Come and get me.
* * *
“WHAT THE HELL do you mean?” Mercer roared into the phone. “She’s taken? Cassidy? Damn it, Logan, I gave your team an order. Cassidy was to be watched, protected at all costs!” The EOD director’s furious voice blasted in Logan’s ear.
Logan kept his own voice calm as he replied, “She’s not alone, sir. Cale is with her.”
That didn’t seem to reassure him. “He better make sure that she’s not so much as bruised. Do you hear me?”
Actually, Logan was hearing a whole lot of emotion in the director’s voice—emotion that had never been there before, and he’d worked on plenty of cases with Mercer during his time at the EOD.
“Cassidy is the priority. She is the mission.” Mercer sounded like the words were being torn from him. “You do whatever is necessary to get her out alive. Do you understand? There are no restrictions on this case. If the enemy gets in your way, you take them out. All of them.”
Mercer’s words were too ragged. There was too much fury—and fear—in his orders.
This wasn’t just about some asset.
What are we involved in? What is Cassidy to him?
The director had always told him that cases weren’t supposed to get personal, but right now Mercer was crossing all the lines that he’d drawn himself.
“If anything happens to Cassidy Sherridan, I will destroy your team.”
Logan stiffened at that guttural vow. “Don’t threaten me.” He didn’t care who he was talking to.
“Then don’t screw up! You had an order—bring her in. You think I don’t know what this is? Your team is too good to let this happen unless you wanted it to happen.”
Logan didn’t reply. His gaze was on the darkened building that waited less than a hundred feet away. The building that he’d soon be storming.
“You wanted to take out the Executioner, didn’t you? And you thought you’d use my—use Cassidy to do it.” The slipup had been brief, but Logan had heard it. “When Cassidy is back, there’s going to be a full accounting. Do you hear me? Your whole team will be up for review with me. Now do your job—get her out of there.” Mercer swore. “I’m sending the others who’ve been on standby. I won’t risk her.”
The line went dead.
The others?
Mercer has more agents down here. They’ve been watching us. So that meant that backup would be coming their way. Even if those agents didn’t have eyes on them, Mercer could track Logan—the same way that Logan and Gunner had tracked Cale.
Logan shoved his phone aside, picked up his weapon and got ready for the battle that was waiting.
* * *
SHE HADN’T PLANNED to pull Cale into this mess. He wasn’t supposed to be a hostage.
If anything happened to him because of her, Cassidy knew she’d feel the aching guilt every day for the rest of her life.
No, Cale is strong. He’s probably been in and out of every hellhole on earth.
But he’d been shot moments before. He was weak. He couldn’t handle these men while he was hurt.
Despite what he might think, the man was only human.
“Stay behind me.” Cale’s words were the barest whisper.
He had a weapon, of sorts, clutched in his hand. A broken shard of glass. She’d grabbed a chunk of the glass, too. She wasn’t going to be defenseless, no matter what was coming her way.
She should have told Cale the full truth about herself—that there had been no need for him to be captured.
Not when the cavalry always had a direct linkup to her...and her location.