Her eyes watered from the sting of her teeth cutting into her lip as Sophia backhanded her hard across the face, but she stayed silent, only stilling her struggle.
“He will die, you will die. I will get paid, and Claude will love me.”
Callie kept quiet, knowing whatever else she said was futile. She had no control over what happened next, but she knew she needed to stay conscious. A few more blows like that and she wouldn’t.
She only hoped that Reid, Liam, and the others were as good as she thought they were, and they found her and kept themselves safe in the process.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Reid felt a hand land on his shoulder and turned to see Liam standing behind him. His friend gave him an encouraging chin lift meant to make him feel better. In reality, the only thing that would do that was to have Callie safe and sound and in his arms.
“We’ll get her back.”
Reid dipped his chin, not trusting himself to speak, distraught didn’t even begin to cover his emotions right now. They were veering wildly from terror to absolute fury, and he didn’t know how to calm them or control them. This was his speciality, hostage rescue was his area of expertise, but all he could see was red.
The men had all filed into the war room where Jack stood with a look on his face Reid was sure was similar to his own, although his was more anger than terror.
Jack turned to Lopez and nodded before he swung his gaze back to them. The large 3D screen in the centre of the room rose, and every man in the room pinned their interest on it.
“About fifteen minutes ago this man, known only as Bás, entered Eidolon undetected and made his way to this room.” Jack paused, and Reid drew in a breath of surprise as did the others. “He then proceeded to inform me that he knows where Callie is, which we already know thanks to the chip in her shoelace which Lopez is monitoring. He’ll let us know if anything changes.”
Reid sprang forward. “Where is she?” The demand was met with a hard stare from Jack, who remained where he was, his arms crossed over his chest before he dismissed him.
He nodded to Decker and Mitch who had returned the previous night after the leads in London went cold. “Let’s get two of you over there immediately to monitor the situation.”
The two men spoke with Lopez and Reid fought the urge to demand he go himself, knowing his knowledge was more useful in planning the op.
“If you can’t keep a cool head, I’ll bench you. Make no mistake who is in charge here. I want Callie safe too, and I know you care for her but losing your shit won’t help her or us.” Jack favoured him with a stern glare. “Am I clear?”
Reid ground his teeth to almost dust before he nodded. “Crystal.”
Jack cast his gaze around the men before he continued. “Bás will also deliver Milla’s location so we can extract her shortly. We can’t do the extraction on Callie until then, or it may trigger Gunner to engage, and we don’t want that.”
He looked around, catching the eye of every man in the room, his meaning clear; he wanted Gunner alive. “Bás will then tell us where Milla is. Once she’s safe, he’ll deliver Gunner to us.”
Alex stepped forward and angled his head as he looked at the picture of the man on the screen. “Motherfucker!”
Jack swung his gaze to his second and tilted his head in question.
“That’s the man who tortured Evelyn.”
Reid stepped closer, followed by Liam, Blake, and Waggs.
“Fucking hell,” Blake growled.
Reid agreed with the sentiment because Alex was right. That was the man who had worked with Osiris aka Arthur Roach, the man who had lied to Evelyn for years before his final betrayal.
Jack was silent for a moment, and Reid closed his eyes and took a breath to centre himself. He needed to keep his head; this just got a whole lot more complicated. “What did he want in return?”
Jack twisted to look at Reid as he spoke. “A favour.”
“What kind of favour?”
Jack shrugged. “He wouldn’t say, just that I’d owe him a favour in the future.”
Alex slammed his fist down on the console. Everyone turned to him, staring in shock at the usually calm man. “We can’t trust this man. He tortured Evelyn.”
Jack sighed and faced his friend as Reid waited for the explosion that didn’t come. “I know we can’t trust him, but we can’t let the chance to save Callie and Milla, and to secure Gunner pass.” Jack approached Alex, who looked as pained as Reid felt. “Alex, you know we have no choice. If there were another way, I’d take it in a heartbeat, but we have no other leads.”
Alex’s jaw tightened as the other men kept their council on the situation. He himself was torn. If it were anyone other than Callie, he’d agree it wasn’t worth the price Jack and the rest of them might have to pay, but the second she was taken, he’d had the shocking realisation he loved her and would do whatever it took to save her.
Alex swung his gaze to him, and Reid saw the pain and the anger and the inner war he was waging. “Do you love her?”
Reid didn’t want to do this here, but he knew what Alex was asking—did she matter to him. “Yes, I do.”
Alex nodded once. “Then I guess we have no choice but let me say this once. If that fucker comes anywhere near me, he’s a dead man.”
“Do we have a plan for Gunner when we get him back?” Blake asked having his own grudge against the man. Their former friend had allowed Blake’s woman, Pax to be beaten.
“I do have an idea actually, but I need to give it more thought.” Jack looked pensive, and in this mood, Reid knew he wouldn’t be forced to share, and they’d have to wait until he was ready to do so.
“We don’t have the men to make two extractions safely, especially as the sister isn’t an easy in and out.” Waggs was leaning against the desk, his arms braced on it.
“I’m going where Callie is,” Reid stated his intentions and God help anyone who tried to stop him.
Jack assessed him for a second and then lifted his chin in assent. “I’m going to call in favour with Zack and see if he can help with the extractions. Alex, can you make the call?”
With that, Alex took his phone out and walked a few feet away.
He came back a few minutes later and nodded. “Zack is sending, Zin, Nate, K, Dane, and Jace over now.”
Reid let out a sigh of relief. Knowing they had essentially a second squad coming to help allowed him to breathe easier.
“Good, Fortis can extract Milla with Waggs, and the rest of us can go after Callie. We can’t assume this man Bás isn’t playing us, and it could be a trap.”
Waggs nodded. Reid knew his medical training might be imperative for someone with Milla’s complicated medical issues.
“It would be good to have a medic in case Callie needs it, but you’re right. Milla will definitely need medical attention,” Blake added not looking at Reid.
Reid felt bile fill his throat at the thought of Callie hurt or needing medical help. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath through his mouth, trying to keep his lunch in his belly.
“Agreed, but we have what we have, and you all have more than basic skills.”