The Revenge (The Insiders Trilogy #3)(39)

Josh must’ve been thinking the same. “We can reach out to your intel-gathering team. They have military backgrounds, too, and could act as backup if it was needed.”

“No.” They’d been my first call after my twin took off. I pulled them from working on my grandfather, looking for my brother. Harden was now my only in-field asset on Calhoun.

We were getting closer, and that was why we were in Aspen.

It was time to bring in one of his last assets that he thought he still had. Griogos Maragos had a home here.

The drive was an hour through the mountains.

We ended the call with Josh being responsible for setting up the meet. He was briefed on the reason we were in Aspen. And exactly one hour later we pulled up to a log cabin-esque house. Three stories. Every single window was lit up.

Josh took the house in as we parked. “Don’t think she was expecting us.”

I hid a grin, but then it was go time.

We got out and the guards took off.

They would sweep the perimeters, then the interior of the house.

The first wave approached the house.

The security system was dismantled.

The door was unlocked and we entered.

I was the fourth man inside.

We cleared the first floor together, moving as a team .

Two went upstairs.

I was with Josh as we went downstairs.

The second floor was cleared.

The guys went to the third floor right as Josh and I kicked in the last door of the basement.

Everything was cleared.

The living room. Bathrooms. Bedrooms. Closets.

Any door was opened, the room or whatever it led to was swept through.

We came back together on the main floor, and guns weren’t holstered but they were lowered.

Josh frowned. “Is she hiding?”

I looked at Derek. “Did you check the feeds?”

He already had his computer up and was typing. “Pulling it up now.” He clicked. Clicked. He frowned. Clicked some more, and his eyes lifted. “There’s a secret door behind the living room couch.”

We were in the living room.

As one person, we turned.

The couch was behind us.

Jasper and Josh moved to the couch, lifting it clear from the wall.

Derek put his computer down. All of our guns were raised again, and he approached the wall.

Jasper moved in from the right.

Josh from the left.

A small hatch was in the wall, and Derek took point right in front of Josh. He grabbed the latch and opened it, hurling himself and the small door to the side. Josh rounded, his gun drawn. Jasper bent down, sweeping the bottom. Josh the top. Neither saw anything. Both went inside.

Derek looked at me.

I looked at him, then nodded to the computer. “Pull the active feeds. I want to see if that’s a tunnel, if she’s coming out somewhere else. ”

He holstered his gun, nodding at the same time, and hurried to the computer.

We waited. A minute passed. Two. Three.

There were no shouts.

The guys checked the perimeter and all radioed in. Everything was cleared out there, so that meant she wasn’t out there somewhere. She was inside the house—or hell, she was in a tunnel for all I knew.

Josh’s voice came over the radio. “Got her.”

Derek stopped what he was doing, going to his own radio. “Where?”

“There’s a back room. I think we’re under the basement. Her grandfather had a whole system down here.”

“Is she unharmed?”

A slight laugh from Josh. “Oh yeah. She’s feisty, some cursing, but she’s good to go. She’d been drinking, so I think she got lost in the tunnels. She trapped herself.”

Over the radio, we heard a feminine voice, “Fuck you! Fuck who’s out there. Is that Kash? Tell him to fuck himself!”

There were scuffling sounds next.

A thud.

Josh came back on the radio, his voice sounding strained. “Jasper needs a hand. We’ll be out momentarily.”

“Guys outside want to know your orders. They switched channels,” Derek said.

I nodded, rubbing a hand over my face. I was exhausted and I hadn’t even dealt with this girl yet. “Tell them to set the detonators. This is going to be a message to him.”

Derek’s eyebrows dipped before smoothing out. “Can I say something?”

“Yeah.”

“What’s the message of burning down this house? You already eliminated the owner, and he was one of your grandfather’s biggest assets. ”

“The message is that he can’t hide anything from me. I will find it, and I will destroy it. It’s cat and mouse right now, but I’ve become the cat. He just doesn’t know it. Me burning this house down, and the five others we’re going to do by the end of this trip, is me letting him know. He’s now the mouse. I want him scared and I want him doing what she did, messing up and trapping himself.”

Josh and Jasper arrived back, stepping out from the small door, and in their hands was a struggling old lover.

I greeted her. “Hello, Victoria.”

The guys hadn’t lied. Her eyes were dilated, her hair a mess. She was wearing a robe over a nightgown. Her feet were bare and she reeked of booze.

“You mother fucker fuckerrr. I’m gonna—I’m gonna—aghrdd.” She tried again, twisting around. “Im gont hurd youph. Yood aholed!”