Page 46 of Weston

“We need to go.” Wes checked his watch and frowned. It was getting late and they barely had thirty minutes before the three hour deadline would be up. As he hurriedly yanked his wetsuit off and got dressed, the hum of the boat’s motor filled the salty air and Jayson guided them toward shore.

The plan they’d discussed earlier seemed to be going off without a hitch, which was great, but also made Wes nervous. Odds were something usually went wrong at some point duringan op. No matter how much you prepped and planned, shit could get messy fast. That’s why alternate plans were always in place and the team had to be ready to roll with the punches and be able to improvise. Luckily, he was working with and relying on some of the very best. They might be older, but no one had lost his touch. Wes trusted these men with his life, as well as Ellie’s.

By the time Jayson had maneuvered the boat alongside the dock and they’d secured it, Wes was ready to go. He’d replaced the fin with his normal prosthetic, fitted sock and a dry liner. His Glock rested in the holster at his hip and his knife was securely sheathed in his boot. At this point, each guy had a job to do and it was now or never.

They all jumped onto the dock. There was no point guarding the empty warhead, so they left it. Xander carried the box holding the plutonium pit and slid into the waiting SUV along with Lex. They would hide it, while Wes and the rest of the team would meet Nayvadius.

It was getting dark entirely too quickly for comfort and Wes was ready to jump out of his skin. As Chaz drove them to the meeting spot, Wes couldn’t stop bouncing his knee or drumming his fingers. He was completely focused on getting his Ellie back and nothing would stop him.

The neutral location where they’d agreed to meet was in a snake fruit grove not far from the dock. A fitting place because every last one of these pirates was a goddamn snake. As they approached Nayvadius and several of his men, Wes frowned. He didn’t see Ellie anywhere and alarm bells began to clang in his head.

“Something’s wrong,” Wes said, sitting up straight.

“What do you mean?” Chaz asked, eyeing him in the rear view mirror.

“I don’t see Ellie.”

“She could be in the car or at a secure location,” Brand said.

But Wes only shook his head, hand covering his pistol. Once again, his gut told him something was off. If anything had happened to her, he’d go ballistic. He hadn’t been joking when he said he’d drop that fucking bomb on the island. His team would have to hold him back, tie him up, sedate him or just knock him out if one hair on Ellie’s precious head had been harmed.

Chaz barely braked to a stop before Wes threw the door open.

“Murph,” Brand growled in warning, following on his heels.

Wes stalked over to the pirates, his team at his back. “Where is she?” His deadly tone sliced through the air.

“Tucked away and safe for another…” Nayvadius checked the darkening sky above. “Ten minutes?”

“What the fuck?” Wes lunged at him, and Corey and Chaz grabbed his arms, holding him back.

Meanwhile Brand turned his phone around, showing Nayvadius the pictures of the warhead. “We held up our end of the deal. It’s on the boat and all yours. Now tell us where she is.”

Nayvadius examined the pictures then smiled, showing off his missing front tooth. If Wes had his way, the pirate would be missing a helluva lot more than teeth by the time he was done with him.

Satisfied, Nayvadius nodded to his men then gave Wes a cold, oily smile. “She’s tied up in the furthest cavern on the southern beach.”

“You sonofabitch,” Wes gritted out. But he didn’t have time to pound the man into the ground like he wanted. Instead, he yanked free of Corey and Chaz and spun around, heading back to the car. “Let’s go!” he shouted. There wasn’t a second to spare.

Once they were back in the car, Chaz hit the gas and they sped toward the southern beach.

“He’s going to lose his shit when he finds out we removed the pit,” Jayson stated. “Kinda wish I could be there to see it.”

“Kinda wish I’d knocked the rest of his fucking teeth out,” Wes growled.

“Once we get Ellie, time to exfil. This place is getting too damn hot,” Brand said.

The SUV finally reached the tangle of caverns facing the ocean and Wes’ heart sank faster than a brick in the sea. “It’s fucking high tide.”Fuck, fuck, fuck.Dread poured through him. If Ellie had been left in the cavern, tied up and alone, she didn’t have a chance once the damn thing filled up with seawater.

Jumping out, racing toward the caves as fast as possible, Wes saw the waves pounding into the caverns. Not thinking straight, only concerned about Ellie, he headed straight for the last cavern. Right before he could enter, Corey grabbed him.

“Tie this around your waist,” he directed, shoving a rope into Wes’ hands.

Without a word, Wes wrapped it around himself, knotted it and waded into the darkness. “Ellie!” he yelled, turning on hisflashlight. All he could hear was the rush of the water as it filled the narrow space, splashing against the rock, knocking him off-balance. What if Nayvadius had lied? What if she wasn’t in there, but somewhere else? There wasn’t time to spare or dick around. If this wasn’t the right cave, if he was looking in the wrong spot, she might be trapped and could drown before he found her.

Plowing forward, splashing through the waist-deep water, Wes called out for her again. “ELLIE!”

He thought he heard someone following behind him, but he didn’t stop to turn around and look. Finally, just as his panic threatened to consume him, he heard her.

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