Page 34 of Call Sign: King
He heard their countdown to entry, followed by a loud curse.
“Fuck. This isn’t a housekeeping closet. It’s a foyer to an employee elevator bank. Looks like the suspect is on the move in a back-of-house elevator.”
“Dammit!” Ryder shouted.
“Fuck. I’m tracking the Queen’s movement, heading south now. Pulling up the hotel blueprint,” Axel reported.
“We’re pressing the down button. The bastard’s gotta be heading for the loading dock. That’s right below where we’re standing. Hotel security is supposed to be at that exit. Better warn them our guy is heading their way!” MacGyver shouted.
“Roger that,” Axel said.
The seventeen-story hotel had just come into view in the distance when MacGyver shouted. “Dammit, just got down to the sub-basement level. Employees are screaming and running for cover. Our guy must be close.”
Hang on baby. We’re coming.
Ryder could hear the crying and screaming coming through Arrow and MacGyver’s comms units as they ran through the throng of employees in pursuit of his Queen. Even if by some chance the assailant managed to get Khloe into a getaway vehicle, he was getting close enough to the hotel to cut them off or at worst, take up pursuit.
About six blocks out, he had to slam on his breaks to avoid hitting a group of pedestrians in a crosswalk. One of the men he’d almost hit stopped to flip him the bird and Ryder seriously contemplated mowing the bastard down. Thankfully, he resumed walking before he slammed the gas back down.
“Fuck!” MacGyver shouted. “A white cargo van just peeled out of here like a bat out of hell. That has to be them! Arrow is taking a shot!”
Technically, the newest member of his team was breaking protocol by shooting at the van. They were in a high traffic area full of innocent friendlies, but Ryder was grateful.
“Update!” he shouted.
“Put a plug into the driver’s side door. Side window broken, but van still moving. Must have missed the driver.”
“Shoot out a tire!” Ryder yelled.
“Too late. They’ve left the dock, and we’re on foot.”
“I’m only a few blocks away. Which direction are they heading?”
“What the fuck?” Axel said with the first hint of panic.
“What?” Ryder screamed. “I need a fucking location. There are a shit ton of one-way streets down here and I need to be sure I’m going the right way to catch them.”
“I need you to stay calm.”
Axel’s tone was icy cold and even though the men were over a thousand miles apart, Ryder shivered.
“Say it.”
“We lost the signal as soon as they left the hotel.”
“Bullshit. That’s impossible. It’s embedded.”
“I’m telling you what I see. We lost the signal.”
“Fine, switch back to the earrings or the lapel pin. One of the three GPS trackers have to be working, dammit!”
It was Torch who broke in with a possible explanation. “Not if they have the back of the van lined with lead or copper. Hell, they could even just have a jammer back there and it could throw us off.”
Ryder wanted to rage. He had the best fucking team of mercenaries money could buy at his disposal and still he hadn’t kept Khloe safe. He never should have left her side. He never should have let her stay in Toronto.
I never should have fallen in love. Men like me don’t deserve sunshine like her in our lives.
“Let’s work the problem, people,” calm Axel was back. “We lost signal while they’re in the van, but we should get it back when they take her out. We need to be waiting and ready. Where are they taking her?”
