Total pages in book: 31
Estimated words: 28319 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 142(@200wpm)___ 113(@250wpm)___ 94(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 28319 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 142(@200wpm)___ 113(@250wpm)___ 94(@300wpm)
We pulled into the compound around four in the morning, but there was no time for sleeping. I immediately got to work.
The call came a few hours later. Twenty million, and they expected Saber to deliver the money, then they would release Blakely within two hours.
My instincts were roaring, telling me they had no intention of letting her go. I talked them into sending a proof of life video, and when we received it, I cursed a blue streak. “She’s not blindfolded.”
Saber stared hard at the screen, seemingly unable to look away from his daughter’s terrified expression. “What does that mean?”
I scrubbed my hands down my face and grunted in frustration. “It’s likely that she’s seen them.”
“Motherfucker,” Fox muttered, pacing away to glare out the window across the office.
Yeah, those fuckers had no intention of letting Blakely go.
When they called back, I managed to get them to agree to a place and time of our choosing for the money drop. They also agreed to show us a live feed of Blakely at the pickup. They would leave a cell phone for us to confirm, then we would be directed to leave the money and go.
During the conversation, I used tactics I’d mastered in my training and got them to admit to a few things that would aid us in figuring out who they were. After they hung up, I filled everyone in on what I learned and why the intel helped us.
Then we devised a plan.
I slammed my foot against an exit door at the back of the warehouse and immediately put a bullet in the back of the guard’s head. Some WR brothers came barreling in after me while several others barged in through the front entrance.
Trusting them to watch my back, I focused on finding the door—there it was.
I stayed along the perimeter of the large open space as I hurried to a door that matched the one behind Blakely in the video. The fuckers had been stupid enough to let us walk away with the phone connected to the live feed of their hostage. And their encryption on the signal was shit. A hacker friend of mine broke it in less than a minute, giving us the location where they were holding her.
The men who retrieved the money were in the wind, but the only thing any of us really cared about was Saber’s little girl.
A man opened the door I was moving toward, looking around wildly, obviously having heard the commotion outside. I raised my arm, and a second later, he dropped to the ground thanks to the small hole in his temple that trickled blood. I holstered my gun as I reached the room. The girl may have grown up around an MC, but I didn’t know what her mental state was and wanted to appear as nonthreatening as possible.
She was huddled in the far corner of the room, half hidden by the metal cot on the wall next to her. Tears poured down her reddened cheeks, and her bangs were plastered to her damp forehead. The rest of her blond curls fell away from her face as she looked up at me, and my heart twisted at the terror filling her clear blue eyes.
As I approached, she suddenly sprang to her feet and slashed something in front of her, nearly slicing my stomach. “Get away from me!” she screamed. Then she whipped the weapon in front of her again, but I caught her wrist and grabbed the …straightened mattress spring? Clever girl. I tossed it to the ground and yanked her into my arms. “Copperfield,” I said loudly, so she would hear me over her screams. It was the codeword that Saber had given her so she would know the person using it was safe.
Her shouts and attempts to hit me ceased immediately. She seemed frozen as she stared up at me, and I could see her mind working, trying to decide whether she’d imagined what I had just said. “Copperfield,” I murmured again.
A second later, she threw herself at me and hugged me so tight that it was almost painful as heaving sobs ripped from her chest.
“Your dad is here, Blakely,” I told her softly as I picked her up and made my way to the door. Before I reached it, Saber came bursting into the room, and when he saw the girl in my arms, he dropped to his knees and sucked in a great big gulp of air.
“Blakely,” he croaked as tears dripped from his eyes. Saber was a tough motherfucker. He ruled with an iron fist and could be lethal if necessary. But I wasn’t surprised to see his display of emotion. It had been clear from the moment I met him how much he loved and adored his daughter.
“Daddy!” Blakely shouted and I quickly set her down so she could run into his embrace.