Page 93 of Betraying Family Vows
Theo slows just a hair, angling his head for a better look and then scans the surrounding area.
"This is a shit place to be caught in an ambush."
I nod.
"Then let's not give them time to set one."
The tablet pings with an alert, and I tap it immediately. It opens to a live drone feed one of our men launched from the trailing SUVs. The footage shows the old quarry headquarters from above, a concrete fortress weathered by time and neglect.
Rusty equipment litters the area, along with graffiti and broken glass.
I study the feed, counting bodies, entry points, vehicles. "Two guards at the main gate. Some around back with a few vehicles," I say, noting movement at the edge of the frame. "They may end up seeing the drone."
"Good," Theo says with a cold smile. "Then we do this fast. I got a new bride I'd like to get back to."
I don't respond. All I'm thinking about is Athena inside that building. What they've done to her. What they're planning to do.
Before we get too close, Theo pulls off the road and out of view behind some old buildings that looked to have been a living area at one time.
Ares's SUV pulls up to our left. The two other vehicles fan out behind us, closing off a perimeter.
I'm out of the car before Theo kills the engine completely. My body knows what to do even as my mind races with images of her.
Everyone else hops out and we gather behind the SUV I was in.
My brothers flank me as one of our men approaches, tablet in hand.
"From the drone, looks like three points of entry. West door, loading dock, and main entrance."
"I'll take the loading dock," I say without hesitation. It likely leads deepest into the building's core to where they may be keeping her.
"Then Theo, you take the west door," Ares says and cracks his neck. "And I'll go in the front. A team with each of us. We clear room by room."
No one argues.
"We're out in the open here. Be quick. Move fast. No hero shit," Theo says as everyone checks their weapons one final time.
I nod to the three men assigned to my team. "Let's go."
I move low and fast, weapon raised, my men flanking me as we approach the loading dock. My boots barely make a sound on the gravel, years of training making stealth second nature even when my mind is a storm of rage and fear.
We round the corner, and I catch movement at the front of the building, two guards casually talking, staring at a phone. They don't see any of us, too focused on whatever the hell they're watching.
Bang.
Bang.
Two pops from the front of the building. The guards don't even have time to shout before their bodies drop, limp.
Ares doesn't look our way. He just signals his men forward and heads straight for the front entrance.
We keep moving and my team reaches the edge of the loading dock, concrete crumbling at the edges where no trucks havebacked up in years. I spot a steel door standing slightly ajar at the top of the platform, a sliver of darkness behind it.
Our way in.
I signal my men with a quick hand gesture to cover me, and they fan out, weapons trained on the opening. With a deep breath I sprint up the short ramp and flatten myself against the wall beside the door.
I wait and listen.
