Phoenix

by Crouch, Janie

  “Believe me, the great Phoenix would’ve settled down roughly two point five weeks after meeting Girl Riley if he could’ve talked her into it.”

  Baby took a sip of his beer. “Really? She always made it seem like you weren’t interested in marriage either. We all know how she feels about marriage.”

  He shrugged. “I tried to play it cool. Maybe I played it too cool. But all that is about to change. Full-court press. I’ve got a ring and everything.”

  He was biding his time because he knew Wildfire was still afraid he was just in this out of a sense of duty. But he had proof that marriage had been on his mind before MS was even on the radar. When the time was right, he was going to show it to her.

  Baby slapped him on the shoulder. “That’s good to hear.”

  “How about you? So many ladies around here, and I haven’t seen you really talking to anyone. Quite unusual for you.”

  “Uh. Listen.” Baby shifted on his feet, uncharacteristically awkward. “I might need to discuss something with you.”

  “Oh yeah? What?”

  “A few days ago, right after the race, I… Shit. Look. Nobody knows this, but I’ve been taking some community college classes for the last couple of years. Almost five actually.”

  Why would that make Baby uncomfortable? “That’s great, man. I might be following in your footsteps soon. What are you studying?”

  “Engineering. Maybe. It’s a long story. But that’s not what I wanted to talk to you about.” He ran a hand through his dark hair. “Look. It was your sister’s birthday a week and a half ago…”

  Oh shit. “With the crazy going on with Amber and the race, I totally forgot. I didn’t call Quinn or anything.”

  “I know.”

  “Damn it. She always remembers mine. I can’t believe I did this again. I— Wait. How did you know it was my sister’s birthday?”

  “Well, that’s what I wanted—”

  He was cut off as everyone cheered when Violet and Aiden walked in with huge boxes labeled Fancy Pants Bakery. It looked like the wedding cake—or multiple wedding pastries in the form of whatever Violet had at her shop for this last-minute event—had arrived.

  But Riley wanted to know more about how Baby knew he’d missed Quinn’s birthday.

  And why the other man was looking decidedly uncomfortable about it.

  “Bollinger, what the hell is going on?”

  Riley was cut off again by the bride’s surprise laugh and yell. “I know this wrapping paper is from Girl Riley. Phoenix, where are you hiding her? I’ve got to get a picture of us with it before I open it.”

  Riley turned away from Baby, his concern about his sister forgotten.

  Where was Wildfire? She’d gone out to get the present almost twenty minutes ago.

  “She’s around here somewhere,” he called out. “She brought in the present.”

  A small blond woman he hadn’t met shook her head. “Actually, I brought that in. It was sitting right outside the door with Peyton and Cade’s names on it.”

  Now Riley started really looking around. Had she had some sort of MS flare-up? Fallen and hurt herself?

  “There was a note next to the present,” the blond woman said. “I didn’t read it. Maybe it’s from her?”

  Peyton reached beside the box to the piece of paper. Riley knew as soon as she unfolded it that it wasn’t good. All the color drained from her face as she handed it to her new husband.

  Cade read it. “‘Phoenix, you took something from me. Now I’ve taken something from you.’”

  All the air had been sucked out of the room. The silence was deafening.

  “Who is it from?”

  “It’s hard to make out the signature,” Cade said. “Sayed something.”

  The entire Linear Tactical team went on alert.

  The party was over.

  Riley didn’t even wait for Cade to finish. He dashed out the door, most of the Linear team on his heels.

  There was no sign of Wildfire anywhere in the parking lot or around the building. No sign of Sayed.

  He heard curses behind him, but he was too numb with terror to come up with any curses himself.

  “Sayed El Kadi. He’s the Egyptian we infiltrated two weeks ago, right?” Zac asked. He didn’t do much active fieldwork anymore, but that didn’t mean he didn’t keep abreast of all the Linear Tactical mission happenings.

