Master No (Masters and Mercenaries, #9)(121)

“Mr. Smith, if you will come with us, we won’t harm the girl,” an accented voice explained.

There were six of them. No wonder they’d waited. He would bet they’d waited all night in the middle of a tropical storm. They’d likely followed the trail back and then MSS had proven themselves to be deeply patient bastards.

“Let the girl go free and I’ll come with you.” He couldn’t take out six armed operatives. Not in a gunfight. Not out in the open. They had no cover and even if the plane had been up and running, MSS would simply shoot it out of the sky.

Faith wrapped her arms around his waist, staying behind him. “No. I’m not leaving you.”

Shit. They would kill her. “You will if I tell you to. You’ll go to our friends. You’ll be safe with them.”

It was as close as he would get to begging her to go and get Ian.

“You’re talking about Mr. Taggart?” the leader said with a shit-eating grin on his face. “I believe we have a surprise for him as well.”

There was a loud boom and Ten felt the ground shake.

“That would be your friends meeting a grisly death from our trap. You’re alone, Mr. Smith, and you have nothing to bargain with. Come with us or we’ll kill the girl.”

He heard the sound of crunching gravel. He didn’t want to turn his head. Never take your eyes off the snake that’s about to bite you. Another thing Franklin Grant had taught him.

“Faith, please tell me that’s our people coming up the drive.”

“It’s my father.” Faith’s voice shook. “And he’s not alone. We’re surrounded.”

“Cowards waited until they could separate us from the rest of the team,” Ten said, his heart racing. He was cool under pressure, but now he realized he’d been that way because he’d had nothing to lose. The idea of losing Faith made him sick to his stomach.

But he was going to. He knew the odds, could see the various scenarios play out in his head. He could take a few out, but without cover, he had no way to protect her.

No way except to pray her father wouldn’t kill her.

“Mr. Smith, I’ll take my daughter back now.” McDonald’s voice boomed across the yard.

Ten turned. It didn’t matter. There was no option, no way to fight that wouldn’t lead to the loss of her life. He saw McDonald and four of his thugs bearing down on them.

“She had nothing to do with this,” Ten said. He had to try. “She didn’t know a damn thing until you told her and then my people kidnapped her.”

McDonald frowned. “Yes, of course they did. Faith has always been a bit rebellious, shall we say. If you’re worried I’m going to murder my daughter, think again, Mr. Smith. I love both of my children. I’m going to make certain that Faith sees how much you’ve twisted the situation to your own liking.”

Faith started to talk, but Ten quickly put a hand over her mouth and leaned in. He had seconds before the MSS operatives tore them apart. “Keep your mouth shut. Agree with whatever he says. I don’t believe for a second Tag is gone, and he will come for you. You be alive when he gets there. I love you, Faith.”

“Drop the gun now,” a hard voice said. He was surrounded by six MSS agents. He let the gun fall to the ground. There would be more waiting back at their plane. He would have to look for some way, any way to get out.

McDonald got a hand on his daughter’s arm and yanked her to him.

Ten found himself with a gun shoved at the base of his spine. Faith looked so scared, but she kept her head held high as she was walked back to her father’s SUV.

I love you, she mouthed before she disappeared inside the vehicle.

“Torture the hell out of that motherf*cker,” McDonald said, spitting his way. “I swear, I should have killed him myself.”

“We’ll take care of things from here on out.” The MSS operative pulled back the hood of his jacket and shook his head as McDonald’s SUV took off. “Tennessee Smith. Alone at last. Do you know how long I’ve waited for this day?”

Shit. Naturally it was a f*cking reunion. “Lei Gan. I can tell you exactly how long you’ve waited for this day. It’s been since I gave you that scar. It’s looking good, by the way. And you really didn’t need your peripheral vision.”

Lei Gan was an operative he’d come up against once. Exactly once, but the man hadn’t forgotten the encounter. Then again it was probably difficult to forget the man who’d nearly gutted him and taken an eye. Lei Gan was the operative who’d spent time with Phoebe Grant when her cover had been blown. Ten and Jamie had taken care of him.

Lei leaned in, letting Ten get a good look at the eye patch he now wore. “When I get through with you, you’re going to wish you’d killed me that day. And I’ve already sent a lovely note to your sister. I’ve promised to send you back to her. In small pieces, of course.”

Nice.

He bit back a groan as one of the operatives pulled his hands behind his back and shoved his wrists into too tight cuffs. Fuckers needed to have to take one of Tag’s classes. These *s had no idea how to properly bind a human.

His spine bowed when they shoved the rifle in. A sure sign they wanted him walking.

“Ian Taggart’s not dead, you know.” He shuffled along, not wanting to help them out by moving quickly. They forced him into the thicket of trees and shrubs they’d been hiding in, and he could see what he hadn’t before. There was an SUV parked roughly a quarter of a mile away. They’d used the storm and cover of darkness to move into position. How had MSS found him so quickly?