From about 100 yards away I can see that the front door is open. I drop the haul, the rod and tackle box and break into a full sprint. But I know before I get there that she’s gone.

Like a beast gone wild, I tear through the cabin, kicking over chairs, breaking a plate against the wall as if enough destruction might somehow conjure her up from thin air. Or turn back the clock.

Neither happen and I’m left alone, panting, as my cold, military instincts snap into focus. I have a mission. I must gear up and set out after them within the next five minutes. But first, did they leave any clues?

There’s blood on the floor of the kitchen. It had best not be Olivia’s. If it is, much more blood will spill in her name.

But I won’t allow my mind to dwell on that possibility. Olivia needs to be all right. I will make it so. There’s a smudge of blood on the refrigerator, blood on the butcher knife. Good girl. I bet my Olivia picked it up and fought. I hope she took a good chunk out of those bastards.

How did they find us? I thought I’d covered all our tracks, left no trace. But Rudy must have more pull than I’d given him credit for. He found some weak link. I’ll find it, too, and make it sorry. But first, I’ll find Olivia.

I grab things I might need, mostly weapons I can use to take out anyone trying to stand between me and my woman. Then I set out after them. The tire tracks are fresh, running through the snow. I drive my truck like a demon, hauling over packed snow, then cleared road, then highway.

They could be anywhere, but there’s something working in my favor. The rats on Rudy’s payroll, they’re not creative. They’re not going to think out of the box. They’re going to scurry back into the hidey holes where they feel most at home.

There’s a problem with their instincts. I know too much. During my few months on contract with Big Rudy, he kept me at arm’s length. Or so he thought.

But I’d made it my business to learn everything about his business. I didn’t like surprises. I liked to know all about my employer in the event something went bad. In my experience, things usually went bad. So I know all the locations of their secret hiding places.

Too bad there are so many of them.

Six o’clock at night and it’s pitch black. Flying through the darkness back toward Chicago, I make myself think. Not about what they might be doing to Olivia. That might drive me insane. Most importantly, that will not help me achieve my goal.

I know, mostly likely, they’re doing nothing. Yet. Most likely they drugged her like last time. Again, they’re not creative types. They’ve shown their cards and they’ve likely played the exact same ones again. Drug and drag. If they used the exact same drug and dosage, Olivia’s still out of it. They won’t do anything to her until she wakes up. I’ll see to it that I’ll be there when she does.

Just as I learned everything I could about Rudy—all his lines of revenue, each and every one of his lairs—I made sure Rudy never knew much about me. I’d been in the military, he knew that much. I was one hell of a sniper. That’s why he hired me.

But I never confirmed nor denied my membership in the SEALs. Uncle Sam helped me with that. Those of us in the ranks don’t exactly all get our names published in the national news.

Looks like Rudy has underestimated me. He thinks he can take what’s mine. He’s going to have to think again.

I skip the first place I pass, deciding it’s too obvious. The men I’m after are dumb, but even they’re not that dumb. Plus, they don’t like to use the safehouse on the outskirts of the city that often. These dumbfucks like to stay within their territory, like the dogs they are. If they haven’t pissed recently all over the fence posts, they don’t like it so much.

I stop at an old abandoned apartment complex. I know they’ve taken more than a few people down into the basement there for questioning. They’ve soundproofed the premises. Screams can’t be heard. But when I make my way silently down the stairs, the basement is empty.

Olivia will be waking up soon. Perhaps she’s already beginning to gain consciousness. Back in the truck, my hands grip the wheel. Soon. I’ll be with her soon. And I’ll make them pay.

I try a warehouse I know they use next. No dice. So I decide to call in a favor. It’s time for some intel.

As a rule, I never got friendly with the guys working for Big Rudy. They were a vile bunch. I was there for one reason and one reason only: buying my freedom in cash as quickly as possible. Socializing wasn’t on the agenda.

One guy had stood out to me as different. I never got his story and I didn’t plan on it now. He kept to himself, watched everything around him, and I had a feeling I could count on him if I ever needed to. I never planned on needing to. Looked like my plans had changed.

Pulling over at a corner store, I buy a burner phone. Back in my truck, I look up his cell number on my phone, but call on the line that can’t be traced. He doesn’t pick up, as I figured he wouldn’t. Too smart for that. About a month ago, I’d done him a solid, covering for him when I didn’t need to, even shouldn’t have. I leave him a message I hope he can’t ignore.

Five minutes later, the burner phone rings.

“Knox. You have sixty seconds.”

I’d expected even less. “They’ve taken the wrong asset.”

“Give me more.”

“An innocent. Not connected in any way to the man they’re after.”

“Happens every day.”

“Not like this.” I need to make him understand. “Picture they have your wife.”

He falls silent. I hope he’s imagining exactly what I’ve suggested. Finally, he speaks. “I do this for you, you never contact me again. We’re even.”

“Done.”

“West 64^th and Normal.” The phone goes dead. And I’ve got all I need to know.

