Betrayed (Hostage Rescue Team Series Book 9) (23 page)

“Okay,” Georgia responded. When Briar disappeared into the hallway, she looked at him again, her concern as clear as the beautiful ice blue of her eyes. “Are you ready for this?”

No. But he didn’t have a choice now. And it would make Georgia safer. That alone was more than enough reason to do it. “Ready as I’ll ever be.” And he was selfish enough that he was pathetically grateful to have her with him through what was coming. Afterward…

Well, that was another story. And one he already knew wasn’t going to end with a happily ever after.

****

Matt signed the second piece of paperwork in the stack that had accumulated over the past few days while he and Blue Team had been on an op in Kentucky, and reached for the next. His eyes were burning from lack of sleep and not just because he’d been on the road for the last four days.

He hadn’t heard a word from Briar since she’d left for the op with Rycroft and Bautista, and he was stressed the fuck out over it.

It didn’t matter that he trusted her abilities and knew how good she was in the field, or that Rycroft was there to watch her back. The fact was, she was on a dangerous op going after an unpredictable target, with an even more unpredictable teammate and who the hell knew how many professional assassins after them.

Scowling, he slapped the next folder onto his desk and flipped it open. A quick rap at his door interrupted his reading. He glanced over to see Adam Blackwell, one of Blue Team’s assaulters, poke his head in, his brown hair wet from a recent shower.

“Hey,” Matt said in surprise. He’d thought the guys had all left well over an hour ago, after their meeting.

“Hey.” Blackwell stuffed his hands into his pockets. “You busy?”

Matt leaned back in his chair. “Just catching up on some paperwork. You know how much I love that shit.”

Blackwell grinned. “Yeah.” His smile fell away. “Can I talk to you a minute?”

The tone, his slight hesitation, pinged Matt’s radar. He tossed his pen onto his desk and motioned for him to come in. “Sure, have a seat.”

Blackwell shut the door behind him, confirming that something was definitely up.

Then he sat in the chair in front of Matt’s desk and crossed one ankle over the opposite knee, bounced it up and down while he drummed his fingers on the arm of the chair.

Blackwell wasn’t the fidgeting type, and Matt could count on one hand how many times Blackwell had sought him out to talk about anything in private. “What’s going on?” Though he was pretty sure he already knew.

Blackwell let out a deep sigh. “You might have heard through the grapevine that uh…things haven’t been going so well for me on the home front lately.”

The words merely confirmed Matt’s suspicions, because yeah, he’d heard. He made it a point to know what was going on with his guys. Not spying on them or prying into their personal lives, but he liked to have his finger on the pulse of the team. Because anything that affected his guys was a potential danger to the others if that team member didn’t have his head locked in during a training op or mission.

“Sorry to hear that.” He waited, allowing Blackwell to continue when he was ready.

“Thanks.” More tapping with his fingers. “So, you know that Summer and I have gone through some tough things over the past two years or so. But now, when things should be getting better between us, they’re not.” His knee bounced harder. “We’ve gone to counseling a few times in the past and whatever, but it didn’t do much. Our work schedules make it pretty much impossible to be together long enough to try to fix anything.”

He paused, cleared his throat, clearly hating to talk about this, and Matt felt bad for the guy. “I’m not sure we’re gonna make it. But I can’t let things go until I’ve tried everything I can, you know? And if she still wants to split after that, well then…”

Matt nodded. He did know. He and Lisa had gone through a lot of shit together too. She’d fought hard for them, until it had finally penetrated his thick skull how close he was to losing her. By the time he’d figured that out and everything looked bright again, with a child on the way, he’d lost them both forever.

And not a single day went by when he didn’t regret treating her better during those tough times. It was why he made sure Briar knew how much he loved her, that she was a priority in his life.

Blackwell hesitated, looked like he wanted to say something more, but then glanced away. “I need to take some personal time. I wouldn’t ask unless it was a last resort. But I don’t know what the hell else to do.”

