Reclaimed (Hostage Rescue Team Series Book 10) (10 page)

“Tell me about it. And since we’ve got so much in common, you’d better call me Maya. If you call me Agent Thatcher after everything I just told you, I’ll be totally insulted.”

“Well we can’t have that. Maya it is.”

“I’ve watched a lot of your speeches over the past few months, by the way. My favorite was the one you gave to the UN envoy on behalf of Amnesty International. Everything you said was dead on, and you put into words so perfectly what it’s like to be a female captive over there. I’m a huge fan.”

Her cheeks heated. “Oh, well. Thanks. I feel like it’s my duty, you know? To give a voice to all the women who don’t have one. And I feel like I owe it to the friends I met during my time over there and…lost. If I can help get Summer and the others back, I’ll feel even better.”

Maya reached over and gave her knee a reassuring squeeze. “I get it. Totally. It’s why I wanted to become an FBI agent. To help stomp out terrorist networks and make the world a better place,” she added with a sharp grin that reminded her a little of Celida.

I wish I knew how to make the world a better place.
She was doing her best but sometimes it felt like her efforts were in vain.

They lapsed into a comfortable silence as the flight attendants began their safety demonstration. Taya checked her phone for messages but Nathan hadn’t responded. Maybe he was in a meeting, or maybe they’d gotten a lead to follow and were out looking for Summer and the others.

Taya could only hope that was the case.

She switched her phone to airplane mode and put it back in her carryon. Maybe once she reached London there would be some good news.

****

Three years ago

She couldn’t remember ever being so nervous and excited at the same time.

Summer fought not to fidget as she sat in the uncomfortable plastic chair in the hospital waiting room and awaited the call from the nurse. The magazine in her lap couldn’t hold her interest for more than a few minutes at a time, she was too busy checking the clock on the wall.

Adam’s text chimed from her lap.
You in yet?

Not yet
, she responded.
Any time now. I’ll text you once I’m ready.

OK. Love you.

Love you back.
She wished he could be here, but at least he was carving out the time.

“Summer?”

She stood and hitched her purse up on her shoulder, butterflies fluttering around in her belly. “Yes.”

The nurse smiled at her. “Right this way.”

She was shown into a room and given a gown to change into, then stretched out on the table to await the doctor. A few minutes later the female obstetrician came in. Summer dialed Adam, anxious to be connected with him. They’d been trying to get pregnant for so long and just couldn’t on their own, and the IVF clinic had warned her that a positive pregnancy test didn’t necessarily mean a viable pregnancy.

“You ready?” the doctor asked, gathering the ultrasound device.

“Yes. Adam, you can hear us?” Summer asked.

“Loud and clear,” he answered.

It wasn’t as good as having him here beside her, holding her hand, but it was better than nothing. He’d been great through everything so far, all the disappointments and setbacks she’d gone through. Having a baby of their own was more important to her than it was to him, but he’d been completely supportive through this journey so far and she loved him to death for it.

“I’m inserting the probe now,” the doctor said.

Summer swallowed and tried to relax, but couldn’t slow her racing heart. She’d wanted to have a baby so badly and now that she was finally pregnant, she didn’t know if she could bear finding out there was no heartbeat.

She watched as the doctor fiddled with some buttons and knobs on the ultrasound machine, kept her fingers tightly laced together atop her stomach.
Please please please
, she begged, holding her breath.

At first there was no sound at all, then some crackling noises, like static.

And finally, just when her heart was about to burst, she heard it. A faint, pulsing whoosh-whoosh sound.

The doctor smiled at her. “Hang on, let me see if I can get a better angle.” She manipulated the probe and the sound grew louder.

Summer unclasped her hands and put one over her mouth as tears sprang to her eyes. She let out a watery laugh. “Do you hear that?”

“Is that it? That’s the heartbeat?” Adam asked, excitement in his voice.

“That’s it,” the doctor confirmed. “Congratulations.”

