Liam stared at the blank screen for a moment, not believing what he just saw. His Cora. His beautiful precious Cora was in the hands of that monster. It was his fault. He should have left her here at Hound’s while he went to his sisters. She was going to die because of him. Liam pushed away from the chair and stalked back and forth the length of the computer room. He couldn’t get the image of Cora being used as a punching bag out of his head. She had just been hanging there. Limp. She never said a word. He didn’t even know where she was. “When was the video posted?”
Aaron cleared his throat. “Twelve hours ago.” Liam felt a vise grip his heart. Hound told him he had been out for twenty-four. Cora had been alone with him for twenty-four hours. The man had threated to rape and murder the only woman he loved. And he had been powerless to stop it. If Cora was still alive and Alejandro had only been bluffing he was going to tear the man apart piece by piece. Anguish consumed him and he felt tears sting his eyes. He hadn’t cried in years, since news of his sister’s accident. He let them fall now. To fuel him.
“Please tell me you have a location, Hound?” Liam didn’t care that his teammates saw the tears in his eyes. He was beyond caring now. He wanted to get his hands on Alejandro and see how he liked being used as a punching bag.
“The signal keeps bouncing around. It could be a few hours. I’m sorry.” Hound hung his head in shame, knowing he failed his friend. No one would look Liam in the eye. They all knew Cora would die, and no one would know where she was. It was unacceptable.
“It’s a small island, just south of Alejandro’s home in Panama,” Hannah said from the doorway. Everyone turned and looked at her. Ben stood up and went to Hannah’s side and wrapped her in his arms.
“Are you sure?” Liam pressed. If anyone knew the ins and outs of Alejandro, it was Hannah. Alejandro admitted Hannah was his favorite. She had spent a few weeks with him before being rescued. Everyone had treated her with kid gloves since she was released. From what he heard, she still got night terrors and was seeing a base therapist on a regular basis.
Hannah laid her head against Ben’s chest and looked at Liam. She looked so lost and fragile standing there. “I’m sure. Please don’t ask why I know, just trust me.”
“Can you show me where on a map?” Aaron asked pulling up a map of Alejandro’s property.
“I will help you in any way I can. Please bring Cora back. I can only imagine what he is doing to her. Alejandro has a volatile temper, and he doesn’t take being bested well. The fact you have beaten him twice I fear has only fueled his rage.”
Liam could hear Alejandro’s taunting words in the back of his mind. After my men each have a turn at her. “You show us where the island is. I’ll bring her back.”
“We’ll bring her back,” Ben stated matter of fact.
“That’s all well and good.” Mike piped in. “but we don’t have a plane to get there. Our new Commander, Lieutenant Colonel Jones, won’t approve a mission at the last minute to allow us to go to Panama to get your girlfriend back.”
Tiny had a point, but now that he knew where Cora was there wasn’t a force on earth that could stop him. “I’ll talk to him. Explain the situation. If they retire me, they retire me. I don’t care. I’m not leaving Cora to suffer alone. Commander Jones has to realize that.”
~
“No, absolutely not.” Commander Jones said seated behind his desk as all seven men stood at attention. “The last time you were there, you were ambushed. From what you’re telling me is on that video, then he will be expecting you. Again. I cannot condone this.”
“Sir, that video has gone viral. The media is going crazy with the story. If we do nothing and she dies, it could set off a chain of events throughout all known and unknown terrorists. We’ll be seen as weak and cannot protect our own.”
“It’s not your call to make.” Commander Jones snapped and slammed a fist on his desk.
At the end of his rope, Liam relaxed his stance and leaned over the desk. “It may not be your call, but I refuse to let her die just because you don’t have orders.”
“Careful, Sunshine, that’s sounding an awful lot like insubordination.” Commander Jones said calmly, with an arched brow, daring Liam to refute him.
“I don’t care what you call it. If you refuse to help her, then I’ll put in for my discharge.” Liam was throwing down the ultimate gauntlet. Liam was a huge asset to his team. If he left others may threaten to as well. He didn’t want to threaten the Commander, but he wasn’t being left with another choice. The longer they stood here bullshitting the more risk Cora was to lord knew what Alejandro could be doing to her. A flashback of the video he saw earlier flashed through his mind. No, he needed to stay focused. He needed to get to Coro at all cost. Damn the repercussions. Cora was worth any risk.
“You can’t be serious.” The commander chuckled but stopped when he realized he was the only one laughing. “You can’t just quit.”
“Watch me,” Liam said icily. He was done playing around. If the commander didn’t tell him what he wanted to hear and soon he would walk out the door and high jack a plane if he had to. He may go