  Riley looked at Wyatt, then Gavin. They were the ones who had been there. “Would Sayed do this? I know we didn’t leave any trace of me being involved.”

  “We always do our best never to leave any trail back to you. But in this situation the timing was a little too convenient for him to ignore,” Wyatt said. “That rescue cost him a lot of money, and more than that, it may have cost him respect. That would be a true insult. One he would take personally.”

  “He may have already killed her.” Riley could barely get the words out.

  “No,” Gavin said immediately. “That wouldn’t make sense. If he had wanted to kill her, he would’ve just done it here and left the body out in public for you to find.”

  Now all the air had been sucked out of the universe.

  Kendrick Foster, the Linear computer guru, pointed up at the convenience store across the street. “You guys, there are some cameras around here I should be able to access from my computer. We just need to get back to my house.”

  “We don’t have to do that.” This from the blond who’d brought in the present.

  “Who the hell are you?” He should be gentle, polite. But he had neither gentle nor polite in him. Not while Wildfire was being held by a terrorist known for his brutality.

  “This is Neo,” Zac said. “She’s helped us out more than once.”

  “I have my laptop here. I never go anywhere without it.” She raised an eyebrow at Kendrick as if to ask why he didn’t do the same. “Mine’s faster than his anyway.”

  Kendrick looked like he was going to argue, but Wyatt held out a hand. “Get it. We need any intel we can get.”

  She had it out and on the hood of a car in less than a minute. She and Kendrick were bickering about the best computer nerd stuff to get access to the cameras they needed.

  With every word, Riley came closer and closer to losing his shit. Every second these two spent half flirting, half fighting was a second Riley might be in pain.

  A hand fell on his shoulder, stopping the ugly words that were about to spew out of his mouth.

  “They work better this way. One-upping each other moves them faster. Let them work their way.” Baby’s whispered words made Riley swallow his biting comments, but only barely. He understood what Baby was saying. How many times had he and his team used inappropriate humor during dangerous stunts? It was a coping mechanism.

  He nodded.

  Neo had the footage up just a couple minutes later. “Here, and for the record, faster than Blazing Saddles over here could’ve done it. This is the best picture we’re going to get.”

  She brought up a grainy image that was obviously a reflection of some type.

  It was Sayed talking to Wildfire.

  “Oh fuck,” Wyatt said. “He’s here himself.”

  “What does that mean?”

  Wyatt looked over at Gavin, then back to Riley. “Honestly, probably means he came here to kill you. He felt personally slighted by you and wanted to do it himself. But then saw an eye-for-an-eye opportunity with Girl Riley and took it.”

  Neo and Kendrick were already bickering about something else.

  Riley was just trying to keep from screaming. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could keep it in.

  The thought of all the things Sayed could do to her…might have already done to her…

  It was Wyatt who got right in front of Riley’s face and cupped his cheeks. “You can’t go there, Phoenix. If you have to deal with that later, then we’ll find a way, but right now you’ve got to stay functional. You don’t do her any good sitting here playing what if. You only do her
good if you are firing on all cylinders.”

  He took a steadying breath and nodded. Wyatt was right and had worked enough of Linear’s hostage and kidnap cases to know what he was talking about. He had even lived through tragedy himself.

  “I don’t know if I can live without her,” Riley whispered.

  Wyatt shook his head. “You’re not going to have to live without her. We’re going to get her back. Say it.”

  “We’re going to fucking get her back.”

  Wyatt patted Riley’s cheeks, then reached over and kissed him on the forehead. And there wasn’t a single thing weird about it. “That’s right. We’re fucking going to get her back.”

  “I’ve already got an APB out on that limo,” Gavin announced. “We can’t have cops stopping every single limo on the road, but it at least makes them aware there could be one with a problem.”

  “It’s going toward Reddington City International,” Kendrick and Neo said at the same time, still looking at her laptop on the car hood.

  “We’ve logged into the DMV’s cams, and unless he’s planning to take a vacation in Utah, he’s headed to the airport.” Kendrick pointed at a map on the screen.

