Kidnap and Ransom. Michelle Gagnon

mean it?”

      “Nineteen minutes and counting.”

      Kelly popped off his lap and loped toward their bedroom. Jake winced internally at the thought of how Syd would react to this development. “Damn it, Mark,” he muttered under his breath. “Still nothing but trouble.”

      “Anything?”

      “Not yet, Mr. Smiley. But they cleared another sector.”

      Linus Smiley snorted derisively and waved the assistant out. It had been four days since his team was snatched. He was having a hell of a time keeping the latest fiasco from the board of directors. The loss of an entire unit in addition to Calderon would send them into crisis mode, and that was the last thing he needed. Especially now. He had to hold them off for a few more days, long enough for the new team to clean up this mess…not that they’d made any progress so far. He’d sent in a double unit of men, the best of who he had left, and all they’d managed to do was figure out where the captives weren’t.

      As it was, there had been too many delays. The board had insisted on waiting nearly six weeks before sending a team after Cesar, convinced that at some point the kidnappers would contact them with a ransom demand. But so far, nothing—and by the time he’d managed to mobilize a team, the trail had gone cold. They’d been fortunate to get that tip about the Zeta apartment—or at least, that’s what he’d thought at the time. Clearly someone had been setting them up. The question was, why? Cesar Calderon was worth a substantial amount, and not just in monetary terms. Smiley had lain awake the past few nights trying to figure out the end game here.

      He sighed and dropped down in the chair behind his desk, tapping his fingers in a steady cadence. After a moment, he pressed a button on his phone. “Emerson, get back here.”

      Emerson scuttled in, looking harried. “Yes, Mr. Smiley?”

      “Who do we know high up in Mexican military command?”

      Emerson shrugged. “I’m not sure, sir. Mr. Calderon always dealt with those contacts directly.”

      “But you’ve worked with him for years, right?” Smiley emphasized each syllable.

      “Yes, sir.” Emerson was visibly uncomfortable.

      “So unless you’re completely incompetent, you should be able to find those names in his files.”

      “That depends, sir.”

      “On what?”

      “On how high up you want to go. Mr. Calderon kept most of the top tier names somewhere else.”

      “Where?”

      Emerson shrugged in reply. Smiley fought the urge to hurl a paperweight at him. With Calderon gone, he’d had to step in and fill the vacuum. What he’d consequently discovered was that the layers of separation instituted by Cesar had prevented anyone from realizing how scatter-shot and disorganized the company really was. While each individual quadrant performed well, if one manager was removed the whole house of cards collapsed. Which was happening now, unless Smiley could figure out a way to shore the damn thing up. Typical of Cesar to keep his top contacts in his pocket. He always wanted to play hero.

      “Get me whoever you can,” Smiley snarled. “Someone has to be running those Zeta assholes. I want to find out who.”

JANUARY 30

      Five

      “This is bullshit. You should have cleared it with me.”

      “The way you clear everything with me first?” Jake grabbed his duffel bag off the carousel. He’d managed to avoid her until now, but with Kelly in the bathroom and their men staggered around the room waiting for luggage, Syd had cornered him for a dressing down.

      “This isn’t a goddamn holiday, Riley, it’s a mission.”

      “It’s my brother we’re going after,” Jake retorted. “And I thought we could use another set of arms.”

      “Another set of legs would help, too,” Syd said under her breath.

      “What?” Jake said sharply.

      “She’s just going to slow us down,” Syd said. “And if she does, I don’t have any problem leaving her.”

      “For the record, I didn’t want you coming along, either,” Jake said.

      “Now I’m sorry I did.”

      Kelly reappeared over Syd’s shoulder, and Jake forced a smile. She looked past him. “Oh, there’s my bag.”

      Her limp was more pronounced after the long overnight flight, and she moved clumsily toward her duffel. Jake went to help her, but she stopped him with a sharp look.

      “So, Kelly.” Syd watched her struggle. “All better?”

      Kelly set her jaw. “Absolutely.”

      “Jake probably told you what we’re in for.”

      “I’ve been briefed,” Kelly said.

      She tried to push past, but Syd blocked her. “Just so you know, things are different down here. We won’t be following any rulebook.”

      “Happy to hear it,” Kelly said.

      “Yeah?” Syd raised an eyebrow. “I doubt you’ll feel that way when we’ve got a hostile tied to a chair.”

      “Quit it, Syd,” Jake said, stepping forward.

      She opened her mouth to respond, but was interrupted by the approach of Michael Maltz, flanked by Jagerson, Fribush and Kane.

      “We ready?” Maltz asked, eyeing the three of them.

      “Yes,” Jake said. “Let’s pull out.”

      Kelly brooded in the rear of the rental car. She had known going into this that Syd would be less than thrilled to have her along. The two women had managed to avoid being in the same room for more than five minutes ever since The Longhorn Group was formed. Kelly hadn’t trusted her from the beginning. Syd Clement embodied the complete lack of moral standards that Kelly associated with CIA agents. Success at any cost. The end justified the means. Never in a million years would Kelly have started a company with someone whose world view was defined by “us versus them.” She’d told Jake as much, but he’d gone ahead and established the partnership anyway.

      Syd would go out of her way to make her life difficult on this mission. On top of everything else, she still had an ax to grind with Kelly for forcing her off a case. Not that she’d actually managed to—Syd had gone ahead and done what she wanted anyway, consequences be damned. And because of her actions, a lot of people in Phoenix had lost their lives. More than once in the past few months, Kelly had toyed with the idea of turning her in for that. She’d only kept her mouth shut for Jake’s sake.

      They’d opted for two cars, ostensibly to have more options if something happened to one. Kelly suspected it was also meant to keep her and Syd separated as much as possible. Jagerson was driving. He was small for a former Delta guy, but sported the same sheared head, thickly muscled arms and boxy jaw as his compatriots. Jake sat in the passenger seat beside him. As if sensing her gaze, he turned and gave her a thin smile.

      Kelly shifted her eyes away and pretended to fiddle with her phone. Under her lashes she took in Michael Maltz. Funny that Syd had been so opposed to her joining the team, yet had insisted on Maltz. He’d nearly been killed in the Phoenix incident, and still looked much the worse for wear. A mottled mass of burnt flesh ran across the left side of his face into his scalp. He’d lost the hearing in the ear on that side, and was missing a finger off his right hand. According to Jake, the rest of his body was largely held together by titanium pins. Kelly couldn’t believe that after all that, he was still willing to work with Syd. Hell, she couldn’t believe he wanted to keep doing this sort of work at all. Of course, under the circumstances she was hardly one to talk.

      Kane,