She grabbed a sheet of computer paper and a pen from the table, then quickly jotted, “Why contact CORE? Why not just hunt?” She held the paper up for one of the agents to see and pointed to it.
Hudson was the first to notice, and cleared his throat. “Why are you telling us?” he asked.
The man chuckled. “I love how concerned you are about your boss. But you were always blunt and to the point.” He moved around the bound couple and stood in front of them. “Here’s what I expect from all of you—nothing. Do not try and find them or me. Do not set foot in Florida. If I find out that any of you are here, I will desist with the hunt, torture the lovebirds and feed them to the alligators. Then I will come after whoever disobeys my orders. I will start with your extended families just to make you suffer. Clear?”
The agents nodded.
“I don’t believe you.” He pulled a knife from the harness strapped at this ankle, then cut the tape binding Lola’s mom’s left arm to the chair. “I honestly didn’t plan on bringing Cami into this. I was always a big fan,” he said to her mother, and took her hand in his. “It’s unfortunate that you keep bad company.” He snapped her mom’s pinky.
Her mom screamed. Even with tape covering her mouth, her cries echoed throughout the room.
Lola didn’t bother to fight the tears. Her heart ached. Her body shook with anger. Helplessness wrapped around her and squeezed. When he circled his hand around her mom’s ring finger, she tasted acid and swallowed back the bile rising in her throat. Tempted to yell out, to tell him to stop, she looked to the others, for help.
“Don’t,” Dante shouted. “I don’t know what you’re trying to prove by breaking her fingers, and you still—”
“I think I proved my point the moment I sent Rachel a text. I won’t be fucked with. Not by Ian or any of you. I broke her finger to show you that I won’t hesitate to hurt, disfigure or kill either one of them.” He let go of her mom’s hand and faced them. “Thank you for not contacting the police. I suggest you keep it that way. No Feds, no other outside help.”
Lola swiped at her eyes and regained control of her emotions. She needed to pay attention to everything the man said. Do what she was trained to do. Her gaze drifted to her mom’s lap, to the finger already swelling. Anger reigniting, she waved the paper and pointed to the questions she’d written.
Dante rubbed his forehead and shifted his eyes toward her. When he dropped his hand to his side, he said, “You still didn’t answer Hudson’s question and raised a couple of more. If you didn’t contact us, we wouldn’t know that you have Ian and Cami, and planned to hunt them. You’ve also ordered us to not interfere. So why bother contacting us? Why not just get on with your hunt?”
“Imagine your house is on fire and your family is trapped inside,” the man began, moving back behind her mom. “You can see some of their faces—their terror, their pain—but the fire is too hot and there’s not a damned thing you can do but stand there, with your thumb up your ass and helplessness gripping you by the balls. I want you to remain in Chicago knowing Ian and Cami are suffering. I want you helpless. I hate Ian and every one of you. You’re all so righteous and arrogant. You think your shit doesn’t stink because you work for CORE. Since I’m pretty sure roses aren’t springing from your asses, I want to show you how vulnerable you are. Mostly, I want to teach Ian a lesson.”
“How long will this hunt last?” Rachel asked.
He sheathed the knife. “Don’t worry, you’ll know when it’s over. I don’t usually like to part with my hunting trophies, but in this instance, I will. Expect a package from me. I know a few taxidermists in the Chicago area, but I’m not sure if they’ll be willing to mount the heads I’ll be sending you.”
Lola’s stomach churned with nausea as she touched her neck. She refused to allow his words to penetrate her brain and quickly recalled her mom’s smiling face again. Only her imagination, her fear, blocked that comforting image and replaced it with her mother’s severed head.
“You don’t have to do this,” John said. “If it’s money you want—”
“Oh, I would love to have Ian’s millions, but I’m not doing this for money. This is about justice, about righting wrongs.”
“You mean revenge.” Dante shook his head. “That’s what this is. Revenge killing.”
He shrugged his massive shoulders. “Revenge killing sounds so…cliché. Besides, if I was out for revenge, Ian would already be dead. Like I said, I won’t be fucked with. Ian did, and now he’s going to be taught a lesson.”
