My stomach somersaults. I swallow the bile rising in my throat. Loosening my tie, the room is sweltering.
“Which means he could be holding her at one of at least two locations,” Dante says. His brow is tight.
“What do you want us to do, Boss?” Sawyer asks. “If we’re spread too thin, we risk an ambush back here at the compound.”
“That’s not going to happen. This place is a fortress,” Dante says. His voice holds conviction. If he has any ounce of worry or doubt, he doesn’t show it.
It’s part of his job, being the boss, always having to keep his shit together.
Sawyer’s right, but I don’t want to suggest only hitting one location. If there’s an opportunity to rescue her, we need to take it.
“We’ll go in with two crews and hit both locations. Our goal is to rescue Paige and take out Vance, but if we find any other girls held against their will, you have orders to get them out.”
Dante isn’t a saint, but he certainly looks like one compared to Vance.
Sawyer points at the nearest of the two locations, still several miles away, in the middle of nowhere. “I believe this is the location where the girls are being held for trafficking.”
“I’ll lead that team,” I say. I can’t stand around and wait to hear what happens to Paige. She means too much to me, and if Vance hasn’t killed her yet, I can only surmise that he intends to sell her to the highest bidder.
She’s not just a nanny. She’s done so much for my daughter and my family. The least I can do is try to free her from the enemy.
“Good,” Dante says. “I’ll hit the location of the auction. It’s less likely she’ll be there. She hasn’t been gone but a few hours, and they tend to break the girls mentally before selling them.”
The images of Paige before being forced to do things for random men blur my vision. I storm out of the office, unable to breathe.
I stumble through the hallway and open the front door, barely making it down the step and onto the grass. The air doesn’t cool me down fast enough. I bend over, sick.
Weakness.
I must get my shit together if I’m going on a mission to save Paige and take down DeLuca’s men.
The nausea is gone as fast as it surfaced and is now replaced with infuriating heat and rage. I storm inside, slam the door behind me.
Rhys jumps out of the way, startled.
In a blaze, I’m back in Dante’s office. “Let’s armor up,” I say.
I don’t want to waste another minute talking. We have a plan. We know where we’re going and who is on what team. We have radios to communicate with each other with whatever we find.
Good or bad.
“Dismissed,” Dante says and waves the capos out of the room. “Moreno, a word.”
Sawyer shuts the door on the way out, leaving Dante and me alone.
“Yes, Boss.”
“Don’t let Vance get inside your head,” he warns.
I snort under my breath. Vance is always in there. The realization that he murdered my wife, stole my daughter’s mother away, and destroyed my family.
Now he’s taken Paige.
“It’s too late for that, Sir.” I’m far from having a level head. The minute I see Vance, I’m taking the kill shot.