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Chapter 25
The small green dot had come to a stop, and they were still miles behind.
“We need to drive faster,” Maria said, her panic rising.
Cam glanced at her, at his speedometer, then white-knuckled the steering wheel and gunned it. There was no one else on road once they’d exited the highway, and Dan Jennings, in the SUV behind them, would happily keep up.
When they finally made the last turn, onto a rutted dirt road, Maria said, “We’re a quarter mile out.”
“I’m going to pull over here. We’ll gear up and go in on foot. Ivanovich will hear us if we’re too close,” Cam said.
They’d lose precious moments on foot, but it wouldn’t do any good if the assassin knew they were coming. The element of surprise was their greatest advantage.
Cam opened the trunk of the Expedition and punched in the combination to the weapons lock box. Maria took the Glock he offered her, eyeing the long gun resting in its cushioned nest, but Cam was the better shot with that particular weapon, so she didn’t balk when he took it for himself.
Jake had pulled up satellite imagery while they’d been driving and relayed the general layout of the structure, some abandoned hotel slated for demolition within the next year. They’d made an initial plan of approach while driving.
They trained regularly for hostage rescues and extractions, and Maria had even participated in one with TSI in Columbia, when a businessman had gotten nabbed and held for ransom. They’d executed the raid with clinical precision, but they’d had time to prep for the mission and received loads of intel. They also hadn’t known the victim.
Maria glanced at Cam as he loaded and checked his weapon, a calm, determined expression on his face. She wondered what had gone through his mind when Lissa had been abducted by her stalker, how he’d managed to function.
“Put it in a box, Ruiz. We’re here now, and we’re going to get him,” Cam said, as if reading her mind.
She took a breath and nodded, falling in line behind him as they made their way to the building. Already sweating under the Kevlar vest, she was soaked through after the short jog to the edge of the property.
Cam knelt and held up a fist. The team dropped to one knee behind him. Two cars, parked side by side, sat at the edge of the lot. He pointed at Tank and Maria and waved a hand for them to head left. Marco and Cam would go right, and Jennings and Davies would circle around the back.
They tapped their coms, turning the mics to transmit, and spread out.
Maria and Tank were behind the vehicles a few seconds later. “This is Teag’s car, and that’s Annabelle’s rental,” Maria whispered into the com. “They’re here somewhere.”
“Close in on the property. Stay alert,” Cam ordered.
Just as Maria poked her head out from behind the car, and readied herself to move, a figure staggered out from the front of the building.
“Get down, get down,” she ordered Tank, and they ducked back beside the car.
“I think it’s Annabelle,” Maria said, as the figure picked up speed and headed their way.
As she got closer, Maria heard Annabelle’s hitched breath and ragged sobs. Maria motioned to Tank, and the second Annabelle rounded the corner to the driver’s side of the car, Tank clamped a hand over her mouth and pulled her down next to them, abruptly cutting off her terrified squeal.
“It’s okay, Annabelle. We’ve got you,” Tank said, his voice soothing, as if he was speaking to a wounded animal.
The traumatized woman collapsed against him, her entire body trembling.
“Please. He’s got Teag. He’s going to kill him. Please, help,” Annabelle whispered.
“We have Annabelle. She’s safe. I’m moving in toward the building.”
Maria turned to Tank, who nodded. “I’ve got her. Go.”
As she sprinted toward the hotel, the sound of a gunshot echoed through the walls of the structure, and behind her, Annabelle screamed.
**
Annabelle had gotten out. Teag blinked with disbelief when she disappeared through the door, and Ivanovich let her go. He expected the assassin to follow her out and put a bullet in her back, but he didn’t. The man merely stood a few feet from Teag and waited.
As the seconds ticked by, Teag felt a heartbeat of gratitude that he’d saved his sister. That his stupid, reckless actions had worked. A calmness settled over him. He still didn’t want to die, and he was going to do his best not to let that happen, but if he did, at least Annabelle was safe. Maria was safe. His friends, whose job it was to protect him and who would readily put their lives on the line for him, were all safe.
