Page 192 of Master of My Life

She stretched out her hand to pull Chase’s pillow into her face. It smelled like him. She closed her

eyes and hugged it.

Loneliness crept into her heart, and she blinked back tears. How could she feel lonely? He’d been

gone less than a day but her heart ached for her husband’s presence, his embrace, his voice.

She buried her face into his pillow, imagining his arms around her and his crooked smile.

36

CHASE SQUATTED IN THE BRUSH, ABSOLUTELY STILL SAVE THE SLOW TWIST OF HIS TORSO AS HE

scanned the compound through his binoculars.

“What do you see?” Sydney asked in a low voice.

“Three heavily armed guards on the ground. Four on the roof.”

“Damn. They have more than I thought.”

He pulled the binoculars away from his face. “What do you want to do?”

Sydney was quiet for a long moment. “I think you were right. The basement is the better option.”

“We still need the cameras out, regardless of where we go in.”

She nodded. “Of course.” She tilted on her knee and grabbed onto Chase’s arm for support.

“Sorry. Lost my balance.”

Chase bit back a frown. Sydney had excellent balance.

They’d been in a ditch near the outside of the compound of a Mexican drug lord for over an hour,

studying it, taking mental notes, and adjusting the plans made the previous night.

She let go and held out her hand. Chase handed her the binoculars. “When are you going to tell me

what we’re retrieving?”

“I just found out this morning.” Sydney reached into her pocket and pulled out a thick piece of

paper. “This was shoved under my hotel room door overnight.”

It was a creased photo of a preteen girl with dark hair and pale blue eyes, no older than thirteen.

Chase gritted his teeth. “What the hell is this?” He didn’t like that the girl reminded him of Sabrina.

“This is not something you push off for several days, Sydney! We should have been here earlier!”

“As I understand it, there was a threat last Monday. I had a feeling I’d have to go, which is why I

contacted you. She was taken on Wednesday morning out of her dad’s house. He’s a senator’s aide in

DC. It took them a few days to find out where she was. Once they did, diplomatic channels didn’t

work. So, they called me.”

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