Jake looked back down at the scattered photos. He started to reach for one when he realized his entire body was shaking from the murderous rage he felt toward Cetro and these four men.
Fury vibrated through him as he thought of the pain and suffering Olivia had been forced to endure, and from the irrational hatred he currently felt for the man now standing across from him. Because, Ryker was right. About goddamn all of it.
These guys could come after Liv again, either to sell her for even more money than before, or to make her pay. If their disgusting operation gets shut down—which it will—those left standing will ultimately blame Olivia for their demise.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
Jake closed his eyes, sighing with resolve. He hated this. Fucking hated it. But Ryker—the bastard—was right. No way in hell would Jake trust anyone else to do what needed to be done to protect his woman.
Which meant he was leaving tonight. Leaving her. Yeah, it was to ensure her safety, but it still fucking sucked.
Jake opened his eyes and straightened his shoulders.
“When do we leave?”
“The plane is fueled up and ready to go. Your team has already been debriefed. They’re waiting for you at our private airstrip. I’m sending two of my best agents with you, since you’re down two.”
“We’re leaving now? What about Liv—” Jake turned around, only to find the room where Olivia had been questioned dark and empty.
Sonofabitch. He’d been so focused—first, on reading the intel in the file, then with his conversation with Ryker—that he hadn’t noticed she’d been moved. His head swung back around.
“Where is she?” Jake demanded.
Ryker slowly walked around the table toward Jake. In his calm, government agent stature, he said, “She’s being transported to an isolated location.”
Panic quickly made its way through Jake’s veins. Christ, with all the intense emotions hitting him lately, it was a wonder he could still stand upright.
“Isolated location? What the hell are you talking about?”
Ryker put his hands palms-up and spoke calmly. “She’s perfectly safe, Jake. She’s with Mansfield and Brunor. They’re taking her to get cleaned up and prepped for her public statement.”
Jake’s team had worked the two agents on a couple of previous ops. They were solid, but still—
“A press conference? Seriously?” Jake took a large step forward, getting right into the other man’s face. “She’s only been back a few hours, and you expect her to go on goddamn television and spill her guts about what happened? Jesus Christ, Jason...are you really that fucking heartless, or just plain stupid?”
To Ryker’s credit, he didn’t so much as break a sweat.
“Look, Jake. This is big. For weeks, she’s been thought dead by the entire world. Her death, along with the others’, made national headlines. Every nationally syndicated news station played their stories practically on loop. Her face has been seen by millions. It’s the face of a dead woman. Did you really think she could just fall right back into her old life and pick up where she left off?”
“Of course not,” Jake scoffed. “I just didn’t expect you to splash her face all over the fucking news two seconds after we came back.” He turned away to keep himself from punching Ryker’s smug face. “Fuck!” He fisted the back of his neck, staring at the empty room once more.
The other man continued talking to Jake’s back. “First of all, it’s not a press conference. Her statement will be recorded. Second, by doing it this way, we get to control how she’s brought back. We control the place and what’s said. Do you honestly think some random person recognizing her on the street and causing a scene would be better for her?”
Jake remained quiet, too pissed to respond. Using his silence against him, Ryker kept going.
“For Christ’s sake, McQueen...think like fucking SOF for a second, and not some lovesick boyfriend. By doing things this way, we can guide her on what to say and what not to say. She can keep trying until she feels comfortable. There will be no reporters present. Our people will record her statement, then instantaneously send it out to all the major networks. No one will be able to take credit for breaking the big story, and she won’t be bombarded with a million questions like she would be at a normal press conference. Olivia will be brought back to life on her terms.”
Shit. Fuck. Shit. Ryker might have a point, but that didn’t mean Jake had to like it. Still facing away from the man, Jake ordered him, “Take me to her.”
After a brief pause, Ryker said, “I’m sorry, but I can’t do that.”
Jake swung back around. “The hell you can’t.”
“She’s already on route to our secondary location. They left about two minutes after you sat down to read over that file.”
Sonofabitch. “Why the second location?”
“We wanted to be certain she was safe.”
“Safe?” Jake laughed humorlessly, his words dripping with sarcasm. “This is Homeland fucking Security, Ryker. Pretty sure she would have been safe here.”
“The minute her recording goes on air, reporters will be scrambling to find her. Given what we do, it won’t be a stretch to connect her with us, and when that happens, this place will be swarming with cameras and news vans.”
“Here? Why here?”
“You know how these people work, Jake. They’re tenacious bastards. You think they don’t know about this place? They’ll camp out, wait for her to wear down and exit the building. This way, they can wait here all damn night while we get her set up somewhere else. Someplace secure. Not to mention the possibility of them catching a glimpse of you leaving here, and connecting those dots as well.”
“You can still take me to see her. I need to explain to her why I’m leaving. I need to least say goodbye, for fuck’s sake.”
“I already told you. The plane is waiting. So
