His Angel (23 page)

After pressing the send button, Angie tossed the phone on the passenger seat. She put the car back in drive and eased forward, turning onto the long driveway leading to the buildings. She parked next to the SUV and got out of the car, leaving the engine running with the key-fob in the center console so Jenn could escape. Angie looked back and forth between the two buildings trying to figure out which one she was supposed to go into when the door to the one on the left opened. Agent Jackson was standing inside the door jamb pointing his gun at her. "Inside. Now!"

With trembling knees and heavy feet, Angie began to trudge toward him, praying Ian got there before it was too late.

Devon was about to knock on the still closed door when it swung open and he took in Ian’s wild expression. He knew immediately what he saw in the blue eyes so similar to his own–terror...sheer terror. "What's wrong?"

Instead of telling him, his brother shoved his phone in Devon's face so he could read the text Ian had received seconds earlier.
Kidnappers called my cell. They're at 1795 Route 301. I'm trading myself for Jenn. Hurry.

"Ah, fuck!"

Ian ran to the reception area. "We gotta move! Now!"

The team, former SEALs, Chase's men, Carter, Athos, the feds and cops all came running and followed the Sawyer brothers out into the parking lot. "We've got an address. Not only do they have Jenn," Ian paused and looked directly at Athos, "but they contacted Angie on her cell and she decided to play Wonder Woman. She's on her way to trade herself for Jenn."

Athos' eyes mirrored the same fear which was in Ian's. Around them were a chorus of curses and frustrated groans. The men knew there was no way the kidnappers were going to let Jenn go, even if they had Angie. Not meaning to, Ian's little angel had made their job twice as hard and when he got a hold of her, she wasn't going to be able to sit for a month. He'd make sure of it, but first they had to rescue the two women he loved.

"Where are they?"

The question came from Stonewall and Ian looked at Carter who gave him a slight shake of the head. Ian agreed. They were doing this without the local law enforcement's involvement. This is what his team did best. If they let the cops and feds show up at the scene, it was going to become a cluster-fuck in the first degree with Jenn and Angie's lives on the line. The FBI and Tampa P.D. had protocols which, by law, they had to follow. Trident didn't have those restraints and it was better to apologize later than have to ask permission before they acted. Carter pulled out his cell phone, one of his many throwaways, and dialed a number from memory while stepping away from the group.

Stonewall saw Ian's hesitation and started yelling, turning bright red in the process. "Oh no, Sawyer! Not again! You're keeping us in the loop on this or I'll arrest all of you, right here, right now!"

As much as Ian wanted to race to save the two women, he knew if he took off, the feds and locals would be right on his tail. He assumed Carter was calling Keon and forced himself to wait a moment.

While the SAC continued to rant, his two subordinates and the local police didn't look too happy at the prospect of trying to arrest seventeen hyped-up men. Men who'd killed plenty of terrorists and criminals while in the military and were currently out for blood. Most of the specially-trained men were ignoring the irate agent and had gathered around Marco's vehicle. The communications specialist was handing out headsets so they could all talk with each other without needing their hands. Weapons were being double checked, and Jake was loading up his favorite sniper rifle along with his back-up MK11, which he would loan to Carter, if needed.

Amid the commotion, Kristen came running down from the residences with Beau on her heels. She ran straight to Devon and blurted out that Angie was missing. He explained what had happened and a look of shock came over her face. He grabbed her chin for her attention. "I need to know you're safe. Tiny and Mitch are in the club office. You're to go directly there and do everything they tell you, Pet. I can't do my job if I'm worried about you. If you give them any trouble, you'll get a public spanking you'll never forget. Understand?"

She knew he was serious when he'd said the word ‘public’ because, while she loved to watch other subs be disciplined in front of everyone at the club, she wasn't thrilled when it was her ass on display. "Yes, Sir. I love you. Be safe."

He kissed her on the lips. "I love you too. Now go. Beau is coming with us. I'll call you as soon as we have them safe."

