Page 109 of Unspoken Promises

I briefed Callum on the way who called for more skilled help when Pen found Ava’s signal. Callum holds communication over radios behind me, but I’m not listening. I’m simply staring at the dim light in the distance where the woman I love is being held, hoping she’s alive. I don’t even notice the additional men in black uniforms arrive. The only thing I can see is that dim light through the mist.

Callum clamps down on my shoulder, pulling me from my deep concentration.

“SWAT is here. Mount Hamilton special teams are here. We’re ready to move.” He gazes out into the same darkness as I do, and his jaw tics. “They might have the place surrounded. But special teams have night vision. We’ll need to trust in these guys.”

“I can’t stand here knowing she’s only a few hundred yards away from me. They could be doing anything to her there.”

“Enzo, from what you told me, they want to take down GhostEye. Or to get to you. If so, she’s a hostage. Hostages aren’t useful unless they’re alive. We have a plan to get her out.”

“Fuck,” I breathe out sharply, clenching every muscle with frustration. I haven’t had enough time to profile Sánchez. All I have to go on is Ava’s past experience and mine. Neither seem to connect the trigger-happy young man in Ensenada with the patient one with a years-long revenge plannow calling himself Father.

“I’m going in. I’ll make a hostage trade. I’m not standing here doing nothing while I let him do whatever he wants with Ava.”

“He’s not going to simply let her go if you get in there,” Callum says, staring out in the abyss beside me.

When his gaze lands on me again, there’s a synergy, an understanding.A man doesn’t just stand by on the sidelines when his woman is in trouble. Callum and I are cut from the same cloth.

He calls over on the radio. “Assemble for briefing.” A rough sigh leaves his lips, and he points his radio to my cell. “Text and see what the fucker has to say.”

I text, just knowing I’ll soon have an invitation.

ME

I’m here now, Sánchez. You got what you wanted.

In no time at all I have a response.

AVA

I’ll trade you for the girl. Don’t even think about coming with any armed men. I brought my own. Blood will be shed.

I show the text to Callum who raises his eyebrows. “Thanks for the tip.”

We head off together to his briefing with the SWAT team. Callum informs the team that men are out there. Theplan is for me to stall by exchanging further texts with Sánchez, allowing the team ahead to take out any men guarding the barn.

Twenty texts filled with bravado and ego exchange, and I keep him on his toes until Callum finally receives the message.

Callum’s radio crackles. “Clear.”

And I send one last message for my enemy.

ME

If she isn’t alive when I get there, you will die.

The heavy weightof steel pulls down on my back pocket; it’s been a long time since I carried a gun. The dew of the grassy field wets the bottom of my jeans, and with every step I can’t help but wonder if SWAT missed a man. If one of Sánchez’s minions still hides and waits. Every inch closer, I only believe it more. Finally, I exhale a stale breath when I come upon a black helmet, hidden in the shadows just outside the entrance to the barn.

He offers me a nod, reassuring me it’s clear, then with two fingers points to his eyes, lifts his rifle, then hitches a thumb toward the inside. The snipers are set on the targets. There must be around five men out here with me, skilled marksmen, and I’ve seen how effective they’ve been before. Still, I’ve never had to trust their aim to protect someone I love.

I’m both reassured and more worried than ever that I’marmed. Will they check me? I don’t want to be helpless if they do anything to hurt Ava.

I slink around the edges of the dilapidated barn and find a hole made from a missing knot in the wood. I need to see what I’m dealing with before going in. At first, I can’t see Ava. There’s nothing but a wood stump with a short-handled ax in it and a few old brooms with mangled bristles in the abandoned space.

But then, the brittle voice of the woman I love reaches my ears.

“You’re a monster.”

My gaze follows the sound, and there she is in the hay loft next to a burly forty-something-year-old man standing stoic and detached. Another stands beside her, and seeing my nemesis in the flesh makes my blood run cold…Juan Sánchez.

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