Page 128 of SEAL's Resolve

Jon took the pages. “I’ll see what I can found out about these two possibilities.”

“Work fast, Jon,” Rafe said. Stewart’s hours of life were running out.

CHAPTER THIRTY

Kristi sipped water as the men discussed options for rescuing her father. Her head spun with the number of scenarios Wolf Pack and Dan Adams developed. Her former security guard had arrived soon after Wolf Pack began debating the best approaches to the likely locations of the kidnappers’ hideout.

“I still don’t like it,” Rafe said. “Too many risks.”

“Face it, Rafe,” Dan said. “You won’t like any of the plans because they involve an element of risk to Kristi.”

“All of you are at risk, too,” Kristi said.

“We’re trained for this,” Rafe said flatly. “You aren’t.”

“Nothing will happen to me. I trust you.” Her gaze swept over the rest of them. “I trust all of you.”

“Trust isn’t the issue. Real bullets are.” Pain and fear for her lurked in the depths of his eyes. “Don’t ask me to do this, Kristi.”

“Rafe.” Eli waited until Rafe’s gaze locked with his. “If you can’t wall off your emotions, you’ll be a liability.”

Eyes narrowed, Rafe said, “If you try to lock me out of this operation, I’ll resign from Fortress. No one will stop me from protecting her.”

“Did I mention kicking you off this op?” Eli snapped.

Rafe straightened. “No, sir.”

“I’ve been where you are. I won’t order you to stand down. History won’t repeat itself. Callie didn’t have Wolf Pack at her back. Kristi does.” He inclined his head toward Dan. “We also have Adams to tip the odds in our favor.”

“We don’t know how many men might be involved in this kidnapping. Odds are good that we’ll be outnumbered again.”

“We’re better trained and more disciplined than anyone Fleming and Hale con into helping them and Ward pull this off. We also have backup. Brent has a team on standby.”

Kristi’s phone rang. She glanced at the screen. “Unknown number again.”

“On speaker,” Jon said.

When Rafe gave her the signal to answer the call, she swiped the screen and tapped the speaker button. “This is Kristi.”

The mechanical voice rattled off an address. “You have two hours to bring the money. If you’re one minute late, we’ll kill your father. Come alone. No cops. No boyfriend. If anyone else but you shows up, all of you will die.” The call ended.

“Too short.” Jon shut the lid of his laptop.

“No surprise. Gear up,” Eli said. “Adams, do you have what you need?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Get your gear. You’ll ride with me and Jon. We’ll set you up with one of our comm devices. Rafe, help Kristi get ready. We don’t have much time.”

While the team scattered to carry out Eli’s orders, Rafe walked with Kristi to the second floor. He led her into his bedroom and grabbed his bag from the floor. Rafe showed her a small electronic device, then slid the gadget into her ear and tapped it.

Voices of Rafe’s teammates came through the device. She smiled. “I can hear your teammates.” Several of them chuckled.

“Music to your ears,” Jackson teased.

“They can also hear you.” Rafe’s gaze swept over her quickly. “You need a dark, long-sleeved shirt that buttons and isn’t form-fitting. Don’t put it on yet. If you have black jeans and tennis shoes, change into them while I gear up.”

Kristi hurried to her room, found what she needed, and changed. She returned to Rafe. “Will this work?”

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