Page 4 of Reclaimed (Hostage Rescue Team)

Adam keyed the radio, his whole body rigid. “This is voodoo six. Do you read me?” Evers shot him a sideways glance as he pulled into the underground parking, heading toward the elevators where more security waited.

Tense seconds passed when nothing came back but the sounds of more panic and chaos on the other end. Then a man’s voice, urgent, filled with tension. “…ambush. Too many of them, we need immediate backup—”

The roar of an explosion cut off whatever else he was going to say. Then there was nothing but silence. Adam’s chest felt like it was full of concrete. He couldn’t breathe.

Summer. Summer was under attack and he wasn’t there to defend her. It was all he could think about.

“Blackwell, get the director inside, now,” DeLuca commanded. “We’re heading there as backup immediately.Move.”

Ahead of them, Tuck jerked his SUV to a stop in front of the elevators. Adam was out of the vehicle in an instant, ripping open the rear door and bodily hauling the director out. Ahead of him Tuck and the others were climbing out of the SUV.

He locked gazes with DeLuca, who nodded at him, face grim. “I know. We’re going.”

But not fast enough. It would never be fast enough.

Oh, God, please, he begged silently, fighting to hold it together. She had to be okay.

Adam didn’t say anything, his heart in his throat. Feeling numb, he hustled the director inside and handed him over to another security team, then ran back out and jumped into his SUV. Tuck shot away with a squeal of tires and Evers followed suit, with Schroder driving the vehicle behind them.

“How long?” he demanded of Evers.

“Ten minutes, tops.”

They didn’t have that long.

He could already hear DeLuca on the radio, trying to reach someone from the other security team. Adam put his phone to his ear, the ringing overly loud in his head as he waited for Summer to answer.

Pick up, Summer. Come on, please pick up.

There was no answer. “God dammit,no,” he moaned, squeezing his eyes shut.

“I can’t get through,” DeLuca reported to everyone. “Keep trying different channels on the radios, find out what the hell’s going on.”

Summer was being attacked and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do to save her. It killed him.

Adam sucked in a shaky breath and dragged both hands through his hair, unable to fight the terror streaking through him. She couldn’t be gone. She just couldn’t.

“We’re gonna get her, man,” Evers said beside him, expression deadly serious as he sped to keep up with Tuck’s vehicle.

Adam didn’t answer. He wasn’t aware of anything going on around them, his thoughts trapped in what had just happened to Summer’s convoy. It took eight agonizing minutes to reach the site of the attack. The moment they crested a rise on the highway, they saw the smoke rising off to the right.

“Fuck,” he snapped out, gaze riveted to the carnage in front of them. It looked bad. At least one of the vehicles was on fire. He picked his rifle up off the floorboard, fingers squeezing tight.Hang on, Summer, I’m coming.

First responders were already converging on the scene, police holding back the crowds of curious onlookers that were coming out onto the sidewalks to watch the spectacle. At the perimeter Tuck’s vehicle slowed only enough for him to flash his ID, then sped for the wrecked convoy.

All three of its vehicles sat abandoned in the middle of the residential street, one of them nothing more than a pile of melted, twisted metal.

Adam swallowed, forced himself to keep breathing. Scanning the scene, he couldn’t see anyone moving.She has to be there.

Evers plunged to a stop behind Tuck’s vehicle. The entire team burst out of their vehicles, automatically converging on the scene. Adam raced up to the lead vehicle, weapon to his shoulder.

Two charred bodies lay smoldering on the asphalt next to the SUV, as if they’d been trying to flee when whatever explosive round had been fired hit the vehicle. RPG? Whatever had exploded, it solidified that this had been a well-planned, coordinated attack.

His stomach rolled as he stared at the bodies, his brain unable to process that one of them might be Summer.

No, she was in the second vehicle. Hurry.

He rushed for it, his heart slamming against his ribcage. Evers was already there, checking inside the vehicle. He backed out of the rear seat, looked over his shoulder at Adam and shook his head. “Empty.”

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