Page 43 of Rescuing Rebel

“Then why use his own man?” My fists clench on the tabletop.

“Probably because he could. Or maybe it was a concession to afford Haven’ssupplementalfee.” Mitzy uses air quotes for emphasis. “He paid not only to have Ally trained but to receive training himself.”

“Himself?” Jeb looks up from cleaning his nails. “What the fuck does that mean?”

“They offer a service to train clients to master, subdue, and discipline their new property. That training is offered in week-long blocks of time. DuBois paid for a month.”

“Shit.” Forest’s low whistle reverberates through the room. “So, we’ve got a shadow organization, a disgruntled millionaire with a vendetta, and an innocent girl caught in the crossfire. That’s one hell of a mess.”

It’s more than a mess—it’s a goddamn nightmare.

“What’s next?” My voice comes out in a low growl. We’re going to rain hell down on Haven. My gaze locks on Mitzy. “Any idea how to infiltrate Haven?”

She purses her lips, considering. “There’s an auction scheduled two days from now. It’s the one Ally was supposed to be in. They haven’t given away the location yet, but I’m working on tracing it.”

“We did something similar before,” Sam speaks up. “Alpha-One went undercover as a buyer at an auction. He brought Eve back, and we rescued scores more. But two days?”

“Need I remind everyone that Max almost got himself killed?” The muscles of CJ’s jaw bunch as he clenches his teeth. “No way am I sending in only two men like last time.”

“Doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try it again.” I tap my upper lip with my index finger, thinking. My mind races with options and variations. CJ’s concerns are valid. Max got separated and nearly didn’t make it out of his mission.

“Max had an in. We got him invited to that auction. But Haven? Seems to me, they operate differently.” Forest’s voice is thoughtful as he responds. “They’re more cautious, more secretive. We don’t have that this time.”

“Then we make one.” The spark of an idea flashes in my mind.

“How?” Forest turns his glacial gaze on me.

“First off, Ally’s safe. We don’t need to make that auction. And as for a way in, all we need is what Dubois had.”

“What’s that?” Forest’s pale blue eyes sear into me.

“Dubois had a need—a want—and he didn’t avail himself of their kidnapping options. He used his own men to grab her and deliver Ally to Haven.”

“Where are you going with this?” Walt clears his throat and spins his chair to face me.

“We create the same thing. One of us poses as a man who wants a slave. We ID a woman and, just like DuBois, use our own men. Those men will have to know where to deliver the woman. Haven has to supply that information. We can also do what you did with that mission with Max.”

“What’s that?” CJ gestures for me to continue.

“We buy time to train as a master but insist on retaining our security escort. I can pose as the client. The rest of my team acts as my security detail.”

“But you need someone to kidnap.” Skye shakes her head. “Knowing what will happen to them while you infiltrate Haven isn’t something I can ask any of our operatives to do.”

A murmur of agreement echoes through the room. The plan is too rough, and the outcome too uncertain.

“Okay, what if we modify that a bit?” This is a good idea. I get Skye’s hesitation, and there’s no argument against it. “I see two ways in. One as a client and one as support for a client. How do we insert Charlie team?” My mind is a strange thing. The solution is coming to me; I just need to think out loud to get it to gel.

I tap my temple and continue thinking out loud. “We can’t infiltrate Haven because that would raise too many red flags. We can only get in as a buyer or security detail to a buyer. I doubt we can insert ourselves into a potential client’s security detail. Like Haven, too many red flags. But what if we return to the initial idea?”

“That’s a hard no.” Sam shakes his head and crosses his arms. “We’re not putting one of our female operatives at risk.”

“But what if we mitigate that risk?”

Everyone looks at me.

SIXTEEN

Ethan

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