Page 72 of Lion’s Den

“Tiger, if I don’t stop right now, I won’t be able to stop. The military trained me in the art of self-control and I don’t have any. Do you understand?”

Her cheeks turned pink as she nodded. “I never dreamed a kiss could heat me up to my bones.”

He chuckled. “Same.” With the mission clock running in his head, Cam sobered. “I’ll be gone for a while. Hopefully, we’ll have Julio when we return. Although we’ll do our best, kidnappers are unpredictable. I don’t know what the outcome will be.”

“I understand.” She paused, then said, “Cam, do you really think Julio is the primary target? A five-year-old boy?”

“Criminals don’t care about age or innocence. They have an agenda or a mission they’re being paid to carry out. I don’t know what Julio saw, but we better find out fast. His life might depend on us knowing what triggered all of this and who wants to silence him.” And Sedona. Anyone who tried to harm his woman would find retribution burning them down to the ground.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

CAM SLID BEHIND the wheel of his SUV with the sweet taste of Sedona lingering in his mouth. Since the chemistry between them was off the charts, he had to break the kiss when he did. If he hadn’t, they both would have burned to ashes.

Two members of his team joined him in his vehicle. The final two Thunderhawks were in Dario’s SUV.

Cam drove from the hospital’s parking lot with Dario falling in line a few car lengths behind him. He handed his phone to Rhys, who sat in the shotgun seat, working on his laptop. “Call David Montgomery.”

“I wonder how good these comm devices are.” Rhys pulled the device from his pocket and slipped it into his ear. “I’ll contact Dario and Isaac so their listening devices are in place for this Zane guy to hook us into a loop.”

The computer geek sent a message to both men, then called David, who would contact Zane from Fortress Security. He put the call on speaker.

“Montgomery,” the sheriff said.

“It’s Cam. We’re on the road and ready to loop our communications.”

“Copy that. Hold.”

Less than a minute later, another man’s voice came through the comm device. “Cameron Sims, I’m Zane Murphy. It’s good to meet you. I’ve heard impressive things about your work since you joined the Morgan County Sheriff’s Department.”

“I appreciate that.”

“David asked me to be your tech support for this mission. Are you okay with that?”

He stilled. “What does tech support do for us on a mission?”

“I make sure your comm devices stay connected, and I monitor you through a satellite if one wanders by while you’re working.”

“You can do that?”

Zane chuckled. “I do it all the time for our black ops teams. I don’t have to do tech support if you prefer using what you normally use.”

Only a fool would turn down that kind of help. “We would appreciate the help, Zane. When can we expect your aid to start?”

“I’m already working. The way ahead of you is clear, as is the road behind you. So far, it doesn’t look as though The Collector sent a team to prevent you from reaching the house where they’ve taken Julio.”

Huh. He could see why the comm support was a serious advantage. “Thanks for the information.”

“Yep. I’ll remain quiet now unless I see something you should know.”

“Copy that.” Cam glanced at Rhys. “What have you got for me?”

“Nothing good.” His expression was grim. “On the dark web, no one has reported The Collector failing to accomplish his mission.”

“You’re sure?”

“That sounded suspicious to me, so I double-checked the reports. It was no mistake.”

Cam whistled. Unbelievable. He hoped Simpson padded his reputation because if he hadn’t, this guy had a perfect average. As good as Cam was, he had an occasional miss. Sounded like Simpson was more robot than man. “Keep digging. We need to uncover the boss’ identity fast.”