Chapter Nine
Cole
Cole raises his gloved hand up into the air, waiting for Mario to get into position. Paul and John are sprawled out on the couches, beyond beat from sparring with him earlier.
“Logan, you’ve been at this for over three hours.” Mario shakes his head. “Your body needs a break, and god knows we do too.”
“Again,” Cole grunts, still reeling with the decision to come home. It was the hardest decision, but they need to regroup and find what resources they can use.
Mario sighs and they continue to box for the next fifty minutes until he finally calls it quits. Cole, still with energy to burn, hits the free weights until he’s physically exhausted.
After a cold shower, he finally heads to his office and pours himself a double. He tries hard to pretend Savannah is in his bedroom waiting for him to join her, her eyes wild with excitement as she peels off his clothes like it’s the first time. The thought nearly brings him to his knees. God, he loves her…and now…he lets his mind slip back to the very start…
The tension is thick as they lift off into the air and watch the lights of Shadows become smaller. The cars look like Hot Wheels on a track as they weave down the mountain. Blackstone is well prepared for this case, mainly because Cole is obsessed. The men never question him. They understand what it’s like to get wrapped up in the evidence and know an innocent life is slowly disappearing into the wind.
The trip to TJ is long, but it gives them time to rehash the plan at least several times with every possible scenario that could happen.
The moment they touch down, their weapons are raised, and they race across the desert. The laser beams cut through the dust and help guide their way to the three SUVs that await them.
Frank’s Eagle Eye team is in front and behind, while they travel in the middle. Once the engine turns over and they take off down the road, so does the safety of their helicopter, leaving them to once again do the impossible.
“Locked and loaded, boys.” Cole holds his gun up to flip the safety off. “Shoot first, ask questions later.”
“Copy that.” Mark rubs his hands together, excited by the protocol Frank gave them.
They barely park before the doors shoot open and the madness starts.
“Go!”
The team exits the vehicle like the mission is put on mute. They hurry up the stairs, and within a half a second, they blow the doors open to start the journey inside.
Pop! Pop! Pop!
“Two down, left room, clear!” Mark shouts, and they scatter like rats to clear the bottom half of the house.
“Move! Move!” One member from Eagle Eye grabs a woman by the arm and moves her out of our way as Cole zips by.
More men shout as they clear the rooms, and Mark joins Cole’s side as they climb the rickety stairs.
Shots are fired as Blackstone covers his back and hurries down to the room where his informant said Savannah was held.
The doorknob won’t turn, so Cole backs up and drives the sole of his boot right below the lock, blasting it inward as if he had blown if off with an explosive. Three lasers skim over his shoulder and around the room before he spots her.
Everything stops as he moves closer. Her tiny body is wrapped in a huge sweater, her hair sprawled around the dirty mattress.
Please be alive!
Somehow, she manages to acknowledge his presence by turning her head. Once her gaze locks on to his goggles, he feels a tug right in the center of his gut.
It doesn’t matter how long she’s been in captivity. Her beauty is still there like a dull star trying to shine as brightly as the rest.
“I got you,” he whispers, forgetting for a split second that they don’t know one another.
Without another thought, he scoops her up, holds her to his chest, and orders the men to clear their way back downstairs.
As they meet the cold, heavy air, she flinches in his arms.
“Just hold on for me, Savannah,” he whispers behind his gear, needing to grant her some sense of comfort.