Page 74 of Lion’s Den

Cam groaned. “I definitely didn’t hear that. You know I’m a cop, right?”

“I figured you were a Montgomery kind of cop.”

Oh, boy. Did Zane have his number or what? “Okay, okay. You’ve got me. I might bend the law a little here and there. So, what’s bugging you?”

“A vehicle arrived an hour ago. From what I saw, no one left after the SUV arrived. I pulled the latest thermal pass. The building shows six heat anomalies that weren’t there before. None have moved toward an exit. Two of those signatures are concentrated in the same interior zone. One’s small. One adult-sized.”

“That has to be them,” Spencer said. “We’ve got to get to them, Cam. Julio could be hurt.”

“Zane, where did the satellite pick up the two overlapping signatures?”

“Back bedroom on the east side. Corner room.”

The skies opened up, and the promised rain arrived in a steady downpour. Within minutes, the path became as slick as ice.

The mission clock continued to tick in Cam’s head along with the familiar need to get moving and end this assignment on a wonderful note. Except this wasn’t just an assignment, and a small boy’s life was at stake.

They were close to finding his buddy. Cam knew it to his core. “Fall into line. Watch your footing. I need all of you to get this done. Julio is depending on us to find him and bring him home.”

“Copy that, sir.”

Cam continued on the path that he and his teammates decided was the safest and least likely to attract attention from inside the house. Thank goodness for thick trees and foliage cover this time of year. He could do without the rain.

Five hundred yards ahead, a thin silver wire lay stretched across a clear path. Cam held up a fist and pointed out the hazard. Not wanting to waste time dismantling an IED, he opted to give the danger a wide berth.

He skirted more IEDs the closer he walked to their target. Although Cam grew impatient with all the delays, speeding up would endanger his team.

Finally, the trees thinned out, and there it was. “Target house in sight. Back room, east side, corner is our priority.”

“Copy.”

He signaled Dario and Isaac to take the front door while he, Spencer, and Rhys took the back door. Cam waited five minutes to time the guards’ rounds. When no one appeared, his gut knotted. Zane was right. Something was off here, but what? Glancing at his men’s grim expressions didn’t make him feel any better. Yeah, they knew something was wrong, too.

So, what now? Go ahead or hang back? He debated for a split second, then turned to Dario. Was there a choice? Not if he wanted to free Julio today. “Set the charge on the front door and wait for my signal to go.”

A slight nod from his friend, then he and Isaac took off. Cam waited five seconds, then gave the signal for his team to fall in behind him.

Seconds later, he placed a charge on the assigned door. “Team One in position.”

“Team Two in position,” came the response.

“On my count.” Cam counted down from three, then snapped, “Go, go, go!” He pressed the button.

The door blew inward, and a second later another explosion rocked the front of the building. Cam’s team streamed into the kitchen behind him.

The beams from multiple flashlights sliced through the dim, silent interior. Throughout the building came, “Clear left, clear right, hallway clear.”

Cam stood still in the entryway to the hall. No gunfire. No movement. Nothing but silence. The knot in his gut grew.

He gritted his teeth. He had a job to do, and they hadn’t checked the target room. They still might find Cam’s buddy. He prayed they found the boy alive and unharmed. “Let’s go.”

Together, they checked every hiding place in the kitchen, then moved on to the living room and bathroom.

All empty.

They hadn’t reached the target room yet. There was still hope. There had to be. Cam couldn’t bear the thought of telling Sedona that not only had he failed, but her student was…. Nope. He couldn’t say it or think it.

“Team Two, report.”