A Covert Affair (Deadly Ops #5)(75)
Whoever had set up this operation was careful. There’d been no unusual phone activity on Clark’s line, no large deposits into her bank accounts, and her lifestyle had been anything but extravagant.
“What do you want me to do?” Cade asked.
“Call Nieto, get the locals down here.” They could deal with the body and cleanup. Wesley had the information he wanted. Clark was clearly dead because whoever was in charge was cleaning house. Or that was what his gut told him. His instinct was almost never wrong.
As Cade pulled out his cell and strode from the walk-in closet, Wesley’s own phone buzzed in his jacket pocket. He answered when he saw Ortiz’s name. “You find out anything from Lopez?”
“Yeah. Amelia’s missing and we’re pretty certain Collette Mercado took her. She’s behind this operation, and from the look of it, her father has no clue what she’s been doing.” Ortiz’s voice was tight and grim.
His jaw tightened. Wesley knew there’d be more details to catch up on, but for now he focused on the most important facts. “You’re sure Amelia’s been taken?”
“Yeah. Her phone’s not pinging and I got Sinclair down to her restaurant to question the staff. One of the cooks walked her to her vehicle, but she got into a BMW with Collette. That was two hours ago. Elliott can’t fucking track Collette either. Her vehicle GPS is disabled. She had to have had it done professionally. No ping on her phone either, but she’s probably using burners anyway.”
Damn it. Ortiz sounded in control, but Wesley knew he cared for Amelia. “Where are you?”
“Base.”
“I’m on my way.” He disconnected and headed out. Cade could handle things here and they had their first solid lead. He hated that a woman Ortiz clearly cared about had been kidnapped, but the shitty silver lining was, these women were being killed months after their abductions. Amelia had a shot at surviving this.
Unless Collette had taken her because she suspected Amelia’s involvement with the police. If that was the case . . . He steeled himself against that thought. He couldn’t think about that now. He had a job to do.
Nathan swiped the stylus over his screen, adding a blueprint to it. On the oversize screen on the wall, the same image popped up for everyone in the conference room to see. It was a small team so far, with him, Dax, Freeman, Bell, and of course Elliott. Burkhart should be in soon, and he knew his boss would pick a team to send for their infiltration, but for now he wanted to start going over the details with his three guys.
They’d worked together enough and he’d be requesting to work directly with them for the upcoming op. And Burkhart better not fucking bench him for the mission to save Amelia. He couldn’t just sit on his ass and do nothing.
“This is a former medical testing facility,” he started, only pausing when he heard the sliding glass doors whoosh open behind him. Nathan turned to see Burkhart stride in, but his boss just nodded at him to continue.
He turned back to the screen. “It’s one of the many places that Collette Mercado scooped up a couple years ago when it went into foreclosure.” Nathan swiped the stylus across his screen again, motioned to a new image. “And this is a shot from a satellite that Elliott managed to hack into.”
Nathan continued. “It’s not the clearest shot, but you can see two pregnant women in this courtyard area. An armed guard is near them at all times. Combined with the huge perimeter privacy fence, this might be where the women are being held.” He refused to think about what might be happening to Amelia right now. His only focus had to be on finding her.
“Amelia’s phone lost its signal two blocks from here,” Elliott added, looking back at Burkhart.
Their boss stepped forward, his expression dark. “I read the intel you sent me on the way over here,” he said to Elliott before turning to all of them. “I agree—this is likely where they’re being held. It’ll be sunset in a couple hours, so we move in then. I’ve already called three more teams together. Ortiz, you’re going to lead the group here, but I want to talk to you in private. Now.”
Everyone filed out without a word. Nathan wanted to protest waiting until sunset even though he knew that was the smart choice. He hated the idea of Amelia being injured or worse. He flat-out refused to contemplate that she wasn’t okay.
Burkhart crossed his arms over his chest, looking every bit the lieutenant general he’d been. “You okay for this mission?”
Nathan wasn’t even going to pretend not to know what his boss meant. “Yes. I care for her.” More than care, but he wasn’t telling Burkhart that before he told Amelia—and he would tell her. “My objectivity right now is the same as it would be even if she hadn’t been taken. I want to save her and the women. I’m trained and when we go in, there could be mass confusion or hysteria with the women. We don’t know what they’ve been through, but a bunch of guys armed to the teeth storming their facility is going to be terrifying no matter what. Amelia knows me and some of the others. She’ll be able to relay her trust in us to the women. It’s a better choice to have me go than to let me sit on the sidelines. But I’ll respect your decision,” he added grudgingly. Okay, the last part was bullshit. If he got sidelined . . . he might lose it.
Burkhart raised an eyebrow. “You practice that little speech?”