Midnight Action (32 page)

“The perimeter is secure, sir.” The report had come from the leader of the mercenary team, who awaited Nik’s orders with expectant eyes.

Nik turned away from the massive electric fence closing off James Morgan’s property from the clearing.

“Thank you, Ivan. Maintain your positions. We move on my signal.”

The bulky Serb nodded before disappearing into the trees. Ten mercenaries were already stationed at various points of the perimeter, but Nik, Dietrich, and the ten remaining men had congregated in the hills bordering one edge of the vast property. The hillside overlooked the eastern face of the Spanish-style home, offering a perfect bird’s-eye view, and close enough to the compound that a strategically placed shot from an RPG would blow a hole in the side of the house.

But they weren’t planning on doing that. Not yet, anyway. Not until Cate had been removed from Morgan’s clutches.

Nik had been overcome with relief when he’d learned that Cate had survived the plane crash. Or at least that was what the evidence had led them to believe. Nik’s source confirmed that only one body had been found at the site of the crash—a male in his forties. Burned to a crisp, which made identification difficult, to say the least.

But Nik wasn’t naive enough to believe that the corpse had belonged to James Morgan. According to the man who’d arranged the charter, there had been six people aboard the Gulfstream. Four males, including the pilot, and two females. One man was now dead, which meant that the others had survived the crash. Since no footprints or tracks had been discovered at the crash site, it stood to reason that the five passengers on board had parachuted out. The owner of the airport in France claimed that he’d rid the jet of all its emergency gear, but James Morgan was a pro—surely he would carry parachutes in his gear.

So Morgan probably wasn’t dead yet, but he would be soon.

Oh yes, that bastard was going to die for what he’d done to Ariana; Nik would make sure of it. But right now, his first priority was getting Catarina back.

“Has Girard gotten us a phone number yet?” Dietrich came up beside him, his features creased with impatience.

“He’s still working on it,” Nik replied.

As he gazed at the compound again, he hoped that the mercenaries they’d hired were up to the task. Nik had run into several snags when hiring the soldiers; ironically, most of his contacts had referred him to the same private military company—owned by one James Morgan. It had enraged Dietrich to no end that one of the most skilled mercenary teams currently operating in the world happened to be the one whose compound they were targeting.

They’d had to settle for the Serbian team Nik had secured through a middleman in Russia, though the Serbs had a good reputation for getting the job done, according to his contacts.

As his own impatience grew, Nik pulled out his phone. “I’ll call Girard again and see what the holdup is.”

The moment he went to dial, the cell phone rang in his hand.

“Who is it?” Dietrich said sharply.

“Private number.”

With a frown, Nik decided to answer the call. “Who’s this?” he barked.

“Is that you, Nikolaus? Cate gave me your number. I hope you don’t mind.”

The familiar male voice made his blood run cold.

“Morgan,” he spat out.

“Are you with Walther, by any chance? Put me on speakerphone if you are.”

As anger sizzled in his veins, Nik pressed the speaker icon and held up the phone in front of Dietrich, who immediately leaned in and spoke in a tone cold enough to freeze an ocean.

“Where is my granddaughter?”

“Hello to you too, Walther.”

Dietrich’s cheeks hollowed, his jaw working hard, as if he were trying to grind his molars into dust. “Where. Is. She.”

“Don’t worry. She’s here with me, safe and sound. No thanks to you,” Morgan said bitterly. “You planted a bomb on my plane, you son of a bitch. She could have been hurt.”

“You have the nerve to lecture
me
about hurting people?” Dietrich boomed. “After what you did to my daughter yesterday?”

There was a pause, and then, “How about we don’t talk about Ariana? Cate is the one we need to worry ourselves with at the moment.”

“I want her back, Morgan,” Dietrich hissed out. “Catarina belongs with me.”

“I guess we can agree to disagree on that.” Another pause. “Cate’s not going anywhere. She’s staying right here with her father.”

Dietrich let out a stream of violent curses that caught Nik off guard. He’d never seen the man this shaken up before, and he quickly intervened before Dietrich said or did something that jeopardized Cate’s life.

