Page 19 of Hero's Heart

“At the drop? I’m not sure there’s anything we can do. They hold most of the advantages there. But I was thinking perhaps you can circumvent the drop entirely.”

Callum’s eyes narrowed. “Go on.”

“I’m patching through some intel right now.”

Callum tapped the touch pad, pulling up the images Lincoln had sent. “We’ve got it.” Both Bear and Theo nodded, looking down at their own screens.

Satellite photos and a detailed map of some sort of compound popped up. The area wasn’t much to look at, mostly barns, sheds, and a couple dilapidated houses.

“What are we looking at here, Linc?” Callum asked.

“I have confirmation that Marissa Getty is being held in a cellar under one of these farmhouses,” Lincoln was saying, his fingers dancing across his keyboard.

Confirmation of where the victim was.That changed everything.

“Wait.” Theo looked up from his screen. “Are we talking about turning this mission from handoff to rescue?”

“Won’t lie,” Bear muttered. “Sounds like that might be the safer of the two options, given what we’ve found out.”

They needed more info before they even started thinking about this.

“Let’s say we land and do a hot extract,” Callum said to Lincoln. “What exactly would we be facing on the ground?”

“It’s hard to say exactly, but the Kozaks only have a roughly squad-sized element in the immediate vicinity around the main house, with access to reserves from the surrounding area. They definitely are not expecting anyone to go after them right now, but it still doesn’t mean that it would be easy.”

Squad plus reserves. That would make it about twenty of the Kozaks’ men versus the three of them.

Bear scrubbed a hand down his face. “What sort of movement around the compound?”

Lincoln adjusted his headset. “Half a squad plus or minus rotating every six hours, with one patrolling the perimeter andanother near the house. Between shifts, they’re inside—probably drinking or playing cards. Not exactly disciplined.”

Undisciplined was both good and bad… They weren’t as highly trained, so easier to take out. But they also could be unpredictable because of that very lack of training.

Theo spoke, his voice steady. “What about entry points? Escape routes?”

Lincoln switched the screen to a map of the farmhouse. “The tree line on the east side is your best approach. It gets you within fifty yards of the back door. That’s the least reinforced entry, and it’s closer to the cellars.”

Two blocks on the digital maps lit up. “Marissa should be in one of those cellars. It’s definitely the most logical and secure place to keep her. There’re also a lot of underground passageways on the property left over from World War II hideouts. The main tunnel runs nearly a quarter mile from the house heading south. There are also a bunch of smaller branch-off tunnels, but there’s no data about those.”

Callum nodded. “We could try to use the tunnels as far as we can. Keep the vehicle parked near the southern exit.”

“Definitely doable,” Bear added.

Before this went a second further, Callum had to clarify some things. He turned to Theo and Bear. “Look, I get that this may be our best chance of actually getting Marissa Getty alive. But if we go in, this is much more dangerous than the original parameters of our mission. We’ll be outmanned and out-armed.”

“What about getting some backup from Dustin?” Theo asked.

Callum shook his head. “No can do. Dustin said he may have a mole within his company, so if we do this, it’s without backup or permission.”

“I say we do it.” Bear leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms over his chest. “We came here to save an innocent life. Danger be damned.”

Theo nodded.

Callum studied them. These were good guys. Goodmen. They were skilled, smart, and courageous.

But still young. Both in their early thirties, they had an unshakable sense of invincibility.

Callum couldn’t say the same for himself. Forty-four wasn’t old, not really—but it wasn’t young either. He was aware that at his age, he couldn’t afford to burn out early or take unnecessary risks. He had to be sharp, deliberate.

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