Into the Lair (Falcon Mercenary Group #2)(7)

Carefully, she inserted the device back into the hollow of her neck. She didn’t want Ricardo to know she’d found it. If she did manage to escape—and she had every intention of doing so—the tracking device could buy her valuable time if she sent him looking in the wrong direction.

First she had to regain her strength then she’d bide her time until she found a way to escape. Whatever she had to endure from Ricardo in the meantime was a price she’d have to pay.

***

“I knew this was a bad idea,” Braden grumbled. “This has been one pain in the ass after another.” He glanced up at Ian who wore a similar look of irritation. “Is Tits sure Esteban hasn’t made a move on Katie yet?”

Ian shrugged. “Word is Esteban offered a reward for her—alive—yesterday. These ass**les nabbed Katie two days ago. You do the math.”

“Fuck.”

“He’s reportedly no longer interested in Eli—alive, anyway. I’m guessing that us teaming up with Falcon has deterred Esteban. After the last ass-kicking he received at our hands, I doubt he wants to pick any more fights. He’s focusing all his resources on finding Katie, which has to make us the biggest dumbasses alive for sticking our necks into this one. It’ll make us targets all over again.”

Braden shook his head and put the binoculars back to his eyes. He focused on the sprawling mansion nestled in the small valley below. He and Ian were stationed in the densely wooded area just above the house, keeping close watch on the goings-on. They were still getting a signal from the tracking device Ian had planted on Katie, but there had been little to no movement in the last twenty-four hours.

Ian wanted to wait, watch, learn the lay of the land. Braden? He just wanted to get it the f**k over with, go in, put down some serious lead, hogtie Katie before she could cause any more trouble and then get the hell out of the country.

He lowered the binoculars and looked up again at Ian. “Are we going to stare at the damn house for another day or are we going to get our heads out of our asses and make a move?”

Ian’s lips tightened. “I’m not getting my ass shot over her. It’s bad enough we’ve had to chase her across the damn country after spending weeks looking for her, but now apparently she’s pissed off some jacked-up coke dealer with an ego the size of Canada.” He shook his head in disgust.

“Yeah, it would seem Esteban is the least of her worries,” Braden muttered.

He put down the binoculars and rose from his knee. As he stretched and worked the kinks out, he glanced back at the house.

“So what’s the plan, big brother? We going in or not?”

Ian heaved a disgruntled sigh. “Yeah. We’ve f**ked off enough time already. We’ll move in just before dusk. We’re going to have to be quick and not too picky about piling up the bodies. We grab Katie and get the hell out then book it to the Delta. Our pilot is on standby there.”

Braden shrugged. The bodies didn’t bother him. Scum-sucking drug dealers did, however. What he really wanted to know was what connection Gabe’s little sister had to Ricardo de la Cruz. She was still alive which told Braden that de la Cruz wanted her that way.

She was pretty enough in a psycho, hellcat sort of way, that is if you liked your women with claws. He preferred them slightly more biddable.

“Let’s do a weapons check and then…” Ian stared at Braden as his voice trailed off.

“Then?” Braden prompted.

“We should probably take a low dose of the sedative,” Ian said quietly. “We can’t afford a shift.”

How ridiculous that Braden hadn’t even considered it. No matter how long he dealt with the limitations of living his life as half man and half panther, it still managed to creep up on him. Stupid.

“Where are we flying to?” Braden asked as he watched Ian take out the syringes and the small vial of medication.

“Paris,” Ian said in a tight voice. “Falcon has a safe house there.”

Braden nodded. He knew Ian was uncomfortable relying on Falcon. Braden wasn’t entirely down with it himself. They’d spent too many years as their own team, Covert Hostage Recovery. Eli had led the team, no doubt there, but everyone knew their job and they did it, no babysitting required.

Now, suddenly they were faced with new people, new personalities to learn and a new leadership. Jonah had Braden’s respect, but he didn’t have Braden’s complete trust. Yet.

Ian checked his watch. “We’ll wait two more hours then take the sedative. The doses are light enough not to impair our judgment, so we should be fine.”

Still, Braden would feel more comfortable if they had back-up. Even Falcon. Against ordinary civilians, he and Ian were more than capable of taking down the entire house, but these weren’t ordinary people. They were drug dealers. Armed to the teeth and not bashful about shooting first and asking questions later.

“So I guess falling asleep just before go time probably wouldn’t be a good idea,” Braden joked, knowing it would annoy Ian.

Ian scowled. “Very funny.” Then his scowl deepened. “I sure hope to hell she’s worth all this aggravation. She better damn well serve Esteban up on a platter or I’m going to be pissed.”

Braden shrugged. “We owe it to Gabe to make sure she’s safe.”

Ian’s eyes hardened. “We owe him nothing.”