“Let me tell you how it’s going to be, Morgan,” Nik snapped into the phone. “There are twenty mercenaries surrounding your compound at the moment. They’re armed with powerful assault weapons and RPGs, and if you don’t return Cate to us in exactly one hour, these very skilled men will blow your compound to hell.”

“No, they won’t.” Morgan’s confidence rippled over the line. “Do you honestly expect me to believe you’ll launch a military attack on the house that Cate is in? When Ariana was a victim of a similar attack? No, you won’t risk Cate’s life. And just so you know, she doesn’t want to leave. She’s happy right where she is.”

Nik wished Morgan were standing in front of him so he could strangle the life out of him. But the bastard was right. They would never endanger Cate’s life.

Or at least that was what he thought before Dietrich spoke up again.

“You think I’m bluffing,” he said coldly, “but I assure you, I am not. Yes, I want my granddaughter back, but if Catarina chooses to stay with you, then I’m afraid she will have to suffer the consequences. I’d rather see her dead than with you, Morgan. Do you understand me?”

Nik sucked in a shocked breath. He swiveled his head toward Dietrich, but the man was too busy spouting threats.

“You will pay for killing my daughter. I’m going to make sure of it. And if I have to sacrifice Catarina in order to make that happen, I won’t hesitate to do it.”

Nik opened his mouth to interject, but Dietrich cut him off. “One hour,” he spat into the phone. “If my granddaughter doesn’t walk out the front gate in one hour, I’m ordering my men to attack.”

The older man disconnected the call, as Nik stared at him in disbelief.

“You don’t mean that,” he stammered.

Dietrich’s features went harder than granite. “Yes, Nikolaus. I do.”

•   •   •

Noelle could tell from Jim’s expression that the phone call with Dietrich hadn’t gone the way he’d expected. His blue eyes had darkened with concern, and his face lost some of its color, which was not at all encouraging.

“What did he say?”

Kane was the first one to voice the question they were all thinking. The small group had gathered in what Jim had referred to as the war room, an enormous space belowground consisting of a conference area with a long table, and an entire wall of computer monitors. Ash and Reilly had stayed upstairs, sniper rifles locked and loaded as they kept an eye on the mercenaries surrounding the property, and the two security guards who manned the compound were monitoring every camera for the slightest hint of movement.

Abby was already gone. She’d left the compound through the underground tunnels, after being banished by Kane, who refused to take any risks when it came to his pregnant wife. Abby had checked in twenty minutes ago to report she’d made it to the team’s chopper and was waiting for them to join her.

Noelle stood next to Jim, whose expression was dead serious. Across the room, Jim’s daughter lingered in the doorway, wearing a pair of yoga pants and a loose tank top. Her dark blond braid hung over one shoulder, and she was toying with the end of it, her gaze fixed on her father.

“Why aren’t you answering the question?” she demanded.

Noelle couldn’t help but be impressed by how calm Cate sounded, and she found herself experiencing grudging respect for the girl. Sure, the kid’s expression revealed that she was scared to death, but she was still able to keep her cool, and Noelle appreciated that.

“He says he’s blowing up the house if you don’t come out within the hour,” Jim finally revealed.

Cate’s eyes widened.

“So what are you thinking?” Kane asked, his tone grim.

Jim sighed. “We’ve got twenty mercenaries out there gunning for us. Meanwhile, most of our people are scattered all over the globe. We’re outnumbered.”

“Then we go,” Kane said briskly. “The tunnels are secure, and we can make our way out before those mercs even realize we’re gone.”

“Yeah, I don’t see any other choice,” Jim answered, though he didn’t look thrilled about admitting it. “We can’t risk being here when they attack.” He glanced at his daughter. “And there’s no way in hell I’m letting them get their hands on you.”

“So we run,” Cate said bleakly.

“You run,” he corrected.

Noelle’s spine stiffened. The moment she saw the hard glint in his eyes, she knew exactly what he was planning to do.

So did Kane, who’d worked with Jim long enough to know how the man’s mind worked. “No fucking way, boss. You’re not going all Rambo on us.”

“What is he talking about?” Cate blurted out.

Noelle suppressed a sigh. “Your idiot father is about to take on twenty mercs all by his lonesome, while the rest of us whisk you away to safety.”

Horror flooded the girl’s face. “No.” She spun around to glare at Jim. “No way. You’re not doing that.”