  Zac started barking orders to the Linear Tactical guys, falling back to the days when he had been team leader. Everybody headed toward different cars.

  Riley was about to get into his when Wyatt grabbed his arm and pulled him to another vehicle. “Get in. I’m driving. No argument.”

  Riley gritted his teeth and nodded. He wouldn’t attempt a stunt in this frame of mind; he shouldn’t get behind the wheel either.

  Aiden and Baby piled into the back seat. Riley knew others would be right behind them.

  There was nothing safe about the speed at which Wyatt pulled out of the parking lot, but it made Riley feel better. Of all the Linear guys, Wyatt spent the least amount of time here in Wyoming and the most time on life or death missions.

  And that was very definitely what this was.

  “He’s trying to get her out of the country,” Wyatt said. “I studied Sayed before we went in to rescue Andre and Josh. Sayed is one of the richest men in Egypt and is also one of the most powerful. He’s got government ties, business ties. He probably wants to get back to where he has home field advantage.”

  “Also probably means that Girl Riley is alive,” Aiden added. “He wants to toy with you, Phoenix.”

  Sayed could toy with him all he wanted; Riley just wanted Wildfire safe.

  “We’ve got to stop him from getting her out of the country,” Baby said. “Once he’s out of the country, our options become a lot more limited.”

  Every mile felt like a hundred. Baby was providing updates from info he was getting via text.

  “Gavin’s trying to get Reddington International to refuse to let Sayed’s plane take off, but Sayed has diplomatic ties, so they can’t get involved. Kendrick and Neo are trying to work some sort of voodoo also, see if they can create a problem with the flight plan—anything to keep them on the ground.”

  Riley had never felt more helpless in his life.

  They were ten miles from the airport when Aiden reached under the seat and pulled out two Glock 26s. He handed one to Wyatt and inspected the other one for himself. “These are the not-so-legal concealed weapons. The legal ones are in the glove box.”

  Riley opened it and handed one back to Baby. He didn’t have to look at his friend to know that he was comfortable with the Glock resting in his hand. He may not have ever been a soldier like his brother, but that didn’t mean he didn’t know how to fight.

  “If Kendrick and Neo can’t get the plane grounded electronically, what’s our plan?” Aiden asked.

  “We can’t let that plane take off,” Riley bit out, surprised his voice sounded anywhere near normal.

  Everyone agreed, but they all knew there was no good way to handle this. It was going to call for desperate measures.

  “I know Reddington International isn’t a huge airport, but they’re not going to let us come running through the terminal, weapons hot.” Wyatt didn’t take his eyes from the road as he spoke.

  Wyatt was right. Ditching the car and going through the terminal wasn’t an option. That would require minutes they didn’t have.

  “Sayed’s plane is already on the runway,” Baby said. “We don’t have that kind of time.”

  Riley shook his head, gripping the dashboard. “I’ll stop and you guys can get out in a second. The only option is going to be to halt all takeoff traffic on the runway. A car driving out there all crazy should do that.”

  All three men voiced their objections. They didn’t want to get out.

  Riley held up a hand to stop them. “Look, we’re talking about jail time here. There is no way law enforcement is just going to let this slide.”

  “And there’s no way I’m stopping this vehicle while there’s any chance we might get Riley off that plane while it’s still on the ground.” Wyatt’s eyes were glued to the road as he tried to milk even more speed out of the vehicle. “I’ll slow down if somebody wants to dive out, but I’m not stopping.”

  “Besides,” Aiden continued, “you’re going to need man- and firepower to go up against Sayed’s jet. The chaos will only keep them grounded so long.”

  “I—I…” He wasn’t sure exactly what to say. These guys were risking a lot for him.

  “You guys are family, Phoenix. You and Girl Riley both,” Baby said.

  “Not to mention all the times you’ve helped Linear out,” Wyatt added. “Hell, you’re in this to begin with because of Linear’s mission. We don’t leave our people behind.”

