Page 51 of Married to the SEAL
“You’re not going anywhere. This whole interview is on tape.”
Petrov smiled. “No, it isn’t. Do you think I would be so foolish?”
A knock on the mirror brought Matteo’s head up sharply. He walked into the other room, where a two-way mirror revealed Petrov grinning like a Cheshire cat. A lone officer stood in the room. “The camera’s not on, buddy. I just walked in here.”
“What about the officers who were in here when I arrived?”
“What officers? We were all in a meeting.”
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Logan hungon to the stabilizing bar overhead as the chopper veered left and began its descent. “For fuck’s sake, Hawk, try to keep it in the air,” he yelled.
Cowboy’s deep voice came through Logan’s headset. “Red is waiting for us on the roof. He says they’ve got the local police and the president’s whole security team looking for the kid. So far, no ransom note or contact of any kind.”
The chopper dipped and Logan closed his eyes against a wave of nausea. “Ten Komanda isn’t going to be easily defeated.”
“What’s their background?” asked Cowboy.
“One guy came from military intelligence after a stint with Russia’s elite army unit. They’ve got another guy who’s an ex-pat from the U.S., former Secret Service.”
“You’ve gotta be shitting me,” said Hawk. “Secret Service agents don’t go AWOL.”
Logan nodded. “Unless they’re batshit crazy. This one lost his wife to a terrorist cell.”
“That would do it,” said Cowboy. “Who else do they have?”
“A research analyst. Former computer programmer and cryptologist for hire.”
“Kind of like you.”
“That’s exactly right. They’re all kind of like us. But dark. Evil.”
“The complete opposite of HERO Force.”
“But just as strong.” Cowboy pointed his finger at each man. “If they’ve really got the baby, and I think they do, it’s going to be harder than hell to get him back alive.”
Logan furrowed his brow. “I don’t get it. What does a big, bad terrorist organization like that care about a little baby?”
“Who said they care? They’re getting paid. That’s enough for these people.”
“But a baby? Who does that?”
“It’s not about the baby. It’s about leverage. It’s about the people who love that baby.”
Logan wondered if Matteo was one of those people. “There was a picture of Red and Grace on the newswire this morning. Any of you guys see it?” he asked.
“What did it look like?” asked Cowboy.
“I can’t describe it. The look on their faces is just so… They look like they’re in love. Is that crazy?”
Cowboy turned to Logan. “When was it taken?”
“Yesterday. She’d just given a speech at some political rally. The caption said he was supporting his new wife in her latest endeavor, but something about that picture didn’t seem like they were pretending to care about each other. It looked real.”
“Not so crazy,” said Cowboy. He cursed colorfully. “We’ve got to find this kid and bring him home safety. Not just for the president and his daughter but for Red.”
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