As his fiancée headed straight for the building which housed the club, Devon ordered Beau to heel. The dog's rear end spun around and he attached himself to Devon's right leg, not looking happy to see his previous protective detail walk away without him. His human reached down and scratched behind his furry ear. "It's all right, boy. She's fine. We need to rescue Jenn and Angie, and maybe even give you someone to sink your teeth into."

While Dev knew the dog should understand very little of what was being said to him, the canine seemed to know exactly what he meant. Beau let out an excited bark at the prospect of biting someone who deserved it.

In the meantime, Carter had stopped talking on his cell and approached Stonewall. With a glare which had made some men pee in their pants, Carter handed him the phone. The fed blanched and looked confused but took the device. Trying to salvage his authority, he barked into the speaker. "This is FBI Special Agent in Charge Stonewall, who the hell is this?" Ian, Devon and Athos watched as the last of the man's blood drained from his face. "Yes, Director Moran, sir... I understand, sir...no problem, sir..."

Without waiting for the SAC to finish getting his ass handed to him by his boss, the men, minus the law enforcement, scrambled for their vehicles and flew out of the compound single file behind Ian's SUV. Carter and Athos sat in the back with Beau between them. The dog seemed to be thrilled with the action as his tongue hung from his panting mouth.

Ian drove while Devon was in the passenger seat bringing up the GPS coordinates. After that was done, he dialed his cell phone and waited for Tiny to pick up. When the head security guard did, he told him, "I need you to take Kristen and lock her down in the panic room until further notice. Tell Mitch to stay locked inside the club if he doesn't want to go with you but make sure he's armed. Shut down the gates whether the cops leave or not."

When the big man confirmed the orders, Devon disconnected the phone and looked over his shoulder at Carter. "Did you really use one of your get-out-of-jail-free calls to Mr. Big? Why didn't you just call Keon?"

The spy shrugged but his face remained expressionless. He rarely contacted Director Moran unless it was necessary, preferring to deal with the deputy director instead. Fewer politics. "Actually, I tried calling Larry but he didn't pick up, so I went up the ladder. The director was already in a foul mood and all too happy to threaten the jackass with a transfer. I think he might've mentioned some town in Alaska with a population of two."

Devon let out a sharp bark of laughter and shook his head in disbelief before Brody's voice came over everyone's headsets. On his laptop was a live stream from one of the many satellites orbiting the Earth and it was zoomed in on their destination. "Don't ask whose SAT I'm using, because you don't want to now." A few chuckles came through the headsets. "Ian, when you get to 301, you're going to go north. Four point three miles up there's a dirt road on your right. Take it about a hundred yards in and approach from the south on foot with a two minute ETA. The address has two warehouses on it running west to east. There are three vehicles–it looks like your Audi is one of them and I think another is the DEA sedan from yesterday, but without seeing the plates, I can't be positive. Other vehicle is a dark SUV. From their parking jobs, I can't tell which building they're in, so we need to check both. A second team can drive past without suspicion and pull off about a half mile up the road and come in from the north."

Ian acknowledged the information and asked for a breakdown of who was in what vehicle. When he had the info, he broke them down into three teams. Marco would lead Team Two while Ian took Team One. Marco had Jake, Brody, Rick, Bannerman and Rad with him. Ian's team consisted of the three men in his vehicle along with Boomer, Urkel, and one of Chase's men, Tanner. And, of course, Beau. The remaining four contract agents would take position across the highway and storm the driveway after the entry teams made their way inside whichever building held the hostages, and intercept anyone trying to make a run for it.

Less than ten minutes later the vehicles were in position and the men poured out of them. While waiting for information back at the compound, Dev had instructed Chase's men to load up the vehicles with equipment they would all need to stage a rescue. The men had worked with Trident on several missions and knew what was needed. Now all three teams were suiting up with bullet-proof vests, KA-BAR knives, sidearms and flash bang grenades. Either Colt M4 Carbines or HK MP5's would be used, depending on each man's preference for their assault rifles. Jake and Carter would carry their sniper rifles. Individuals grabbed other equipment which the team needed but wasn't necessary for each member to carry. Beau was outfitted with a harness and specially designed canine bullet-proof vest. The dog's ears and tail twitched with excitement while his paws did an eager dance, but he remained silent. There would be no need to worry about him barking and alerting any one to their presence since he'd been trained well and the team practiced different drills with him often. Beau would do his job as precise as his human counterparts did theirs.

