Page 210 of Forced Vows

The problem isn't catching up, but overshooting them.

There's the mumble of another voice near Brogan and then he says, "They cut through the net."

That tells me something. These guys are professional. Not that I expected anything else from the military trained AOG.

It tells me something else too. Brogan has a fucking rat working for him. Someone ignored the alarms that would have been set off by the sonar at the three-man team's approach.

"Put the men you have stationed on sonar watch duty on lockdown," I order.

We'll question them after. After I get my fiancée back and gut the men who tried to take her.

"Already done. You can sit in on the interrogation."

Ignoring his oblique order to stay out of it, I say, "They have a plan for getting across Long Island without pursuit."

What that fucking plan is, I don't know. Except they are bound to ditch Róise's phone. Good thing I don't have to rely on the phone's tracker.

They could have a signal jammer, but that also stops them from communicating with their backup.

"Keep in mind, they might be military trained, but they're also arrogant as hell," Brogan says. "They believe in their supremacy over everyone that isn't part of their cult. That can translate into stupid mistakes."

"I'm not relying on someone else's mistakes to get mi dolce fiore back. I will find her."

"I'm putting the house on lockdown. Do you want your two men to stay here or to come after you? We can provide them with dry clothing and weapons."

Their guns went swimming with them. We use weapons unlikely to be affected by submersion, but when it comes to Róise's protection, I'm not settling for unlikely.

"Get them weapons and tell them to head southeast along the shoreline." I have to go on my instinct with the direction they are taking her. "Have the other two vehicles from our envoy delivered to the helipad."

"Will do."

I hang up without saying another word.

My gut says Róise's kidnappers are heading back toward New York, with a plan to drive straight through to Pennsylvania. If they are as determinedly self-sufficient and arrogant as Brogan says they are, that's their only option.

I will get Róise back, no matter what it takes. But I do not want her to fucking leave this island with those assholes.

After instructing Ollie to slow down for a visual inspection of every boathouse we encounter, I call Sev.

"That son of a bitch, Gabriel took Róise."

"How many people do you need and where do you want me to send them?"

"Send the cargo helo. It will carry ten with a full arsenal. They can land on the helipad near Brogan's place. Two of our vehicles will be waiting."

"Done."

"Tell the helicopter pilot to remain on standby. Brogan says Gabriel doesn't have a helicopter, but I'm not taking any chances."

"I'll get Catalina and Domenico's team looking into potential access to one. "

"Good. There are three yachts in the nearby vicinity, get our smaller passenger helo in the air to do recon on them."

"Done. Are you sure it's Gabriel?"

"Brogan told me that Gabriel demanded he get Róise away from me and turn her over to him."

"And they call me a psychopath."

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