Page 61 of Fast Vengeance

Even if the woman he was falling for was about to place herself in direct and very real danger.

He shoved the thought aside and focused on business. Everything moved fast from there. Before Gabe knew it, they’d been granted a green light for the op from both the Mexican and U.S. governments. The Mexicans would act as perimeter security at Nieto’s mansion while FAST Bravo executed the rescue op and moved to the extraction point.

Then Gabe would be forced to wait on the sidelines for word on Oceane…and not be able to do dick all to help her if she got into trouble in the meantime.

“Okay, boys, let’s move,” Freeman said, pulling on his gloves.

Gabe looked around, but Oceane was already gone.

Heart heavy, he followed his teammates back to their barracks. Everyone grabbed their gear and rushed out to the vehicles waiting to take them to the airstrip. Two private jets were waiting on the tarmac, ready to roll.

They piled on board and buckled in for the flight to Cancún.

No one talked. There was no chatter, no joking around. Even Granger and Maka were quiet. Every last one of them knew the gravity of the situation. If they messed this up, if they breached the house and it turned out Cap wasn’t at the target location, he would die.

And Oceane might too.

****

Victoria jerked upright when someone knocked on the door of the hotel room the Mexican officials had put her in near base several hours ago. With everything going on, the taskforce wanted her contained and out of the way, yet available at a moment’s notice if she was needed for anything else. Taggart had told her he might send for her at some point. The whole time she’d been in here, she’d thought about Brock, and what she’d seen in that video.

She crossed to the door to see who was there. But instead of finding one of the marshals when she checked the peephole, a Mexican police officer stood there dressed in uniform instead.

“Who is it?” she said in Spanish.

“Miss Gomez, I’m Sergeant Vargas. Commander Taggart wants to meet with you. I’m to take you to him.”

She frowned. Everything here was in a state of chaos, but she didn’t see why the marshals would allow someone else to come up and get her. Unless the Mexican authorities had overruled them? “Where is my security detail?”

“Downstairs, waiting for you in the vehicle.”

Odd. “Did Taggart say what he wanted?”

“No. But his team is heading to the nearby airport, where I am to take you. We must hurry.”

Did he want her to fly to Cancún with them maybe? She could ask the marshals once she got to the vehicle. “One moment.” She grabbed her purse from the dresser and unlocked the door.

Vargas stepped back and walked at a rapid clip to the stairs. “Faster than the elevator,” he said, holding the door open for her.

Their footsteps echoed in the empty stairwell as they hurried for the ground floor. “This way,” Vargas said, pushing open the exit door that opened up into an alley behind the hotel.

A gray van was parked there. Not running. And she couldn’t see anyone else inside it.

Suspicion transformed into alarm, a primal warning tingling at the base of her spine.

Not wanting to give herself away, she turned around, hid her unease as she stepped back through the door. This was all wrong. She needed to get the hell away from him. “I forgot a file up in my room. Taggart will need it.” She started past the man, intending to race into the lobby and get help.

Vargas shot out a hand and gripped her wrist. “No. We need to leave now. The file can wait.”

Alarm transformed into fear.

She wrenched her arm free, but just as quickly he snatched her other one and pulled her toward the door.

Heart in her throat, Victoria whirled on him, stared right into his eyes. “Let. Me. Go.” She narrowed her eyes at him in warning, hoping her strong stance would be enough to make him release her. “Now.”

He cursed and grabbed her around the torso, wrenching her off her feet.

“No!” She drove her head back, slamming her skull into his face with a satisfying crack. Vargas bellowed in pain but didn’t drop her, kept dragging her determinedly toward the van.

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