Chapter 17
Sometimes the best way to give an alert signal, is to do exactly the opposite of what is expected or instructed.
As soon as Riley walked away, Mason knew she had been contacted and given directions. Mason headed to where Lance stood. Peripherally, he watched two other teammates, Ben and Gabe, walk out the south exit. Their part in the op was to get the vehicle ready for transport—meaning, high tail it out of the arena before the RRA discovered their men missing.
“Zed is on the move. Heading toward North exit,” Lance said over comms. They refrained from using their real names, even call signs, while on an op. Everyone was given either a number or letter for identification over comms. Zed was Riley.
“Copy,” Lucas said. He had been standing farther up the concourse from Lance and Mason. “Three heading towards the north exit.”
“C, do you and D have eyes on Zed?” Lance asked Jake, who was standing with Mick.
“Affirmative, One,” Jake replied, using Lance’s code name. “Eyes on Zed, but she is not crossing towards the exit.”
“Three, continue around to the east exit,” Lance ordered Lucas.
“Roger, One.”
Dex came over comms. “Four on the move.” He was taking up a new position near the east exit, not far from where the two-man team of Noah and Colt, code names E and F, were hanging out. Dex was the team’s medic. Along with Noah, Colt, and Mick, Air Force Parajumpers—or PJ’s—who also had medical training, they made up the medical team, and were vital to ensuring the next part of the plan went off without a hitch. There was a fine line between drugging someone and overdosing them.
Dead men couldn’t answer questions.
The team had studied every inch of the arena and come up with various scenarios of what if scenarios. Then they trained for nearly seventy-two hours straight. Every team member knew what to do and where to go when the shit hit the fan.
The plan was simple: capture the men before they could get Riley off the premises. Simplicity was best when there was a lack of actual control over the circumstances and the need to improvise on the fly was high.
Mason and Lance followed the man who had spoken to Riley earlier as he headed south, around the arena, making his way toward the east exit. The opposite route Riley was on.
“E, be aware, Tango Alpha is currently tracking towards you from the south. Blonde. Black jacket. Two and myself are trailing behind.”
“Copy, One.
“Be advised, potential Tango Beta following Zed. Wearing a Bruins skull cap and a Khokhlachev jersey over a hooded sweatshirt. Hands are under jersey, look to be in the kangaroo pouch,” Jake said. “Tango Beta and Three are out of our line of sight. C and D are out.”
“Copy, C,” Lance acknowledged. “See you on the flip side.”
Jake and Mick were out the North exit, rounding the building to take up real estate outside the east door in case Riley was forced out through that exit.
As Mason and Lance approached the East exit, Riley came into view. A man wearing a Bruins cap and jersey came up behind her and grabbed her elbow.
“Tango Beta has made contact with Zed and is directing her towards the East exit doors,” Dex said.
“E and F ready the syringes,” Lance ordered Noah and Colt.
“Tango Alpha has joined Tango Beta and Zed. Heading toward exit door. Three and Four following behind,” Dex said. “Command, you seeing them?”
“Affirmative, Four,” Holt said. He was manning the TOC back in Newport with Flaherty and Abbott. “Running facial recognition now.”
Mason could barely see the two men pushing Riley through the mass of bodies. Noah and Colt managed to slip on either side of the Tangos. The men immediately thrashed. Fists flew at Noah and Colt. Lucas and Dex moved in behind the men and restrained them without being overly obvious. Noah and Colt plunged syringes filled with ketamine into the tangos.
“Easy, man,” Lucas said to his bad guy. “Let’s get you outside and get some fresh air.”
“Let me go, asshole,” the man screamed. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”
A Bruins fan close beside them stepped up. “Everything alright here?” he asked. Lance and Mason joined the group, ready to physically remove the intruder from the doorway, if necessary.
“Nah, it’s cool. Our buddies here can’t hold their liquor,” Lucas lied with a smile on his face. “They were starting fights with the people sitting around us in the stands. We’re just trying to get them out of here before we all get arrested.”
The man glanced at the tangos, and apparently decided the excuse was good enough to let them pass. The ketamine was starting to take full effect, and the two men slumped against Lucas and Dex as they tried to hold them up and get them out the door.
Mason moved in next to Dex to help with his guy, as Lance assisted Lucas. Outside the building, Riley stood with Jake and Mick.
“You alright?” Lance asked Riley as they got closer.
She nodded. “Fine.”
“There’s our ride,” Mason said, nodding to the van that had just pulled up to the curb with Ben at the wheel. Mason, Lance and Riley stood on the sidewalk and watched as the rest of the team and the two bad guys loaded into the van.
“We have ID’s on the tangos,” Holt said. “Luka Borsok and Sacha Krupin.”
“Forrester’s buddies from the bar,” Mason said.
