“You harm one hair on my wife’s or child’s head, you’re a dead man.”
“I wouldn’t be making threats if I were you.”
“It’s not a threat, it’s a promise. And I want a call in six hours so I can hear my wife’s voice.”
He hung up.
I looked at the phone, then at Damien.
“Thirty-six hours,” he repeated.
“He’ll be dead in twenty-four, and my family will be safe. You have the trackers up?”
“Yes.”
“Are they active?”
“Yes.”
“Get me a location, and I want eyes and ears. Now.”
I picked up the private, secure phone and dialed a number, not caring what time of the day it was in that part of the world.
“Julian,” Matteo’s voice greeted me. “Marcus and I were just—”
I interrupted him. “Someone’s taken Tally and the baby. They want Marcus in exchange.”
For a moment, I heard silence on the line. Then Marcus spoke.
“We’ll be there as fast as we can.”
I hung up.
My office resembled a war zone. Schematics and maps hung on the walls. Profiles of the men we knew were responsible for this. The best of the best of my agents filled my office. The most elite men I had chosen personally to get my family back safely were in full mission mode. All the doors were open, the sounds of their voices and footsteps filling the hallways. Anne was safe at home, none the wiser after Leo told her there was a gas leak and not to come back until he called her. Egan and Damien sat together, mapping out the explosives that would finish the job once we were all safe. Egan hadn’t hesitated when Marcus called him, showing up ready to party.
Thanks to the small, undetectable trackers I had placed on Tally’s possessions, the baby carrier, and diaper bag, we knew exactly where they were. The perps had disabled the more obvious one on her phone, not thinking there would be more. It only proved how inept and careless they were. Bent on revenge, going off half-cocked, high on hacking in to a system they shouldn’t have been able to get into, they were reckless but still dangerous. They would be until my family was back with me, safe.
In a matter of hours, we had eyes and ears on the building where they were being held captive. A broken-down semi caused a distraction while a man slipped around back and planted eyes for us in the corners of dirty, cracked windows. From an abandoned building across the street, heat imaging showed us where my family was in the building and how many targets there were. Silent drones landed on the roof, the sounds in the building coming through laptops. Everything was recorded, traced, and noted. We were taking no chances.
We knew there were fourteen of them and nine of us. Good odds.
For us.
Damien had tracked down the group of Zander followers. Just a bunch of chatter and low-level background noise until now. Crackheads who thought Zander was a god among men and wanted to emulate him. Create their own perfect families and rule together. We had a profile on each of them, and tonight, their visions would end. Along with their lives. The remaining dregs of Zander who would forever be extinguished.
That was the hope I clung to.
There had been no more phone calls. But a picture appeared on my phone of Tally and Julianna. Tally was holding her, huddled in a corner, her expression filled with fury.
“Keep being mad, baby,” I muttered. “Stay calm. I’m coming.”
Anger, frustration, and barely concealed rage kept me going. I cursed myself and my pride. My arrogance. I had insisted I was invincible. Hidden. That I was safe. My family was safe. Because of my refusal to see the danger, I had opened up the two people I loved more than life itself to that danger. Tally had been right.
The sound of heavy footsteps made me look up. Matteo and Marcus walked in. Both tall and broad, wearing matching ferocious expressions, their shoulders back, ready to fight. They had to be exhausted, but all I saw on their faces, and in their postures, was determination.
I moved forward, extending my hand to each of them. I received a hard handshake as well as a bear hug from Marcus before I spoke.
“We’re ready. You won’t be in danger,” I assured him.
He snorted, trying to lighten the atmosphere. “As if I was worried. We’re here to let loose a little. Shoot some bad guys like the old days.”
Matteo grinned, shaking his head. “The island is far too quiet. I need some target practice.” Then he rested his hand on my shoulder, his dark gaze intense. “Your family will be back with you soon. I promise you that.”
I swallowed before I replied. “Yes, they will.” I met Marcus’s gaze. “And you’ll be back with yours.”
He nodded. “And I think maybe that visit is going to be moved up.”