After moving closer to the screen, he raised his hand as if he was going to close a laptop. “Remember what I said about coming here or bringing in the cops or Feds. If you ruin my hunt, I will kill everyone close to you. Now that I think about it, I’ll let you all live just so I can watch you suffer over your losses.”
The screen went black.
Lola panicked and moved toward Rachel’s laptop. Harrison grabbed her arm, stopping her.
“It’s okay,” Rachel said, looking at Harrison. “He disconnected the call.”
Lola pulled her arm free, then reached for her purse.
“Where are you going?” Dante asked.
“To Florida.”
Dante quickly blocked her. “Stop.”
“No.” She shoved him. “And I’m going to do what you should have done the moment the text came in—contact the local PD. I have the address where they’re staying. He said he’s not going to start…hunting until dawn. The cops could—”
“He won’t be there,” John said.
She slung her purse over her shoulder. “You don’t know that.”
“Think about it. He sent a text from Ian’s phone, he Skyped us from the rental house kitchen…he’s not stupid. I don’t doubt that he’ll make good on his threats if we go in there or send in the cops, but he’s also not going to stick around to wait and find out if we went against his orders.”
She knew John was right, but with her mother’s life at stake, she wanted them to take action. Now.
“Anyone notice he called Rachel, Miss Davis?” Owen asked. “This guy knows us, but hasn’t been keeping very good track of what we’ve been up to. Rachel and I were married over a year ago, so he doesn’t know she goes by Malcolm now. He also doesn’t know about Celeste.” Owen looked to John. “You two were married before us. Since Celeste is Ian’s daughter, and he’s out to hurt Ian, I’d think this guy would’ve said something about that.”
“Agreed,” Dante said. “This also gives us a timeline to work with. Rachel, let’s start tracking back to cases—”
“Going back to before John and Celeste were married.” Rachel began tapping at her laptop keyboard. “Since he named all of us but Lloyd, Jake, Lola and Harrison, I’m going to concentrate on cases we all worked on together.”
“Exactly. Then we can weed out—”
“Stop,” Lola shouted. “I have no intention of sitting in this room and brainstorming about who this man is and what his issues are with Ian, or CORE, or whatever the hell. My mom is going to be hunted. So either I go after her with your help, or I go on my own.”
Rachel looked up from her laptop. “I have a five-month-old baby and my brother to think about. Owen has his parents, sisters and their kids whose lives could be in danger. We need to try and find out—”
“You stick to the research. I’m going to take action. My extended family is either dead or in China.” Lola gripped the strap of her purse, the fear in Rachel’s eyes compounding her own. “I don’t want anything to happen to your families, but we can’t let him get away with this.” She turned to Dante. “You’re in charge, so make the call. Am I doing this on my own, or do you guys have my back?”
Harrison moved next to her. “However this goes down, I’m coming with you. I have a buddy down in Orlando who could help us.”
“Vlad?” Dante asked.
Harrison nodded.
“He’ll do. I know someone, too,” Dante said, pulling his cell phone from his pocket. “He
’s a former SEAL, owns an airboat tour company and has been living in that area for the last seven years. First I’m going to get the jet ready. Hudson, pull together weapons they can carry with them. Harrison, how well do you know CORE’s system files?”
“He knows all of them,” Rachel answered. “Even the programs I’ve created. His laptop is synced with mine so, as long as he has Wi-Fi, he can see anything we’re working on here.”
“Good. Do we have any more GPS tracking chips?”
“I wish.” Rachel shook her head. “The one we used back in April was a prototype.”
“Damn.” Dante scratched at the stubble lining his jaw. “That would’ve been good to have, but Ryan knows the area and should—”
“Is Ryan the SEAL?” Lola asked, glancing at the clock on the wall. Time was ticking and they needed to leave. “Can he track their location? They’re going to have hours on us by the time we get down to Everglade City.”
“If he’ll help.”
“If? And what if he doesn’t?” Oh, God. Unless Harrison’s friend could navigate the Everglades, they were in serious trouble. She used street signs to help find her way through Chicago and had never been camping in her life. Without someone who knows the area, she didn’t know how they were going to find her mom and Ian.
