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Linc nodded as he eyed the tall cypress trees.

He looked over his shoulder at the guard. The fact that he had a part in putting these two women in a hole made his mind want to explode.

“Linc, hold it together. We’ll get them out.”

Jase was a friend. He knew that when women were hurt, it was a hot button for Linc.

“Are you going to be okay climbing down?” Linc asked.

“Hell yeah. You’re not the only hotshot. Let’s move,” he whispered.

They were soon on the ground and keeping to the wall, then along the line of cypress trees along the east side of the courtyard. They stopped when the path to the shed started. Beyond that, Linc could see the grate.

Goddammit, it had been raining most of the day. They couldn’t be in there, could they?

Why couldn’t it rain now? It would be great cover for them. Linc lifted his fist, and Jase halted. Linc crawled up to the grate and looked down. He couldn’t see anything. It was dark. He tilted on his night vision goggles. His stomach dropped.

One woman was on her knees, with the other woman’s head and shoulders in her lap. Then he heard it. Someone was humming. He recognized the song. It was YMCA. His lip tipped upward. Good for them.

He backed up and turned to Jase. In the lowest whisper possible, he spoke. “We’ve got to have an exit plan before we get to them. Katherine’s passed out. Leila seems to be okay.”

Jase nodded. “I’ve been thinking. It’ll take too long for us to shoot out the tires of each vehicle. They’d get us before we’re done. The Humvee with the keys is set up just right to leave the courtyard. Nothing in front of it, so we’re good. We just need to disable the other cars.”

“If you’re thinking of disconnecting the spark plugs —”

“Give me some credit. We need to disable everything at the same time.”

“Did you bring enough C-4 for this?” Linc asked.

“Depending where I place it, and how good of a shot you are, everything should be fine. Plus, I got a remote to open the gate out of the Mercedes.”

“Okay, let’s see about the women.”

Linc dropped to the ground and crawled on his elbows and shins to get to the grate. He looked down again, using his goggles.

“Stay quiet,” Linc said in a voice that would only carry down the hole. “We’re here to rescue you.”

The one woman didn’t move. The other woman, the one who was kneeling, looked up at him. It was Leila.

“Leila, we’ll get you out of here.”

“Who are you?”

“United States Navy.”

Linc moved to the other side of the grate. Then he and Jase lifted the heavy metal so that they could get the two women out of a literal hellhole.

“You’re going to need a ladder,” Leila whispered. “I know there’s one close by. When Vugar asked for it, one of his men could get it quickly.”

That was what he remembered. She was calm, and she was smart. “It’ll be in the shed,” he said to Jase. “I’ll get it.”

Linc stood up as soon as he was past the line of sight of the house. It wasn’t far, and he found the ladder leaning up against the shed. Apparently, it got a lot of use. He hauled it back, and as he got close, he crouched down again.

With his night vision goggles still on, he lowered the ladder carefully so it didn’t hit either of the two women.

“Katherine won’t be able to make it. Can you carry her up?”

“You climb up first, then that will make room for me to climb down and lift her.”