The kidnapper"s face was averted from the camera. Longer dark hair hung down her back and her skin was darker toned. She was shorter than Eden but way stockier. Her arms were muscled as if she had a strict exercise regimen. Her shoulders were broad and square and there was no hint of the curve of b.r.e.a.s.t.s through the maid uniform she"d appropriated from the employee she"d killed.
Then the Peugeot drove away and Hanc.o.c.k zoomed in on the plate. Hanc.o.c.k barked the number to the security guard and instructed him to contact the police to put out an APB for the vehicle with the plate number.
Swanny radioed his team, told them to stand down from their room-to-room search of the hotel and reported what he and Hanc.o.c.k had discovered.
"We need to widen our perimeter and make d.a.m.n sure we cover the borders, airports, train stations, any public transit and get the word out on the car and plates. We need as many eyes and ears on this as possible," Swanny said in a grim voice.
"I"ll call Sam. Get the teams this way so we have all our manpower focused on finding her," Joe responded.
"It"ll be too f.u.c.king late for that," Hanc.o.c.k snapped. "She won"t survive long enough for f.u.c.king Rio and Steele to ride into town. We have to find her and find her now."
"No s.h.i.t, a.s.shole," Swanny growled. "If you think I"m waiting on anyone to find her, you can go f.u.c.k yourself."
Hanc.o.c.k went silent and stared long and hard at Swanny. "You"re in love with her," he said softly.
"My relationship with Eden is none of your G.o.dd.a.m.n business," Swanny said icily.
Hanc.o.c.k shoved into Swanny"s face, going nose to nose with him.
"That"s where you"re wrong," Hanc.o.c.k growled. "Eden"s my sister in every way that counts except blood. Her family is the closest thing I have to family, and I will do whatever it takes to protect her."
"Then quit f.u.c.king around and let"s get moving," Swanny bit out. "Because we"re not doing her any good bickering like f.u.c.king children. She"s my life and I refuse to rest until I have her back."
"Fair enough," Hanc.o.c.k said quietly. "Let"s get going."
CHAPTER 34.
TWO hours into the extensive search for Eden, Swanny was in absolute despair. With every pa.s.sing second, he felt Eden slipping further and further away. He prayed as he hadn"t prayed since he and Nathan and their mates were imprisoned in an Afghani h.e.l.lhole.
Shea and her sister Grace were angels sent from G.o.d. Swanny knew that in his heart. But now he needed another miracle. Like the one he and Nathan had been given when they"d made their escape.
It was also times like these that Swanny wished Shea"s gift of telepathy weren"t random. That she could somehow reach out to Eden and help them find her. Grace would be of more help, but by the time Rio would be able to get her here, it would be too late for Eden.
His stomach was in a permanent knot and even though he refused to even consider the worst-case scenario, that Eden was already dead, he couldn"t help the surge of grief that threatened to buckle his knees.
He couldn"t lose her. His life had been fine before. He wouldn"t consider himself happy, but neither could he have said he was unhappy. His life was well ordered. His absolute focus had been KGI and his team, their missions and the bond he had with the Kelly family.
Marlene Kelly, the matriarch of the Kelly clan, had pulled him into the fold, instantly adopting him as her own, and she mothered him just like she mothered her actual sons. That love and loyalty extended to her daughters-in-law and everyone else who"d been adopted into the Kelly family.
But now? He couldn"t bear the thought of going back to his sterile existence. He couldn"t imagine his life without Eden. She was his own personal ray of sunshine, her warmth enveloping him just by being in the same room.
Mentally he reprimanded himself. Such dire thoughts did no good whatsoever, and he wasn"t giving Eden the credit she deserved. She was a fighter. She would find a way to survive until Swanny reached her.
And he would find her. If he had to turn the whole G.o.dd.a.m.n world over in his search, he"d find her or die trying.
His secure cell rang and he yanked it up, knowing it was one of his teammates. Hanc.o.c.k paused, slowing the vehicle he and Swanny occupied, and tuned in to the conversation.
