Page 68 of Keeping Astrid

The vehicle slowed, and Angel made the turn. The SUV bumped around as if they made their way along the dirt track.

“The cabin should be about two miles on the left. As we don’t know who is going to be there, or what we’re going to be greeted with, I suggest we stop about a half a mile away and make the rest of the trek on foot,” Ox relayed to everyone.

“Roger that.” Growler didn’t care how they got there, only that they did. As far-fetched as it sounded, he could feel Astrid. She was close.

Beside him, Irish didn’t say anything, but he didn’t have to. Everyone was ready to get this mission over and done with.

“Do you think they’d leave her alone?” Angel queried.

“No idea,” Ox responded. “It seems unlikely that they would, but then again, the Ramirez Cartel is reacting completely out of character. If Ramirez didn’t want any attention on him or the cartel, would he leave another man here to be killed? The more I think on it, the more I suspect she will be alone, but we aren’t going to take any chances that I’m wrong.”

“Or maybe Ramirez expected no one to look for Astrid and for her to die a slow death out here.”

Growler wanted to reach over and punch Irish for his offhanded comment, but he refrained. How could he do that when, if the situation was different and it wasn’t his woman taken, he would think the same thing?

The SEAL in him was preparing him for the worst. The man in him was hoping for the best. The internal battle was one he wasn’t familiar with.

The vehicle slowed, and Angel pulled over to the side. The sun had crested the horizon about fifteen minutes before. They still had the element of surprise, and by arriving this early, if there was a man stationed with Astrid, they could eliminate him without too much fuss.

“Growler, you’re with me when we get to the cabin,” Ox ordered when they got out of the car. “Irish and Angel, you take the back while we take the front.”

“Copy that,” they all responded.

Breathing deep, Growler took a moment to take in the air's stillness, the quiet birdsong and the gentle buzz of insects starting their day. He checked his vest for his spare ammo and his side for his KABAR. He then flexed his fingers around his rifle’s handle. He was ready. “Let’s go.”

They jog down the road, a half a mile was nothing to them all.

Ox slowed, and Growler followed suit. He scanned the area and spied the cabin, and the black van they’d seen Astrid being shoved into sat out front. Although one of the tires was flat, so it wouldn’t be much of a getaway vehicle if someone was inside guarding Astrid. It also meant that Astrid wouldn’t have any way to get back to safety either.

Together, they moved in a line formation toward the cabin. When they got within fifty feet, they broke off. Angel and Irish took the back as instructed.

“Ready?” Ox queried, his eyes watching his every move.

“Very ready.” Growler answered his boss’s question without hesitation.

Ox moved forward. Growler made sure to step where Ox had stepped, ensuring that he wouldn’t step on a twig and alert whoever was inside that there were people outside.

They crept up the steps and flanked either side of the door.

“There’s no back exit.” Angel’s voice came through the comms.

At least they didn’t have to worry about that.

Like on the mission they’d just completed, Ox gave the signal to breach the cabin. Growler lifted his foot and jammed it into the door. Wood splintered, and a scream filled the silent morning.

Astrid screamed the second the door burst open and the barrel of a gun appeared. She scrambled back into the corner as if she could make herself invisible.

Two men dressed in black with balaclavas entered the structure. The instant the first one crossed the threshold, he directed his attention to her.

She recognized the eyes peering through the cutouts in the mask. “Callum?” she whispered.

How was he here?

How had he found her?

Was this real?

Was she dreaming?

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