Six pairs of eyes scan the low-slung warehouse building Brains’s tracking device drew us to. Sayward remained behind at the office, but the rest of my team is with me on this, even the Boss Man.

“One level, two entrances,” Grisham muses, his arms folded across his chest. He bounces on his feet, the artificial foot on his left side just as ready for action as the right. Even a roadside bomb couldn’t take Grisham Abbot out. “What do you have to help us track heat signatures, Brains?”

Jeremy kneels down beside the XXL Suburban, an NES official vehicle, digging through his bag of tricks. Bennett keeps his duffle close to his side, ready to move at a word.

“Thermal-imaging camera.” He holds the device up, but to me it just looks like a regular fucking digital camera. “Be right back. Can I get a hand, Wheels?”

Dare nods, and the two job off to make a lap around the building.

While we wait, I pace. “Boss Man, I gotta get in there. I can stand around like this. Time is running out for Olive.”

My voice breaks on the last words, and I swallow thickly to dissolve the emotion. I don’t get emotional on missions. I need to keep my head on straight, keep my mind on the op and the op alone.

Otherwise, I’ll fuck this up. And that’s not an option.

“I promised her.” The words fall out of my mouth so quietly, but Ghost still glances over at me with a sharp look.

“Promised her what?”

“I promised her I’d keep her safe. That I wouldn’t let anyone hurt her.” I stop pacing, and run my hands through my hair.

Ghost is shaking his head, his facial expression pissed. “It’s not your fucking fault she’s in there. You had her covered. Blame the assholes who took her. Blame Margiano. Blame Oakes. Don’t blame yourself.”

“I’m going to kill him.” My tone is even, measured, and deadly serious.

Boss Man interrupts. “You’re not going in there. We won’t let you.”

It takes Wheels and Brains exactly four minutes to round the building and gather imaging data, but it feels like it has taken four hours. When they return, Brains sends the images to Sayward, who can break down the data on her computer.

That takes another two minutes, but when her voice comes through our coms with the information we need, it’s a relief.

“Okay, guys. You’ve got a group of four standing near the front door, no heat images in the middle of the building, and four in the back. The smallest heat signature is the one I’m guessing belongs to Olive, but it’s only a guess.”

I freeze. “Is she in the front or the back?”

Sayward doesn’t pause. “The back.”

Ghost speaks. “Okay, so I’m going to assume the four in front are guarding the door, and the three in back are holding her captive.”

“Oakes will be in back with her. And I’m guessing that means the other signature in the back belongs to Albert Margiano himself. He seems to take a personal interest in killing women.”

The team around me all nod their heads, in complete agreement.

Bennett speaks up. “OK. We’ll bomb the front door as a distraction. And a lucky bonus could be taking out some of the guards in front with the explosion. The building being on one level is good; there’s not much chance of bringing down the ceiling all the way in the back if the explosion I create is small and localized enough.”

Grisham turns to face Jacob. “You really gonna let this guy blow some shit up?”

Boss Man is evaluating Bennett, really looking at him closely. I can see the older man’s intense blue eyes picking him apart, summing him up, deciding if we can use him or not. After a minute, he nods. “Let’s go with that plan. Cause a diversion, we’ll split up. At the cue, two of us will enter quietly at the back while the other four take out the guards at the front.”

Grisham takes over, looking at each of us in turn. “Brains and Swagger, you’re at the back. The rest of us will go in at the front. The only mission at this point is to get in, grab Olive, and get out. We can take Margiano out later, especially now that Olive is going to be able to testify to the fact that she was kidnapped with an intent to kill. He’ll go down.”

Nodding, my heartbeat hammering against my rib cage, I rub my hands together. “Let’s do it.”

“Lock and load, boys,” says Grisham. “Get it done.”

Hurrying around to the back of the warehouse with Brains on my heels, I draw my Sig and when we’ve arrived at the warehouse’s back entrance I take up a position on one side of the door while Brains stations himself on the other.

“We’ve got this,” he says quietly. “We’ll bring her home.”

I nod. “We’d fucking better.”

