Page 102 of Lion’s Den

Minutes later, the men quietly took care of the guards at the back of the building without alerting the others stationed at the sides and front. Nearby, she heard a faint scuffle, then nothing. The silence around her, however, was unnatural, as though the woods were waiting with bated breath for either side to come up with the next move.

Through her earpiece, Cam said, “Caleb, report.”

Silence.

“Caleb,” David said, his whisper somehow crystal clear.

Nothing.

“Elliot.”

“He’s not in an open space. No luck in the woods, either.”

Here was a chance for her to help. All she had to do was sit up just enough to see if she could locate him. Perhaps his comm device had quit working. “I’ve got it,” she whispered.

“Stay put,” Cam said. “Consider that an order.”

“It will only take a second.” She ignored all the clamor on the comm system and raised up just enough to look around the small clearing.

That’s when she saw Caleb sprawled on the ground. Sedona gasped. “He’s down. Caleb is down.”

She scrambled to her feet and raced to the fallen officer’s side.

“Get out of there, Sedona,” Cam snapped. “It could be a trap. Run, Tiger.”

David chimed in with more orders to flee.

Sedona ignored them both as she dropped to her knees, scanning for injuries. “Caleb! Can you hear me?” Her gaze stopped on a rapidly growing bloodstain on Caleb’s inner thigh. Oh, no. His thigh looked as though he had a knife wound to his femoral artery.

He groaned.

“Hey, right here, Caleb. Open your eyes and look at me.” When he slowly raised his eyelids, Caleb’s eyes widened.

“Run,” he said, voice hoarse.

“Can’t. I need your belt.” Sedona unbuckled his belt and quickly slid it from the belt loops.

“Sedona, please.” He looked desperate.

That wasn’t a good sign. She didn’t see anyone in front of her, so that meant danger was sneaking up behind her. Doggedly ignoring the danger she could feel bearing down on her, Sedona wrapped Caleb’s belt around his thigh and cinched it tight. “I think Caleb’s femoral artery has been nicked. I cinched his belt around his thigh to slow the bleeding.”

A strong hand wrapped around her throat and squeezed. The man jerked her back against his chest and pointed a gun at Caleb. “Come with me, or your friends die, starting with Caleb.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

CAM TURNED AND started running down the hall toward the back door. His hand grasped the knob. Through his earpiece, Sedona’s next words made him freeze.

“Don’t open any door or window. They’re all rigged to explode.” A slight pause, then, “Mr. Simpson has a remote detonator that he will hand to one of his people before he takes me away.”

Cam’s hand gripped the knob tighter when her voice broke. He’d messed up this op from the beginning. He should have stepped down as mission leader. His only focus from the beginning had been Sedona, and now his entire team could die because of it, as well as the M Team.

He carefully released the knob and took a step back. “Understood,” he said, voice flat. If he showed Sedona anything other than total confidence in her ability to handle this situation until he found her again, and he would find her, she would falter. That might get her killed. “Ask Simpson what he wants. Whatever it is, I’ll get it for him as long as he doesn’t hurt you.”

Silence greeted his statement, then an unknown male voice came over the comm system. “You have nothing to offer me, Cameron Sims. Besides, you’re not my target.”

His hand gripped the phone tighter, thinking about the young boy in the room down the hall. “Julio is just a kid. What danger could he possibly be to you?”

Simpson laughed. “You’re right, of course. Besides, I have some morals and a code I live by. One of those codes is that I don’t harm children.”