Page 68 of Emi's Hero

It did have lush mountains that made it difficult to find a bunker sunk deep into its side.

But they had coordinates and a GPS map that would get them there.

The big question was whether they would be there on time. Would Warren go directly to Sara? If so, would he hurt her or use her as a human shield or bargaining chip to buy him time to get off the island?

Emi wrung her hands in her lap, counting the minutes it would take to reach the coordinates the drone team had confirmed was the correct place.

Hawk had brought weapons for the team. Rifles, handguns and armor-plated vests to protect them. They still had their communications devices and had worked as a team on a number of occasions.

Now that they had found the bunker and were within minutes of arriving there, Emi remembered the thick walls of the bunker. They had seemed impenetrable. How would they get inside to rescue Sara?

Among the weapons Hawk had loaded into the plane and then transferred into the back of the SUVs, he’d included C4 explosives and detonators.

Emi wasn’t sure how she felt about that. Could they contain the explosives enough that they wouldn’t blow the entire complex to hell along with her sweet daughter?

They had to get past the exterior guards before they could get close enough to set explosives in the door or walls.

Kalea turned off the main road onto a gravel road. She turned off the headlights and proceeded forward, using only fog lights to navigate. Heavy vegetation shrouded the road, making it nearly impossible to see the tracks. They had to slow to a veritable crawl to keep from running into tree trunks or falling off cliffs.

“Stop here,” Hawk told Kalea.

She pulled to the side as much as she could and shifted into park.

“We go on foot from here,” Hawk said.

The vehicle behind them rolled to a stop, and the men piled out. They each slipped into the armor-plated vests, grabbed rifles and handguns and strapped knives to their belts or ankles. The last items they pulled over their heads were night vision goggles that would allow them to pick up the heat signatures of the mercenaries standing guard outside the compound.

After spending eight years in what was basically a cell with little stimulation, all the moving parts of this operation overwhelmed Emi.

She stood to the side with Kalea as the men geared up for the battle ahead.

“I need to do something,” Emi said. “I should be the one going into the compound. That’s my child in there. I know my way around some of the corridors.”

Kalea shook her head. “You don’t have the training the Brotherhood Protectors have, nor the experience. You might get between them and the mercenaries.”

Emi wrapped her arms around her middle. “We’re so close and yet so far. I want to hold my little girl in my arms and know she’s safe.”

“They’ll get her out,” Kalea said.

When the men were ready, George came to Emi. “A kiss for good luck?” he said quietly.

She stepped into his arms, linked her hands behind his neck and rose onto her tiptoes. “Be careful,” she said. “I kind of like kissing you.”

He chuckled. “Is that all you like about me?”

“Mmm.” She tilted her head, studying his face in the starlight. “I like how strong you are and how you still like to play in the water. I like how you make me laugh and want to please me above yourself.” She pulled him closer. “I especially like it when you kiss me and make me feel like the most important person in your world.”

He cupped her cheeks in his hands. “Hold all those thoughts,” he said. “I’ll be back before you know it.” He pressed his lips to hers briefly. “With Sara. Please, stay here with Kalea, where we won’t have to worry about you.”

Emi nodded. “Hurry back.”

The men fit their night vision goggles over their eyes and slipped away into the night.

Kalea and Emi still had the radio earbuds they’d worn at the luau. They stood at the edge of the road in the shadows of the trees and listened in as the team approached the compound built into the side of the mountain.

For the first minutes, the silence was excruciating.

Then Hawk’s voice sounded in Emi’s ears. “Bogey in the woods ten yards from me, moving in.”

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