Jeremy slyly grins. “So this Bennett dude likes blowing shit up? Where’d you find him?”

“He’s a good guy. He doesn’t have to be here, but he’s doing it for me. I’m going to owe him after this, but he’s the kind of guy I won’t mind owing a favor.”

Jeremy nods his understanding. “Roger that.”

Bennett’s voice comes over the com. “Here we go. Three, two, one…”

The sound of the explosion rips through both our communications and the cold, dark night. The sky lightens, and I shoot the lock on the thin metal door. Kicking it in, Jeremy and I enter fast and low. Making our way through the warehouse space quickly, we turn this way and that to make sure there’s no one hiding among the aisles of boxes. With the sound of raised voices, we follow along until my breath catches when my Red comes into view.

She’s just on the other side of the metal shelf I’m looking through, and she looks terrified. Tearing my eyes off of her, I take into account the fact that Mick Oakes is holding her from behind, and he has a gun in his hand. He’s holding the muzzle against Olive’s head.

“Hurry up, you stupid idiot!” Albert is shouting. He takes on quick glance toward the front of the building. “Do it now!”

Stepping out from behind the edge of the shelf, I aim the Sig at Mick’s head. “You don’t want to do shit, Mick, besides put down your weapon and let Olive go.”

Her big blue eyes go wide when she sees me, instantly filling with tears. “Ronin,” she whispers.

“Yeah, sweetheart. I’m right here. You’re gonna be okay.” I lock my eyes with hers, making sure she stays with me and stays calm.

I’m proud of my girl. I know she’s scared to death, but she’s holding it together. She sucks in a breath, and I turn my attention back to Mick.

“Let her go. If I understand you correctly, this isn’t what you want. You want her standing next to you while you lead the family business into the future, right? Can’t have her if she’s dead.” Planting my feet, I put a tiny bit of pressure on the trigger. I will fucking murder him if I get the chance to, but I don’t want to have to shoot with Olive standing there.

Still concealed behind the shelf, Brains’s low voice comes over the com in my ear. “Wheels. We need a sharpshooter back here. Oakes has a gun against Olive’s temple.”

The fury inside me centers in my stomach, but a trickle of fear makes its way into my heart.

I could lose her. This could be it, I could lose her at the hands of this animal, and I haven’t even gotten to tell her that I love her. Fuck, I’m so in love with her.

The realization hits me with a force I’m not expecting, and my hands tighten their grip on my gun.

“Put it down, Oakes.” I growl the words. “She’s not going to die today.”

Mick’s eyes are dead, but I can see his fear in the tremble of his hands. Whether he’s scared of me or his uncle I’m not sure.

Margiano moves then, and he’s fucking spry for an old man. He makes a grab for Mick’s gun, and the gunshot rings out before I can blink. Margiano goes down.

It wasn’t my shot.

Oakes’s hands fly up, and Olive rushes toward me. Moving my Sig to my left hand, I catch her with my right, and whip her back around the huge, metal shelf.

Olive grips my neck so tightly it hurts, but I don’t give two fucks how hard she squeezes me. Over the sound of her sobs, I speak urgently into her ear.

“Are you hurt, Red? Shot?” I want to give her a full checkup, but she won’t let go.

Her head shakes, and somehow her grip gets even tighter. “No. No. Oh, my God. Ronin…”

Brains’s voice echoes in my earpiece. “Margiano is down, but breathing. I’ve got Oakes. Get Olive to the Suburban, Swagger.”

But Boss Man’s voice barks a new order. “Everyone get to the Suburban. Cops will be here in five. Oakes comes with us.”

Holstering my weapon, I lift a shaking Olive into my arms, and nothing has ever felt as good as her heat and warmth against me. She buries her head in my neck, and I stroke her hair as I carry her out of the building.

“Fucking hell, baby. I thought…I’m so damn glad you’re okay.”

She takes a shuddering breath and lifts her head. Her eyes glittering in the darkness, she stares so deep into me, I think she can probably see my soul.

“You came for me.”

My response is immediate. “I will always come for you.”

With a sniffle, she curls into me, and I carry her into the night.