He released a hasty breath. “I’m not taking on twenty men. Only two.”

Noelle couldn’t fight the wave of annoyance that rose in her body. “Do you really think you can get close enough to Dietrich and Bauer to take them out? Without getting your head blown off by all those men with guns pointed at you? Come on, Jim.”

“I’ll have the element of surprise on my side. I’ll leave the compound through the tunnel and backtrack from the jungle. They won’t see me coming.”

“I won’t let you do this,” Kane said curtly.

“Well, then I guess it’s a good thing you’re not calling the shots.” Jim clapped his hands together, his tone brooking no argument. “Gather the necessary supplies. I want everyone in the tunnel in five minutes.” He turned to address Noelle. “Can you stick around and make sure Cate gets to the chopper okay?”

“Dietrich could be watching the airfields,” she pointed out.

“You won’t be going to an airfield. The chopper’s stashed in a clearing about two miles from here. We’ll drive the Humvees out of the tunnel, ditch them in the jungle, and hike to the bird.”

“While you hike back here.” She scowled deeply at him.

“For fuck’s sake, not you too. Seriously, babe, don’t fucking argue with me about this.”

She arched a brow and didn’t say another word. Instead, she stayed at her spot near the table, watching as Jim and Kane stalked to the door.

Jim paused in the doorway to touch his daughter’s cheek. “Don’t worry, sweetheart. We’ll be outta here before they even realize we’re gone. I’ll come back and take care of things, and then we’ll see each other again in no time.”

Cate was too stricken to answer. Her blue eyes shone with worry as she stared at her father’s retreating back.

Noelle turned away from the door and focused on the wall of monitors behind her. She found herself looking at the backup feed for every security camera on the property, immediately pinpointing the one that featured the most activity. Two military Jeeps had taken position on the eastern hillside, and she glimpsed several shadowy figures lingering near the tall electric fence.

“You don’t like this plan.”

Cate’s blunt voice had her spinning around in surprise. The girl hadn’t gone after Jim like she’d thought—she remained in the doorway, carefully watching Noelle.

“Doesn’t matter if I do. Jim calls the shots around here,” Noelle said with a shrug.

“But you don’t agree with what he’s doing.”

“No, but like I said, it’s not my call.”

“He’s going to get himself killed, isn’t he?”

Noelle ignored the burst of pain that went off inside her. “Probably.”

“And you don’t care?” Cate marched over and rounded the table so that she was standing directly in front of her. She crossed her arms tightly over her chest. “Why didn’t you try to stop him, damn it? Convince him to run with us?”

“Because he’d never do it.” Noelle sighed. “And he knows as well as I do that running is a temporary solution. If you run now, you’ll always be running. Your grandfather will never stop looking for you, Cate. He’ll never stop hunting Jim.”

“You’re right,” the teenager whispered.

“Of course I’m right.”

“So you’re just going to let him get killed?”

“Have you ever tried arguing with that man? It’s like talking to a brick wall.”

Cate’s throat dipped in a swallow. “Okay...what would
you
do, then? I saw your face when you were looking at those screens. You have an idea, don’t you?”

She shrugged.

“Then why didn’t you suggest it?” Cate demanded.

“Because I knew Jim would never go for it.”

“Why not?”

“Because it involves you.” Breaking the eye contact, Noelle strode toward the door. “Don’t worry your pretty little head about it, honey. Come on, let’s go.”

The girl stayed rooted in place. “No. I want you to tell me your plan.”

Aggravation clamped around Noelle’s throat. She stared at Jim’s daughter, startled by the fortitude hardening those blue eyes. God, the girl looked so much like Jim right now. But she also reminded Noelle of herself—Cate had the same combination of innocence and grit that Noelle had once possessed. Before she’d become a coldhearted bitch.

“Tell me,” Cate insisted.

Noelle battled a rush of indecision, then let out a weary breath.

And told the girl what she wanted to know.

•   •   •

Nik stiffened when his phone chimed in his pocket. He’d been watching the house through his binoculars, standing in the shadows as he monitored the situation. Although the hillside was bathed in darkness, lights continued to gleam from inside the compound, and the exterior floodlights affixed to the fence lit up the entire property and offered a perfect view of the front gate.