Defending Raven (Mountain Mercenaries #7)(56)
Mags frowned. “A private jet? Whose?”
“It doesn’t matter. The Mountain Mercenaries have a lot of friends back in the States. Friends in high places who are more than willing to loan us a plane if it means putting us in their debt. Meat is doing all he can to find Dave tonight, but even if we don’t find him, we want to go in and get David tomorrow. We’re done waiting.”
She inhaled sharply and felt Zara squeeze her shoulder. “Tomorrow?”
“Yes. We’ll go in at dawn, when there will possibly be fewer people around. We can hopefully grab him and go without any shots being fired. But even if there are, we’re not going to leave without your son.”
“But what about Dave?” she whispered, torn between being thrilled she’d finally have her son and agony over not knowing her husband’s fate.
“If we haven’t found him by the time we get you and David back here, you, your son, Gabriella, Zara, and half the team will head to the airport with the other women, and you’ll fly out of here. The other three of us will stay until we’ve found Dave.”
Mags shook her head. “No, I don’t want to leave without him.”
“Mags,” Zara said tenderly, “you need to get David to Colorado. Del Rio can’t touch him there. The longer you stay here, the greater the chance he’ll be found and taken again. And Dave would kick our asses if we didn’t do everything in our power to get you home, with or without him.”
Mags’s shoulders slumped. God, what a horrible choice to make. Her son or her husband?
“Mags,” Ball said softly, “look at me.”
Mags looked up into the man’s intense blue eyes. “Dave is one of us. Our team. Hell, he’s our leader. He’s been there for us countless times. Even without physically being on the missions, he’s still there. He’s bent over backward making sure we have the intel we need and kicking ass when necessary. We aren’t leaving without him. I give you my word as a Mountain Mercenary that we’ll bring your husband home to you. Okay?”
Mags nodded reluctantly. She didn’t like it, but she had to trust that Dave’s men knew what they were doing.
“Good. Now, you haven’t touched your dinner. You know Dave wouldn’t be happy if you didn’t eat. So please try to eat something. I don’t want your husband to hurt me if he comes back and thinks we didn’t take care of you.”
That made Mags smile a bit. She turned to smile at Zara as well, then took a deep breath. As Ro handed her a sandwich and a can of soda, she thought to herself, You’d better not be dead, Dave. Your son and I need you too badly.
Dave felt like death warmed over. The hairs in his nose were probably singed off from the horrific smells coming from the trash piles all around him. He had no idea what time it was, but a glow came from the waning moon, with just a hint of light to indicate the approach of sunrise.
Considering he’d been snatched the previous morning, then dumped while the sun was high in the sky, he knew he’d been passed out for hours.
Every time he turned his head, dull pain shot through him from the cut on his neck. Reaching up a hand, Dave cautiously probed the wound. He didn’t have a mirror, but from what he could tell, it seemed pretty shallow, and the bleeding had nearly stopped. The knife was either dull as shit or the guy wielding it was a fucking novice at slitting throats.
His shirt was still damp down the front and sticky from the blood, but he was alive. Del Rio had fucked up. He should’ve made sure his cronies had killed him.
Dave sat up slowly, testing his equilibrium, and looked around.
His head was pounding, and he felt a bit weak, but figured that was from the blood loss and dehydration. He still had on his clothes and shoes, but nothing was in his pockets, and both the sheath that had been on his ankle and the knife that was in it were gone. Dave was pissed for a moment, until he looked around. He was surrounded by trash, including miles of broken glass, various metal rods . . . he even spied a broken and bent steak knife. He had plenty of weapons to choose from.
Realizing he also still wore his belt, Dave smiled. He’d bought it from a travel website years ago. It had a convenient, hidden zipper pocket on the inside, where he’d stashed a bit of cash, just in case.
Feeling better knowing he wouldn’t be unarmed, and all he had to do was walk until he could flag down a taxi, Dave slowly and carefully pushed to his feet. After a few seconds, he took a deep breath and realized he felt pretty damn good for almost being killed . . . again.
He’d been damn lucky, but instead of feeling triumphant that he’d survived, he was getting angrier by the second. He had a wife and child to think about now—and he’d fucked up. He should’ve been more observant. Should’ve known del Rio would find out about him and do something to protect what he considered his “investments.” He’d put a huge bull’s-eye on his son, and possibly Raven too.
He needed to get back into the city and to his team. But more important, he had to get to his son before he was moved or further abused by del Rio.
Thinking about del Rio’s plans made the pain in his neck recede. All that was left was a determination to get his son out of the country and home to Colorado, where he’d be safe. He’d make arrangements to take care of del Rio’s operation once they were safely out of his reach.
Then Dave and Raven could finally start their life as a family, as they’d always dreamed.