But deep down, he’d known better. He’d heard whispers and rumors of the rescue mission Rowe and some of his friends went on to save Andrei’s life. He’d heard a little more about the infiltration of a secret camp to rescue kidnapped kids led by Rowe and Noah.
Sven just prayed that he’d learned enough from the two men because there was no way he was returning home without Geoffrey.
Right before they hit the door leading to the garage and the SUV’s, Quinn yelled, “Stop!”
He came running down the stairs, a large tablet in one hand. He skidded to a halt and Sven’s stomach flipped over when he saw that all the color had left Quinn’s face—even after the run.
“I’m so sorry, but you guys have to see this.” He turned the tablet around.
The small amount of Chinese food Sven had managed to swallow raced up into his throat. He held his hand over his mouth as he stared at the horror on that screen.
Quinn cleared his throat. “He’s hacked into all of Geoffrey’s social media accounts and even some of those belonging to his friends.”
“Is this live?” Andrei asked, his voice raspy.
Quinn nodded. “He’s livestreaming. Everywhere.”
Sven stopped hearing their words as they all started talking around him. All he could focus on was the single image of Geoffrey lying on a bed. Small and so fucking…still.
“Can you tell if he’s breathing?” he whispered.
Nobody heard him. They kept talking.
“Is he still fucking breathing?” he yelled so loudly, they all stopped.
Quinn nodded. “He is, Sven. Look.” He pointed to Geoffrey’s hand, which lay palm up next to his defenseless, naked body. As Sven stared, his fingers twitched.
Quinn handed him a piece of paper. “Look at the old wallpaper. That room looks like it could be in a farmhouse about the age of the one McDonald owns. Here’s the address.”
“We’ll put it into the GPS.” Andrei squeezed Sven’s arm, then let him go. “Let’s hit the road. Now!”
“Want me to call the police?” Quinn asked, but his expression tightened. It wasn’t the first time Sven had noticed his dislike of all things related to the police department.
“You won’t need to,” Andrei said. “The police are supposed to be watching Geoffrey’s social media accounts. They’re seeing this too.”
“If the police call, take your time handing over the address,” Sven said, tone firm. “I want him.” His coworkers—his friends—followed behind him as he ran for the vehicles.Chapter 18Trees loomed over the winding, black road, blotting out the moon and stars. Street lamps were rare on this stretch of road, but then so were the houses. Thirty minutes had passed since they’d rushed out of Ward Security. Sven had jumped into the passenger seat of the SUV Andrei claimed, while Royce and Dominic climbed into another of the company cars. During the first few minutes of driving, Andrei laid out the plan, where he and Sven would approach from the east, while Royce and Dominic would come down Steep Creek from the opposite direction. Royce would disable Nathan’s car before approaching from the west, while Dominic took the back of the house.
But once the plan was outlined, they all fell silent. The engine of the SUV roared and the wind rushed past the vehicle. Sven could hear his heart pounding in his ears and he wanted to scream at Andrei to drive faster. But he couldn’t. They were already racing above the speed limit and they couldn’t risk getting pulled over.
“Where’s your head at, Larsen?” Andrei asked, finally breaking the consuming silence.
“I’m here.”
“Bullshit.” The single word was like a crack of a whip.
Sven blinked. Andrei wasn’t the type to lose his temper or utter a harsh word. He was usually the calm, cool member of Ward Security. Well…except for that time Andrei was fighting with his fiancé, and then he’d been a snarling beast at all times.
“Three men are about to follow you into a dangerous situation. We don’t know what he’s capable of, but killing any one of us is possible considering he could have left you to drown in that pool after darting you.” Sven could hear Andrei draw in a deep breath through his nose and then slowly release it. “We’ve got your back, but are you going to have enough presence of mind to have ours?”
Sven scrubbed a hand roughly over his face before turning his head to look out the window. He couldn’t really see anything except the occasional yellow light from a house or silvery moonlight through a break in the trees. His panic for Geoffrey receded enough for him to think about the three men with him. It wasn’t only his life or Geoffrey’s life on the line.
“I just keep thinking about him in that bed, unconscious. What if the tranquilizer hurt him? Hurt his heart? What if he stops breathing?”