“He wants us to follow him. Kimble wants us to follow him. That’s what this has been all about. This is what he’s showing us.” Dace stood and went to the security locker on the other side of the lair. “Gear up, he’s going after Cashel, and we’re the cavalry.”
***
“Get a team in the air now,” Dace called out.” We need boots on the ground, gathering intel. They’ll get there ahead of him. Can you tell where he’s headed based on his route?”
“Team one is already deployed and tracking him. They’ll have a better idea shortly and plan to land wherever he does.” Wylie tightened his vest and grabbed his weapons from the locker. “Chopper two should be on the roof in ten.”
C.T. entered the room in black fatigues and his hat on backward. “Anyone want to share their war paint? You’re not leaving without me. Mendoza will be here any minute.”
“What the hell? Man, you don’t need to do this. We have no idea what we’re walking into. It’s a blind mission,” Dace said.
“You’re going to need a medic. I’m qualified,” Mendoza said, pulling a black fitted T-shirt over his head as he arrived. “Your son may need attention, and the team is exposed. I got your back, man.”
Standing taller, Dace took in the room and noted the support he had. They weren’t just there for justice. They were there for him and his child as well as the woman he loved and searched clear to the end of the earth for. They had his back because that was what they did for each other, brothers in arms, always.
“Not that it matters now, but that partial image I had of the ear?” Liam broke in, pushing away from his computer to put on his vest. “Finally got a hit. Kimble.”
“Hey. More evidence to lock his ass up,” Carter said. “But I can’t believe you just did an ID with a fucking ear.”
Liam shrugged. “You’re welcome.”
“Chopper landed, let’s go,” Wylie said. “Let’s go get your family.”
CHAPTER 32
“Same town!” Wylie yelled over the headset they wore while airborne. “Deal’s going down, something big. There’s a convoy of black SUVs headed for the port. Team one is tailing.”
“Do you want the good news or the bad news, Dace?” Liam asked.
“Good.”
“Good news is that Kimble was not driving the car Ivy got into,” Liam said, laptop in hand. “Bad news is…it was probably one of these militia guys.”
“Fucking cartel.”
“I’m sorry, man,” Liam said. “I think Kimble is traveling behind them. He must’ve known something was going down. There are only two rigs on that highway for five miles, and Kimble is keeping a slight distance at a much slower pace than he was traveling. He was catching up with them. Ivy getting in that car was the lead he was running down.”
Dace looked out the helicopter window and saw a grassy knoll below where several vehicles were waiting. Nerves came with every mission. It was the adrenaline and excitement of catching the bad guys. But this time, it was different. There was so much more on the line with a lot of unknowns going in. The anxiety was eating him up, and knowing he might go home without Ivy or Cash was killing him. They were all in imminent danger, and for the first time, that frightened Dace. He didn’t know if his heart could handle losing Ivy again.
“Team one has Ivy at a diner. The car pulled in, and they went in. Nobody left,” Wylie reported.
“Send in a decoy. Find out what’s going on,” Dace said.
“A decoy? Everyone is wearing fucking fatigues and shit.”
“Do it anyway.”
The men disembarked the helicopter and right into the waiting vehicles.
“Kimble arrived. He’s at the diner,” Wylie said, sharing the intel through their comms. “A man exited the diner and got in his car. No Ivy.”
“Shit. Shit. Shit. Get someone in there,” Dace said. “How far out are we?”
“Three minutes.”
“Have the team split up. Tail Kimble and get in that diner.”
“Dace, you’re spreading the team thin. They’re already spread out all over the area.”
“I don’t fucking care.”
“You need to. We aren’t sending anyone in either direction without backup. You know this. Get your head right, or you’re going back to the chopper.”
“Fuck that.” Dace punched the dash of the car. “Who can back up?”
“Us. We’re backup. And it’s just right up the road,” Wylie said. “Get it together, man, I’m fucking serious. Your girl and your kid need you on top of your shit.”
Dace knew Wylie was right. He’d never felt this level of fear mixed with rage before. He now understood how and why people did crazy things for those they loved. He was going full reckless mercenary and putting too many lives at risk just to get to Ivy. It was time to reel it in and be strong for them. Erase all feelings from the mission and put on his combat face. They were all leaving there alive.
The vehicle rolled to a stop, and Dace was the first one out, weapon drawn, creeping in. There weren’t directions to follow or a need to tell anyone what their role was – they all fell into sync as they always did and moved like a smooth operating machine where every part had a role in keeping it running.
Dace could see Ivy through the window. She was sitting alone at a corner booth, looking right at him, still as could be. She didn’t flinch, didn’t smile, didn’t call out for him. She stared, expressionless, and that sent a chill down Dace’s spine.
When he opened the door, he first aimed his weapon on the man behind the counter who had the same expression as Ivy. The men behind Dace filtered in and moved past the man to clear the kitchen, bringing a woman forward shortly after entering.
“It’s clear,” Wylie said.
Dace started to lower his weapon when the older man pointed at Ivy and said, “Bomb. He said there’s a bomb.”
In a quick motion, Dace made his way to Ivy. His brow began to sweat, and his legs felt weak, but he pulled it together. Don’t show her any fear.
“Hi, honey,” he said.
“Hi.” Her voice was hardly a whisper, and he could see how hard she was trying not to tremble and losing the battle.
“I’m going to get you out of here, okay?”
“He said if I move…this thing goes off, and everyone dies.”
“Who said that? David?”
She gently shook her head. “The man in the car.”
Dace held her hand while the rest of the team inspected the bench she was sitting on and the area around it. “How do you know the man in the car?”
“I don’t. I was told to walk outside and get in. I don’t know who they are. But I think he was one of the men who protect my dad.”
“Well, he isn’t protecting him today.”
“I know. I saw him, Dace. I saw him in the car, and he looked scared. I’ve never seen my dad scared.”
Ivy’s confession confirmed what Dace suspected, and the team knew it too as they each made eye contact. David wasn’t a willing participant. He’d been double-crossed and threatened. They’d figure out the how and why later.