He took a sip of the coffee, not even tasting it.
Jackson tugged him away from the scene before them as his stomach roiled. He shouldn’t watch that shit, but hell. His girl was missing. Her belongings were ruined.
“We’ll find her,” Jackson assured him in a low voice. “Caitlyn is smart and strong. She survived that damn hijacking on the yacht. She’ll survive this, too.”
“Yeah, but at what cost? What if they hurt her or rape her? What if she’s tied up and can’t escape? She’s probably terrified out of her mind, and we’re all standing around her apartment complex, helpless to do anything.” He took another swig of the coffee, the black liquid burning down his throat. His stomach was empty since he’d never gotten around to eating dinner. He and Caitlyn should’ve been relaxing outside by his firepit right now. Or in his bed, slowly making love. They should’ve had a nice dinner of steak and wine with plenty of kisses snuck in between bites.
Now she could be dead in a ditch somewhere or petrified as she was held by some monster.
To think of his innocent woman being held against her will—hurt. Troy closed his eyes, trying to stop the onslaught of images his mind was conjuring up.
Raptor’s phone buzzed, and he lifted it to his ear. The team all looked toward him, only hearing his end of the call. “Uh-huh. Yeah. Yeah. Fucking fantastic. Text me the info. We’re on our way.”
“What?” Troy barked out.
“Ace got a name from the prints. He pulled an address for the perp somewhere out in the suburbs. We don’t know if she’s there, T, but it’s a hell of a good start. It’ll give us something else to go on at least. Let’s track this motherfucker down.”
Troy was already rushing toward his SUV.
“I’ll drive!” Logan called out, and Troy nodded. Although he wanted to rush there himself, having his teammates with him was for the best. He wouldn’t risk Caitlyn’s life by doing something stupid. His teammates would have his back.
“Ghost and I will take my car,” Raptor said. “Jackson’s with you.”
“Where’s Ethan?” Troy asked.
“With the women at my place,” Raptor said. “We didn’t want to leave them alone.”
“I’ll text him an update,” Ghost said, and then the men were all yanking open the doors.
Troy jumped in Logan’s car, riding shotgun, with Jackson folding his large frame into the backseat. Troy knew his buddies had all arrived armed. He didn’t have any weapons on him since he’d left his townhouse simply assuming that Caitlyn had car trouble or wasn’t feeling well. That didn’t mean he was any less deadly than his teammates though.
Logan peeled out of the lot, drawing the attention of the police officers that were working. Hopefully they wouldn’t come after them with sirens wailing. There was no way in hell the men were stopping. Raptor was right behind him, and the cars flew down the street heading toward the freeway.
“I got a picture of Caitlyn for the police,” Logan said. “Not that it matters much at this point. They’ll put out a missing person report, but while they’re still dicking around searching through her stuff, we’ve got a name and address.”
“How’d you get in touch with Harper?” Troy asked, looking over at his buddy.
“It turns out I still had her cell number from last summer. She wasn’t thrilled to hear from me, but she was freaked out about Caitlyn.”
“You already sent it to the police?” he asked.
“Raptor did. Hell. That’s Harper,” Logan said, glancing at his phone.
Troy swiped the screen and answered it. “It’s Troy. We just got a lead and are on our way to check it out. Logan’s driving and can’t talk now.”
“Holy shit. I’m scared to death. What if Caitlyn’s hurt?”
“I’ll find her,” Troy said. “I don’t know for sure where she is, but we got prints from her things in the car. A buddy of ours from base ID’d the guy. Someone was there with her on the freeway, and we’re tracking that asshole down right now.”
“They set her car on fire on purpose?”
“Possibly. Or sabotaged it somehow. Either way, she was being targeted. We’ll get her back,” Troy assured her. “I’ve got to go, but Logan will update you later.”
“Okay. Be safe.”
Troy hung up, shaking his head. He didn’t like that Harper was worrying about her friend, but she’d helped by getting the picture to them for the police. No matter. Hopefully they’d get to Caitlyn before the missing person alert even went out. They had to rescue her. Any other alternative was simply unfathomable.
Chapter 21
Logan pulled up in front of a house on a suburban street twenty minutes later, Troy jumping out before he’d even turned off the engine. They’d discussed a plan on the drive over, with Raptor and Ghost planning to breach the back of the home while the three of them broke down the front door. Thankfully they’d been able to Google the address and get the street and satellite view on the way over. It wasn’t the same as running an op with military satellite and drone imagery, but it was damn helpful anyway.
Troy didn’t give a shit if they were breaking and entering. Ace had sent them the photos from AFIS, and Troy and the rest of the guys recognized the man from the surveillance footage near the pier. The asshole was the same guy who Caitlyn had seen outside of her office. And he’d been on the freeway with her today. His prints were all over her things. Although he’d been gone in the weeks since the yacht incident, he’d reappeared in San Diego a few days ago.
“I can’t believe this asshole has been
