CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

They had nothing.

No clues.

No hints.

No footage.

Nothing that would lead them to the women.

JJ’s skin crawled. The hair on the back of his neck stood up. Something had to break. It always did. April and the others would not be tragic statistics. Women who disappeared into thin air with no suspects, their bodies never found.

No, four women weren’t just snatched up without the kidnapper wanting something. Money, revenge, sex, power—something.

He stilled. Revenge . . .

They hadn’t gotten a ransom call in the hours since they’d discovered the women missing, so perhaps that could be taken off the table. It was possible whoever had kidnapped the women wanted sex, or wanted to sell them for sex, but three pregnant ladies weren’t exactly the ideal targets. Power was still an option . . . but most likely in conjunction with something else. Like revenge.

That had to be it. Someone from their past was trying to prove a point. Get back at them. Lure them into a trap.

JJ spun and blurted, “Revenge.”

The other guys looked up from what they were doing—pacing, searching the internet for any kind of information that might help, staring helplessly into space.

“What?” Chappy asked.

“Revenge. Whoever took them did so to get back at us for something.”

Bob snorted. “That doesn’t exactly narrow down the suspects,” he said gravely. “We’ve pissed off a lot of terrorists and other bad guys.”

“But why now? It’s been years since we’ve been active,” Cal argued.

JJ opened his mouth to respond when his phone rang. It was sitting on the table near him, and he picked it up.

The caller was “unknown.”

His adrenaline spiked. He hit a button on the phone to record the call and answered. “Hello?”

“Jack? It’s me.”

JJ felt as if he’d entered a long, dark tunnel. His vision got hazy on the sides, and he fell into the chair he’d been standing in front of while racking his brain about what to do next.

“April?” he asked, unsure if that brain was now playing tricks on him.

“It’s me. I’m okay,” she said quickly. “I only have two minutes, so you need to listen. Are you listening?”

“Yes, baby. I’m listening.”

He heard her breath hitch at the endearment, but she took a deep breath and continued. “We’re okay. All of us. We’re all together. We’re going to get food and water, so tell the guys not to worry.”

“You know as well as I do that’s impossible,” JJ said.

“I know, but we’re together and hanging in there. Remember that sunset we watched together? How pretty it was and how fast the sun seemed to disappear?”

JJ had no idea what she was talking about, but he immediately said, “Yes.”

“Good. His name is Ryan. Ryan Johnson. He said I could tell you.”

JJ looked up at the others, who’d all gathered around him since his phone was on speaker. The confusion in their eyes made it clear they didn’t recognize the name either. “Where are you? Where is he taking you?” JJ didn’t think she’d be able to tell him, but he couldn’t not ask.

“He said Colorado,” April said. “Remember that time we went fishing? You laughed when I refused to touch the worms? I didn’t like the way they squirmed. It felt wrong to put that hook through their bodies. You said without the worms, there would be no fish. It didn’t make me feel any better.”

He was sure she was trying to give him some sort of clue. He struggled to figure out what it meant. “You were adorable,” JJ muttered. He knew as well as she did that they’d never been fishing together.

“Promise me that we’ll take that vacation when I get home,” she said urgently.

“Which one?” JJ asked anxiously.

“The one overseas. You promised to take me to see the Great Pyramid of Egypt. I want to ride a camel. Remember?”

“Yes.”

“I love you, Jack. I can’t wait to go home. To cuddle with you again, eat Fig Newtons while watching TV. And remember, it’s a law that I get the third one, no matter what.”

A deep voice said something in the background, and JJ thought it sounded like “Time’s up.”

“April?” JJ asked. “We’re coming for you! Hang in there.”

But there was no response. The line was silent. She’d either hung up or someone had taken the phone away.

JJ squeezed his phone so hard, his knuckles turned white. He wanted to stand up and throw it across the room, but if he did that, April wouldn’t be able to get a hold of him again.

“Breathe, JJ,” Cal said, putting a hand on his shoulder.

