Chapter 5

When Ryder left Tampa, he'd been concerned about the threat against Langley, but trusted the FBI's call that it was bullshit. He wished now that they'd boarded the private jet immediately and bought supplies in San Diego. While it was true that it would be harder here because it was unfamiliar territory, at least he'd know she was safe while they shopped. Hell, he wished he'd agreed to come to the damn wedding with her to begin with.

He looked up from the maps spread across the hood of the Explorer and eyed the western horizon. They'd spent hours driving around. Now the sun was low in the sky, and finding the kidnapper's car became exponentially more difficult in the dark .

Not that it was easy in the daylight.

They knew it was a white Chevy Impala. They knew it had triggered a red-light camera at Pomerado and Willow Creek at around 1000, damn close to Sarah's house. They knew Langley had been the driver. And they knew the car had been headed away from the freeway. That was all they had.

From the moment the cop, Rio, had called at 1400 to tell them the information on the vehicle, they'd been searching. San Diego was a big city, though, and there were thousands of white cars and ten times more places to hide one. If the kidnapper was a local, he could have parked in his garage and no one would ever see it.

One more hour of good daylight. Shit.

Ryder looked back down at the satellite map. Subdivision after subdivision—most with garages. His gaze moved to the street map. They'd created a grid over it, searched in sections, but had nothing to show for it. Not a fucking damn thing.

He took a deep breath. They'd had to stop for gas, and since the station was next to a fast food restaurant, Mako had walked over to grab some dinner for them. That made sense. It also made sense for the three of them to pull over to the side of the parking lot after filling up and lay out their maps where they could get the big picture while they waited for Bryce to return. Ryder suspected this whole search was a waste of time.

Okay, he knew it was a waste of time, but there was nothing else to do, and if he had to sit around and wait and imagine the things that could have happened to Langley by now, he'd lose his mind.

Ignoring the conversation between Griff and Stony, Ryder pulled out his phone and checked the app for the tracking device they'd attached to Trammel's Jeep Renegade. It hadn't moved in hours and an earlier ride by had shown it parked and empty. It was a damn pain.

Rio had made it clear when he'd phoned that they were only acting as extra eyes for the police department—the SEALs too—but Ryder knew damn well that if Taggart located the vehicle, he would try a rescue no matter how illegal it was, and his buddy Trammel would be right beside him. Ryder wanted his team there to make sure Langley got out alive, too. While they'd been at the chapel, it had been Sarah, Sarah, Sarah with Langley as an afterthought. Fuck that. His hellcat was every bit as important as the other woman.

But the reality was that she might already be dead. If the guy was the person who'd threatened her, the whole purpose was to kill her. If it was the threat to her friend, Langley was a complication the man didn't want or need. Ryder pushed the idea away. He couldn't think like that and function. But it was hard to stop.

"Ski, you listening?" Griff asked.

"No, what did you say?"

Rowland tapped the satellite map, bringing his attention to an area northeast of where they'd searched so far. "Griff suggested that this would be a good place to go to ground."

"There's a whole lot of space there," Griff said, "and if you were a kidnapper worried that a neighbor might see an alert and report you to the police, you wouldn't hide in a subdivision. Garage or no garage, it's a risk."

"You think we should search there next?"

"Why not?" Griff shrugged. "It's as good a place as any."

Yeah, it was as good a place as any. They were assuming the asshole wasn't in Mexico, drinking beer at a bar in Tijuana. They were assuming that if he was after Sarah, he was waiting for a cash payoff and not a wire transfer. They were assuming that if it was the guy who'd threatened Langley, he hadn't simply killed both women and dumped their bodies somewhere. Fuck. He had to stop thinking like this, but he knew what could happen. He'd seen too much not to know.

"Don't count her out, Ski," Rowland said. "Langley's tough. That scar you have should remind you of that every day. "

Before he realized what he was doing, he raised his hand and brushed his temple.

"You underestimated her," Stony reminded him. "Kept bitching about having to put our mission on hold to rescue some damn princess."

Griff nodded. "She hadn't even fucked up. She'd been inside the US Embassy when the Puerto Jardinese insurgents grabbed her."

"Where the hell is Bryce with the food? We need to get back on the road," Ryder said.

"You were the one who fucked up," Griff continued, undeterred.

"He's right," Rowland agreed. "You never should have let her know you thought she was some spoiled heiress. She played on that until she had an opportunity to use your assumptions against you."

"You can't blame her for not believing you were Special Forces." Griff folded his arms over his chest.

"For fuck's sake, I don't blame her." Ryder thrust both hands through his hair. "I looked worse than I do right now. I know that." And he had acted more like a mercenary than a soldier from the time he'd pulled her out of the window of the shack. He'd been disrespectful, sarcastic, impatient, and provocative. Langley had told him later that she believed he'd stolen her from the rebels to ransom her to her father. "Can we get back to business now?"

"All you had to do was rescue her while we kept the insurgents busy and then join up with the rest of the team at the rendezvous point. Simple assignment." Griff rocked back on his heels, amusement in his posture if not on his face.

"Simple," Rowland agreed, "if your rescued hostage doesn't escape and elude you for nearly an hour."

"Some friends you are." Ryder scowled at the pair of them, but he gave Stony a few extra seconds. Griffin was abrasive most of the time, but Rowland was the quiet one. Usually, anyway.

"We are your friends, fuckwit," Griff said genially.

Stony nodded. "You're thinking the worst, maybe you believe she's dead and we should be looking for bodies, not the car. We're reminding you that Langley is tough, smart, and knows how to handle herself. Our money's on her."

Voice tight, Ryder said, "Puerto Jardin was a one-off. Langley is a lady, not some Amazonian warrior."

"Dude, you call her hellcat." Griff gave him a what-the-fuck look.

"That started as a joke." Mostly because when he'd referred to her as princess in the rainforest, she'd turned icy on him and he'd wanted her cooperative.

"You'd think that rock she hit him with would have knocked some sense into his head," Griff said with mock sadness.

"Some people learn slower than others." Stony's face was bland. "He's clinging to his princess fantasy and ignoring the fact that she's a fighter."

Ryder closed his eyes for a moment, dug deep for control, and said, "Even if you're right, the odds are against her."

"Fuck the odds," Griff said with a growl and poked him in the chest. "This team protects its women, and we consider Langley one of ours. We're finding her and she'll be alive, got it?"

"I want to believe that." God, did he ever, but the more time that passed, the worse her chances became. He looked back to the west. "Night will be here soon."

"Then let's get ready to roll. Mako's coming with dinner and we can eat while we search," Rowland said calmly.

He glanced over in time to see Bryce cross the drive-thru lane and cut between two overgrown bushes that separated the restaurant from the gas station. It wasn't until he grew closer that he realized Mako looked angry .

"What happened?" Ryder demanded as soon as his teammate reached him.

"They ran out of fries. I didn't wait for them to make a new batch, not when I'd stood in line for-fucking-ever. I got onion rings." Mako glanced down at the maps. "Are we looking for the car or standing around?"

"The car," Ryder said immediately.

Rowland clapped him on the shoulder, gathered up the maps, and opened the door to the SUV. "That's right. We have to save the kidnapper before Langley hurts him too badly."