Grabbing her arm in a bruising grip, asshole number two yanked her to her bare feet with such force, she was sure he’d pull her shoulder out of its socket.
Garrett was next, the man struggling a bit more to get him up. Thankfully, he was conscious and mostly alert.
And really,reallypissed.
Sounding strained, as if he were in pain, Garrett locked his angry gaze onto hers and asked, “You okay?”
Not even close.“Yes.” Avery nodded. “You?”
“Enough!” Garrett was shoved from behind. “Let’s go.”
“Go?” She swung her head around. “Go where? Y-you have our money and our phones.”
“Avery.” The low warning came from Garrett.
More terrified than she’d ever been in her life, Avery continued with her efforts to talk them out of the situation. “Please. You got what you came for, so just—”
She stopped abruptly when the man who’d been giving the orders put himself directly in her path. Standing close enough she could feel his hot breath, he traced a finger down the side of her face. Moving lightning fast, he reached his hand around and grabbed the back of her hair.
Spikes of pain shot through her scalp, causing her to whimper.
“Get away from her,” Garrett’s voice sounded stronger. Deadly.
But the man standing before her ignored him.
Moving his mouth so close she thought he might try to kiss her, the jerk spoke with an eerie calm as he said, “You’re right, beautiful Avery. We haveexactlywhat we came for.”
Chapter 11
Tactical Operations Headquarters—Charlotte, N.C.
“What the fuckdo you mean, Falcon’s missing?” Ethan “Apollo” McAllister demanded to know.
Rafe Owens, owner of Tactical Operations, looked at the three men standing in his office before addressing Apollo directly.
Apollo wasn’t his real name. Just like Bones, Digger, and Falcon weren’t the legal names given to the other men of Tac-Ops One. But when they were in operative mode, those nicknames represented not only who these men were, but what they were capable of.
And right now, Apollo was staring back at him with eyes so dark they almost matched his black hair. Looking ready to beat the hell out of someone, just as the former SEAL’s nickname suggested.
“Let me rephrase,” Rafe corrected himself. “We know where Falcon is. Or rather, we know where histrackeris. But our efforts to reach him have been unsuccessful.”
“Back up.” The man they all called Bones raised a hand.
Not only was Beckett “Bones” Stone their team medic—which required extensive knowledge of the human anatomy—but the former Marine had also broken damn near every bone in his body at one point or another throughout his thirty-two years.
Hence, the nickname.
“I thought you cut our vacation short because we had another op,” Bones pointed out.
“I did.” Rafe tipped his chin.
“So…what are you saying, Boss?” Apollo spoke up again. “ThatFalcon’sthe job?”
“Affirmative.”
As expected, the room filled with several expletives and demands to know what the hell was going on with their teammate. Raising a hand, Rafe waited for them to grow silent before speaking again. When the men quieted, he brought them up to speed.
“This is what we know.Two hours ago, Shadow received an emergency transmission from Falcon’s watch. She immediately began trying to contact him, but when she couldn’t get ahold of him, I tried tracking him down as well.”