JJ’s first urge was to fling it off. He wanted to beat the shit out of someone. But instead, he took a deep breath and reached for the calm he needed in order to figure out what the hell his woman was trying to tell him.

“April is a bloody genius,” Cal said.

JJ whipped his head up to look at him.

“She just gave us a bunch of clues.”

“You know what she meant?” JJ asked urgently.

“No idea. But I know that’s what she was doing. Everything she said was too random not to be clues. We just have to decipher them.”

JJ took another breath. His friend was right. He didn’t understand half the things she told him: they hadn’t gone fishing or discussed a trip overseas, so they had to be clues. And if they were going to find the women, they needed to figure them out. The sooner the better.

“Ryan Johnson,” Chappy said. “Do we think that’s really the guy’s name?”

“No way in hell,” Bob said with a shake of his head as he sat next to JJ. “It’s too common. It’s got to be made up.”

Cal nodded. “Which is why he probably didn’t have a problem with her telling us.”

“So a dead end. Moving on,” JJ said, pulling a piece of paper over from the coffee table and writing the name Ryan Johnson at the top, then putting a line through it.

“Knowing they’re headed to Colorado is good. Really good, but can we trust that’s actually their destination?” Cal asked.

JJ ground his teeth in frustration. “No clue.”

“Why would he let her tell us that?” Bob asked.

“Because he wants us to know. Wants us to follow him,” Chappy guessed.

JJ thought about that, reluctantly agreeing it was probably the case.

“Can we catch them on the road before they get there? I mean, there aren’t a whole lot of ways to get to Colorado from here,” Bob said.

“Are you kidding? We don’t know where in Colorado they’re going, and he could take Interstate 90 and cut down, or 80, or 70, or hell, he could go south and jump on 40 and go north when he gets to New Mexico,” Chappy said in disgust.

JJ did his best not to panic. He didn’t want to think about April and the others being in their kidnapper’s clutches for a second longer than necessary, but he wasn’t sure how to find them amid the vast interstate network.

“Bloody hell!” Cal swore, kicking a nearby folding chair. It went flying backward, sounding obscenely loud in the otherwise quiet office.

“Replay the call,” Chappy said grimly. “April said a bunch of other stuff. If she was giving us clues, we just have to figure them out.”

JJ clicked a button, and soon April’s stressed-out voice once again filled the air around them. It physically hurt him to hear how scared she was, but he was also as proud as he could be that she was obviously trying to stay calm.

“What’s with the fishing thing?” Bob asked, his brows furrowed as he stared intently at the phone, as if that alone would help him understand what April was trying to convey.

“Worms? Is there a fishing spot around here that she knows about?” Chappy asked.

“Hook?” Bob added.

JJ closed his eyes and concentrated. He thought about the last time he went fishing, how he chose each worm, got them on the hook properly so they didn’t come off each time the line was cast—then it hit him.

“She’s talking about baiting a hook,” JJ blurted. “Worms are bait.”

Chappy nodded. “She’s warning us that whoever took them is using the women as bait.”

For the first time since he found out that April was gone, hope began to blossom in JJ. No, April telling him the women were bait wasn’t exactly anything they could use to find them, but it meant their kidnapper might not have taken them for a more nefarious purpose, such as selling them, or raping and torturing them . . . he hoped.

“So they’re going to Colorado, and this Ryan Johnson guy wants us to follow . . . ,” Bob mused.

“Egypt?” Cal asked. “Was she trying to tell us that she thinks he’s Egyptian?”

JJ thought that one over for a moment. “Maybe,” he hedged. “It’s possible she was simply trying to let us know that she doesn’t think he’s American. I’m not sure how much experience she has in determining nationality.”

“Unless he told her something,” Bob challenged.

“So Ryan Johnson is a made-up name, and he’s possibly from Egypt,” Chappy said. “We had a few missions in Egypt.”

“Yeah, but they were mostly reconnaissance,” JJ said. “We didn’t engage with anyone while we were there. Why the hell would someone be pissed at us for that?”

Frustration was clear on his team’s faces.

