Page 37 of Owen (Blue Team #1)

“You’re sure she’s still there?” I asked.

“Best I can be with no eyes,” Tex’s voice boomed from Myles’s cell.

“As I’ve explained, your phone’s GPS signal is still at that location.

Either they found it and left it behind when they moved, or they haven’t moved.

My gut says she did what she said she was going to do and found a way to hide the phone.

And I know that Pollaski owns the retreat.

It was under one of the shell companies she gave me that I hadn’t found. ”

“Losing your touch, old man?” Wolf taunted.

“Hardly. The company’s owned by Wilco’s first wife’s cousin. I hadn’t run the wives yet. Cruz needed intel on the drugs and women for his warrant, and before that, Zane needed his vulnerabilities so he could move in. I wasn’t looking for properties.”

Abe chuckled and even if I wasn’t in the mood to find anything funny, not even in my state could I miss Tex’s affronted huff.

“Bet Cruz is happy to tie up that loose end,” Mozart noted. “Been a long time, since his run-in with the Red Brothers. He’ll be happy to put it behind him. ”

Kevin caught my attention and slowly dipped his chin, his silent demand for me to keep my cool.

“Garrett’s calling in, Tex, gotta take this,” Myles said.

“I’ll be in touch.”

Myles slid his finger over the phone and switched to the other call.

“Garrett?”

“It’s go-time,” Garrett announced. “Wilco’s jet is being refueled.”

“Flight plan?” Gabe inquired.

“Nothing filed.”

Jesus Christ. If Wilco got her on that plane she’d be gone.

“Do you…can we…fuck…” I stammered, unable to articulate my question.

“I can track the plane,” Garrett answered my disjointed inquiry. “Problem is when it lands. If I don’t know where it's headed can’t get men on the ground.”

I tried my best but I couldn’t seem to swallow the boulder-sized lump in my throat.

I thought the closer I got to Natasha some of the tension would ease.

I would feel better knowing I was making strides in getting her back.

I’d been wrong, so fucking wrong. The closer we got to Missoula the harder my heart thumped in my chest.

Now we were in a pay-by-the-hour motel about fifteen miles from where the retreat was and my insides were cold-soaked.

We were supposed to check in, drop off Abe, Mozart, Gabe, and Kevin.

But before Wolf, Myles, and I could head out and scout Pollaski’s compound Tex called, then Garrett, and now we were moving on to plan B—going in blind.

Definitely not our best option but if Pollaski’s jet was being fueled up, I wasn’t waiting.

I’d be going in full Winchester with no backup before I’d allow Nat to get on a plane.

“Owen?” Wolf called and I lifted my gaze to find him studying me. “You good?”

No, I was not fucking good. But I didn’t bother to vocalize my thoughts, not that I needed to.

Wolf knew damn good and well I wasn’t close to being good .

Wolf was a smart man, he was also a man who understood better than most what a man feels when his woman is in danger.

Everyone knew his story. It was no secret his wife, Caroline, had been kidnapped and almost died.

But he’d saved her .

Caroline was alive and well. I tried to hold on to that, not the ugly feeling that was choking me. I needed to believe Nat and I would get our happy ending, too. I had to believe . The alternative was incomprehensible.

“It’s not gonna be pretty,” Abe told me.

My eyes sliced to Wolf’s teammate and I couldn’t hide my flinch. Abe spoke the truth—hell, the man always spoke the truth. He was famous for his honesty but right then I didn’t want the fucking truth, I wanted to load out and get on the road.

“We’ve got twenty acres to cover,” I said, ignoring Abe. “Tex said five of Pollaski’s soldiers are unaccounted for besides Franco. We know at least one, the driver of the Escalade is here. Franco, the driver, Pollaski, and possibly four others.”

“Brother—” Gabe cut in but wisely shut his mouth when I crossed my arms over my chest.

“No more goddamn lectures, no more sermons, no more speeches. I’m not good and won’t be until Nat’s safe.

You wanna help me with that, let’s go. You wanna preach about how I need to check myself and lock down my anger, save it.

I’m not locking down shit. I’m going in and getting my woman.

And any one of those motherfuckers who tries to stop me will be on the receiving end of my goddamn anger . ”

I paused and looked through the three men who had taken time away from their wives and families to help. “’Preciate you three stepping up. But something you should know. This is gonna get messy. If you don’t— ”

“We’re well acquainted with messy,” Mozart stopped me. “We go in, you don’t leave my side.”

“I don’t need a babysitter.”

“Yeah, you do,” he corrected and I ground my molars in an effort not to lash out.

“You got your mission and we’ve got ours.

Your head is so full of your woman, you won’t have a mind to what’s going on around you.

My job is to keep you safe when you execute your objective.

