Phantom had pizza delivered to fill the time and their bellies. Crusher ate out of self-preservation, knowing his body needed to be fueled and rested if he had to fight his way in to free Marta..
Ten hours after Marta had disappeared, Crusher was ready to climb the walls or, better yet, punch the walls. Doing nothing was killing him. They were chasing a maybe. If they were wrong, they’d have to look in different directions. How much longer could that take?
Crusher didn’t want to think about it. Marta had to be okay. They had to find her on their first try, and they had to get her out of whatever situation she was in—alive.
Later that evening, Crusher’s cell phone chirped with an incoming call from Swede.
Crusher switched the call to speaker to allow the others to listen in. “Tell me you found her.”
“We think we have,” Swede said. “I have Hank and Royce on the call as well. Check the video I just sent in your text. It’s from one of the structures at Helvetica BioSolutions main facility. The timing corresponds with a flight from Miami to Zurich on a private plane.”
Crusher brought up the video, counting the seconds until it materialized. The digital video surveillance cameras on the side of one of the corporation’s structures displayed a van arriving at a loading dock. It stopped short of the loading ramp. A man, dressed in tactical gear, got out and opened the side panel.
A woman exploded out of the van and ran. Before she could get very far, the man who’d opened the door lunged out and caught her. Long auburn curls flew as he pulled her close, trapping her arms at her sides.
Crusher’s teeth clenched. “That’s Marta—Dr. Hale.”
“We think so, as well,” Swede said.
“I had Swede dig deeper into Helvetic BioSolutions,” Hank said.
“I went six layers deep,” Swede said. “Luxembourg shells, a Cayman holding entity, nominee directors. It’s like pulling threads out of a blanket.”
“I also touched base with a back-channel contact in the NSA,” Hank added. “He’s to get back with me as soon as he can. For now, for your team, I’ve tasked a pilot to prep the plane for a trans-Atlantic flight. You’re going to Zurich.”
“Does that mean all four of us?” Devon Marsh asked. “Including me, Devon Marsh?”
“This is Royce,” Crusher’s boss jumped in. “It’s up to my guys. I’m leaning toward trusting you, Devon, but my team has to feel confident letting you tag along, or you stay in Miami.”
Marsh’s gaze shot to Crusher. “Well?”
Crusher still wanted to punch the man in the throat. “Daughter or no daughter, you shouldn’t have handed Marta into the hands of a psychopath whose project has already killed so many innocent people.”
Marsh’s lips tightened, but he nodded. “I understand. But if they’ve taken Dr. Hale to Zurich, they might have taken Cate there as well. Whether or not you take me with you, I’ll be on my way to Zurich, one way or another.”
Draco stepped forward. “His daughter’s life is at stake as well as Dr. Hale’s. I say we take him.”
“What if he does something stupid that puts us all in danger along with Dr. Hale?” Crusher asked.
Marsh held up his hands. “I couldn’t tell you anything before without risking my daughter’s life. Since they dumped me out of the van, they have to assume you all know now.” He drew in a breath. “There’s a good chance they’ve already killed my daughter. She’s of no use to them, now that they have Dr. Hale.” He shook his head and stepped backward. “If you don’t take me and you end up finding Dr. Hale, I beg you to look for Cate, as well.”
“Let him come. He’s always been there for us in the past,” Phantom said. “Threatening a loved one makes a man do things he doesn’t necessarily want to.”
Like Crusher wanting to smash Marsh’s face. At the same time, he got it. Cate was his kid. Marsh would do anything for her. Finally, Crusher nodded. “We’ll take him with us.” His gaze narrowed at Marsh. “Turn against us, and you won’t live to see your daughter ever again.”
Marsh nodded. “Understood.”
“One other thing,” Hank said, “I have some of my International team located in Zurich. I’ve sent them out to recon the facility. At least three members of the team are boots on the ground. They’ll have some intel for you when you arrive.”
“Good. We’ll need all the help we can get,” Crusher said.
After the call ended, the pilot let them know the plane was ready. They boarded, the pilot taxied to the end of the runway and soon they were on their way to Europe.
From pacing the hotel floor to being confined for the next eight hours in the small jet, Crusher was reaching his limit of inaction. He hoped the team on the ground in Zurich would quickly find a way inside the complex. He wasn’t sure what Teuling had in mind for Marta, but if she didn’t get to a lab and find a way to stop Vasquez from releasing the killer virus, they might all die anyway.
With nothing else to do but think, Crusher went into pre-battle mode he’d practiced while in Delta Force and forced himself to rest his body. He stretched out in one of the chairs as best he could and closed his eyes.
As much as he tried to clear his mind and focus on sleep, he couldn’t stop thinking about Marta, kicking himself for not following his gut. He’d known something wasn’t right, yet he’d let her walk away, having done his job. He’d delivered the asset. Only, she was more than just an asset to be delivered.
