Page 8 of Declan's Hope

He eyed both them. Something definitely simmered under the surface there, though he doubted anything had come of whatever attraction they felt toward each other. Solace and the colonel were consummate professionals, so no way would they jeopardize their working relationship.

Solace’s gaze flashed to his with a grimace and an almost imperceptible shake of her head before she opened her folder and sat back—her focus firmly on the contents in her hands. Her brows drew down and features tightened as she flipped though it before slapping it down on the table. Declan went on alert when her wide-eyed gaze whipped toward the colonel.

He went to open his own folder to see what that was about, but the lights dimmed before he could. The side of the room opposite the head of the table lit. He turned his attention to the viewing screen installed on the wall filling with the life-sized image of an imposing man who looked to be in his mid-fifties with near-black hair and ruddy, tanned skin. The man’s cold, dark brown eyes glared out at them.

“Joaquín Salazar,” the colonel said on a low rumble. More images of the man in different settings accompanied by various people flashed in front of them until a sprawling house filled the screen. “The Salazar Compound in Sonora, Mexico.” Several more images followed, giving them a different aspect of a tall, white stone wall fronted by a set of iron gates, with a green slated roof visible inside it. Aerial photos came next showing the sprawling house nestled inside the walls from above and a vast rooftop terrace. The wall—at least four feet deep—surrounded the compound with a guard walk atop it that protected not only the house, but anyone who might be in the vast outdoor courtyard, as well as several detached buildings inside its borders.

Declan tensed as the screen flashed again, this time with the picture of a child—a little girl—laughing into the camera and holding a doll tightly to her chest.

“Ana Ruiz. Our principle.”

“A kid.” Declan scowled as the tension in the room ratcheted exponentially. “Shit.”

The lights came up and Declan opened his folder to the same pictures he’d just seen with additional intel attached. He glanced around at his stone-faced teammates who were also going through their folders then back at his own and flipped through it until he came to photos reminiscent of scenes from his time in combat.

“Less than two hours ago,” the colonel broke into the silence as Declan stared at the carnage in the photos, “eight-year-old Ana Ruiz was kidnapped from her home by members of the Salazar drug cartel after they murdered several of the family’s household staff and most of their security personnel.” Murdered was a mild word for what had been done to the victims in the photos. Massacred might have been more fitting. “She’s being used as leverage against her father, Mayor Guillermo Ruiz, who has been spearheading an uprising to drive the cartel from his community. He’s to resign and appoint Salazar his successor at eight o’clock in the morning local time or Ana dies.”

The colonel’s intense gaze went around the table. “Salazar has never released a hostage alive. We don’t expect him to make an exception with a child. So, we have less than nine hours to hit the compound before dawn and retrieve Ruiz’s daughter. You’ll find schematics of the compound and our entry point on your phones, as well as the details of how this needs to go down.”

Declan flipped back to Ana’s picture. She looked to be about the same age as his niece, Kara. “Simple in and out,” he said on a snarl, as he lifted his gaze to the colonel, then met Cal’s, Garrett’s, and Solace’s. None of them disputed him, but they were each well aware nothing was ever simple. Especially when it came to extractions.

“Let’s get this done,” Solace said with some heat while pushing away from the table and standing.

Declan held back a growl as he and the rest of the team followed suit and filed out behind the colonel. This Salazar had made a big mistake using a child in his machinations. And Declan, for one, was ready to take out anyone getting in his way. He grinned. Maybe if he was lucky, it’d be Salazar himself.

* * *

Just over six hours after taking off in the agency’s private jet from the airfield behind their office complex, they were doing a flyover of an area near the Rio de Bavispe in northern Mexico. The pilot had to be getting close to making his final descent to a remote airstrip about eighty miles south of the Arizona/US border. They’d all taken the opportunity to rest for a couple of hours after the initial takeoff. So with that, lots of water, and four packets of Goody’s Powder taken in intervals throughout the trip, his headache had toned down to a manageable level.

Declan pulled on his black knit cap, then grabbed the greasepaint compact the team had been passing around. He applied the contents to his face as Solace sat down beside him.

“So,” she said, addressing the colonel as she tucked her short, dark blond locks under her cap. “They’ve had her almost eight hours now. And we know she’s still alive how?”

“I’ve just gotten a text that Ruiz received another proof of life about five minutes ago.” The colonel’s scowl deepened. “But regardless, Salazar will use Ana to force her father’s hand until he gets what he wants. So we have time.” The colonel’s assurance wasn’t very reassuring. Then Declan and the rest of the team gathered closer as the other man took the plans he had been studying and laid them out on the worktable in the aircraft’s spacious cabin. “According to our intel, Ana is being held in this room here.” He pointed to a place on a diagram of the second floor of the main house.

Declan handed the compact to Solace then stood and moved behind a seated Cal so he could peer over his friend’s shoulder at where the colonel had indicated—memorizing the child’s exact location and the best route to get there.

She is coming home.

“We hit the compound at oh-five-thirty.“ The colonel’s glance went toward Garrett who stood on Cal’s other side—both men’s face completely covered with black greasepaint. “Once the plane lands, you have roughly forty-five minutes to tap into their security system via the IP and other links we’ve been provided on your mobile remote system. I need you ready to travel with us to the site.”

“It’ll be done,” Garrett assured him, his tone lacking its usual smug boastfulness.

“Wroth, you’ll pilot us from the airstrip below in the Huey some friends have left for us. Once we land at this location,” their leader said, indicating a point beyond the perimeter of their targeted location but within a half-mile walking distance of the compound, “Davidson, Carter, and I will make our way to the compound.”

Solace had gotten up after applying her face paint and now had her hands braced on the table with her gaze moving over the various diagrams, while the colonel’s seemed to be on her for a few heartbeats. She raised her head, saying, “And?”

The colonel’s attention went back to the table’s contents where he indicated a place on one of the maps. “And I’ll stay about a hundred yards back in these trees with portable thermal imaging equipment." Declan had no idea where the colonel had gotten the high-tech prototype that would allow him to monitor activity inside the compound, but he appreciated his boss’s connections. "You’ll have point and the two of you will enter through a breach in the stone wall here on my all clear.” The colonel ran his finger over the word GARDEN printed on the diagram of the exterior of the house before he lifted his gaze back to her. “Keep an ear out for anyone making comments about our principle or any notion of our presence. Carter, you’ll have Davidson’s back.” The colonel held his gaze for several heartbeats as Declan nodded. The other man’s intensity said more than he probably realized before he returned his attention to Solace.

“Once you’re in position to get to Ana’s location, give the signal and Wallace will set off the compound alarms. In the confusion that should ensue, you’ll have a small window of opportunity to get to the room and extract the child. While they’re doing that, Wroth, you’ll pilot the Huey here right between the line of trees and their point of entry. This will become the new extraction point. Wallace and I will provide any necessary cover until Davidson and Carter board the chopper with Ana.” He let out a long breath. “Then we take back off.”

“Get ready back there,” their pilot called out. “We’re landing in five

“Like I said.” Declan glanced around at his teammates and friends. “A simple in and out.”

* * *

“Nothing about this has been simple,” Garrett groused in Declan’s ear through their shared comm link. “I had the connection set not two minutes ago. I’ll need to adjust.” A low whistle left his friend, followed by, “Shit.”

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