Matt hid his surprise. Blackwell was one of Blue Team’s longest standing members, and a quiet, efficient operator. All the guys liked him, though he didn’t seem particularly close with any of them. He was solid, all the way around. Losing him right now for any length of time would be tough on everyone, but Blackwell’s mental health and marriage were more important in the long term scheme of things.

“Okay,” he said in a calm tone, wondering how he would fill this hole. “When were you thinking?”

Blackwell’s deep blue eyes met his. “The sooner the better.”

Hell. “We’re already down one member, with Vance’s shoulder injury. He won’t be back with the team for a couple months yet.”

Blackwell nodded. “Yeah, I know, the timing sucks and I’m sorry. But can you see about finding a replacement for me as soon as possible? I don’t know how long I’ll be gone, but you know I wouldn’t ask if there was another way. This is literally a last ditch effort to save my marriage.”

Matt held up a hand to stop him from apologizing. “I hear where you’re coming from and I’m sorry you guys are going through a shitty time. But I’d rather not replace you indefinitely if I can help it. You’re a great asset to this team, especially with Vance missing. It’s gonna take me a little time to look into a replacement for you. You think things over a bit more and—”

“I
have
been thinking about it. For months.” He shook his head, jaw tight. “My mind’s already made up on this one, commander, I’m sorry. I have to do this.”

Matt was quiet a moment, watching him closely. It boded well for Blackwell’s marriage that he obviously cared enough to take this step. It couldn’t have been easy for him to come in here and say any of this. “You still love her?” he asked quietly.

Blackwell drew in a deep breath. Nodded. “Yeah.”

“You gonna fight for her?”

Blackwell’s smile was weary. Sad. “Been fighting for her, just not the right way. Guess I’ve just gotta fight harder.”

Matt nodded, feeling for the guy. “Okay. I’ll find a way to make this happen. You’re part of my team and you’ve been an outstanding operator for us. We’ll all miss you like hell, but for now just—”

His cell chirped.

His personal cell.

Matt’s heart skipped a beat and he grabbed it from his belt, hoping to see Briar’s number on the display. But it was Rycroft’s.

Worry hit him instantly and he shot Blackwell an apologetic look. “Sorry. I need to take this.” Ignoring whatever Blackwell said in reply, he answered. “DeLuca.”

“It’s Rycroft. I’ve got some news.”

“Is Briar all right?” he demanded.

“She’s fine. We’re just about to board a flight.”

Matt leaned back in his seat as relief swamped him. Thank God. He drew in a deep breath. “Where you heading?”

“Miami. And you might want to get a team down there to meet us, ASAP.”

Matt stiffened. “Why, what’s happened?” He was aware of Blackwell watching him closely.

“We’re going after Perez.”

He blinked. “Diego Perez?” As in, Fuentes’s former top lieutenant, whom Bautista had served as the man’s personal enforcer?

“That’s the one. We’ve uncovered certain…evidence that suggests Perez was involved with the murder of at least one CIA officer. And he knows Bautista is still alive. He sent a hitter to take out both him and Georgia. We got the shooter this afternoon, and now we’re on our way to pay Perez a little surprise visit. I know that’s your boys’ area of expertise.”

And Briar was with them right now, about to head to Miami so they could plan a sting to arrest him.

Matt ran a hand over his face. He fucking hated this, hated not being there to look out for her personally. “What are you going to do?”

“A little recon, first. Bautista’s got insider knowledge that none of the rest of us have. He’s ready to give us whatever we need and help us take Perez down. Once we locate him, you guys will need to move fast. How soon can you be here?”

“I’m on it.” Matt was already out of his chair and pulling open the door, snapping his fingers at his secretary to get her attention. “Get Blue Team on a flight down to Miami, ASAP,” he told her. Then to Rycroft, “We’ll be there sometime tonight. I’ll call you when we get in.”

“All right. See you in a few.”

Matt tucked the phone back into its holster on his belt, mind racing as he moved back behind his desk and sank into his chair. Perez was a dangerous target. But at least now Matt would be able to see Briar.

He hoped.

“What’s up?” Blackwell asked, poised at the edge of his chair, on alert.

“Sorry, but your personal time is gonna have to wait. Blue Team’s going to Miami tonight to arrest Diego Perez.”

