"...see her again. Tomorrow morning at eight o'clock, you'll receive a text. Have Agent Andrews bring Angelina Beckett to the address you're given and we'll release your pretty niece, although she may not be too pretty anymore if you don't do as you're told."
The hair on the back of Ian’s neck tingled as his fear and anger intensified. Leaning his two hands on the conference table, he growled at the person on the other end of the phone. "Listen you fucking bastard, if you hurt one fucking hair on that girl's head, there won't be anywhere on this fucking earth where you can hide that I won't find you. And when I'm done with you, you'll be fucking begging me to kill you to end your suffering! You hear me you piece of shit!"
He'd been in such a blind rage and was yelling by the end of his rant that he didn't realize the caller had disconnected until Devon put his hand on his bicep. "Ian, he hung up."
Devon’s voice was low, trying to calm his brother down but it didn't work. Ian grabbed the office phone, ripped out the cord and threw it against the wall where it shattered.
No one was hurt by the flying debris although several of the men were hit. Not a word was spoken as the usually unflappable man stormed out of the room and made his way to his office, passing a stone-faced Marco on the way. He slammed the door behind him and they heard a roar of frustration and anguish. The men all knew the call time was far too short for a trace. They were equally frustrated because, despite all the missions and cases they'd been on over the years, this time it was personal. Devon looked at everyone else. "Give him a few minutes. In the meantime, get back to harassing your contacts."
* * *
Angie was in Ian's bedroom after telling Kristen she'd be up in a few minutes. Brody had programmed her hand print for the lock-scanners at Ian's request earlier in the week so she'd been able to let herself in as Beau followed Kristen upstairs to her and Devon's apartment. This was the first time Angie had a moment to herself since Jimmy had showed up, her brief time in the plane's bathroom notwithstanding. She needed some time to come to terms with a few things. In addition to her worry about Jenn, she was still reeling from Jimmy's confession and then the fact that she'd told Ian she was in love with him. She hadn't expected him to say the words back to her, and although she knew he meant them, she couldn't help but think he was still holding himself back from her. His ex-fiancée must have done a number on him and she was glad the woman didn't live anywhere nearby because she might have gone looking for her and pounded on her for hurting him.
Entering the bathroom, she washed her face again then brushed her teeth with the spare toothbrush Ian had given her to use after her first overnight stay. When she came back out, she started pulling the pieces of her disassembled cell phone out of the sweatshirt Ian had given her to wear when she started shaking at the news of the kidnapping. She'd retrieved the phone parts from the backseat of his SUV where he'd tossed it yesterday, and shoved them in her pockets. God, was it only yesterday afternoon when she and Brody had been running for their lives? So much had changed in less than thirty-six hours.
Putting the SIM card in, followed by the battery, she closed the cover and powered the phone up. At once, it began alerting her to missed texts and calls. Checking the call log first, she saw four voice mails from her friend Mandy, Shelby from the club, Red Rose Books and one other client. Then she checked her texts and saw more of the same but one 'unknown' message caught her eye. When she opened it she was horrified to see a photo of Jenn. The girl had been bound, gagged and blindfolded, yet Angie could still see the fear in her partially covered face. The message with the photo told her to contact the sender immediately without telling the cops or Trident team, or they were going to kill Jenn. Checking the time stamp, she saw the message had only been received twenty minutes ago. She sent a return text as fast as she could. I'm here. Tell me what I should do.
Less than fifteen seconds later the phone rang in her hand and she'd been so startled, she almost dropped it. The screen read 'unknown caller'. After punching the connect button, she brought the phone to her ear. "H-hello?"
A computer disguised voice came over the line and Angie's hands began to tremble. "Come alone to the address I'm going to text you. If I see your boyfriend, the cops or anyone else, I'll kill her. You have fifteen minutes."
Before she could respond, the call was disconnected. She stared at the phone until a text message alert sounded. 1795 Route 301…Alone!
Frantic, she ran out to the living room and began to search for her purse and car keys before remembering her car wasn't here. It was still in the driveway at her house. She spotted Ian's spare set of keys sitting on a shelf of his entertainment center. Snatching them, she ran out the front door, and jumped into his Audi, pushing the keyless start button as she grabbed the seat belt. She couldn't risk telling Kristen where she was going, or anyone else for that matter. But she wasn't stupid though. When she reached the destination, she would send Ian a text letting him know where she and Jenn were.
Relieved to see no one was outside except two security guards, who she barely knew, she put the car in drive and accelerated as fast as she dared without alerting them something was wrong. The gates had been left open to allow the police and feds to come and go as needed, and Angie drove out of the compound, heading for the main road. Ian and Jimmy were going to kill her if the drug dealers didn't do it for them, but she knew they wouldn't exchange her life for Jenn's and she refused to be responsible for the girl's death. It didn't take her long to get to Route 301 but when she reached it she didn't know if she needed to go north or south. She programmed her phone's GPS with the address and turned north when the annoyingly cheerful woman's voice told her to. A few minutes later the same voice spoke again. "You're approaching your destination on the right."
Pulling to the side of the road, Angie viewed at the structure set back from the road. It was similar to Ian's compound but had fewer trees, no fence, and only two warehouse buildings. From where she was she could only see two vehicles–a black SUV and a plain, four-door sedan which she assumed belonged to the DEA agents who had been at her house. She typed a text to Ian. Kidnappers called. They're at 1795 Route 301. I'm trading myself for Jenn. Hurry.
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.
CHAPTER 19
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, s
he 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 ha
lf 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?"
His Angel: Trident Security Book 2 Page 22
