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Gideon: Ahhh. Understood. Will be sending Team 3 instead. LT will want to ensure Drakos’ health.

Ryker: Good idea.

“I beg your pardon, Kaplan-Bey,” Damla Akbas raised her hand from the corner of the room.

“Yes?” the CEO acknowledged her.

“Sir, I wanted to let everyone know that dinner will be served in the executive dining room in fifteen minutes. I also wanted to assure our American guests that meeting minutes will be provided tomorrow for everyone’s review in both Turkish and English. That should assist Drakos-Bey.”

Jase looked over at the only woman in the room and gave her a half-hearted smile. “Thank you,” he said.

“I’ll also brief you over breakfast tomorrow morning at the hotel,” Dermott said in a pompous voice to Jase.

Jase nodded, then touched his head. He looked like he was in a lot of pain. He got up out of his seat and stumbled, falling toward Linc. The pass-off of the mic took just a second, and Ryker was sure he was the only one who noticed it.

Ryker pulled Jase’s arm around his shoulder. “I’ve got him, you stay here with Deputy Minister Carlisle until Team Three gets here to relieve you.”

Linc nodded.

Ryker knocked on the conference room door and a guard opened it from the outside. One of the executives came over and spoke to him in Turkish, explaining the situation. The guard escorted Jase and Ryker to the bank of elevators, and then went with them down to the underground garage where their SUV was now waiting for them with another guard.

“Here are your keys,” the valet said. “I hope your compatriot gets better.”

Ryker took the keys, then helped Jase into the front passenger seat. The big ham groaned as he got into the seat. Ryker took a moment to explain to the valet that another American security team would be coming to relieve the man who was currently on the premises. The valet assured him that he would take care of things.

When Ryker got into the SUV, he put it into drive and made his way out of the garage. It wasn’t until they were out on the street and a block away from the building that Jase sat upright.

“What the fuck was that all about?” Ryker demanded to know.

“I’ll tell you everything when we get to the hotel, but the short version is Damla Akbas typed up some specific info we needed in that brief she gave Dermott and me. It’s in the English version, so she took a chance putting it into our packets, but she did it. Hell, I’m not sure that Dermott even caught on.”

“What was it?”

“She told us who the likely kidnappers were. Where they’re known to congregate. Who their associates are. She gave us a fucking roadmap.”

As Ryker got closer to the hotel, Jase slumped back down into his seat. It always paid to be careful. Ryker pulled the car into the valet and once again helped Jase out of the passenger seat.

“Do you need a doctor?” the valet asked.

“No,” Ryker answered. “He has his medicine up in the room.”

“Very good, sir. Let us know if we can be accommodating to you.”

Ryker smiled at the odd verbiage but appreciated the sentiment. “Thank you,” he nodded to the valet. Then he pulled Jase’s arm around his shoulder and walked through the lobby up to the sixth floor where their rooms were. Jase continued to lean on him all the way to their room. He didn’t stand up straight until they were inside and the door was closed.

Four sets of eyes stared at the two of them. “What gives?” Kostya demanded to know. Ryker knew that Mateo and Jonas had already headed toward the corporate offices. Jase took center stage in the hotel suite, while Ryker leaned against the room door, his arms crossed over his chest.

“Is this our interpreter?” Jase asked Kostya as he nodded at the lanky brunette who was sitting in the corner of the room.

“Leila Cloud is living with her grandparents here in Batman and working as an interpreter while going to school,” Kostya said by way of introduction. He gave a brief pause in case she wanted to add anything, but she kept her mouth shut, so he continued. “Her father works for the FBI back in the states, so this isn’t the first time she’s worked with the military.”

Leila gave everybody in the room a chin lift, then crossed her legs and sat back further in her chair.

“Okay, Jase, tell us what you have,” Kostya ordered.

“Damla Akbas is the shit. You heard, I wasn’t allowed to take the briefing back with me, but embedded in the English translation of the briefing, she laid out, in pretty specific detail, who the kidnappers are and where they’re probably hiding, or at least where they are normally headquartered. She also gave us a rundown of all their associates. It was a goldmine of information.”

“Shit, and you couldn’t take it with you?” Gideon sounded like he’d just been told Santa Claus wasn’t real.