AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Both of those things ranked high on the Uncle Ianbad-life-decisions scale. She wasn’t joking. He had an actual scale and everything.
“I want to let this dude kidnap me. Not him, exactly, sincehe’s dead and I don’t think I have the energy to Weekend at Bernie’sthis thing. But someone who looks a bit like him. Someone these guys willbelieve is a mercenary,” Lou explained.
“I told you she had a plan,” Kala said under her breath.
Kala’s father frowned her way. “You also told me this wasabout TJ’s unit.”
Kenzie shrugged. “Well, I was worried you would tell us tostand down if you found out about the texts. I needed to get you here so wecould prove this isn’t TJ flaking out and disrupting your nap time.”
Kala nodded her twin’s way. “We all know this is your sacrednapping time, so getting you here was crucial.”
The twins had run to their parents while Lou, Cooper, andZach had spent the last two hours figuring out what the situation was.Apparently, they’d come up with a story to get Big Tag moving faster, and ithad worked. And Erin had DoorDashed a burger andfries. Murder had not set her off her lunch plans.
In this case, Lou couldn’t blame the twins. After all, Ianand Charlotte Taggart were their day-to-day Agency bosses. While Drake andTaylor Radcliffe handled things directly with Langley, the Taggarts often wentinto the field. Lou’s team was still considered experimental, and there were alot of eyes on them.
The Taggarts had strode in, and when she’d seen Ian andCharlotte and the twins followed by Tasha, something had eased inside her. Ofall the team members, Lou spent the most time working with Tasha. They were thebehind-the-scenes operatives, making sure everything moved smoothly.
This was her team. She trusted them. They would get throughthis. They would get TJ back.
Her plan would work.
“I don’t like it, and I know for a fact TJ would say no.”Cooper had made it plain what he thought of her rescue plans.
“Well, then TJ shouldn’t have gotten his ass kidnapped.”Kala was on her side at least.
Tasha had her laptop in front of her, staring at thedocumentation Lou had managed to put together. She sat beside her mom. “What TJwants or doesn’t isn’t our problem. Getting him home is.”
Tasha had left her fiancé behind with her infant nephew andtwo well-trained dogs. It was good to know Dare supported his future wife’scareer.
It hadn’t taken long to figure out that the man who’dthought Erin would be an easy target had been a mercenary connected to severalmafia families. Lou had managed to use the information she’d found on his phoneto link back to some groups on the Dark Web, including one that served as asort of marketplace for all kinds of criminal services. A Craigslist for murderand kidnapping. They’d left out reviews, though, and that seemed like anoversight. She thought a couple of good ten out of tens, Great assassinationcustomer reviews would liven up the site.
“I’ll go.” Theo Taggart had left his game behind and hauledass up to the office when his wife had called. While Erin was cool as acucumber, Theo was pacing like a caged tiger. “One of us can pose as a mercenaryresponding to the ad and turn me over. I’ll go with them, and I’ll get my sonout.”
“It’s not that easy, Uncle Theo,” Kenzie said.
Zach’s head shook. “You weren’t on the list of targets.”
Lou had managed to break the dead guy’s codes and access hisportfolio on the aforementioned criminal jobs’ site that someone somewhereshould take down. She’d found the job and Dead Dude had been given threepotential kidnapping options. Erin or Devon Taggart or one Louisa Ward. They’dput together crappy files on all three of them. All Erin’s had was her address,place of business, and age. Not once did it mention she was former Armyintelligence and worked for a company that solved security problems across theglobe.
They’d listed Lou herself as working for the think tank,given her address, and posted a couple of pictures they’d gotten off her socialmedia. No mention of her work with the Agency. It was a half-assed job.
Devi was luckily in New York for a couple of days with herbest friends Daisy O’Donnell and Brianna Dean-Miles. Given who Brianna’s fatherwas, they had a guard with them. Adam Miles was known for developing softwarethat had taken down many criminals. He was a high-value target, and so were themembers of his family, so they always had some security around them. Anotherbodyguard was now on the way, and Devi was in a very quiet lockdown. Theywouldn’t have a chance to get TJ’s sister.
So that left Lou.
Theo’s head shook. “I can’t believe they thought Erin wouldbe an easier target than me.”
She wouldn’t have been that much easier. Theo Taggart hadbeen on the same CIA team as Lou’s dad, and he’d been a badass. Erin was onlyslightly more ruthless than her husband. Of course if the mercenary had goneafter Theo, he would likely be alive and she would have gotten a whole lot moreintelligence.
Luckily she’d found a text giving him a location in Bavariaand a time two days away. It had to be the drop-off.
“They didn’t do any research,” Charlotte said with obviousdisdain.
Erin winked her husband’s way. “Misogyny for the win, babe.And I’m with Lou. If TJ wanted to keep the ladies in his life safe, heshouldn’t have gotten kidnapped. I can go in if we don’t want Lou going.”
“Mrs. Taggart, that is not your call.” Lou would normallycall her Erin. She didn’t use aunt or uncle with these Taggarts. Probablybecause even as a kid her relationship with TJ hadn’t been familial. Not fromher end. “This is not a McKay-Taggart mission, and the information you’velearned here should be considered classified and only given to you out ofrespect. You will not be going in because you are not the one on the team.”
Erin’s lips curled slightly. “Then you’re really ready, andyou definitely know what you’re doing. Proud of you, kid.”