“And camel? Was she trying to let us know something about hills, mountain, humps?” Cal asked.

The four men threw ideas out but couldn’t think of anything April might have been trying to tell them with that particular clue.

“So that leaves the sunset comment and the Fig Newtons. JJ, have you guys watched a sunset together?” Chappy asked.

JJ shook his head. “Not really. I mean, maybe when we were in the car together coming back from a jobsite or something. But not, like, sitting down purposefully to watch it.”

“The sun sets in the west,” Cal commented. “Maybe she was telling us that’s the direction they’re going.”

“But she came right out and told us they’re going to Colorado,” Bob countered. “Why would she bother with the cloak-and-dagger shit if she was just going to come right out and tell us the destination?”

“I don’t know. But she said that the sun had set fast. Maybe she was telling us that her kidnapper wasn’t taking any breaks, or not that many, and they’d be there sooner rather than later,” Cal offered.

JJ’s head hurt. He hated this. Despised it. He was proud of April for doing her best to give them clues, but trying to decipher them felt nearly impossible.

“Fig Newtons. Law. Third. That one is easy. Newton’s third law,” Bob said confidently.

“When two bodies interact, they apply forces on each other, so there’s an equal and opposite reaction,” Chappy recited.

“Which goes back to the bait thing . . . I think,” Cal said.

“Damn. Which goes back to something we did or didn’t do,” Bob finished.

JJ sighed, and his shoulders slumped. Without more to go on, they were still flying pretty blind. Over the years, he and his team had completed jobs that meant hundreds, even thousands, of people might be unhappy with them as a result. From Benghazi, Tunisia, Iraq and Iran, India, Ireland, the Philippines, Uzbekistan, Palestine, China, Russia, Colombia, Africa . . . the list of places they’d been in was never ending.

He was on the verge of feeling hopeless again, but that wasn’t an option. Not even close. “Right, until this Ryan Johnson guy wants to give us more information, until he lets April call back, we have to go with the little we have. Ryan Johnson, made-up name, from our past, took our women as bait, wants us to follow him to Colorado. And until we find out exactly where he’s going, we need to plan for every contingency. It’s likely he’s been planning this for a while. Which means he has a very specific location in mind. Somewhere he can draw us in and take us out.”

“The mountains,” Chappy said firmly.

“That’s what I was thinking,” JJ said. “Some area he’s familiar with. He’s not going to go to Denver or Colorado Springs or any other city. He most likely wants to kill us, which means he needs privacy. No one around to see what he’s doing.”

“There’s a lot of wilderness in Colorado,” Bob said skeptically. “How do we figure out where he’s going?”

“We don’t. Not yet,” JJ said. “But he’ll let us know when he’s ready to play. Until then, we need to prepare. I’m going to make some calls. I know some people who live in Colorado who’ll absolutely help us.”

“Who?” Bob asked.

“Rex and his team, for one,” JJ replied.

“The Mountain Mercenaries,” Chappy said.

“Who are they?” Cal asked, looking from one friend to another. “Can we trust them? How do you know they’ll help?”

“They’ll help,” JJ said without hesitation. “They live in the Colorado Springs area and, like the Silverstone team, used to be Special Forces. SEALs, SAS, Marines, Coast Guard.”

“Wait—Ronan Cross, right?” Cal asked. “He’s the Brit?”

“I’m not one hundred percent sure, but maybe,” JJ said.

“I’ve heard of him and some of the stuff he’s done. He’s kind of legendary,” Cal said, clearly impressed.

“Rex is their leader. He was in the Army. He got the team together after they were discharged from their respective military units, and for years they hunted down women and children who’d been taken in the sex trade,” JJ told his team.

“Wait, I’ve heard of that guy,” Chappy said. “Wasn’t he the one whose wife was taken, and he found her ten years later in South America?”

“That’s him,” JJ agreed with a nod.

“Holy crap, he’s a badass!” Chappy said in awe.

