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Kaan crooked his finger to Ryker, asking him to bend down so he could speak in his ear. “Kill all of his men, leave him alive.”

Ryker had his mic open so that everyone on his team could hear what Kaan was going to say. He stood back up.

“Kostya?” Ryker asked.

“Do it. You too, Linc.”

Ryker swiveled around and looked up. It took one bullet to kill the man who was high up in the pistachio tree. He heard single shots being taken behind him. He turned and saw the three mercenaries on the ground, with Lami and Frank each holding their rifles up.

Frank had his rifle pointed at Kaan, the dumbfuck, like he was going to kill the man he needed.

Ryker, Nolan, and Landon all had their rifles pointed at Frank Sykes.

“We’re at a standstill, Franklin,” Ryker called out. “You’re here for a reason. You need Kaan, so you’re not going to kill him. We want the kid, and it would make our lives easier if we could just do a trade with you, for the kid. Consider it your lucky day, because I would really prefer to gut-shoot you and watch you bleed out.”

“I don’t think you understand,” Frank said slowly, as he flicked off some of Lami’s brains from his suit. “I’m not leaving here without the information I need from Kaan.”

Ryker chuckled. “How do you think that’s going to work out? I’m pretty sure you’re at a disadvantage.”

Frank gave him a derisive look, then turned to give the same look to Nolan and Landon. “Special Forces sent by the government I assume? What? You’re making less than seventy-thousand a year, if that. You’re all hyped up on doing good and saving people, not realizing that your government is going to kick you to the curb as soon as you’re injured or there’s a budget cut. You’re sheep. You won’t kill me, because you want to save the kid. What’s more, you realize that I probably have the best shot at doing the things necessary to find those three fucknuts that got themselves kidnapped. You need me. And do you why you need me? Because I can and will do the things you won’t.”

“You know,” Ryker drawled. “Here I was, thinking you had a needle dick, when there you stand with one huge set of balls. Of course, I still think you have a needle dick.” Ryker glanced over at Nolan. “You’re the medic. How does that work when somebody has an itsy bitsy little pee-pee connected to huge nuts? It looks kind of deformed, right?”

“Actually, I think they need to do surgery. The balls are connected to the over-inflated ego. It’s a delicate surgery,” Nolan called back to him.

“Fuck both of you!” Sykes yelled. He tapped the mic at his neck.

Of course he has big boy toys.

“Bring the boy,” Frank said into his mic.

“Back doors on the last sprinter are opening,” Linc said. “Two men and a kid are coming out. Hold up, the driver and the passenger are also coming out. I think that’s everyone from all the sprinters, they’re all walking toward the gates.”

“Who else is left?” Kostya asked.

“I still have two unaccounted for that are around the walls of the compound. I took out the the driver of the second sprinter that Frank Sykes came out of, and the driver of the truck. So that means, in total, we have seven, which includes Sykes. I didn’t count the kid.”

“Nice job,” Kostya said. “If those two who are still outside show up, you know what to do.”

“I’ll take care of them,” Linc promised.

All talking on the comm stopped. Linc probably didn’t hear it, but the rest of them did. It was the sobbing of a child. Ryker heard Landon gasp.

Frank turned away from all of the rifles pointed at him like he didn’t have a care in the world. He beckoned for his men to come to him. “Bring me the boy.”

Ryker looked at the kid. He looked about the same age as Carmen’s six-year-old son, Issac. His sobbing was gut-wrenching. A wiry man was holding onto him. They had him wrapped in a blanket. He walked up to Frank and handed him the boy.

Frank held him tenderly and actually started singing a song to him, and the child started to calm down. When his tears turned to snuffles, Frank walked forward to the front of the fountain again. He looked through the spurting water to Kaan.

“Kaan, I came here because I needed your help, and here I find you surrounded by these do-gooders who are after my bounty. Luckily, the way I intended to leverage your cooperation will also work with my American compatriots. What are you, by the way? Delta? SEALs? I’m curious.” He looked over at Nolan for an answer.

Shots rang out and the only one who reacted was the little boy. He cuddled closer to the demon who was holding him.

“I wonder, who took the shots, your men or my men?” Frank smiled as he looked at Ryker, Landon, and Nolan who stood there holding their rifles pointed at him with blank expressions on their faces. “We’re down to six,” Linc whispered into their receivers.

“I’m sure it was my men, and I don’t really care if you answer me or not about what branch you’re in. I’ll find out soon enough. But I digress.” He turned his attention back to Kaan. “I want to know where your brothers would be hiding three Americans that they are holding for ransom. Tell me now, and I will not kill your nephew.”

“I don’t know. And you won’t kill him, because you will lose your leverage and you will be dead a second later. Do not waste my time.”