Master No (Masters and Mercenaries, #9)(93)

Faith forced herself to stand. She couldn’t count on Erin. She couldn’t count on anyone.

“I want to see what you have.” She walked out to the hall where Brody waited to show her where to go, wondering if she would have anyone she could believe in after the next few minutes.

And she wondered if any of it mattered because she already knew she would do whatever it took to get Tennessee Smith back. She would let him go, but she had to make sure he was alive.





CHAPTER FIFTEEN



“I should go with them.” Faith stared at the monitor.

“Nope. You should stay right here with me.” Hutch sat back and yawned a little as though a nighttime raid of a dangerous man’s fortified home was really no big deal. The man who couldn’t be older than his mid-twenties was the only one left in the van with her. He’d brought along his computer and some very high-tech equipment she didn’t understand. Apparently he was some sort of hacking genius and had already broken into the security feed around the mansion. “They have to get in and out. You’ll hold them back. There’s a storm coming.”

After the singularly named Hutch had gone over the multitudinous ways her father had betrayed both her and his country, he’d explained that they were on a timeline. A tropical storm was coming in a few hours and they had a very small window to get Ten and get the hell off the island. Even as it was a few would remain behind since the plane was small and could only hold four passengers and the pilot.

Apparently the Russian was also a pilot. So Theo had decreed it would be Nick piloting Tennessee, Faith, Erin, and Des off the island and back to the relative safety of the mainland.

She didn’t like to think about the fact that Theo had talked about bringing back Tennessee’s body if they had to.

He was alive. He had to be alive.

“You’re a go on the south side, boss.” Hutch had on a set of headphones and spoke into the microphone attached. He turned the screen of the computer so she could see four shadowy figures making their way along the south wall of the compound.

All four figures were dressed in black in deference to the darkness around them. The night before the moon had been spectacularly full, but this was a new moon night and in the absence of city lights, everything was dark around them.

There was a brief knock and the door opened. Erin climbed inside. “What’s going on?”

Hutch shrugged. “Nothing yet. Shouldn’t you have the Jeep all fired up and ready to roll?”

“Can’t roll anywhere without my crew. When they start hauling ass back here, I’ll fire up the Jeep. What’s security look like?” Erin grimaced as she took the bench on the other side of Hutch.

They hadn’t spoken more than a few words since Faith had gotten the four-hour report on the lie her life had been. Whoever Liam O’Donnell was, the man was thorough. She now believed that her father had her kidnapped to pave the way for an American corporation to keep its interests in Ghana lucrative. She’d seen the money trail. It was a money trail that led to her. Shortly thereafter, her father had used a portion of the same money to help fund her new clinic. She remembered that check like it was yesterday.

Her father’s actions had led to Ten’s brother’s death. Tennessee Smith had been trying to right a wrong. He’d been trying to find justice for his brother.

She wished he’d told her that in the beginning rather than allowing her to fall in love with a man who didn’t exist.

Her heart was heavy in her chest. Since learning the truth about her father, she’d been a walking bag of bones. Every movement was forced because all she really wanted to do was lie down somewhere and sleep. Maybe never wake up.

Her father had put out a hit on her mother. She’d been trying to expose him.

It was up to Faith now. Once she was sure Ten was all right, she was going to the press. If her father wanted to kill her, let him try his hardest. She intended to prove more difficult to kill than her mother.

If her sister got in her way, Faith would have to take her down, too. She would deal with Hope at some point if only to find out what she knew about the experiments at the clinic.

Of all the things she’d been told, the secrets revealed, the idea that Hope would experiment on non-consenting patients was the easiest to believe. Hope had always been about her research. Science required breaking a few eggs, her sister had told her. And in Hope’s mind, some eggs were more important than others. Faith had been comforted by the fact that FDA regulations and little things like laws would keep her sister in line.

Hope had found a way around them.

“Security is only a tad different than what Faith said it would be.” Hutch’s voice brought Faith back to the moment. “The only difference is several more guards on the front entrance. See?”

Hutch clicked a button and the screen became four blocks of security feed. The entrances to the main house and several of the outlying buildings showed up on screen. Hutch pointed to the right uppermost block. There were five armed security guards.

“They’re waiting on something. I don’t like it. Call Theo back.” Erin’s mouth formed a flat line as she stared at the screen.

Hutch touched another button. “Boss, your girl here thinks this is some kind of a setup and wants your ass back here. There are three extra guards on the front gate. Apparently that means something to Erin.”