Page 87 of Deceptive Lies

He couldn’t let himself think that.

Surely the delay of moving those cows out of the way wasn'tenough that they’d lost their window of opportunity. Mahmoud wanted Willow dead, but not to the extent that he wasn't going to taunt her first. He thought he’d won, and he was going to make sure he rubbed that in her face before no doubt inflicting a long, slow, painful death on her.

Hold on, honey. I'm coming.

Please, baby, hang on.

Fear like this was crippling, and his hands were physically shaking as he followed his brothers.

The house where Willow’s tracker indicated that she was being held was in a small community. There were other houses within eyesight of it which meant it was easier for them to approach without being immediately noticeable. But on the other hand, it meant that a shootout was going to draw unnecessary attention.

Attention that could wind up slowing them down and getting Willow hurt.

It wasn't until they scaled a fence, and his feet landed on the ground inside the property where Willow had been brought that Cooper finally felt a sense of calm settle over him. This was what he knew how to do. What he was good at. The stakes may be higher than they’d ever been before but that just meant there was zero room for error.

Almost there, Willow.

Hold on just a little longer for me.

Out on a small patch of lawn were around a dozen men. They were all down on their knees, and from the looks of it they appeared to be praying.

What did that mean?

Good news for Willow or bad?

Cooper wished he could at least lay eyes on her. Then he’d be able to reassure himself that he hadn't failed, that he wasn't too late, that she was still alive, and he could do what he’d promised her he’d do.

Because if he did fail, if that small delay had cost Willow her life, he didn't think he’d ever be able to move forward. Willow had never had anyone in her life to watch out for her since she was an eight-year-old little girl, and she’d watched in horror as her father was beaten to death right in front of her for crimes he hadn't committed.

“Cooper, you get inside the house, find Willow. The rest of uswill take out the men,” Cade’s voice came softly through the comms. His older brother was a natural born leader, and it was only because Cade had a little girl at home that he wasn't Charlie Team’s leader. When they’d all agreed to join Prey about three years ago, Cade turned down Eagle’s offer for team leader and instead suggested Cooper fill the role. He’d always been proud his big brother had thought this was a job he could handle, and he’d done his best to lead the team the way Cade would have.

But today he was happy to allow Cade to take over.

His nerves could not handle the additional responsibility when his entire being was screeching at him constantly to get to Willow.

Diverting away from the others, while they headed to the front of the building where the men were, Cooper headed to the back. The house was quiet, too quiet as he approached it. The backdoor stood wide open and much like the house where he’d first spotted Willow huddled in a corner, a kitchen took up the majority of the back end of the building.

The kitchen was empty, so he crept through it and began to clear the other rooms on the ground floor. While he would have loved to have flown the drones they had with them, gather more intel without revealing their presence, the fact that they’d been delayed had changed everything. They no longer had the luxury of staying hidden while they confirmed Professor Mahmoud was there, they had to act now or risk being too late to save Willow and possibly too late to capture Mahmoud before he went to ground and was never spotted again.

Holding it together well considering the circumstances, that all fell away when Cooper entered a smaller room off the wide hallway toward the front of the house.

That’s when he lost it.

The room was mostly empty other than a bed and a dresser.

Lying on the bed were clothes.

Willow’s clothes.

The ones she’d been wearing when they were caught and crashed the helicopter to escape.

The ones she’d put back on this morning when they’d prepared to drop her off and useher as bait.

Now they lay on the mattress, cut to pieces.

A roar echoed inside his head, and for a moment, Cooper wondered if he’d just cost all of them their lives by screaming out loud. Then he realized the agonized howl was trapped inside his mind.

Willow had been there.

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