The three-story brick building is standing alone in an overgrown lot. One sad, bare tree leans out front. The bottom window is covered in plywood.

It’s not a spot they use often. It’s a good choice if you don’t want anyone to talk. Englewood on the South Side is not a stranger to crime.

It is a stranger to white, Italian criminals, though, and I have to hand it to them. They tried. They must have known I’d come after her, so they’d chosen an atypical spot.

They were right I’d come after her. What they were wrong about was my not being able to track her down.

I park a block down, pull a black baseball cap down low and flip up my collar. Keeping to the shadows is easy on a block with most of the streetlights blown out. A couple figures huddle at the end of the street, but I duck to the side by the building where they have her. My Olivia.

Rage surges through me and I want to bust down the front door and fire my MK14 at everything that moves. Only problem is one of the people inside is her. I need to go stealth.

No infrared sensors, no night vision goggles, no backup, just me, alone in the Chicago night, needing to break in and save my girl from likely three or four armed thugs.

They don’t stand a chance.

In the back, I pry open the door with ease. It creaks, but I open it slow and steady, minimizing noise. My feet move soundlessly on the old wooden planks, gun drawn and ready leading the way through the darkness.

They’re down in the basement. It’s where I would be, if I wanted to stay hidden. No windows to peek through. Natural sound buffers.

The guy supposedly standing watch at the top of the stairs has no idea what hit him. All I have to use is my fist. I get up nice and close on him and jab him quick at the temple. His head snaps to the side and he slumps into my waiting arms, like a choreographed dance. I lay him down gently, noiselessly, and step my way down.

Adrenaline coursing through me, I’ve never had such a hard time holding back. I’m like an eager rookie recruit wanting to prove his worth, chomping at the bit, barely listening to instructions in his ear piece as he tries to barrel ahead and save the day. I must get to Olivia. Thankfully, my years of training force me to do the right thing. I need to assess the situation, gather as much data as I can about the scene before I search and rescue. Only then can I ensure her safety.

“Your daddy thought he was smart. Smarter than the rest of us.” I can hear a gruff voice through the door. It’s open a crack. I can make out a sliver of an unfurnished room.

“I have no idea what my father did.” Christ, it’s Olivia. My hand tightens on my gun, sweat breaking out on my brow. Yet her voice sounds strong and clear. That’s it, I silently urge her on. Show them they can’t break you.

“Yeah, everyone’s innocent once they’re caught.” The guy laughs like he’s made the funniest joke in the world. “Anyway, you don’t have to tell us a thing. We know what he’s done. Now he just has to pay up.”

“And I’m what’s supposed to make him pay?” She sounds pissed off and bitter. As much as I hate to hear her sound like that, it’s better than crying or pleading. That means they haven’t hurt her yet. I hope.

“Once he knows we’ve got his little girl, he’ll pay.”

“That’s not going to happen.”

“You’d better hope it does.”

She keeps them talking, asking what they want, how they found out about her dad and what he was up to. It’s exactly what she should be doing, keeping them distracted, in response mode. Buying me time to work out a plan. I don’t have a mirror showing me the layout of the room, but as I ease the door open another inch I get a good look at the reflection in the window.

Olivia’s on a chair in the middle of the room, hands tied behind her back. She’s got all her clothes on, my baggy sweatpants plus the white T-shirt I bought her. Fuck those motherfuckers for fucking with my woman. I can barely see for a moment as white-hot rage blinds me.

“How’d you find us?” Smart woman, keeping them talking. I ease the door open another inch, starting to risk them noticing but I need to get more of a look into the room. How many guys do I need to take out? How spread out are they?

“Knox.” The man standing in front of her spits, as if on my name. I want to tell him that’s a compliment coming from him. Two negatives make a positive. But that observation would be wasted on him. “Your man thought he was so smart. But you can’t buy a place without any records. Big Rudy knows. He finds shit out.”

So somehow Rudy had tracked down the property deed. Fuck. I’d been sloppy, civilian life easing my standards. That’s what I got for letting down my guard. Well, it had happened once. Never again.

I ease the door open a fraction of an inch more, until I get a good view in the window of the whole room. Three men stand guard, one in front of Olivia, one in back and the other to the side. They’re spaced out well. But it’s nothing I can’t handle.

First, I’ll take out the one in back. He has his gun drawn. He’s the most dangerous, closest to her and with the weapon in hand. Then the one on the side. He’ll move quick, so I’ll have to be quicker.

The one in front of Olivia, he’ll be last. If there’s any way she can swipe at him, delay him, distract, that’s what I need. She’s never been in a situation like this, but I can only hope instinct kicks in. The need to survive is strong. If she can kick him or worse, we’ve got this locked down.

“Seeing as how we’ve got some time on our hands,” the man in front speaks, the intimate note in his voice making my blood run cold. “Why don’t we have ourselves a little fun?”

That’s it. I’m going in.