I’ll be waiting right here for you.

Bautista tucked Georgia’s parting words away, along with the knowledge that she was positioned below him on the street right now, hidden in the shadows. He’d worked alone for a long time but he had to admit he liked knowing she was here.

Because this was by far the toughest assignment he’d ever been given.

A simple phone call had confirmed that Laura was here, staying under her alias. The security in the building was the same as it had always been, and Laura never liked her security team to stay in the condo with her and the kids. He couldn’t believe Perez hadn’t taken more measures to protect them after finding out Bautista was alive.

If Bautista were a different kind of man, killing Perez’s family would have been all too easy. And that pissed him the hell off.

Timing the sweep of the security cameras attached to the exterior of the building, he gripped the iron bars of the balcony on the outside of the third-story unit and hoisted himself up. He paused in the shadows next to the sliding glass door, shook his head with an internal sigh.

The curtains were drawn over the sliding glass doors but the slider was open a few inches with the screen shut. Because Laura loved to let the ocean breeze blow through in the evenings.

It was something he’d chastised her for time and time again, but she’d always laughed off his concern. She thought she had an alias and security when she traveled because they were wealthy. She didn’t realize where most of the money had come from.

He could hear her voice now.
You act like you expect someone to climb up the side of the building and break in from the balcony
.

That’s exactly what he’d just done.

At least she and the kids would be safe now, he consoled himself, leaning in to listen at the screen door. Laura wasn’t an ignorant or stupid woman. She might suspect that not all of her husband's business dealings were above board, but Perez went to great lengths to hide all his criminal activity from her—from everyone—and project the image of the doting husband and father, the philanthropist and pillar of the community. Hell, Bautista had helped him maintain the ruse.

He could hear the faint sound of Laura’s voice coming from somewhere to the far left of the condo. Probably Michael’s room. Laura tucked her babies in faithfully every night whether at home or on vacation, without fail, even though Michael was ten and her daughter was almost seventeen.

How Perez had ever been lucky enough for that sweet, devoted woman to fall for him back when he was a struggling, legitimate businessman, Bautista would never know. At least the bastard appreciated her and treated her well.

He picked the lock on the slider without a sound. If she’d left it open like this, it meant she’d disabled the alarm system too. God, she had no idea how vulnerable she was up here, didn’t have any concept of the kind of violence her husband’s enemies could bring down on her and the kids.

Pushing aside the edge of the curtain, he checked to make sure the living room and kitchen were empty. He slipped inside, quickly closed the curtain and stood in front of one of the couches in the lavishly decorated room. He’d wait here for her to come out, not wanting to scare the kids.

The murmur of her voice continued to float from down the hall. A few minutes later things got quiet.

The sound of a door quietly shutting followed soon after, then the patter of her bare feet on the travertine tile floor as she came toward the kitchen/living room. Bautista braced himself, knowing Rycroft and the others would hear every word of this exchange via his earpiece.

Laura appeared around the corner a moment later, heading for the kitchen. She put her phone on the counter and turned toward him, let out a yelp as she stumbled back a step, her face paling and her eyes wide with terror.

“Hi, Laura.”

The terror faded quickly, only to be replaced by sheer shock. A hand flew to her chest, her mouth open. “Miguel. Oh my God, you’re…”

He gave her a small smile. “Still alive. Yeah.”

Her face crumpled. She started across the room, picking up speed as she rushed for him, threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tight. Bautista returned the embrace as she started to cry, wished the hell he hadn’t come here for the reasons he had.

“How?” she demanded, her slender arms surprisingly strong as she gripped him fiercely. “How did you survive?”

“It’s a long story.” One he may have to tell her eventually.

“Mama?”

He looked up to see Jenny and her younger brother peeking around the corner from the hallway. When they saw him their eyes went wide and huge smiles lit their faces. “Uncle Miguel!”

Bautista gently set Laura aside as they raced for him, grunted when they both pounced on him. He caught one in each arm and gave them a squeeze before setting them on their feet. “Hey, squirts.” Damn, Jenny was nearly up to his chin now.