Page 88 of Operation Heartbeat

“On my signal. Chickie, you take down the door. Denver, go left. Mason, right.”

“Copy,” echoed each man.

The street in front of the building was too narrow for more than one car to pass.

“Odd for an auto shop; there’s no place to pull in.” A garage door was pulled down, and nobody appeared to be around.

He spotted a door to the side. “There.” He jabbed a finger at the entrance.

Mason whipped the vehicle to the front and parked half on the street, half on the bit of walkway in front of the building.

“Go!” Con threw open his door and rushed out, weapon at the ready.

Sophie was in there. He could feel it in his bones. He couldsenseher.

Henner rushed the door. He lifted a boot and delivered a hard kick over the lock. The splintering noise of wood filled the air, followed by a short scream from within.

Henner thrust his shoulder into the door, busting it in completely. It hung on the hinges. Con didn’t hesitate. He blew inside, head swinging left and right as his other men peeled off behind him and with Henner on his six.

A series of small rooms that probably served as offices at one time when the business was still operating were empty. But they’d heard somebody scream—people were here.

They reached a closed door. He kicked it in with a violence he rarely fully let loose on the world. Nobody was going to fuck with the woman he loved. He was getting Sophie back.

He led with his weapon, sweeping the space. Boxes were piled up in every corner of the room. One teetered as if about to fall.

“Come out! Hands in the air!”

For a beat, nobody moved. Con rushed in, prepared to shoot to kill.

Hiding in the corner was a woman. Crouched down, her hands over her head.

“Out!” he barked in Turkish.

She whimpered and stumbled forward.

“Check her,” he ordered Henner.

He pushed forward and frisked her. “Clear.”

“Tie her up.”

Henner pulled out several zip-ties and made quick work of it while Con turned for the door. He threw out his hearing. Silence seemed to pulse. He knew from experience, that was never good.

“Charlie 5, come in.”

“Copy.”

“Got anything?”

“Negative.”

A sudden shout broke the silence.

Con shot forward with Henner on his six. Then he heard the shrill scream of a woman.

Chills broke out all over Con. Fury ignited in his veins. His feet pounded the floor as he followed the sound. There were no basements in this part of the world, so where were they holding her? His team had combed every inch of the place.

“There must be a hidden room,” he ground out as he began to kick at walls and shove his shoulder into anything that looked remotely unstable. He would rip this building apart with his own two hands if it meant getting Sophie back.

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