Page 72 of Zero Hour

Pat exhaled. “It’s Ryan.”

Her entire body went still.

“Two of Al-Jabiri’s men followed Thorn to the safe house. I’m sorry, Jasmine, but they took him.”

She stared at him for a second.

Then she swayed, her hand flying to her mouth. “No. Oh, God. No.”

Pat reached for her instinctively, but she jerked back.

“They’re going to kill him, Patrick,” she whispered, eyes wide with panic. “They’re going to kill himbecause of me.”

Her breathing turned sharp, ragged. She was going into full panic mode.

He grabbed her by the shoulders, steadying her. “Listen to me.” His voice was firm. “We arenotgoing to let that happen.”

Her eyes burned into his, pleading, wild.

“Do you hear me, Jasmine?” he ground out. “We aregetting him back.”

Her chest rose and fell in sharp, quick gasps. Then she nodded. Once.

“Get dressed,” he said. “We’re leavingnow.”

CHAPTER 27

“We’ll find him.”

Jasmine nodded, but her heart twisted painfully in her chest.

They had to.

Pat drove like a man possessed, weaving through traffic with precision, barely braking as he cut past slower cars. His hands gripped the wheel, his jaw locked in that impenetrable way that told her he was already one step ahead.

How could he be so sure?

“Ed Hollis from the FBI is meeting us at the office,” Pat said, his voice tight. “They’ve got resources—traffic cams, database cross-checks, pattern analysis. My operator caught the make and plate of the vehicle. We’ll find them.”

Her hands clenched into fists. “I pray you’re right. I couldn’t bear it if anything happened to Ryan.”

Pat reached over, squeezing her thigh briefly before returning his grip to the wheel. “It won’t. They won’t kill him—not yet. They need leverage to keep you quiet.”

“How can you be sure?” she croaked.

“Because I know Al-Jabiri.” Pat’s tone was grim. “He’s a manipulative bastard. He’s going toplayyou, terrify you into compliance.”

Jasmine swallowed hard. “But I don’t knowanything.That’s the irony of it. He kept me in the dark the entire time.”

“You know about his PTSD. You know things Counter Terrorism can use against him.”

She hesitated, then sighed. “I suppose so.”

Pat shot her a glance. “He might try to negotiate—trade you for Ryan.”

A wave of cold dread settled in her gut. “You think Amir will reach out to me?”

“There’s a real possibility.” His voice dropped into that steady, commanding register she was coming to rely on. “If he does, we have to be ready. We can use it to our advantage.”

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