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“But spending the money to take out an HVT who has connections and moles in our military? On our bases, on our ships, and on the ground? That is perfectly all right…and encouraged.”

“Tex has passed on the intel he uncovered about Osman?” Edge asked.

“Yes. We know who he paid to force you to take off before the FLIR could be fixed, the sailor in Norfolk who tipped him off that you were coming to this part of the world in the first place, and the mechanic who temporarily disabled the FLIR in both choppers. And before you ask—no, you can’t have two minutes with them in the brig.

They’ve already been taken off the ship.

They’ll face judgement in a military court back home.

But we can’t leave a man with the kind of connections and power Osman has alive.

That is officially your assignment. Get in, take him down, get out.

If you find Hardy in the process, great. ”

That definitely rubbed Casper the wrong way, but he wasn’t stupid enough to argue. He was ultimately getting what he wanted—permission to go find Laryn and bring her home.

“It’s sixteen hundred right now. You’ll leave at oh-two-hundred. That gives you three hours of darkness to get in, find your man…and woman…and get out. Understood?”

“Yes, Sir,” all six pilots said at the same time.

The admiral didn’t look happy, but he didn’t contradict the captain’s orders, thankfully.

Casper turned to leave the room, feeling more hopeful than he had in the last week.

“Casper…”

His friends filed past him as he turned to look back at the captain.

“Bring her home.”

“I plan on it,” he said with conviction, before following his friends into the corridor.

They had some preparations to make, but nothing that would take eight hours.

Time was going to tick by way too slowly for Casper’s liking.

This was their one shot to rescue Laryn, and he wasn’t coming back to this ship without her.

One way or another, her ordeal would end tonight.

Laryn was scared out of her mind, but she refused to give Altan the satisfaction of knowing how close she was to breaking.

Every minute spent in that dungeon under the hangar was pure hell.

Food was brought down once a day, and it was barely enough to sustain her.

She was exhausted from lack of sustenance and sleep.

There was no way to get a good night’s rest on the concrete block that was her bed.

No matter what she did, she couldn’t get comfortable, which she supposed was the point.

Every day, Altan made an appearance in person to ask if she was ready to become his newest employee. Each time, she told him to fuck off.

Maybe not in those words; she wasn’t an idiot.

She knew Altan held all the power right now.

He could make her life even more miserable than it was already, could simply decide to shoot her once and for all.

The only thing she had going for her was the fact that he needed her.

Needed her knowledge and expertise to outfit the precious MH-60 choppers he’d acquired.

It was only a matter of time before she agreed to work for him. Laryn couldn’t continue with the way things were going for much longer. She needed more food, more water, more sleep. She’d been trying to delay as long as possible to give Tate time to figure out how to get her out of there.

Of course, he had no way of knowing where she actually was, but she had to believe he’d figure it out.

He was smart. Really smart, and he knew people.

Like that Tex guy. While she didn’t think the military would send in an entire special forces team to get her, she hoped that maybe they’d consider her top-secret clearance worthy of putting together some sort of rescue plan.

Or maybe they’d go the diplomatic route, which would be just as fine with her…

but that kind of thing usually took time.

Months. And while she could continue to stall for a while, she couldn’t keep Altan at bay for that long.

At some point, she was going to have to agree to work on the choppers.

But her plan was still to do everything in her power not to share any technology she knew was classified.

She’d have to come up with something that sounded new and amazing, but in reality was tech most countries were already using. Like FLIR.

One of the main things she was concerned about in pretending to be broken and agreeing to Altan’s demands was the whole “husbands” thing he mentioned in passing.

She’d spent a good portion of her life being looked down upon because she worked with her hands, in a male-dominated profession.

But she’d also been respected because of her skills.

Laryn had a feeling that wouldn’t be the case here.

As soon as she’d given up all the knowledge she had, or pretended she had, she’d be expendable.

And being under the thumb of one or more men as “husbands” wasn’t something she would ever tolerate.

Which meant the clock was ticking in more ways than one.