"Swanny, it"s Joe. Where are you right now?"
Swanny leaned over to check the street name just a few feet away from where Hanc.o.c.k had pulled over. He related the intersection to Joe and heard Joe"s sigh of relief.
"We"re five minutes out. Stay put. Eddie has heard from Eden"s kidnapper and you need to see this, man. But you"re going to have to keep your cool and keep your head straight. Eden needs you-all of us-and you can"t let emotion cloud your judgment because we"re going to have to go in and hope to h.e.l.l we aren"t too late."
"What the f.u.c.k?" Swanny roared. "What do you know? What the h.e.l.l did Eddie say her kidnapper said?"
"It"s not what he said. It"s what he sent me. Just stay put. We"ll be there in three minutes now."
Swanny swore a vicious blue streak when Joe disconnected with no further explanation. Then he pounded the dash in frustration, his blood pumping wildly through his veins.
"What the f.u.c.k did he say?" Hanc.o.c.k demanded. "Joe heard from Eddie? Why the h.e.l.l wouldn"t he contact me? I"m the one who f.u.c.king told him, Raid and Ryker to stand down when they lost their s.h.i.t after the RPG attack. I told them I"d take care of the matter and they"d just get in my way. They d.a.m.n well should have sent whatever intel they received to me."
"I have no f.u.c.king clue," Swanny ground out. "I couldn"t give a s.h.i.t about the whys and wherefores about who called who and why. Joe said Eddie sent him something and then told me not to lose my s.h.i.t and remain focused. Now you tell me. Does that sound good to you?"
The heavy sarcasm-and a healthy dose of terror-was registered by Hanc.o.c.k. He lost some of his belligerence and he actually paled.
"Jesus," he whispered. "What the f.u.c.k could it be? G.o.d, don"t let it be a picture of her dead body."
"Shut the f.u.c.k up," Swanny raged, uncaring that he was precariously close to losing all control and simply imploding. "Joe said we had to go in and get her out before it was too late. That means she"s not dead. Yet."
Hanc.o.c.k fell silent and kept glancing at his watch. A few moments later, Swanny"s team roared up in two vehicles, having split up to cover more ground. Swanny was out and running in Joe"s direction before Joe could even get out.
Hanc.o.c.k was right on Swanny"s heels, ignoring the incessant honking by p.i.s.sed-off drivers whom Hanc.o.c.k had blocked by parking at the corner of the intersection.
"Show me," Swanny said bluntly.
Joe hesitated, which made Swanny"s insides twist into one huge ball. He could barely breathe for the dread gripping him.
"Just show us, G.o.dd.a.m.n it," Hanc.o.c.k demanded. "We"re wasting f.u.c.king time by standing here. Is she alive? Whatever it is, get on with it."
Joe dragged a hand through his hair and then pulled out his sat phone.
"Eddie called a while ago freaking the f.u.c.k out. Eden"s kidnapper sent him a video because she wanted Eddie to see what she was doing to Eden. She taunted him by saying she was drawing out Eden"s death. Told him her revenge would be complete because she was going to kill Eden and she wanted him to watch her die. Which leads us to believe she"s going to send another video."
"Show it," Swanny said, his nostrils flaring.
Joe sighed. "This isn"t easy to see, man. But you need to keep it together. Donovan is working on a trace to see if he can track her location. Hopefully he"ll strike gold and be able to give us a specific location, or h.e.l.l, if he can just get us in the general vicinity, we"ll find her."
Before Swanny or Hanc.o.c.k could tell him to quit delaying and show the d.a.m.n video, Joe turned his phone around and hit the play b.u.t.ton for the video.
Hanc.o.c.k"s sudden intake of breath was heard over the noise of traffic and the incessant honking.
Swanny felt sucker-punched as he stared at the events unfolding in front of him. He was numb, utterly numb. He"d never felt horror to this degree. Not even when he and Nathan had been tortured and starved for two months in h.e.l.l.
Eden was bound to a chair and blood covered her face as her kidnapper made yet another cut to Eden"s face, carving a meticulous line from her cheekbone to underneath her chin.
