Defending Raven (Mountain Mercenaries #7)(52)
“Okay,” she told him, the emotion easy to see in her eyes. She was overwhelmed and scared, but underneath all that, he saw a belief in him that he hoped he’d be able to live up to.
He watched as she reached over and opened the door. She closed it without another word and walked down the sidewalk toward the small house. Dave had wanted to drop her off closer, so she didn’t have to walk as far, but he knew it was safer to stay at least a half mile away so as not to raise any suspicions.
He was still staring at the sidewalk a few moments after Raven had disappeared, thinking about his upcoming appointment at the US embassy to pick up David’s passport and the raid his team was planning for that night—
When the glass in the window next to his head suddenly shattered.
Flinching away from the shards, Dave wasn’t prepared for two men to reach through the window and physically pull him out. They were strong, and Dave fought like a man possessed. He managed to get a few licks in before one of the men shoved a pistol against his head.
“Stop fighting or I’ll blow your brains out right here,” the man growled.
Dave froze.
Fuck. He knew he could take these assholes—there were only four of them, compared to the half dozen or more he’d faced in the barrio—but even he couldn’t beat a bullet. And he needed to live. For Raven. For his son. He couldn’t free them from the grave.
Holding up his hands in surrender, Dave memorized the faces of the assholes surrounding him. He’d make sure they paid. Along with anyone else who stood between him and his family.
“Not so tough now, are you?” one of the men asked, right before something slammed hard into the back of Dave’s head.
One second he was glaring at the men and mentally deciding how he was going to kill them, and the next, everything went black.
Dave came to in the back of a car, sandwiched between two men, one of whom held a pistol to his head, though he was in no condition to fight, and everyone knew it. His hands were secured behind him, and he had a raging headache. Dave wanted to puke, but managed to keep the bile down.
He stared at the huge compound the car was approaching. Dave recognized it immediately. He’d spent many hours studying the place from satellite photos. The house itself was surrounded by several acres of lush green grass and a ten-foot brick wall.
Once upon a time, Dave had entertained the idea of approaching this place on his own, but his team had convinced him otherwise.
Now it seemed he was going to get his chance to talk one-on-one with the man who had single-handedly tried to ruin his and Raven’s lives.
Dave had to assume someone had reported seeing him to del Rio. Or maybe he’d had someone following Raven to keep tabs on her. Either way, he was certain del Rio knew the Mountain Mercenaries were in town—and the man wasn’t happy about it. The fact that Dave had been snatched didn’t bode well for him.
He tried to review everything he knew about del Rio. With him, money talked. Everything the man did was about a profit. Money was what made his world go ’round. And if money was what it took to get David out of his clutches, then that was what Dave would offer. Given the chance, he’d buy David from the man without a moment’s hesitation.
He forced himself not to think about Raven being repeatedly raped somewhere in the large house in front of him. Or gazing out the window at the beautiful lawn and wishing she were somewhere else. It was too painful. As proud of his wife as he was, Dave still had a lot of pent-up anger simmering beneath his skin. Someone would pay for what his wife had been through, and that someone would be del Rio himself. Somehow, someway, the man would pay.
Looking up as the car came to a stop, Dave studied the windows, but they all had the curtains drawn. He had no idea if there were women behind those curtains. Prisoners who were being abused and raped day after day with no hope of rescue. Were there more Americans? More women like Bonita, Carmen, and the others?
He knew it was likely, and the thought was abhorrent, but Dave had to concentrate on the reason why he was there.
Hang in there, he silently begged the captives. I promise I’m going to send help. You just have to hang on a little bit longer.
Dave felt guilty about not being able to do anything right this second for the women who might be trapped inside, living a life they never could’ve dreamed in their worst nightmares. But at the moment, he wasn’t even in a position to help himself.
He was dragged out of the car and almost fell to his knees in the driveway. The world spun, and Dave felt a trickle of what he assumed was blood oozing down the back of his head. Whatever he’d been hit with had done some damage, but he was alive.
Not killing him outright was going to be del Rio’s downfall.
“How’d you find me?” he asked the men all but dragging him toward the huge house.
“We have many ways,” the man holding the gun said. “Del Rio is a god around here. If you thought you and your friends were staying under the radar, you really are stupid Americans. We have eyes and ears everywhere.”
Damn. Dave and the others had speculated on more than one occasion about why del Rio hadn’t sent his goons after them. They’d remained vigilant, just in case, but the asshole had waited to grab him when he was alone and without backup. It had been a stupid mistake on Dave’s part to drop Raven off without one of his team with him.
He was led up the stairs, down two hallways, past at least a dozen doors, all closed, into a large library. There were bookshelves along the right and left walls, and a large window behind the huge desk that sat in the middle of the room. There was nothing on the polished wooden surface. A single wooden straight-backed chair sat in front of the desk, and a guard motioned to it with his gun as another cut the restraints from Dave’s wrists.