Dante stopped Hudson before he left the room. “Grab a couple satellite phones, a compass, map and flares, too,” he said, then placed a call.
“This isn’t a good idea,” Owen said. “No offense, Lola, but how much hunting and camping experience do you have? I think one of us should go with them.”
“How much experience do you have?” John asked, then stood and faced Lola. “You have the corporate credit card, and Dante can access the safe and give you cash. If Ryan won’t help, find someone else who will.” He turned to Owen. “I’m willing to go, but I’m not willing to risk my wife and daughter’s lives. Are you?”
Owen’s gaze settled on Rachel, who was busy typing. “No, he’s not,” Rachel said. “And Ian wouldn’t want us to.” She looked up from the screen. “I think this is a bad idea, too. But what choice do we have? If he finds out we—”
“Just spoke with the pilot,” Dante said, punching numbers on his cell phone screen. “The jet will be ready in forty minutes. And this might not be the best solution, but it’s the only one we have for now. Let’s find out who this guy is and decide what to do from there. In the meantime, we’ll have CORE agents as our eyes and ears.” He placed the phone to his ear. “And hopefully a trained SEAL.”
Ryan Monahan’s House, Everglade City, Florida
Thursday, 1:56 a.m. Eastern Standard Time
“You know I love you.” Ryan Monahan tuned on the light, then leaned over and ran his fingers through Sadie’s golden waves. “You’re my best friend and I appreciate that you’re always there for me. But we can’t sleep together anymore. It’s just not working for me.”
Sadie’s loving, big brown eyes shifted to his. “Please don’t look at me like that. It’s not like I’m kicking you out of the house,” he said, running a hand along her back.
She rolled on her side and licked him.
“This is what I’m talking about. You hog the bed, and no offense, but your breath stinks.” He nudged her. “Go on, get off and—”
His cell phone rang. He patted Sadie on the head and looked at the alarm clock. “This can’t be good.” He reached for the phone sitting on the nightstand. When he checked the caller ID and saw Dante Russo’s name on the screen, he let out a deep breath. He hadn’t spoken to Dante in over a year. “Definitely not good.”
“Hello,” he answered, and rubbed Sadie’s furry belly.
“Hey, Ryan. It’s Dante Russo.”
“I know.” He leaned against the pillow and stifled a yawn. “It’s also almost two in the morning. I don’t suppose you called to catch up.”
“I need your help.”
The desperate tone of Dante’s voice had him sitting upright. “Are you in trouble?”
“Not me, my boss.”
He relaxed. Dante had left the Navy a year before he had, and had started working for a private investigation agency. When Ryan had finished his last tour, Dante had mentioned that Ian Scott, the owner of CORE, was looking for new recruits. A Florida native, there was no way in hell he’d give up warm weather and the Gulf coast for Chicago winters. Plus, after serving as a Navy SEAL and all that he’d dealt with, the only time he’d ever wanted to carry a gun again had been for sport, not employment. “You’re still with CORE, right?” he asked.
“Yeah, it’s a good gig. You’re still running the airboat tours?”
“It’s a good gig,” he said, grinning. “So now that we’ve caught up on life, tell me what you need.”
“Sorry, man, I know I haven’t been in touch,” Dante said, a trace of guilt in his voice. “I hate calling you like this, but I need a favor.”
“No worries. Business is slow this time of year.” A total lie. They were approaching the dry season—less rain, less mosquitoes and more opportunities for wildlife viewing due to the lower water levels—and already booking airboat tours for December. But Dante didn’t call in favors, especially during the middle of the night, and that had him curious. “I could use a little excitement. What’s going on?”
“I doubt this’ll be the excitement you’re looking for…my boss and his girlfriend were taken hostage tonight just outside of Everglade City. I need you to help us find them.”
Shit. Talk about a favor. Sadie jumped off the bed when Ryan shoved off the sheets and swung his legs over the side of the mattress. “The Collier County Sheriff’s—”
“We were instructed not to contact them or anyone else.”
