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Tank and Jaicon both placed calls at the same time a helicopter, bigger than the one we’d flown here in, landed just outside the window of the room where we were seated.
“Zin—I need to call him back,” said Press.
Jaicon nodded when he looked over at her.
“Vaile, there is no easy way to say this,” he began. I listened as he relayed what was in the message—everything other than where Jada was being held. I could hear his cry of anguish through the phone.
“Where the fuck does this sonuvabitch have her?”
“You’ll receive updates as we know more,” Press responded before ending the call.
“You did the right thing by not telling him,” I said when Press covered his eyes with his hand.
“If it were me, I’d never forgive him for it.”
“He’d get her killed.”
Press nodded and looked up when Tank approached.
“NRO just confirmed the same location,” he reported. “Let’s move out.”
“Wait!”I shouted when he, Jaicon, and Magnet ran in the direction of the French doors that led out to the lawn. “I’m going too.”
My eyes met Press’. I expected him to argue, tell me no, even try to stop me from leaving, but he did none of those things. “You heard the man; let’s move out.” He stood and held his hand out to me before turning to Jaicon and mouthing two words.“Los Caballeros.”
She nodded once.
“Is that an Akicita?” Press shouted as we ran out behind Tank.
“Sure as hell is. We’ll land inSLO CALin under an hour,” said Zeppelin, who arrived with Atticus and Blackjack just as we were climbing inside.
31
PRESS
The Akicita helicopter we were in was one of, if not the fastest in the world. It was also big enough to carry twelve passengers along with tactical gear—which I was being outfitted in.
There was a time in my life when experiencing a night like this would’ve been my fondest dream. Instead, it was a horrible nightmare.
My instincts screamed at me to protect the woman I loved at any cost. Yet, there was a voice in my head yelling equally as loud, telling me if I didn’t follow her lead, do this with her, I’d lose her forever because she’d never forgive me.
“Your team is deploying,” Jaicon said through the comms.
“Copy that,” I responded.
Our “secret” brotherhood had existed for hundreds of years, through many generations, but had it truly ever been as secret as we’d assumed? Was anything truly secret? And what kind of games had we been playing all that time? Believing we were vigilantes, thinking we could help those who needed it? It had been a blanket statement, but looking back, if we hadn’t been smart enough to ask for assistance from K19, I may have never known Luisa. She may still be in the hands of the lunatic who now held Jada.
I studied the group of people flying with us. If I had to guess, each of them—including the Brits—was either former or current NRO themselves or with the CIA’s Special Activities Division. Regardless of whether I was right or wrong, I had every confidence Jada Yáñez would be rescued within minutes of our arrival.
I also had no doubt they knew more about Los Caballeros than I did.
The person I was most worried about, besides Luisa and Jada, was Zin. The worry he’d act without any thought to his own safety, while causing more risk to Jada’s life once he learned where she was being held captive, was the reason I’d asked Jaicon to bring in the rest of thecaballeros.
While I hadn’t divulged where she was, I had to tell him what was in the video. Like Luisa would never forgive me if I’d tried to stop her from getting in this helicopter, Zin would see it as a betrayal if he learned I had knowledge of her abduction and hadn’t told him. Our friendship would be over. It still might be if he found out I’d had the information he sought when he asked where she was, and hadn’t told him.
I looked over at Luisa, who was currently head-to-head with Jaicon and Zeppelin, viewing a three-dimensional schematic of the building where the radio station was—focusing primarily on the basement.
Atticus, seated beside me, was compiling a list of everyone who’d worked there since its inception.
