Page 35 of Coveting Catherine

Chase bandaged Carol's leg. “It's a flesh wound. The bullet grazed you. I want you to pack a bag and head to Maddie and Joe's. Stay there until you hear from us.”

“They drove all black vehicles, five of them, four trucks and a van,” Jake informed the men.

Chase nodded as the men piled back into vehicles. Shadow and Taco followed the tracks left by the skidding tires. Matthew jumped into the back of the cab next to Ash and started clicking the keys on the tablet.

Leo gripped the wheel as he sped back to the mountain. His heart pounded hard against his chest. The roaring in his ears tuned out everything as he recalled all the surveillance information on Rahimi. The man held no value for human life.

Rahimi will kill those three as a message to Ash. We have to stop his men before they get them to Rahimi. Fuck, last time I faced him, I lost two of my brothers and our team was blown to bits. Fuck, fuck, fuck, can I do this? If I fail, I lose the one woman I’ve loved my entire life. Fuck. I won’t let her down. I’ll rescue her and Melody. We will have a life together. I’ll get PITA back for Chase. Everyone gets their fucking happily ever after.

They entered the secure building as Matthew tracked the vehicles through the camera lights. Speeding after them held too many issues. If Leo's team attempted to take them out aggressively, they risked the three hostages. They wanted Ash. While Leo wanted answers, he’d give him up in a heartbeat to get Catherine and Melody back.

“Shit, Leo,” Taco reported over the coms. “I’ve got the five vehicles but they’re on the side of Miller’s field and there’s a helo impression on the hay.”

“Fuck,” Ash muttered and placed his head in his bound hands.

“Come back to base,” Leo ordered with his jaw clenched and hands balled into fists.

Shadow grabbed their bug-out bags and more weapons while Chase called Maddie and Joe. He imagined Chase struggled between shaking his wife senseless for not staying put and worried like hell about her.

“Ash, follow me,” Leo's voice left no room for argument. Ash fell in line behind him as they disappeared down the hall and into the workout area.

Leo crossed the mats and sat down on one of the benches. Ash stood at attention in front of his former leader.

“I'm assuming the rest of what you wanted to tell me concerns Catherine. I want to hear all of it. Doc is coming down in a few to remove the tracker under your shoulder blade. We'll be rolling out soon, and I need to know everything. They have the women and Melody. You’re going to help get them back safely. If they get hurt because of your twisted vendetta against me, there’s not a place on earth you can hide that I won’t find you,” Leo vowed.

“Rahimi snatched Catherine and Melody to make me sweat. I sent the million Stanton paid me. I'm two mil short. I have another three hundred thousand, but he won’t take any less than the two mil. He won't hesitate to kill them one by one. He'll start with Kassie, as I'm guessing she wasn't part of his plan,” Ash swallowed nervously as Leo’s gaze penetrated through him.

“I want to know what you didn't tell the team. You threatened the woman I love. When this is over, I'll kick your ass, and turn you over to the authorities,” his voice stayed deceptively calm as he issued his threat.

Ash squirmed and glanced behind him. Taking a deep breath, he sat on the opposite side of Leo on the twin weightlifting bench. “I lied to her to keep her with me. I told her Olaf died because you didn’t cover his six.”

Leo gripped the edge of the bench until his knuckles turned white. “Go on. Did you hurt her?” his voice hardened.

“I won’t lie. I threatened Catherine, and I hit her a few times. I?—”

He punched Ash's nose. The crunch didn’t nearly satisfy him as he continued to pummel Ash as he fell backward off the bench. An image of Catherine cowering under Ash as he hit her, sent Leo into a blind rage.

Chase and Saint ran into the area and pulled the two men apart.

“Boss, don't lose your shit, he isn't worth it. Miss Catherine is probably scared out of her mind with little Miss Melody. Miss Kassie will protect them until we arrive, but we need you to pull it together. What's the plan?” Saint shook his friend. “Leo, what's the plan?”

Leo's chest moved up and down heavily as he gathered his thoughts. Catherine, holding Melody tightly in her arms, flashed in his head. His brain churned all the possible scenarios. His nostrils flared, and his eyes focused as the plan became more precise in his head.

“Chase, contact Ivan. We need numbers. Rahimi declared war on our own turf. We'll run him to ground. Saint, take Ash's phone and have Matthew trace the calls. See if we can get an approximate location.” Doc threw Ash a towel and cut the zip tie so he could hold the cloth to his nose as Leo began walking. “Clean your face, and Shadow will escort you to the conference room. You’re going to call Rahimi and keep him on the line. Pray I'm in time to get them back,” Leo spit out as he shrugged Saint's hands off. He started for the door to his office.

Ash stepped forward with the towel held to his nose. “I’m not done. I threatened the kid,” he yelled.

Leo froze by his office door. His eye’s narrowed, warning the man to tread carefully.

“The kid. She's not mine, Leo. Melody’s your daughter. We adjusted Catherine's due date.”

“Look, I didn’t expect them to grab the kid and Catherine first. I’ll talk to Rahimi and make a deal. Or isn’t Kassie worth a fortune? Maybe we could borrow the money to appease him and get them back,” Ash thought out loud.

Chase glanced at his teammate, and slightly nodded. If it came down to their freedom or money, Chase only needed to make a call to Joe.

“I know you’ve spent the last few years in the desert, but we hold the stance of not negotiating with terrorists. I’m not handing over two million dollars to someone who will use it to purchase weapons against my country or buy innocent human beings. I see your moral compass is skewed, but I refuse to have my team or myself involved in hurting other people. Kassie may have a fortune, but she’s using it to save lives and give us something to fight for. I won’t go against her wishes and hand over money to the man who killed Catherine’s brother and hurt our team.” Leo informed Ash bitterly.

“You can use me as leverage if it helps rescue them. I want to negotiate a deal. I don’t want to go to prison. I’ve spent the last few years in a damn hell hole. I’ll agree to divorce Catherine if you’ll consider it,” Ash sounded desperate.