Page 64 of Home Team Advantage
“Damn, I like this kid,” someone—Matt thought it was Sean—said.
“Fits right in, doesn’t he?” said Jake.
“Told you,” said Kieran.
“He’s coming out,” Matt said suddenly, tossing the binoculars to the side.
“Hold tight until we have verification,” came Jake’s command.
Matt ignored him. In the span of few heartbeats, he was out of the vehicle and across the street, a shadow among shadows in his all-black tactical ensemble.
“Goddammit, kid,” Jake cursed.
“Give him a break. That’s his croie in there.”
“No shit? When did that happen?”
“What are you, blind?” Ian laughed.
“Okay, hold steady. Falco’s coming out with a black duffel over his shoulder.”
“How big is that duffel there, Jake?”
“Not big enough. Looks like Falco’s getting ready to bolt.”
“Matt, where are you, kid?”
“He’s climbing up the back of the house like a damn spider monkey,” Jake said with amusement. “Sean?”
“Behind the SUV. Don’t worry; he’s going nowhere.”
“Don’t kill him until we know Anna’s safe. Mick?”
“Standing by.”
Matt listened to them chatter back and forth like they were talking about what to have for dinner. Him? He’d gone completely cold. Totally focused. Anna was inside, and she was his only priority.
He slid open the bedroom window, slipped noiselessly inside. It was empty.
He moved to the door and into the main living space, looking around. He saw nothing at first, not until he rounded the couch and saw the figure writhing on the floor at the base of it.
“Anna!” he said, coming to his knees beside her.
She jerked and curled in on herself, trying to get as close to the couch as possible. Her back was to him, her hair a tangled mess, caked with … was that blood?
His stomach twisted, that cool, calm focus evaporating in an instant as he reached out and touched her shoulder. “Anna, it’s Matt. You’re okay. I’m here.” He spoke as he carefully rolled her onto her back so she could see it was him, then promptly recoiled.
The bottom half of her face was covered in duct tape. The left side was a mass of purple and black. The right, so swollen that it was nearly impossible to make out her features.
She moaned, and his heart broke, and the rest of him raged.
His uncles were talking back and forth on the comms. Matt heard none of it over the roaring in his ears. He removed the duct tape as gently as he could, then went to work on the zip ties around her wrists and ankles. The fucker had pulled them so tight that her extremities had turned a grayish-blue color.
Her one good eye focused on him. “Did you get him?” she whispered.
“Yeah, we got him. I’m going to get you out of here, okay?” he said, forcing a calm and confidence into his voice he didn’t feel.
“Okay.”
