Page 115 of Caught in the Crossfire

He glared at his friend. “How can you be so calm?”

Linc snorted. “I’m far from calm. Sticking with the plan will take every ounce of control I possess when what I want to do is kill each man in the campground for taking the women. You’re not the only one who wants his hands on Patton and Fisher. The way I feel at the moment, they’ll be lucky to make it into custody. In fact, I’d prefer they didn’t.”

At that moment, Mason’s cell phone rang. He glanced at the screen, his heart rate soaring. “It’s Fisher.”

“Remember the plan. We need another hour.”

Although everything in him rebelled at leaving Nicole in the hands of Patton and Fisher one more minute, he didn’t want to be responsible for injuries to his teammates by going in too early.

Mason drew in a deep breath, swiped the pad of his thumb across the screen, and put the call on speaker. “Kincaid.”

“Mason?”

His eyes widened at the sound of Nicole’s voice. “Are you all right, baby?”

“I can’t answer that.”

Oh, man. Her answer told him two things. She was hurt and unable to talk freely.

A slap sounded over the speaker. Seconds later, she said, “There’s an old campground outside Cherry Hill. Be here in 30 minutes or they’ll hurt me.”

Linc scowled and shook his head.

“Let me talk to Fisher or Patton.”

“No talk, Kincaid,” Fisher snapped. “You be here in 30 minutes.”

“I can’t. I’m on the far side of Dunlap County,” he lied. “Driving to Cherry Hill will take me at least an hour, and I don’t know where this campground is.”

Silence, then, “One hour. If you’re one minute late, your woman will pay. Bring Creed or his woman receives the same treatment. No cops or the women die.”

“Don’t, Mason,” Nicole shouted. “It’s a trap.” Her outburst was followed by glass breaking and her ragged groan.

“Fisher!” Mason’s grip tightened around the phone. “Don’t hurt her.”

The call ended.

Face white, Linc contacted Ethan. “Fisher called. Our deadline is in one hour. Based on what we heard, he’s been working Nicole over, probably Dawn, too.”

“Copy that. Stay with the plan. We’ll get them out.”

Linc ended the call without acknowledging the police chief’s order. “We can’t fail, Mase. If Fisher and Patton escape with Dawn and Nicole, we’ll never see them again.”

His gut churned. Taking unwilling hostages wouldn’t be worth the trouble. Killing Nicole and Dawn, then running would be an easier option.

Mason willed Linc to go faster. The plan, however, couldn’t be altered. Too many moving pieces must be in place for the plan to work. While Ethan wanted to free the women, he also wanted to scoop up the gang members complicit in the kidnapping. Like rats deserting a sinking ship, they would scatter as soon as they realized Mason and Linc brought reinforcements.

At the designated rendezvous point, Linc pulled off the road to wait for the rest of their team. Within minutes, Ethan and Nick pulled in behind Linc followed quickly by the members of Durango and Bravo.

They gathered at the front of Ethan’s SUV and went over the plan once more, this time with an accelerated timeline. When he finished, Ethan said, “Questions?”

“Do we have confirmation of life?” Alex asked.

Mason’s hands clenched. “As of 30 minutes ago, Nicole was alive but hurt. Fisher didn’t give me the opportunity to talk to Dawn.”

“She better be alive,” Linc said. “If she isn’t, Fisher and Patton will regret the day they were born.”

Ethan eyed him. “If you can’t keep it together, step back.”

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