Page 20 of The Ranger (Black Hawke Security #5)

COLE

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I t’s starting to get dark and, legally, all we can do is sit outside the ports waiting for Chen to come out so we can stay on his tail and hope he leads us to Scarlett.

And the rest of his operation.

When the BHS team left, we sat further away in the hope he thinks we have pulled back.

Josh and Aidan have agreed it’s too dangerous to send Nathan in, and so they are getting the authorities involved. But paperwork takes time, and we are not letting him out of our sight. The good news is that the shipment is not leaving for another week.

“He knows we’re on to him now, so he has to be pivoting his plans,” I say out loud.

And fucking waiting.

Scarlett and my child are in North Korean hands.

Jesus, I have no idea how I’m just sitting here.

“He’ll fuck up. Scarlett is not here, so all we can do is wait for him to move,” Marshall says from the backseat of the SUV.

Liam is also with us.

“I know.” I let out a sigh and thread my fingers through the front of my hair.

Or he might simply go home, and she could be dead or starving to death.

I feel like a ticking time bomb.

Thomas and their team are still tracking the van’s path and may find a destination. Slowly.

Too fucking slow.

My leg bobs up and down, my weapon on my lap.

“How big do you think his team is?” Ryder asks.

There’s no way I can answer that. I’ve had seven days inside the organization, and only today could I confirm he’s the mole.

“My guess is its small. At least on US soil. He’s been playing a long game and was probably expecting it to all go as planned until hitting the data wall.”

It was a dumb move, but perhaps the delay in the materials made his leader demand something sooner.

Who knows?

All I care about is getting Scarlett back.

“At that point, he must’ve known the stakes got higher,” Liam says.

Yeah.

If we’d known more from Nathan up front, we would’ve taken a different approach. But hindsight is a pain in the fucking ass.

“We should just grab him and torture the fucker.” Marshall groans.

I nod slowly.

I’d be more on board with that plan if I thought it would work.

“Probably trained so it wouldn’t be effective. Not in time to get Scarlett home,” Ryder says, staring across the road with a pair of Army-issued binoculars.

“What I don’t understand is why he didn’t just take a photo of the schematics with his phone. Print the CAD designs or whatever,” Liam says.

“These companies have major security in their systems. You can’t even print certain documents.” I tell them.

“Yeah, but surely he’d just take a photo with his phone or something.”

I shake my head. “Screen projection...they take this shit seriously.”

“If I were a bad guy, I’d just write it down,” Marshall says.

“Hope you don’t charge by the hour then. These products are highly complex. One error, or break your HB pencil, then you could fuck it all up.” I shoot him a look and laugh.

“I’d use a pen, idiot.”

Ryder glances at me. “What a rookie.”

“I think you mean Toy Soldier,” Marshall replies.

“You hate that name.” I glance over my shoulder, aware that the guys are distracting me and it’s working. “Trina wore you down, huh?”

“I’m marrying her, so I guess that’s a safe assumption.”

Marriage.

Am I going down that path? Does Scarlett even want to get married? First, I need to get her back in my arms, then I’ll work out the rest.

Because she is alive! I refuse to believe otherwise.

We all go quiet as the LAPD car, which has been circling for the past hour, pulls up behind us.

“Here we go,” Ryder sighs.

Sitting out here was going to get attention eventually. I drop a jacket over my weapon and hear the others do something similar.

“Afternoon,” the LAPD cop says, giving Ryder and me in the front a quick glance. “Care to tell me what you are doing out here?”

“Security,” Ryder says, not bothering to lift his RayBans that he only slid on a second ago.

“For?”

“Can’t say.”

If I weren’t so wound up and ready to kill someone, I’d probably laugh.

The officer looks pissed but remains cool, and I give him props for that.

“You might want to start talking, or I’ll have you arrested for loitering.” He grips his vest and ducks down to get a look at the back seat. I doubt he’s thrilled to see Liam and Marshall. We’re all huge guys dressed in black tactical gear.

Clearly not on our way to a club.

Or the beach.

Or anywhere that isn’t about to cause trouble.

We know it, and the cop knows it. We also need him to fuck off right now because if Chen appears, we’re moving, and he isn’t stopping us.

“Buddy, I don’t mean to be a dick,” Liam says, then points to each of us. “But Ranger, Airforce, Delta Force and Special Forces. Do yourself a favor and drive away.”

I fight my groan.

The officer takes his time, giving all of us a good look, likely clocking us into his memory banks and letting his camera take all the information it needs.

I nod at him, telling him silently it’s a good idea to listen to the Blackhawk pilot.

Be smart, dude.

Walk away.

Lives are at stake here.

“Jesus. Fine. But if I see you breaking any laws, I’ll put you all in cuffs.” With one last glance, he walks away.