Summer closed her eyes and said a silent prayer of thanks as her husband’s delighted laugh filled the room, mixing with their baby’s heartbeat.

Against all odds, they were going to be parents after all.

****

Present Day

Adam’s fingers flexed on his weapon as they neared the target location. He focused on staying calm, took a steadying breath and kept a positive mental tickertape running through his mind.

Summer was still alive, best anyone could tell. And with this so-called “insider source” having leaked this tip to the Jordanians a little over an hour ago, his hopes were running high that she’d be here.

He rode up front while Tuck drove, Cruzie and Vance in the back. The other three guys were in the vehicle behind them with two Jordanian Special Forces guys who knew the area. DeLuca was back at the operations center, monitoring everything and keeping his pulse on anything else that came in regarding the case.

“Nearing target location now,” Tuck reported to DeLuca via his earpiece.

“Got it,” their commander responded. “Got you guys on GPS and your helmet cam.”

They parked a block away and left one of the Jordanians to guard the vehicles for them. There hadn’t been much time to prep for this mission but they all knew what to do, and they all knew what was at stake.

Three American lives hung in the balance. It was up to Adam’s team to find and rescue them before it was too late.

The industrial area they were in was rundown, some of the buildings either abandoned or on the verge of being derelict. Lowering his NVGs over his eyes, he crept along in the shadows alongside the warehouse behind Tuck, pumped and ready to rock with the rest of the team behind him.

“Still no movement around the perimeter,” DeLuca reported. “We’re not getting any heat signatures inside but the walls might be thick enough to block the satellite.”

When they were positioned by the southwest entrance, the spot they’d chosen previously to enter, Tuck paused, his weapon up and ready. Adam stood poised behind him, all his senses on alert, and waited for the signal.

Bauer’s big hand landed on his right shoulder and squeezed. Adam immediately reached forward and did the same to Tuck, signaling that everyone was in place and ready to go.

The door in front of them had only a padlock on it. Tuck backed up a step and rammed the sole of his boot against it as hard as he could. The rusted metal snapped and the door swung inward.

Adam threw a flashbang inside to the left, while Bauer did the same to the right. The second they exploded, with a loud bang and a flash of blinding white light, the team stormed inside.

Nothing happened. No shots. No shouts, no flurry of movement as people scrambled to get out of sight.

Only silence.

Acute disappointment settled in his gut. He stayed vigilant, on alert as they moved deeper into the building and fanned out. He noted the empty shipping crates they passed, the broken pallets littering the ground.

He continued on until he’d reached the far corner of the area he and Tuck were responsible for checking. “Clear,” he muttered in disgust, barely able to get the word out through his grinding teeth.

“Clear,” Tuck echoed, his voice ringing with frustration.

Bauer and Evers reported the same in their corner. As did Vance, Cruzie and then Schroder a few moments later.

Fuuuuuuck.
Adam lowered his weapon, unsure if he wanted to scream or put his fist through something. Maybe both.

“Whoever was here seemed to have left in a hell of a hurry,” Vance reported, his deep bass voice carrying through the stillness with ease. “I got ammo and other supplies dumped all over the ground here.”

Adam and Tuck turned and immediately strode to the opposite end of the warehouse. Sure enough, broken and shattered crates lay tossed about, empty, with bits of their contents strewn around in the dust covering the concrete floor.

There was a set of tire tracks leading in from the closest doorway. Looked like whoever had been here had come in, rushed to take whatever they could before they were spotted, and then taken off in a hurry.

Tuck reported everything to DeLuca, but Adam had heard enough. He pushed his NVGs up, took out his earpiece and stalked away, needing a few moments to regroup by himself.

None of his teammates said anything or tried to follow him.

Alone in the darkness outside the warehouse, Adam ran a hand over his face and fought off the crushing wave of fatigue and disappointment trying to drag him under. Either this “inside source” was fucking with them, leading them on a wild goose chase to help buy the captors time to escape the area, or they’d once again missed their opportunity to find Summer and the others.