  Riley just nodded. For the first time since realizing Wildfire had been taken, he felt hope. Yes, there may be repercussions from them driving onto the runway, but the most important thing was that they were going to get her out of that plane and home safe.

  His relief was short-lived.

  They were a half mile from the airport, coming up a side road that would lead them directly to the runway rather than the terminal, when Baby received a text from Kendrick.

  “Fuck. We’re too late. The plane just took off.”

  Riley gripped the dashboard and looked out the windshield. Sure enough, a small luxury jet was climbing into the sky.

  Taking his entire life with it.

  Chapter 27

  Terror threatened to overwhelm him. Sitting in that car less than a mile from the airport, knowing they’d been so close and were now so far, was eating Riley alive by the second.

  Communication was going on all around him. All three of his friends were talking to different people. Riley didn’t know who, couldn’t even bring himself to form coherent sentences. Every single breath hurt. Finally, he couldn’t stand it anymore, he ripped off his seatbelt and stumbled out the car door.

  There wasn’t any more air outside than there had been inside the car. He gulped in oxygen like he was running a sprint and even then, it wasn’t enough.

  “Riley. Riley!”

  Baby was in his face.

  “Keep it together. Falling apart isn’t going to help her. This changes the plan but doesn’t put us out of the game.”

  He nodded. Riley had learned long ago that no matter how hopeless the first round looked, that didn’t mean the game was lost. But that was a hell of a lot easier to say when it wasn’t the life of the woman he loved at stake. Still, he nodded.

  “Riley is strong,” Baby said.

  That, Riley had no doubt about.

  “Finn and Zac are on their way. Wyatt and Gavin are already putting together a plan since they’ve studied Sayed the most. You’re going to get her back.”

  The second vehicle with more of the Linear guys pulled up a few minutes later. They were all talking on the phone also. Riley racked his brain, trying to figure out who he knew in Egypt who could do something…anything.

  “Kendrick says the flight plan for that jet was Cairo.” Zac ended the call and turned to Riley. “That’s probably good news.
”

  But the tightness of the other man’s mouth told them all it wasn’t that good of news.

  “I’ll keep it together.” He was going to have to. If he wanted to be a part of this rescue mission, he was going to have to lock down his fear. “Tell me what you’re thinking.”

  Zac shrugged. “He hasn’t killed her outright. Maybe because he wants to torture her and toy with you. Maybe he hopes to make some sort of trade, you for her, or maybe some sick combination of both. The fact she’s alive is what we’re going to concentrate on.”

  “What about going public?” Gavin asked. “We’ve got proof he was in Oak Creek. We could get Andre and his cousin to talk about the fact that they were held by Sayed. It could shift tide in our favor.”

  Wyatt shook his head. “I think all that would do is force Sayed to kill Riley and get rid of the body. We should only go public as a last resort.”

  “We have to do something. I can’t just wait and do nothing.” Riley’s whisper was hoarse.

  Zac nodded. “You are going to do something. You’re going to use what you have to your advantage, something Sayed doesn’t know about: us.”

  Riley shook his head. “Unless you have some jet pack that can get me onto that plane, I’m not sure Linear Tactical is going to do much good.”

  “Sayed thinks you’re alone, and that, at best, it will take you a while to get anything organized. Finn is on his way with the gear and weapons we’ll need to infiltrate. Dorian should be here soon too.”

  “Gavin and I are already familiar with Sayed’s compound,” Wyatt added. “I’m sure Kendrick and Neo will stop fighting long enough to give us other pertinent information.”

  “What about transportation?” Riley looked toward the airport. “I have finances to charter a flight, but it’ll take a while to get it organized. Time we don’t have.”

  Baby held up his phone. “Cade just offered his assistance in any way we needed—including the jet he had waiting to take him and Peyton on their honeymoon.”

  Riley shook his head. “I hardly even know Cade. Why would he do that?”

  Baby shrugged. “His wife and your woman are best friends. Like I said, family.”