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“He and his team went down to Caracas. The leader of the Cartel had a hacienda just outside of the city, it was well known. As a matter of fact, the leader has a wife and six kids, as well as his parents living there.

“The Kraken CEO, Frank Sykes, sends in a drone at night that picks up heat signatures. The place is crowded, and the drone spots a lot of guards on the perimeter. They wait two days—to case the place—and that’s when they see a limousine leave the compound so they follow it. It goes to a private school and drops off two teenage girls, as well as four guards. Lee said the Kraken guy almost wet himself he was so happy.

“The next day, same process, only this time Lee and another guy have to kill off the guards with headshots, while another one makes sure the driver is taken care of. Two more, one of them Frank Sykes, swoop in and take the girls and throw them in the back of one of their trucks, and they all take off.

“So Lee figures it’s going to be an easy trade. He watches the phone call made for the wife in exchange for the daughters. It’s made on Skype, but Lee knew how those kinds of IPs could be routed all over the world, so there was no way it could be traced. Frank showed the two crying girls to their father and demanded a trade—the wife and thirty million in cocaine, and the cartel leader will get his two precious girls back, unharmed.

“Well, according to Lee, this cartel guy realizes the blow had to be for them, and not for the guy’s wife, so he balks at paying it. Frank just smiles and grabs one of the girls by the arm, puts her in front of him, and shoots her in the head. He lets go of her and she drops to the floor. Lee said it was silent for a good thirty seconds until the sister started screaming.

“‘You have until tomorrow night to get me what I ask for, otherwise your other daughter will be killed too.’” Then the guy shuts off the call.

“When they got back to America, one of the men put in his notice to quit. Frank laughed and denied his notice. The guy didn’t come into work the next three days. When he did, he said he was ready to work. When Lee asked him what changed his mind, he said it was the home invasion that killed his parents. He also got a text that said Sally and Rex were next. They were his wife and son. Once you’re in, you’re in.”

“But Lee left, right?” Linc asked.

“Yep. Changed his name, moved to a new state. His forgeries were spot on, so he figured he should be safe, but he still lays low.”

“So that’s who is after these college boys. The dads must have called them in too,” Gideon said disgustedly.

“Well, the fathers need to put a leash on them and call them off the trail. They are just going to make this whole situation a lot worse than it has to be,” Ryker growled.

“I agree,” Kostya said. “I’m going to the other room to call Commander Clark. Ryker, come with me in case he wants to ask you any questions.”

Kostya stabbed in some numbers, then laid his secure satellite phone down on the desk. Rarely did Kostya let his emotions show, but his rage was showing now.

“Clark,” the Commander answered.

“It’s Barona. A big problem popped up.” He looked down at his wristwatch. “I have thirty-one hours and thirty-seven minutes to reach these kids and I just found out that those fucking fathers hired a wildcard organization called Kraken Elite. I’ve heard of them, but I’ve never dug.”

“Goddammit!” Simon bellowed.

“What?”

“Those lying motherfuckers. They lied directly to the President of the United States that they were going to let US operatives handle this, then they hire those butchers?! Un-fucking-believable.”

“You need to get them to turn off the tap. They are killing anybody who could be a lead in ways that will just send everybody to hide under the nearest rock.”

“That’s their methodology—put the fear of God into everybody, damn the consequences. Frank Sykes runs this op. He was run out of Delta years ago. He was bad then, but now he makes a demon look like an angel.”

Ryker blinked, the pictures of the two women in the garage seared on the back of his eyelids. Demon just about described him.

“Well, I don’t care if he’s the Anti-Christ and his men are his minions, I want them pulled back. Now.”

Simon was silent. Ryker exchanged a look with Kostya. Simon’s silence didn’t bode well.

“I’ll get POTUS to talk to these clowns and have them order Kraken Elite to stand down, but I don’t think it will work.”

Kostya sighed. “Then tell the clowns to pay Kraken their fee if they leave. That should do the trick. We need them off the gameboard.”

“Frank is a psycho, there is no saying how he’ll react. I’m just warning you now. You need to focus on getting those young men to safety.”

“And the Kraken scum?” Kostya asked.

“I don’t care about them. Your job is to bring those men home. Do what you need to do.”

Kostya looked over at Ryker and grinned.

“Understood.”