“Liam, fucking hell.” Ryder shakes his head.

“That was a dick move.” Marshall laughs then mocks him. “ Delta Force, Special Forces .”

“Worked though, didn’t it.” Liam chuckles, and even I let out a laugh.

My smile immediately fades as I start thinking about Scarlett and the baby.

The clock is ticking, and with every hour we lose, they are both in more danger.

I haven’t shared this out loud, but I’ve been trying to tune into them on some spiritual level to feel if I could tell if they’re alive.

Desperate times.

My knee bumps up and down, this restless energy making my trigger finger twitchy.

“He followed me.”

“Chen?” Ryder asks, leaning an arm on the steering wheel. When I nod, he says, “Yeah, or had you followed. He must have people on the ground here. No way he’s acting alone.”

The facts are adding up.

Someone was driving that van, and I don’t think it was him. I think back to his nervous energy this afternoon when I was in the plant.

He had Scarlett then, the asshole.

I’m clinging to the hope she’s alive after his call and that he will lead us to her. He doesn’t know we are here, and that’s what we have up our sleeve right now.

Once the authorities step in, which could be any minute, I know what their priority will be. To get the Quantum Chip and protect millions of lives.

“We have movement,” Ryder says.

Liam and Marshall shift behind me, the sound of their weapons clinking as they get ready for whatever happens.

“It’s Chen.” Liam does a circle with his hand, after lifting his binoculars to his eyes, giving instructions to move out.

Ryder starts the engine and does a U-turn, and we quickly catch up, staying behind him in traffic.

My phone rings.

“Don’t do anything stupid, Mr. Cole. Stay out of our way, and if you are lucky, I won’t kill them,” Chen says, and I glance at Ryder.

Does he know we’re following him?

“Where is Scarlett?” I demand.

“Is Scarlett the baby?” he sniggers.

Ryder grips the steering wheel and curses silently while I hear Marshall growl, “Motherfucker.”

My voice goes real fucking deep and low. “You better have them both put up at the Four fucking Seasons with room service because for every hair on her head that’s hurt, I’ll rip off one of your limbs.”

I hang up.

Marshall blows out a breath. “Fuck me.”

“Jesus.” Ryder runs a hand through his hair while my body starts feeling too big for the vehicle.

Marshall lowers the window. “Pretty sure I can take the cunt out from here. We don’t need him alive.”

We do, unfortunately.

He knows it, but he also knows I need to hear that shit right now.

“No bodies.” Ryder mutters, and I think we can all hear his reluctance at following Josh’s orders.

And, you know, the law.

Josh calls me. It’s like he knew we were going to start firing bullets. Not really...but maybe.

I put him on speaker.

“Chen is on the move; we’re following. What’s the situation?”

“The Marshals have been deployed and asked that we step aside.” Josh says in his rough voice.

“Not happening.”

I don’t give a flying fuck if I lose my job.

I need them both back in my arms. I need to see her breathing. Smiling. Sassing me out. I need her home.

“Never thought you would. Aidan has tracked Chen’s real identity. His real name is Chen Lee-Park. He’s a known North Korean operative and a wanted man.”

Fuck.

We don’t have much time.

“Just don’t kill him. If you find her, try to keep it to some flesh wounds.” Josh curses. “If...” he hesitates. “If she’s not there, wait for the Marshals and then circle back. We will track her.”

If she’s not there...

If her body is...

I shake my head, feeling more useless than I ever have in my life.

All our vehicles have devices on them, so we know Josh will be able to track us. He’ll update the US Marshals.

Meaning they won’t be far behind.

“Just give us a six, or seven, minute lead.” Ryder runs a red light to keep up with our target as he yells at the phone, advising Josh.

“You have four.” Josh hangs up.

I glance back at Liam, who holds my gaze. “We only need three, buddy.”

Like fuck we do.

But I like his attitude.

T WENTY MINUTES LATER , Chen pulls up to an old warehouse with a bunch of security at the gate. A gate that wouldn’t stop even this SUV from driving through.

Ryder slows, and the last that we see of Chen is when he drives around the back of the building and his vehicle vanishes. We park a few yards away, and Ryder turns off the lights.

“We’ll stay out front,” Ryder says, nodding to Marshall. “Three minutes. Don’t waste them.”

“Roger that,” I reply.

Liam and I exit the vehicle, checking our comms and weapons, then run across the road, staying in the shadows.

While I haven’t worked much with the former pilot, so far I’m impressed with Liam’s ask few questions and take action method.

“Scarlett might not be in there,” he says. “If not, you get the fuck out and head back to BHS. I’ll take care of the Marshals when they arrive.”

“Thanks.” I swallow down my emotion and pull out some binoculars as we both crouch by the fence line.

She’s in there.

I can feel her.