Into the Mist (Falcon Mercenary Group #1)(32)

“Why’d you try to kill me?”

“I wasn’t very successful,” he said pointedly.

“Your men are inept and fight like damn pussies,” she sneered.

Esteban chuckled. “Which is why I hired you to go after Eli Chance instead of sending them. You impress me. Maybe I just wanted to see what kind of muscle I was hiring. I’d say you passed with flying colors.”

“You gave up one of your men for a test?”

He shrugged. “He was expendable.”

“Nice,” she drawled.

“Enough about him,” Esteban said with a wave of his hand. He sat and crossed one leg over the other as he extended his arm along the back of the couch. “We have other matters to discuss. Like Eli Chance.”

She nodded. “Eli Chance in exchange for the antidote or cure or whatever you want to call it for my brother.”

“Alive,” Esteban said. “He must be alive or the deal is off.”

“I think you made yourself perfectly clear when we spoke before. Now tell me where to find him.”

Chapter Twelve

Jonah surveyed Tyana’s empty room and barked a directive into his radio. One by one his security team checked in. No one had seen Tyana or knew her current location.

He let out a vicious curse and turned and stalked down the hallway toward Mad Dog’s room. He flung open the door, and Mad Dog, never one to sleep much or very deeply, rolled out of bed, silver glinting in his hand.

“What the f**k?”

“Tyana’s gone. Any idea where she is?”

A flash of fear speared Mad Dog’s blue eyes. “She’s not on the island?”

Jonah shook his head. “Last time she was seen was last night around ten when she went up to see D before heading to bed.”

Mad Dog got up from the floor and tossed his knife back onto the pillow. Then he reached for his pants and yanked them on. He turned back to Jonah. “Let’s go see if D knows anything.”

Jonah hesitated. “It might not be a good idea to upset him.”

Mad Dog swore. “If she’s gone, he’s going to know it soon enough. Those two are attached at the hip. You can’t protect them from everything, Jonah.”

Jonah nodded curtly and walked into the hall. Mad Dog was right, and he wished he could stop the knot that was growing in his stomach. Ever since Damiano had taken the Americans into Adharji, things had slowly spiraled out of control. And now Jonah feared he was no longer able to protect his team. His family. Just as he hadn’t been able to protect so many others from his father all those years ago.

He and Mad Dog walked past the guards at Damiano’s door and entered quietly. D was awake, standing at the window, staring unseeingly over the water. His hand dangled at his side, a piece of paper held between his fingers.

He turned slowly to look at Jonah and Mad Dog, dullness edging his dark brown eyes.

“She’s gone,” he said simply and held the paper up.

Jonah yanked it away and read the short note written in Tyana’s neat scrawl.

We’re going to beat this, D. Believe that. Don’t worry about me. I can take care of myself, and this time I’m going to take care of you. Be back soon. Ty.

Jonah balled the paper in his fist and sent it flying across the room. Mad Dog, who’d been reading over his shoulder, cursed and ran a hand through his shaggy hair.

“How can she be so stupid?” Jonah gritted out. “She’s going to get herself killed. How does that help any of us?”

Raw helplessness seeped into his chest and paralyzed him.

“You don’t understand,” Damiano said, and he sounded as helpless as Jonah felt. “Ty feels like she owes me. She’s always felt like she’s owed me. No matter what I say or what I do to try and make her understand, she looks at where we were and everything I did to protect her, and she feels guilty. But God, how could I not? She was a child. A tiny little thing too young and innocent for the hell we lived in. I was all she had, but she was all I had until you and Mad Dog.

“As crazy as it makes me for her to feel the way she does, I understand it, because if the positions were reversed, I’d do whatever I could to help her, f**k you and anyone else in my way.”

Jonah saw the pain, the uncertainty in Damiano’s eyes. He knew that he and Tyana had been through hell before they’d struck out on their own. After two scraggly kids attempted to pick his and Mad Dog’s pockets on the streets of Prague, Jonah hadn’t ever stopped to examine the reasons why he took them in.

Running from his own past and mistakes, Jonah had teamed with Mad Dog under the patronage of Burkett, a wealthy businessman with more shadows than dusk. With Burkett’s money and Jonah’s determination, he’d turned two misfits into honed fighters. Later they formed Falcon Mercenary Group, first only doing work for Burkett, but as their reputation grew, they expanded beyond Burkett’s umbrella and became independent.

Still, they owed him a lot, which was the only damn reason Jonah allowed Esteban on his island. He needed to glean what information he could from Burkett about Esteban and his connection to Eli Chance, but first he was going to give Tits a call.

“We’ll find her, D,” Jonah said quietly. “And I’m going to haul her ass back here where it belongs. After I’m done with her, she won’t have much of an ass left, but at least it’ll be here where she’s safe.”