Needing them in on this, and not wanting to waste time repeating it all, Jake secured the extra pistol, currently in his hand, to the ankle holster beneath his pant leg before taking the phone from his ear and putting it on speaker.
“There was a major storm in the area where Cetro was being held.” Ryker’s voice echoed through the room, along with Coop’s and Mac’s curses. “The jail flooded and authorities were forced to evacuate all prisoners. Those in custody were being transported to another, more secure corrections facility nearby, when their van hydroplaned. They were going around a sharp curve and lost control. It rolled several times. Both the driver and the officer keeping guard in the back were pronounced dead at the scene, along with two of the other men in custody. Cetro survived, and somehow managed to get the guard’s keys. He and another prisoner were gone by the time the wreck was discovered. The only other prisoner to survive was unconscious when emergency personnel arrived, so he couldn’t give us any information.”
“Ah, hell,” A little bit of Mac’s southern heritage slipped out with her frustrated response.
Coop let out a loud, “Sonofabitch”.
Jake spoke to the other two as he secured the safe, and the three of them headed to Jake’s truck. “Mac, keep trying Liv. Sean, call the rest of the team in. Have them meet us at her place. Mac can give you her address. Call Trevor first. He shouldn’t be too far from there. Tell him to turn around. He’s not to leave her sight until we get there. Tell him to sit on her if he has to.”
Speaking to Ryker again, Jake asked, “How long ago did this happen?”
If it was within the last couple hours, there’d be no immediate threat to Olivia. He knew where Javier Cetro was being held, and it was several hours from them.
Even if the bastard had managed to find a vehicle immediately upon escaping, he’d still be hundreds of miles away.
They had plenty of time to make the drive to Olivia’s hospital. He’d get her the hell out of there, and take her somewhere safe.
She’d probably put up a fight, but this was one time he would not back down. He’d sedate her ass if he had to. She may hate him, right now, but fuck it. At least she’d be alive.
Jake still couldn’t believe he hadn’t heard about this. He hadn’t been watching much television lately, so it was possible he’d missed what would have been a breaking news story.
None of his team had mentioned anything to him about it, either. Surely one of the other five would have heard about this. At the very least, Derek should have gotten some sort of alert, unless—
Jake realized Ryker hadn’t answered him, yet. He looked at his phone, thinking maybe they’d lost connection, but the duration timer at the top of the screen was still counting up.
Ryker was still on the line, so why the hell wasn’t the guy talking? A horrifying thought slammed into him, and Jake prayed his suspicions were wrong.
“Answer the fucking question, Ryker,” Jake ordered with a barely controlled temper. “When did this happen?”
“I know you’re upset, Jake, but I promise my people are on this.”
Jake didn’t miss the way Ryker had skirted around giving a direct answer.
After placing his weapons in the metal toolbox attached to his truck bed, Jake swung the driver’s door open and jumped inside.
He slammed his door shut, and placed his phone on the dash holder before starting the ignition. Coop climbed in the passenger seat next to him, and Mac took the seat in the back.
“How fucking long?” Jake yelled as he spun his truck around and sped down his long driveway. The obvious silence was telling, making Jake’s gut burn.
Ryker finally answered, “The storm hit a few weeks ago. Look, Jake—”
There was a lot of cursing in the truck, just then. The loudest coming from Jake.
“Jesus fucking Christ! You’ve known this psycho was running around free for weeks and you didn’t tell me? Didn’t warn Olivia?”
“Hell, no!” Ryker shot back. “I just found out about it an hour ago. Which, by the way, was when I started calling you. Apparently, it’s an election year down there, and the authorities wanted the escape kept quiet.”
Oh, God. Jake was sick at heart. Doing his best to focus on what would help Liv, he asked, “What’s Cetro’s end game?”
Ryker spoke quickly. “According to the prisoner in custody, the guy’s gone completely off the chains. He blames Olivia for his brother’s death. I remember from her statement when you guys returned from Venezuela that the boy was pretty much dead before she ever had a chance to try to help him, but she did everything she could to save him anyway.”
“She did.” Not that she’d been in a position to refuse.
When they’d been hiding out in the jungle together, Olivia had told Jake how, while being held captive by Cetro, she’d been forced to try to save his brother. The kid was wounded during a gun battle between Cetro’s crew and the people they’d gone after that time. Despite Olivia’s efforts, the young man had died.
“Right. So, Cetro’s brother dies, and with you and your team’s help, Olivia escapes. Fast forward a few days, and your team goes after him and the others. He’s caught and taken to jail. The guy loses it. Uses his time in custody to plan his revenge against your girl. The wreck provided him with the perfect opportunity, and with the help of his new buddy, he tracks her down. Not hard to do for a man with his connections. He starts watching her, waiting for the perfect time.”
Another thought occurred to him. “Jason, Olivia was being stalked. She was
