Chapter 35 On The Move

Magnum

"The code word for cover blown is 'Let's visit the library.'" Zac Fontaine glared at me, and I scowled back.

Fontaine—the FBI Special Agent in Charge of the missing children's case—was getting on my nerves.

He had a slideshow presentation of the mansion with all the ingress and egress points labeled. "If Mag or Wren say the code words, they exfil pronto, but the team doesn't enter until either he or Wren says—"

"I know how code words work." He glared at my interruption of his carefully prepared speech. "My cover is solid. The crypto transaction went through this morning. We're good."

Fontaine didn't acknowledge me and returned to his overly complicated plan. He was a team guy once, but now he was a fed, so that made him an outsider.

Instead of listening to him, I checked the security monitors at Wren's bakery. She was smiling and talking to the woman she had the appointment with. They both looked carefree and happy. As it should be.

Celeste was standing on the front walk looking very conspicuous.

Me: You circled the perimeter?

Celeste: On the quarter. All clear.

When the meeting finally ended, I texted her again.

Me: En route. ETA 1300

Celeste: Copy .

As we were filing out of the conference room, my second phone buzzed.

Sheila.

Why was she calling me?

I rejected the call, but a text came through at the same time.

Sheila: Please answer. It's urgent.

Of course she sent something vague that would force me to call her. "What's up, Sheila? No bullshit."

"Some dudes came by here looking for Gavin." She spat it out quickly, and my whole body went on alert.

"When?"

"Like two hours ago."

"Why'd you wait to call?"

"I felt terrible. I'm so sorry." Her voice was stressed and weepy.

I flagged Vander down, and he waited with the team in the hallway.

"Talk fast."

"Two Asian guys. They said they were looking for info on Gavin, but they showed me a picture of you in a tuxedo with a really pretty girl."

A photo from the magic show at the mansion. They were looking into me. "Why you? What's your relation to Gavin?"

"He stays here sometimes." Her voice grew timid. My brother was nothin' but trouble. The whole time I was looking for him, he was with a woman I couldn't stand? "I know I should've lied," she went on. "I shouldn't have told them anything, but I was so jealous." Her high-pitched voice grated on my ears.

"What did you say?"

"I told them the guy in the picture was Magnum Beaumont, and he's a cop."

"Fuck, Sheila. I'm not a cop!" I made eye contact with Vander and Fontaine, who were listening closely. Fontaine rolled his eyes and threw his hands in the air in defeat.

"Well, you never told me what you really do," she said, defensively.

"And this is exactly why."

"I'm so sorry."

"Hang tight. I'll send someone over to get the whole story. Don't speak to anyone unless I confirm I sent him."

"You're not coming yourself?"

Good Lord. This woman never stopped. I fought the urge to slam the phone against the wall and ended the call. "Fucking Sheila strikes again."

"What the hell was that?" Zac Fontaine asked, stress in his voice.

"Let's go to the library," I said, sardonically.

"Your cover's blown?"

I nodded, barely controlling the rage boiling up in my chest.

Everyone's phone buzzed at the same time.

Shadow: Red alert. Zhao is on the move.

"Fuck!"

Shadow: Five vans heading south. Got the plates.

Zac read the message and rushed up in my face. "This is your fault. Can't keep your dick in your pants long enough to get those girls out of there? "

I pushed him back but didn't throw a punch. Hitting a fed was not worth the trouble. "Back off, Fontaine."

"He's moving them. Took me a year to find those kids." He didn't charge me again, but his face was turning red.

"I found them in a week. Why you so slow?" I tilted my head to deliver the insult harder.

Vander stepped between us. "Take it easy. Helix should be tracking them. Dial it in and focus."

Fontaine backed down, and I took a breath to center myself. This was where I was comfortable. This was where I shined. Calm under pressure. Get past the shock of the new info quickly and snap into action.

We needed to get up there fast before the vans got too far away. The drive from San Diego to LA was three hours on a good day. A helicopter could be there in forty minutes.

"Remy in town?" I asked Vander. Hopefully Remy had a pleasure flight or a bounty hunter job down here somewhere. We could really use his helicopter right now.

"See if he's in the area," Vander said to Steel. "Have him meet us on the roof. If he's not available, get someone here ASAP." Steel nodded and left to work on that.

"I'm going," Fontaine interjected.

"No. You are not part of this team," I said.

"He's former CAG. He's with us on this one," Vander said to me. Combat Applications Group was another name for Delta Force, a Tier One ultra confidential team that went places even the SEALs didn't touch. "Plus we might need access to the fed cameras and database if Helix isn't tracking."

I nodded, reluctantly. "You better be good, man," I warned him .

"Don't worry about me," Fontaine snapped back.

"Alpha Team, Kane and Fontaine, suit up," Vander ordered. "Meet on the roof in twenty. Jade and London will caravan up in vehicles. Shadow and Locke will run central command from here."

"Roger that."

I took the stairs up to my apartment and put together a quick kit with a flak vest, rifle, several handguns, and lots of ammo. The comms took longer to put on, but they were key to the team working in sync. We'd have to get Fontaine on the same channel during the flight up.

My phone flashed with a text I'd missed ten minutes ago. A blank message from Celeste. I quickly opened the security monitors.

The bakery was empty.

Front and back doors open.

They were gone.

I checked the recorded footage. Wren opening a package. Smoke. Celeste running. Wren weakening. Celeste dragging her out. Both of them passing out. Wren's lips moving but her body limp.

Scanning ahead. Two guys carrying them out to a van.

"Fuck!"

I forced myself to focus through the seething red haze clouding my vision as I called Vander. "Celeste and Wren were taken unconscious from the bakery approximately the same time that Sheila called me. Hauled off in a van."

He was silent for a minute, but I could feel his fury growing just like mine. When he finally spoke, his voice was cold as ice. "Her phone is still at the bakery, but her GPS tracker is transmitting. It shows her traveling toward Marina Del Rey. We're moving all assets to Celeste and Wren."

Fontaine would not be happy with a diversion from his target, but our women were involved now, so he'd have to suck it up. "Is Helix tracking the vans?"

"No. He missed them."

Shit. This was a series of mistakes that kept getting worse. "Maybe they're all there. Transporting the victims by boat."

Vander growled. "And Celeste and Wren are victims now too."

"Not for long," I said with determination. We had to get them back instantly. There was no way he was taking Wren on a boat anywhere.

Vander was silent again as I waited for his response.

Nothing for a long time.

"Vander, lock it down."

"Copy." His voice broke, but he finally took action. "Remy is en route. ETA twenty minutes. Pack waterproof gear."

"Roger that."

He disconnected.

My marine gear was deeper in the closet, but I tore that thing apart to find it. Fuck. I knew I shouldn't have let her go alone. If Kenny or any of his men put one finger on my Wren, they were dead. He messed with the wrong team.