Page 53 of Reid

Callie had no idea who the other person was, but her gut told her it had something to do with Reid. At the thought of him, she closed her eyes, not wanting Sophia to have that.

Her Reid, the man she loved with all her heart. He would come for her; she knew it like she knew her own name. He would come, and that terrified her almost as much as dying at this woman’s hands because she knew he’d risk himself to save her.

Yet, what else could she do except pray he was safe and that whoever was behind this wasn’t as good as Reid and his friends at what they did? She needed to get more information or at least something to share with Reid. “How did you know where I was?” It had been bothering her since Sophia had found her.

“Let’s just say an intermediary also has a task here, and he knows your boyfriend very well.”

Callie gave that some thought and wondered if it was what Reid had referred too when he’d said they had other things happening. She’d tuck that knowledge away for now and pray she got the chance to tell him.

“What will you do with me now?” Callie wanted to distract herself and asking questions had proved prudent, especially as Sophia seemed so keen to share.

“I’ll collect my money and hand you and your boyfriend over to the man who wants you both dead.” Sophia rechecked her phone and Callie saw a slight frown marring her features. Perhaps things weren’t going as planned, that could be good for her.

“Reid won’t fall for your tricks.”

Sophia walked a few feet away before her lips twisted in a cruel smile. “Oh, he will. He will come, and he will die.”

“No!” Callie yelled and began to buck and fight to get free, hating that good men could die because of her.

Her eyes watered from the sting of her teeth cutting into her lip as Sophia backhanded her hard across the face, but she stayed silent, only stilling her struggle.

“He will die, you will die. I will get paid, and Claude will love me.”

Callie kept quiet, knowing whatever else she said was futile. She had no control over what happened next, but she knew she needed to stay conscious. A few more blows like that and she wouldn’t.

She only hoped that Reid, Liam, and the others were as good as she thought they were, and they found her and kept themselves safe in the process.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Reid felt a hand land on his shoulder and turned to see Liam standing behind him. His friend gave him an encouraging chin lift meant to make him feel better. In reality, the only thing that would do that was to have Callie safe and sound and in his arms.

“We’ll get her back.”

Reid dipped his chin, not trusting himself to speak, distraught didn’t even begin to cover his emotions right now. They were veering wildly from terror to absolute fury, and he didn’t know how to calm them or control them. This was his speciality, hostage rescue was his area of expertise, but all he could see was red.

The men had all filed into the war room where Jack stood with a look on his face Reid was sure was similar to his own, although his was more anger than terror.

Jack turned to Lopez and nodded before he swung his gaze back to them. The large 3D screen in the centre of the room rose, and every man in the room pinned their interest on it.

“About fifteen minutes ago this man, known only as Bás, entered Eidolon undetected and made his way to this room.” Jack paused, and Reid drew in a breath of surprise as did the others. “He then proceeded to inform me that he knows where Callie is, which we already know thanks to the chip in her shoelace which Lopez is monitoring. He’ll let us know if anything changes.”

Reid sprang forward. “Where is she?” The demand was met with a hard stare from Jack, who remained where he was, his arms crossed over his chest before he dismissed him.

He nodded to Decker and Mitch who had returned the previous night after the leads in London went cold. “Let’s get two of you over there immediately to monitor the situation.”

The two men spoke with Lopez and Reid fought the urge to demand he go himself, knowing his knowledge was more useful in planning the op.

“If you can’t keep a cool head, I’ll bench you. Make no mistake who is in charge here. I want Callie safe too, and I know you care for her but losing your shit won’t help her or us.” Jack favoured him with a stern glare. “Am I clear?”

Reid ground his teeth to almost dust before he nodded. “Crystal.”

Jack cast his gaze around the men before he continued. “Bás will also deliver Milla’s location so we can extract her shortly. We can’t do the extraction on Callie until then, or it may trigger Gunner to engage, and we don’t want that.”

He looked around, catching the eye of every man in the room, his meaning clear; he wanted Gunner alive. “Bás will then tell us where Milla is. Once she’s safe, he’ll deliver Gunner to us.”

Alex stepped forward and angled his head as he looked at the picture of the man on the screen. “Motherfucker!”

Jack swung his gaze to his second and tilted his head in question.