“Yeah, but—”
“Let me tell you what we know,” Dante said, then explained the situation.
After he’d finished, Ryan scratched the back of his head. “He’s going to hunt them? I grew up here. I know the Glades. Sorry, but there’s no way in hell those two are going to survive more than a day or two…and I’m being generous. We’ve got gators, panthers, bears, snakes—”
Dante sighed. “I know.”
“And good luck trying to keep dry. If they’re not wearing the proper boots, they’re gonna have a serious case of trench foot. The bugs are miserable, finding clean water will be a bitch, too.” He reached into the nightstand and found a pen. “Give me the address and I’ll head over to the house. If they’re gone, I’m not sure how much help I’ll be. Without knowing where this jackass decided to start his hunt, it’s going to be tough figuring out where to start tracking them.”
After Ryan finished writing the address on the inside of his wrist, Dante said, “Look, I’m not going to pretend to know anything about the Everglades, and the people I’m sending don’t either.”
“What people?” Ryan asked, then stood, opened a dresser drawer and pulled out a pair of lightweight cargo pants. “I thought you said this guy told you no one from CORE was allowed down here.”
“He did, but he only mentioned the names of some of our agents. He doesn’t know about the ones Ian hired over the past two years. They’ll be on the company jet in about thirty minutes, make a quick stop in Orlando and should be landing at Everglades Airport around five-thirty or six. Is that far from you?”
“About four miles. I’ll pick them up.” Ryan unlocked the gun safe he kept hidden in the closet. “I’m not far from the rental house. I’ll call you when I get there and let you know what I find.”
“If they’re still there, don’t engage. Call the sheriff first, then me.”
“You should’ve called the sheriff the moment this guy contacted you,” he said, grabbing a t-shirt off the floor. He’d known Dante for years and knew the man wasn’t stupid. Before the jackass had started threatening them, Dante and his team should have had officers surrounding the house.
“We had a thirty-minute window to work with before he made contact. Once we did speak with him, none of us—including me�
��took his threats lightly. I don’t want him coming after my pregnant wife.”
He shoved on a boot. “Jessica’s pregnant?” After what had happened to Dante’s daughter, that was kick-ass news. Dante and Jessica were good people and deserved a second chance at having a kid.
“Almost six months along. Ian’s more than a boss to me, but I’m not going to risk Jessica’s life. The rest of the team are in the same boat.”
“Except the crew you’re sending down. Gotcha.” He finished lacing his boot, then tackled the other. “I’m ready to head out now. Lemme go and I’ll call you when I know something.”
“Thanks, Ryan. Remember, don’t engage.”
“I heard you the first time.” He strapped on a shoulder holster and fought a wave of bitterness. “Despite what others might say, I know how to follow orders.”
“I didn’t mean—”
“Sorry, wasn’t trying to be a dick,” he said, sliding his Smith & Wesson .38 Special into the leather holster. Dante hadn’t been part of his SEAL team, but another. And, like many of the other men he’d served with, Dante didn’t know the truth behind his last mission, only the rumors and accusations that had nearly cost him life in prison. “I have no intention of putting your boss and his gal in danger.”
“Thanks. For what it’s worth, I would have followed Bateman, too.”
Cole Bateman. His former team leader. Before guilt could take root, he bent and gave Sadie some love. The guilt gripped him by the balls anyway. Cole wasn’t the only one who’d gone to prison for him.
After giving the Golden Retriever one final pat, he left his bedroom. “Yeah, he’s a good man who got a raw deal,” he said, grabbing his keys off the kitchen counter. “I’ll do my best to make sure your boss doesn’t. Call you soon.”
“Wait.”
“Something else?” Ryan asked as he left the house and headed for his truck.
“I’m not a pussy.”
He chuckled. “No shit. I’ve seen you in action.”
“Right, but I want to be there. It’s just…something’s off with this guy. My head’s telling me there’s no way in hell he could come after all of us if we don’t do as he says, but my gut is telling me otherwise.”
Ultimate Prey (Book 3 Ultimate CORE) (CORE Series) Page 4