"Team Two, Team Three, ready?" Ian spoke into the headset attached to his right ear, as he handed Beau's short lead to Boomer. When the responses came back affirmative, he told them to move out. He didn't have to worry about the men who weren't part of Trident's core six. They all had Special Ops experience, including Athos, so they knew the basics of how each man and team would work in unison. Team One approached, bounding as two sections, which meant while half the team moved forward to the next tree or object to hide behind, the others covered them, ready to fire their weapons if needed.

In silence, they reached the southern-most building and Ian signaled for Urkel and Tanner to approach the structure. While Tanner covered him, Urkel scanned the exterior wall with a heat-seeking hand-held device and came up negative for warm-bodied occupants other than a few rodents along the floor line. With hand signals, he gestured all clear to Team One and the rest of them joined the two operatives, using the building as cover. Brody's whisper broke through the intercoms. "Teams, hold position. I have audio coming through from Angie's bracelet. Hot damn, it works. Stand-by."

Ian tamped down his urge to rush into the other building and gun down everyone inside who wasn't a female in his life.

* * *

Angie tried her best to speak in a calm voice. She didn't want to upset Jenn any more than she was. While Jenn could hear everything, the gag and blindfold were still in place. But apparently the dirty DEA agents and three other men, who looked like gang members, didn't bring a second set, so Angie could see and talk. She was sitting on a chair in the middle of the cavernous warehouse, which was half-full with boxes and crates. Her wrists were handcuffed behind her and it had taken her a while to remember the GPS bracelet Brody had given her also had a microphone in it. Grateful for the thing, she ignored the fact it was hurting her since it was under the metal handcuff and digging into her flesh. She prayed the tech geek was listening as she began to ask questions of the men holding them hostage. "I'm who you want. Why won't you let Jenn go?"

One of the dirt-bag gang-bangers with a knife scar on his face looked up from the three-man poker game and sneered. "Because I like the hot little mama. Her and I are going to have some fun after that pig shows up and we get paid."

"Shut up, asshole," Agent Holstein snarled at Scarface, who shrugged and made a vulgar gesture toward Jenn, and Angie was grateful the younger woman wasn't able to see it. She was trembling enough as it was.

"So it takes five of you to kidnap two women and handcuff them to chairs in the middle of a warehouse? We're helpless and not going anywhere, so can you please put away your handguns?"
Please Brody, be out there somewhere with Ian.
Not wanting the kidnappers to catch on she was hopefully giving Trident information, she changed subjects. "How did you find out about Jimmy and me, anyway?"

While the pacing Holstein didn't want any of the gang-bangers to answer her questions, the same didn't seem to apply to his partner. Agent Jackson was sitting on a crate about fifteen feet in front of her. "Saw the prick talking on one of those burner phones he used a lot and figured there was a good reason behind them. When I tried to get closer to hear what he was saying, he hung up. Tossed it in his drawer when an 'agent down' came in, courtesy of an anonymous call, of course. After he tore out of there with the rest of the squad, I picked the lock on his desk, checked the phone and copied your number. Figured it would come in handy someday. Andrews, or Athos, or fucking asshole, take your pick, was never the type of guy who could stay away from U/C. I knew he'd go back under again someday, and I was right. Traced the number and found you. When our connections from New Orleans called to see if we knew the new guy who was making them nervous and sent me a picture of him...well, let's just say I wasn't surprised to see your boyfriend."

"So you're the one who told the drug dealers who he was, and the other agent who was murdered too?" The man shrugged without a verbal response but the cruel expression on his face confirmed what she’d asked. "So now what happens?"

"Now we wait a little while and when we're ready, you're going to call your boyfriend and tell him where to meet us. If he comes alone, you both die. If he doesn't, then you die, he dies and whoever he brings dies. Then we collect the money owed to us for this fucked up operation...simple enough?"

She didn't answer him.

"By the way, which one is really your boyfriend? Andrews or the hick who you escaped with?" He leered at her. "Or are you banging them both?"