Page 73 of Cole

She just had to survive long enough to see justice served.

33

The phone call rang once. Twice. Three times. Then went to Janice’s voicemail.

Cole's blood ran cold, but before he had to wonder why she wasn’t answering, his phone rang. Seeing Frazier’s name, he let out a sigh of relief. If she was with them, all was good.

"Tell me you're close," Cole answered.

"We got to the hotel. Janice isn’t here.”

Cole's hand froze on the door handle. Something in Frazier's voice made his blood run cold.

"What the fuck?"

"The door to your room was open. Food bags spilled on the floor outside. Looks like there was a struggle."

The world tilted sideways. Cole gripped the steering wheel, his knuckles going white. "Where is she?"

"Gone. We're checking with the front desk now, but⁠—"

Cole didn't hear the rest. He was already flooring the accelerator toward town.

"Cole, listen to me." Frazier's voice cut through the roar of blood in Cole's ears. "Sadie's pulling up the tracker data now. Janice's wearing that pendant, right? We'll know exactly where she is within minutes."

"How long ago?" Cole forced the words through clenched teeth, weaving through traffic, grateful for years of tactical driving. "How long has she been gone?"

"Unknown. But the food was still warm when we got here, so it couldn't have been more than twenty minutes. Maybe less."

Twenty minutes. Half an hour where Janice had been in the hands of whoever had taken her. Twenty minutes of terror and not knowing if help was coming. He couldn't finish the thought. Couldn't let himself imagine what might be happening to her right now.

Cole's vision narrowed to a red haze. His hands shook on the wheel, both from fear and the violent rage coursing through his system. “Fuck, I should have stayed with her. I went to fuckin’ Penson’s place this morning to place more cameras inside.”

He tried to slow his breathing. "I’ll be at the hotel in a couple of minutes. Tell Sadie I want to know what’s on the tracker," he snapped. "Now. And tell Logan to coordinate with local law enforcement. We need every asset we have on this."

"Already happening. Sadie's got the tracker pulled up. She's heading—" Frazier's voice was cut off, replaced by a new voice on the line.

"Cole, it's Logan." His boss's tone was the calm, controlled voice of command that had guided countless operations. "Sadie has Janice's location. She's moving, currently heading northeast from town. The trajectory suggests they're taking her toward Penson's property."

Penson. Of course it was goddamn Penson. The bastard must have figured out Janice was at the hotel and sent his goons to grab her. But how?

Cole's foot pressed harder on the accelerator, the SUV's engine roaring as he blew through a yellow light. “I’ll head out⁠—”

"Negative." Logan's voice held an edge of steel. "You're not going in alone and half-cocked. Timothy, Frazier, and Dalton are at the hotel now. You rendezvous with them, we coordinate the approach, and extract Janice as a team. That's an order, Cole."

"She could be dead in the time it takes to coordinate!" Cole heard his voice crack, heard the desperation bleeding through. "Logan, I can't⁠—"

"Yes, you can." Logan's tone softened fractionally. "I know you want to tear apart anyone who touched her. But going in emotional and alone is how you get both of you killed. You know this, Cole. You've trained for this. Now I need you to be the operator I know you are, not the man whose woman is in danger."

The words hit like a slap, cutting through the red haze just enough for reason to peek through. Logan was right. Of course he was right. Charging in without backup, without intel, without a plan was how missions failed. That was how people died.

But this wasn't just any mission. This was Janice.

"The tracker shows she's stopped moving," Logan continued. "She's at Penson's house. That's actually good news. It means they're not taking her to some remote location. The house has the surveillance equipment you planted this morning. Sadie's pulling up the feeds now."

Cole forced himself to breathe, forced his racing heart to slow, forced his hands to steady on the wheel. Logan was right. They had advantages here. The cameras and listening devices meant they'd have intel on Janice's location and condition. The tracker enabled them to coordinate her exact position. And with Timothy, Frazier, and Dalton as backup, they had the firepower and tactical expertise to execute a proper extraction.

"Copy that," Cole said, his voice steadier now. "I'm at the hotel. I'll coordinate with the team."