All Adam knew was, time was running out to save her. And there wasn’t a damn thing he could do to stop it.

Two years ago

As another contraction hit, Summer dug her fingernails into the sheets and gritted her teeth to keep from crying out. The vicious pain twisted inside her, corkscrewing from her abdomen around her lower back and then held until she couldn’t breathe.

Just when she didn’t think she could take it a second longer, when she wanted to scream, it eased, slowly fading away into nothing. But they were getting closer together now, and more intense. And she’d never been so terrified in her life.

Another doctor bustled into the private room, the third physician she’d seen since the paramedics had rushed her into the ER twenty minutes ago. She lay on the narrow bed panting, damp tendrils of hair stuck to her sweaty face.

“Can you stop it?” she gasped out, afraid to look down between her legs where the nurse was pressing something. There’d been so much blood. Bright red with dark clots.

“We’re trying. And we’re going to do everything we can.”

She made the mistake of looking as the nurse pulled the pad away from between her thighs. It came away glistening red, soaked with fresh blood.

Summer cried out and pressed a hand to her abdomen.
No.
No, this couldn’t be happening. She was only twenty-five weeks along. She’d already miscarried once, and this was their second IVF attempt. She’d thought that after passing her first trimester without any problems she’d be in the clear, but…

Her lower back had been aching early this morning so she’d gotten out of bed and as soon as she’d stood up, the bleeding had started. Alone and afraid to stand up in case it made the bleeding worse, she’d been forced to crawl to her phone on the nightstand and called for an ambulance. But then the contractions had started on the way here and she was scared to death that she might be losing the baby. That it might already be too late.

No
,
she ordered herself.
No, you need to think positive. Stay strong, the baby needs you.

Yes. That was her only job now, protecting the baby. She forced in a shuddering breath, let it out slowly. Then another. And another.
It’ll be okay. It has to be okay. You need to slow your heart rate, slow the bleeding.

But then another contraction started. She tensed up and fought her way through it as it built to an agonizing crescendo and held, tried to lay still when all she wanted to do was writhe and somehow escape the pain. It was all happening too fast. Everything was out of her control.

The staff bustled around the room getting more equipment and monitors set up, injecting more medication into her IV to try and stop the premature labor and reduce her pain. But she’d already lost so much blood. How could the baby possibly survive that?

“We’ve been trying to reach your husband at the number you gave us,” one nurse said, taking her hand. Summer grabbed on tight and dug her fingers in as another contraction grew in strength.

“He’s on a…training mission,” she gasped out, eyes shut tight as the pain swelled. “In L.A.”
Oh God, just make it stop.

When it faded what felt like an eternity later, she was trembling all over. She was in full-on labor at six months pregnant.

A nurse moved out of the way. Summer raised her head and shot a frantic look at the monitor next to the bed. The little blip of the baby’s heartbeat was getting weaker.

Tears flooded her eyes as she put a hand to her swollen belly.
No, please. Please hang on.
She bit her lip but a sob escaped anyway, making her shoulders jerk.

The nurse holding her hand made a sympathetic sound and leaned over to wrap an arm around her back, squeezing her. “Isn’t there anyone else we can call to be here with you?”

She shook her head, fighting back another sob. Her family was all back in Indiana, and though she had some good friends here, she didn’t want any of them in this room with her right now. There was only one person she wanted, and that was impossible.

“I want Adam,” she whispered, the tears spilling free at last. He was so far away, back on the West Coast. Even if he got word and hopped a plane in the next few hours, he wouldn’t get here until tomorrow.

By then it would be too late.

That awful squeezing sensation started up again deep in her belly. She moaned and curled into a ball, squeezed her eyes shut as the pain radiated outward. Dimly she heard voices rising around her. Urgent. People rushing around.

This time when she opened her eyes and sought the monitor, there was no blip on the screen.

She stared at it blindly for a moment, then sheer terror ripped through her. “No!” she cried. “
No
!” She clutched at her abdomen with desperate hands as the unthinkable hit home.