The pressure she was under was overwhelming. She wasn’t sure she was as good an actress as it would take to fool Altan. The man was delusional, crazy, and cruel, but he wasn’t stupid. He’d gotten where he was by being smart and having connections.

As if thinking of the man had conjured him up, Laryn heard footsteps coming her way. Shifting so she was sitting against the wall in as nonchalant a position as she could muster, she waited to see what new horror Altan was going to threaten her with today.

When he materialized in front of her cell, he was smiling, which she didn’t think was a good sign.

“Good afternoon, Laryn. I trust you’re well?”

What an ass. Of course she wasn’t well. She simply stared at him.

“It’s time,” he told her. “Time to do what I brought you here to do. The question is, are you going to come with me of your own free will? Or are you going to make things difficult?”

Swallowing hard, Laryn said, “I’m ready.”

He smirked. “Good, good. I knew you’d see things my way.

This is Mert. He’ll be your right-hand man.

He’ll be at your side from the moment you step out of your room, until you go to bed each night.

Anything you need, he’ll get for you. He’ll also be taking notes and watching you carefully, because he’ll eventually be your replacement. ”

In other words, he was her jailor. Great. Just freaking great. Then the last thing he said hit home. “My replacement?” she asked, proud that her voice only shook a little.

“Yes. When you have taught him everything you know, he will be in charge of the mechanics working on the helicopters.”

“And where will I be?” Laryn couldn’t help but ask.

“At home, of course. Women should always be in the home. Having babies and raising them. You can’t possibly wish to continue working once you’re pregnant. Mert has also expressed his interest in becoming your primary husband.”

Fuck her. This was not getting any better.

Laryn was tempted to tell Altan, and Mert, to go fuck themselves, but that wasn’t going to get her out of this cell anytime soon.

She had to be smart. Watch and wait for the right moment to get the hell out of there.

Being alone on the streets was more appealing than being under this goon’s thumb.

The way he was leering at her already was enough to make Laryn’s skin crawl.

And she was looking pretty rough right now, after a week without a shower and very little food.

Mert was taller than her by quite a bit, and very muscular.

In hand-to-hand combat, she’d definitely be at a disadvantage.

He had dark hair, stubble on his chin, and he wore what looked like steel-toed boots, along with his military-issue pants and uniform shirt.

He hadn’t spoken a word, and she wondered if he even understood English.

He had to, if he was going to be watching her so carefully and learning from her on the job.

“Come,” Altan cajoled, holding out a hand. “Let’s get you upstairs to your room. You can shower, have dinner, then start work.”

“Now?” Laryn asked. She wasn’t sure what time it was, but Altan said “good afternoon.” She hadn’t expected to start working immediately, but she supposed she should’ve.

“Now,” Altan said firmly. “We don’t hold normal hours here.

We work when work needs to be done, and a lot of work needs to be done to get our MH-60s operational.

I’m sure you’re aware of the tensions all around our country.

We need to be able to protect ourselves in case the current situation blows up out of control. ”

She didn’t like the usage of the pronoun “our” in that explanation. Not at all.

He motioned for Mert to open the cell door, and Laryn stood as he unlocked the thick bars. The man walked toward her and grabbed her arm, pulling her toward the exit.

Laryn’s arm had just stopped being sore from all the manhandling when she’d been kidnapped. She wasn’t ready to go back to being hauled around as if she were a recalcitrant child.

“I can walk,” she said firmly, tugging on her arm, trying to loosen Mert’s hold.

“Of course you can.” It was Altan who responded. “Mert is just making sure you don’t lose your footing. It’s not exactly smooth down here.”

He wasn’t wrong, but when Mert’s fingers brushed against her breast, Laryn’s blood ran cold. Her watchdog was just as much a threat as Altan, but in a different way.

As they made their way past the other cells, Laryn couldn’t help but glance inside them at the occupants.

No one had made much noise in the week she’d been down here, and she could tell why…

most of the men looked half dead. They didn’t move as the threesome walked past. Didn’t glance their way.

Simply lay on the concrete beds, staring at the ceiling.