Eden"s shriek of pain brought hot tears to Swanny"s eyes. He closed them, unable to bear it any longer. He didn"t even bother to wipe the tears away. He was devastated by what he saw Eden having to endure. The woman was systematically torturing her and taunting her with her impending death.
"Focus, G.o.dd.a.m.n it," Hanc.o.c.k shouted. "We need to study the video, see if we can see anything that helps us pinpoint her location. Put it away, Swanny. Eden needs us. You can"t help her if you lose your s.h.i.t now."
Swanny visibly shook off his grief and rage and refocused his attention on the tear-blurred screen in front of him.
"Start it over," Swanny choked out. "Hanc.o.c.k"s right. We need to look beyond Eden to see if we can locate anything that helps us. She doesn"t have long. When this crazy b.i.t.c.h grows tired of torturing Eden and taunting both her and Eddie, she"ll kill Eden and the next video we receive will be of her dead body."
It took everything he had to push aside his emotions and look at this with the detachment he always had on other missions. He couldn"t look at this when his mind was clouded and consumed with fear for Eden. He had to put it away and do the job. At any cost.
Bracing himself and forcing himself to study the video with objectivity, he zeroed in on the surroundings. This time Joe muted it because the only sound was Eden"s scream and Swanny couldn"t bear to hear it again. Knowing she was in agony was hard enough. Listening again would send Swanny right over the edge. And he was precariously close to losing his s.h.i.t. One push and he"d be gone.
Something caught his eye and his pulse ratcheted up, so much so that he could feel it beating at his temples and in his neck.
"Back that up," Swanny ordered.
He leaned in, taking the phone from Joe, and then hit play again, bringing the phone closer to his vision.
There. There it was!
Oh G.o.d. She had his necklace on!
He thrust the phone at Joe, his movements frantic as he dug out the GPS locator from his pocket. G.o.dd.a.m.n it. Why hadn"t he thought of it before? He was so rattled in the hotel room, he hadn"t even thought about looking for the necklace. He"d a.s.sumed she"d wear something far more glamorous to the launch party.
"What the h.e.l.l?" Hanc.o.c.k demanded. "What"s going on? What did you see?"
"The necklace," Swanny rasped as he yanked out the locator. "I gave her a necklace with a tracking device. I told her to wear it when she wasn"t filming or at an event. I never expected she"d wear it tonight. That must have been the surprise she"d planned for me and why she didn"t want me to see her dressing. Yes, I gave it to her as a gift, something special, but my primary focus was on having a way to make sure she was safe if I wasn"t with her for whatever reason. But she didn"t know it had a chip. I didn"t want her to misinterpret the gesture."
Everyone pushed forward as Swanny fumbled with the locator, his hands shaking so badly he could barely punch in the commands to get a bead on Eden"s location.
"Come on, come on," Swanny chanted in frustration. "She can"t have gone too far in this length of time."
Bingo! Relief crushed him with its weight. There was a blinking dot on the map of Paris. Eden was still in the city!
"Got her!" Swanny shouted. "Let"s roll."
CHAPTER 35.
THEY scrambled into two vehicles, shoving in clips, lifting a.s.sault rifles into place and positioning knives and flashbang grenades.
Swanny had given the GPS locator to Joe, who was driving him and Hanc.o.c.k while Nathan, Edge and Skylar brought up the rear.
By using satellite imagery, they were able to pull up a picture of the exact location that gave Eden"s position. It was a house on the outskirts of Paris, just to the south, in a suburb with houses s.p.a.ced short distances between them.
They had to make d.a.m.n sure their entry was clean and not have an innocent caught in the cross fire. Swanny prayed the entire way. He prayed that Eden was alive. He prayed her kidnapper hadn"t figured out the necklace was a tracking device and left it in its current position as a decoy. Because if that was the case, they were well and truly f.u.c.ked. They"d be starting from zero again, and every precious minute counted.
"Drive faster, G.o.dd.a.m.n it," Swanny seethed.
