make it out of this damned tunnel.

“Callum, we’re out, but we have a problem.” Theo’s voice was distinct a couple minutes later.

“Just get the women out.”

Callum didn’t wait for a response. He and Bear both sprinted to the end of the tunnel, panting as they emerged into the woods. He scanned the area quickly, his heart pounding. Marissa was there, down on the ground, clutching a tree and sobbing. Theo was standing over her looking like he was about to lose his shit. Given that the kid was one of the most even-keeled people Callum had ever met, that said a lot.

But Sloane was nowhere to be seen.

“Where’s your sister?” Callum demanded, assessing the situation in just a second.

“I don’t know!” she wailed. “I told her to keep going forward, but she took some side tunnel instead. She ran away from me. I tried to get her to come back, but with all the smoke and noise, we got confused.”

Callum’s jaw clenched, the anger rising like a tidal wave. “Stay here,” he snapped, turning back toward the tunnel.

Bear grabbed his arm, face grim. “We can’t go back. We don’t have the ammo.”

“Don’t get us all killed for her,” Marissa whined. “This is all her fault anyway.”

Callum’s fists clenched at his sides. Every instinct screamed at him to charge back into the tunnel, to find Sloane and bring her out. But logic cut through the haze of fury.

Like it or not, Bear was right. If they went back right now, none of them would make it out alive.

He turned away from the tunnel, his chest heavy with guilt. “Let’s go.”