“They retired from international work, but they still take the occasional job here in the States. I have no doubt they’ll help us when they hear what’s going on, especially since the women are heading to their own backyard, so to speak,” JJ added. “And they’re tight with another group of men who live south of Denver. I’ve crossed paths with Logan and Blake Anderson, from Ace Security. He and his team will help.”

“How can you be sure?”

“Because I helped track down one of Logan’s twins when he was kidnapped,” JJ told his friends.

“What? How come we didn’t know about this?” Chappy asked, eyes narrowed.

“I’ve done a lot of things you guys don’t know about. Both before and after the team was formed,” JJ admitted. “It doesn’t matter. All that matters is finding our women. I’ll turn in every marker I’ve ever collected, call in every contact I’ve made over the years, do whatever it takes to find them safe and sound.”

“So we’ve got Silverstone, Mountain Mercenaries, Ace Security, and Tex,” Bob said. “That’s a lot of boots on the ground, plus Tex, and Cal’s royal family behind the scenes. When can we head to Colorado?”

“Tomorrow. I need to make calls tonight,” JJ said. “We don’t know what we’re walking into, but since this asshole expects us to come running, he’s gonna be ready for us. It’s been a long time since we’ve been on a mission, and we’ll have a bunch of men we’ve never worked with at our sides too. This isn’t going to be easy,” he felt compelled to warn.

“Didn’t expect it would be,” Bob answered. “But I didn’t get Marlowe out of that shithole prison to lose her now.”

“Carlise should’ve died in that storm. It was fate that led her to my doorstep . . . that and Baxter,” Chappy added.

“And June never knew what family was until she came here,” Cal said quietly. “She’s been so excited about our son, and now she’s probably scared out of her mind. I’ll do whatever it takes to bring her home.”

JJ nodded. The four of them certainly had the motivation to find their women. He just hoped that would be enough. “Tomorrow,” he repeated. “Go home, get some sleep if you can. In the morning we’ll start planning for every contingency we can think of. No one touches our women and lives. No one.”

His friends all nodded grimly.

After the others had left and he was alone in the office, JJ studied the space. Everywhere he looked, he saw April. Every piece of furniture. Every item in the kitchen. A sweatshirt thrown over a chair. The pen lying on top of a stack of boxes that she’d left there after inventory. If he opened the fridge, he’d see the cans of Sprite she loved to drink. Her favorite creamer. Hell, the place even smelled like the beachy lotion she loved so much.

Alone, surrounded by April, JJ’s legs collapsed under him, and he went to his knees on the hard floor. His head bowed, and he closed his eyes as he desperately tried to retain his composure. She’d sounded so scared but so determined to tell him as much as she could. He couldn’t imagine what she was going through, what any of the women were experiencing.

No, that was a lie. He’d been a prisoner. He knew. She was terrified. Confused. Maybe cold and in pain. Trying to get through one minute at a time and having no idea what was going to happen next.

The thought of April being in that situation made him want to kill someone. JJ hadn’t enjoyed some aspects of being a Special Forces soldier. Taking a life wasn’t something he’d ever done lightly. But at this moment, he yearned to end the man who’d dared touch April. JJ had been a dumbass and waited way too long to let her know how he felt, and now she could be taken from him before they’d barely had a chance at happiness.

No. He wasn’t going to allow that to happen.

Looking down, JJ saw he was still clutching his phone. Feeling as if he was in a fog, he clicked the replay button on the call he’d recorded. He needed to hear April’s voice again. Get another confirmation that she was alive.

He played it again. Then again. Over and over. Her terrified voice echoed around him, and with each replaying, JJ’s determination and anger increased. He’d once told her that he’d scorch the earth to protect her from anyone who dared try to hurt her. Well, it was time for that to happen.

“I love you, April,” he said out loud, his voice breaking. “I’m coming for you. Just hang on a little longer.”

Then he clicked on Tex’s name in his contact list. When the other man answered, JJ didn’t beat around the bush. “I need Rex’s number,” he said gruffly.

Tex didn’t ask questions. He rattled off the digits, then asked, “What do you need from me?”

Operation Scorch the Earth was on.