"I"ve got it to the floor, man," Joe replied, his expression grim. "Get yourself together. We can"t afford to let emotion cloud your judgment. We don"t know for certain she"s where the tracking device is, and we don"t want to burst into a civilian"s home and blow them all to h.e.l.l."
Swanny ground his teeth together. Bulls.h.i.t. Let his judgment be clouded by emotion? How the h.e.l.l could he not be up to his eyeb.a.l.l.s in emotion and adrenaline? Not to mention b.l.o.o.d.y f.u.c.king terror. The woman he loved was suffering horribly. He knew only too well what she was enduring, and he"d been trained to withstand torture in the military. Violence hadn"t touched Eden until recently. She wasn"t meant for pain and disfigurement.
Tears gathered and burned in his eyes, but he blinked them away, knowing he needed perfect vision and his senses sharp. They might get only one shot at this. If threatened, the crazy-a.s.s woman would probably take Eden down even knowing she was about to die herself.
Hanc.o.c.k, who"d been studying the close-up map of the neighborhood, lifted his head.
"Looks like there are two entrances. Judging by the background in the video, my bet is the bas.e.m.e.nt level. It was dark with concrete walls and the floor had appeared dusty and damp."
"So we go in quietly, undetected, and then we take her by surprise with a flashbang. Eden will be disoriented but she"s likely already so from the drugs," Swanny said in a grim tone.
"Nathan and I will take the front," Joe said from the driver"s seat. "You and Hanc.o.c.k go in the back. Sky and Edge will cover front and back just in case she gets by you."
"Like h.e.l.l she"s getting by me," Swanny vowed.
Hanc.o.c.k nodded his agreement, almost looking insulted by the idea that anyone would get by him.
Ten of the longest minutes of his life later they pulled to a stop three houses down from the one that signaled Eden"s presence.
They piled out, quickly spreading out, guns up. Joe motioned for Nathan and then gave a hand signal for Edge and Skylar to each take an exit while Swanny and Hanc.o.c.k broke into a run, quickly clearing one of the iron fences between a neighboring house and the back of the house where Eden was being held captive.
The door was locked, but Swanny quickly jimmied the lock and pushed the door quietly inward, stepping lightly and soundlessly across the floor. Hanc.o.c.k followed closely behind, a pistol in one hand and an a.s.sault rifle cradled in his other arm, the strap wrapped around his arm to anchor it in a shooting position.
They froze just at the stairway to the bas.e.m.e.nt when they heard a chilling scream shatter the silence.
Relief and rage vied for top reaction to Eden"s shriek of pain. Relief that she was alive, and rage that the crazy b.i.t.c.h was cutting her up piece by piece.
Swanny and Hanc.o.c.k crept down the stairs, only pausing when they heard a slight noise above them. Swanny swiveled, gun up, but then relaxed when he saw Nathan and Joe following them down.
Satisfied that they had backup, Swanny resumed his quiet descent. He stopped when the wall cut away, giving a way to see inside the bas.e.m.e.nt. He didn"t want the woman to have a clue anyone was here. He needed to get a bead on Eden and her captor so they could attack strategically.
Moving inch by careful inch, each one seemingly taking hours, Swanny peeked around the edge of the wall and into the dimly lit bas.e.m.e.nt area.
He caught his breath when he saw Eden tied to the chair she"d been bound to in the video. Her head was drooping, blood sliding down her face from multiple cuts. Her tormentor had her back to Swanny and his team, and her laughter filled the room.
"One more video, I think," she said in a smug tone. "Something to give your father to remember you by. Then I"ll slice you open and let you bleed out and film the entire thing. Your father will pay for all he"s done. For taking my mother"s life. My father"s life. For taking my life from me for so many years."
Eden lifted her head sluggishly, her unfocused gaze on the woman. Her lips curled and she gave the woman a look of pure hatred and distaste. It was obvious to Swanny she was in shock and likely still sluggish from the drugs. But it was what she did next that surprised the h.e.l.l out of Swanny and filled him with pride even amid his rage and fear for her.