Page 155 of Her Wild Warrior

“Got it,” Kostya commented. “Anything else?”

“They’re coming in real slow. It’s like they’re waiting to be shot at or something.” There was a long pause. “Wait a minute. The sprinter vans have stopped and the truck is moving forward. Yep, it’s about fifty yards away from the gate. Five men are getting out of the back and they’re running around all sides of the compound wall. I only got good looks at two of them, and one looks like a pic that Gideon sent us, but not Sykes or the lieutenants.”

“Why in the hell are they checking out the perimeter, since the damn gates are open wide?” Landon wanted to know.

“I sure as hell wouldn’t trust that if I were them,” Nolan said. “That would give me the heebie-jeebies.”

“Okay, now we’re going to bring Kaan out,” Kostya said.

The diminutive dominatrix was tied up and gagged upstairs, so she would be out of the way and hopefully come out of this unscathed. Based on where Linc was, he could only see into the top floor of the house, but when the gates to the compound were open, he had a clear view of most of the courtyard, so that’s where Kostya wanted to keep all the activity.

Landon and Nolan were wearing white, billowy thobes and keffiyehs that Kostya had found, Ryker got the third thobe, but there wasn’t a headdress to go with it. Kostya and Ryker carried the chair that Kaan was sitting in to the rear of the fountain. This way he could talk, but the fountain should disguise the fact that he was still drugged up. Kostya was going to stay in the house, close to the patio door entrance where he could easily see what was happening but not be spotted.

“I can’t see where all of the Kraken team went,” Linc said. “I can see the one up the tree, I can also see the ones on the east and west walls, but the two others disappeared from my line of site.”

“Understood,” Kostya said.

“Hold on, the sprinter van that was in the middle is now driving forward. It’s passing the truck.” Linc paused again. “It’s stopped just shy of the gate. The door is opening and two guys are getting out. It’s Sykes and his lieutenant, Lami Kassa. Wait. Three more are getting out. I recognize one more from the photos that Gideon gave us. His name is something Rhodes, but none of the other three is that other lieutenant. I can’t remember his name.”

“His name is Ely Roberts,” Gideon said into the comm system.

“Do you have anything new to report?” Kostya asked.

“Nothing, just monitoring your situation,” Gideon replied.

“Gotcha,” Kostya responded. “Linc, good reporting. You keep us updated on what’s going on outside. Also, I’m going to need your focus on the men outside the compound. We’ll take care of all the men on the inside of the compound, we clear Linc?”

“Crystal.”

14

Ryker stood stock still beside Kaan’s chair as Frank Sykes, Lami Kassa, and three other men walked through the gates. He hated Sykes on sight. He had that oily swagger that demanded that everyone look at him because he wanted them to think he had the biggest dick in the room, when guaranteed, he always peed in a stall because he had a needle dick.

Lami Kassa was a rail-thin, bald Ethiopian with a scar that went from his left temple down to his right upper lip. He was smiling, and Ryker really wished he wouldn’t. He looked downright psychotic when he did. The other three men looked like your normal mercenaries, men who were just doing their jobs so that they could get paid. He wondered if any of the three were working there because they were afraid their wife and kids would be killed.

“Hello, is that you, Kaan Polat? I did business with your father Emze back in the day. He’s a good man,” Frank said as he walked forward to the front of the fountain.

“My father is a piece of shit,” Kaan enunciated clearly.

Frank laughed. “Ahhh, now I know you are who you say you are. Yes, your father is a piece of shit. But, he does pay his bills, and in my line of work, that’s all that matters.”

Kaan was silent. Frank waited for a response and when it didn’t come, Frank lost his smile.

“Aren’t you going to answer me?” Frank finally asked.

“Aren’t you going to introduce yourself? You come into my home as if it were your own. You bring armed men. You tell me that my father is a piece of shit, all without telling me your name or stating your business. Why would I converse with someone so rude?”

Damn, Kaan had it going on!

Frank’s laugh was forced this time. “I can see your point. Let me start again. My name is Franklin Sykes. My company is called Kraken Elite, and I work with many elite clients worldwide. I find things. Missing things. My company has a reputation for always succeeding in our quests and never letting anything get in our way of accomplishing our missions. Are you satisfied?” Frank asked between gritted teeth.

“Why are you here visiting me?” Kaan asked as he held out his hand and looked at his fingernails. “I did not request your services.” He sounded extremely bored.

“Members of your family have become obstacles. As I stated, we—or should I say I—never let anything get in the way of me getting what I want.”

Kaan yawned. “Who is an obstacle?”

“Your brothers Mehmet and Hamza have three things I want. I want them now. If I fail to get them now, I will kill you and destroy everything you hold dear.”