Dominance Never Dies (Masters and Mercenaries #11)(114)

Ian’s head shook Case’s way. “I told you to talk to the woman, not lay out all our secret plans to her in voice mail. Why? Why do all my best agents lose their freaking minds the minute a nice pair of breasts walk into the room?”

“I do not need your sarcasm.” Mia was in danger.

Ian sobered. “I’m sorry, Case. I know what she means to you. I’m surprised she was here though.”

“I wanted her with me when we went to get Theo,” Case admitted. “I wanted her with Charlotte and Erin. I know Grace isn’t coming with us, but I wanted her with the rest of our…wives.”

Ian put a hand on his shoulder. “Of course you did. I’ll stop being such an ass. We have to get to the office and get someone over to Chelsea’s to take care of our girls. I need Charlie and Chelsea trying to figure out where Santos would take Mia.”

Ten had already told them. Case forced his hands to stop shaking. They still had the advantage. He turned to Ten. “You said you got some intel about Mia. Was it random?”

Ten shook his head. “No. It was a hacker. At least he said he was. He said he’d been searching the Dark Web and he had some stuff he thought I should look at. I’ve been trying to build a new network now that I’m no longer with the Agency. It helps that I’m not with a big firm either because I’m less likely to be able to track someone down. Sometimes even the bad guys have consciences about certain things. As this * proves.”

Ten was gesturing to Kent, but Case wasn’t so sure he was a bad guy at all.

Kent stared at him. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

“Hutch.” He was still in there. He was doing his best. He’d lain low and waited for the time he could help his team. Hutch was out there asking if he could come home now.

Ian took a deep breath. “Why would Santos take her to McDonald?”

“For the money she’ll bring in,” Case replied. Drew would pay anything to get his sister back. “McDonald needs money. For protection and to keep her experiments going. They can’t steal enough to make themselves comfortable. Mia is a big payday. Drew will write a check for a hundred million and not blink an eye.”

“Why not steal her in Colombia?” Ten asked. “Obviously Santos was trying to lead you to a place where it would be easier to take her.”

He had to shrug at that one. “Theo didn’t let it happen. I don’t know. He was willing to let them take Hutch but not a female. You know how protective Theo can be about women. I guess no drug could take that out of him.”

How much had Theo paid for that transgression? How much blood had he shed to keep Mia out of hell?

“So now we’re going to rescue two family members,” Ian said, his jaw firming with surety.

“I want in.” Kent’s shoulders had squared.

Ian started to say something, but Case put a hand out, stopping him. He looked Kent in the eyes. “Are you trying to get back in the Agency’s good graces?”

“I’m trying to stop a crazy woman from developing a drug that could be used against us,” Kent replied. “And you have to know that the Agency isn’t going to help you out of the kindness of their hearts. Every intelligence group in the world is looking for that drug and they won’t care how they get their hands on it. You need me. I can help you because if we don’t get the formula to that drug, guess who the Agency is going to turn to? Going to study?”

“Theo,” Ten said between clenched teeth. “They’ll try to use him to figure out what she did and reverse engineer the process. It’s why Santos is working with her. I’m sure she promised him a cut or that he could be the one to sell the formula for her. He always was a wily son of a bitch.”

“I’m not letting the Agency take my brother.” He would fight.

Kent looked him straight in the eyes. “Then let me be your Agency contact. I won’t inform them of the mission until we’re in the air and there’s nothing they can do to switch me out. If you take someone else, I can’t promise they’ll help you the way I will.”

“Why should we trust you?” Ian asked.

Case knew the answer. “Because he loves Mia, too.”

Kent’s eyes closed as though he couldn’t stand to look at him. “She’s a very lovable woman.” His eyes came open again and he stared at Case. “I know she doesn’t feel the same way about me. You don’t have anything to worry about. And it’s more than Mia. It’s about Ezra, too.”

His brother. Case understood that. And he couldn’t find the will to work up jealousy. Mia was his. All he could feel was some sympathy for Kent. He wouldn’t get the woman he wanted, but he could help save her. “You’re in. We fly out at six and we’re going to have to deal with one seriously freaked out billionaire.”

Ian pulled out his phone. “I’m going to call Alex and see if he and Eve will take the twins so Chelsea can work on this. I assume with Mr. White’s approval she can answer to me without being a traitor. As for the rest of it, this is your op, Case. I’ll follow your lead.”

Ian turned and started to dial.

It was his mission. He intended to make sure he got his girl and his brother back.





Mia wished she wasn’t in a bathrobe. Clothes. They were super helpful when one was kidnapped.