“So where is suspect number three, Alexei Khil?” Lance asked.
“Driving the getaway car, I’d guess,” Riley responded.
“Regroup,” Holt said. “We have two of their guys, plus we still have their main object of desire, Jess.”
Cold fear rushed through Mason’s chest, squeezed his heart, and turned to hot rage.
Jess.
She still wasn’t out of danger. But she was out of his sight. Out of his circle of protection. And that made Mason as nervous as a priest in a whorehouse.
“We have more bargaining power,” Holt said. “Get Sean and Jess, and head to Hanscom with the rest of the team.”
* * *
“Roger, out here.” Sean ended his call and placed the cell phone on the table. “All clear. We got the bad guys.”
“What about my mom?” Jess asked.
“They didn’t say, but I’m sure she’s fine.” His eyes softened as he gazed at her. Jess had to hand it to him. He was doing his best to be supportive. They barely knew each other, yet he was stuck here babysitting her while everyone else risked their lives for her.
“How do you know these guys will talk?”
Sean smiled. “We’re very persuasive.”
She glanced around the bar. “So, now what?”
“Mason, Lance, and Riley are on their way to pick us up. They should be here soon.”
The ball of tension in her chest loosened. If Mason was on his way here, he was uninjured. And alive. “Okay, can I pee now?”
Sean nodded.
Maneuvering through the busy bar area, she made her way toward the hallway on the opposite side of the bar to where the restrooms were located. A man at the bar swiveled in his stool and glanced at her as she passed by. She stalled for a moment.
He looks familiar? Where do I know him from?
She continued on to the restrooms, wracking her brain to place the man. Must not have been someone she knew well. He didn’t seem to remember her any more than she remembered him. It was possible he just reminded her of someone she knew.
After all, she didn’t know anyone in Boston.
She finished her business, washed her hands, and checked her reflection in the mirror. Dark circles still rimmed her eyes, but Mason had done an excellent job of relieving her tension and stress over the past few days. The man had a way of working her body into such a frenzy she thought she might lose her mind during some of their lovemaking sessions.
She ran her finger over the dog-tag he had given her. It had all been a complete surprise, one that made her feel as if she had finally found the one person in the world who could love her.
She wanted to believe it would last through this horror, but knew only time would tell. If the worst happened, and Mason wasn’t interested in a long-term relationship with her, it had still been the best time of her life. Meeting him at the lowest point in her life, and all the memories they had made together, would sustain her for a lifetime. She would always be grateful she had met him.
She loved him and felt his love for her—even if it was short-lived.
Pulling open the bathroom door, she stepped into the hallway, and ran straight into a man’s chest. Hands gripped her upper arms. Hard. Painful. She looked into the face of the man she had seen at the bar.
And then it hit her—she remembered how she knew him.
Daniel Forrester’s buddy. He had been one of the men at Forrester’s table, the night she had killed him.
“Ms. Baylor, fancy meeting you here.” He had a slightly discernible Russian accent. “You’re supposed to be at the hockey game.”
Oh, fuck. He knew about the plan. He was part of the RRA sent to kidnap her. Dread slid down her spine. She struggled to get out of his grip. “Let me go.”
“I don’t think so.” He yanked her against his body, and covered her mouth with his hand. “If you’re here, that must mean there is a reason I have not heard from my comrades. We suspected a trap, but felt sure we would get past it. Apparently, I was too optimistic about my colleagues’ skills. But how fortuitous that I have found you. The one person I wanted most.”
He shoved her toward the emergency exit, pressed on the metal bar, and disengaged the lock. The door swung open. A deafening alarm sounded.
The man shoved her out the door. Jess caught herself before she sprawled on the asphalt parking lot. Her gaze darted around the area. Was it too much to ask that Mason be walking into the bar and see her abduction in progress?
No one was around. No one would know where she had gone. Hell, Mason and the team might even suspect that she figured the danger was gone and taken off while they weren’t watching her.
Jess had to leave them a message. She grasped the necklace around her neck, yanked on the chain until it broke, and dropped it on the ground. And she hoped to hell Mason would know that there was almost nothing that would make her take off her most cherished possession.
Unless she absolutely had to…
Opening the back passenger door of a black SUV, the man tossed Jess onto the seat, slammed the door, and locked it as he made his way around the vehicle to the driver’s side door. Jess pulled on the door handle, but the child safety locks must have been engaged, and she was trapped.
A metal separator, like one used to keep dogs from jumping into the front of the vehicle, prevented Jess from trying to grab the man around the neck from behind. She was a caged animal. He started the vehicle and pulled away, his tires squealing with the sudden burst of acceleration. Jess was thrown back against the seat, and hit her head on the door. Stars filled her vision.
She closed her eyes and prayed.
Please let Mason find my necklace.
It was the only hope she had of him saving her.