Your brothers have your back, my team has your back, but you do not make a move without me at your side, yeah? ”

Since he’d ended on a question I answered, “Copy that.”

I grabbed my vest off the bed and watched as the other men followed suit.

The three of them had been retired a while, but like anything borne from years of routine and training, they slipped into their roles easily.

Once a man is dangerous, he’s always dangerous .

And Wolf, Abe, and Mozart were dangerous men.

Mozart was done first and at the door ready. Hard and impassable, a far cry from the man who an hour before had taken a call from his wife, Summer. My heart had seized when he ended the call sweetly telling her he loved her.

Fucking hell, I wanted to tell Nat I loved her. Something I hadn’t done the last time she’d called. She’d told me, but I’d been too busy begging her to come back to me. Too out of my mind with fear to formulate the words. I should’ve told her.

What if that was the last time I spoke to her and I didn’t—

“Owen!” Kevin snapped and I blinked.

Shit, goddamn. I couldn’t go there. It could be the last time I heard her voice.

“Head. In. The. Motherfucking. Game,” Kevin ground out, punctuating each word.

Right. Head in the motherfucking game. I had blood to spill and a woman to rescue. And not in that order.

Nat was first .

She was always first.

“Forgot how fun this was,” Abe’s voice boomed in my ear.

I scanned the area in front of me. Pollaski’s house sat off in the distance and I now understood why this place was called ‘the retreat’.

It would’ve been cool as fuck if I didn’t know the horrors that had likely occurred within its brick walls.

The structure looked like a castle. The satellite images didn’t do it justice—the blueprints only showed the layout, nothing could convey that opulence.

“The prospect of taking down bad guys?” Gabe returned over the radio.

“Nope,” Abe answered. “Though that has always been the plus-side of our job.”

Every light was on in the house, a beacon in the dark, sitting in a canyon at the base of Franklin Trails.

Thankfully, there were no other houses around, the retreat was isolated smack in the middle of the twenty acres and in the dead of night, no one would be on the trail.

There wasn’t a car or person in sight when Mozart and I had dropped Abe and Kevin off at what was known as the back nine.

It was the start of the eight-mile Franklin loop.

They’d quickly exited the Jeep and disappeared into the dark.

“You gonna tell us or leave us hanging in suspense?” Gabe asked.

I fought to keep my temper in check. Normally I’d participate in the banter, use the mindless chatter to cut through the tension.

But that night, knowing my woman was so close yet so goddamn far away, locked behind the wall of the fortress in front of me, I was in no mood to listen to bullshit. Anything could be happening to Natasha.

Any.

Thing .

“The adrenaline rush of roping down a sheer drop down.”

“Don’t break a hip, old man.” Wolf chuckled and my jaw ached as my molars ground down.

“Please, God, don’t break a hip. We promised Alabama we’d bring you home unbroken,” Mozart joined in.

I snapped. There was no other way to explain it. My chest burned with anxiety and the stranglehold I had on my fear broke loose.

“Gabe, what’s your twenty?” I pushed out.

“Same place it was two minutes ago. Escalade is disabled and I’m in position.”

Right. In position, Gabe was waiting for Abe and Kevin to come in from the back. Wolf and Myles had taken the newly rented SUV and were coming in from the east.

Newly rented because Nat had stolen the other one.

Sweet Jesus, she’d been gone so long it felt like weeks when in reality it had been fourteen hours. Fourteen, long, excruciating hours.

A hand landed on my shoulder and with a bone-jarring shake, Mozart snapped me back into the present.

“Keep your head, brother,” he murmured.

“In place,” Wolf radioed.

Thank fuck.

“Got eyes on four,” Gabe came back, all-business. “No sign of Nat or Pollaski.”

“In place,” Kevin called in and my heart rate spiked.

Almost.

Mozart and I made our way through the sparse litter of trees, keeping to the shadows. A few more yards and we’d be ready.

“Gabe, you got anything else?” Myles asked.

“Heavily armed. No curtains or blinds on the windows. Pool is lit, no go on the back entrance. So far, no outside patrol.” Gabe paused then a ragged curse, and ice water ran through my veins. “Something happened. Two guards are running up the stairs.”

I felt my body go solid and that ice water pumping through me turned to ice.

There was nothing left but cold, calculated intent.

“Get the fuck in there, now,” Gabe barked. “I’m hitting the side door.”

Mozart took off in a sprint and I followed. I could hear labored breathing echoing in my ear. But all I could feel was my gun in my hand, the weight of the vest I’d strapped on, and the fury I’d locked down rage out of control.

I love you, Owen. Straight to my soul, I love you.

I let her avow wash over me and I leveled my firearm, prepared to bring my woman home.