Bound By Blood: (The Betrayed Series Book 2) (7 page)

Nodding, he says, “That name doesn’t come as a surprise to you. Somehow, I had a feeling it wouldn’t when I found out Delta was here working a classified mission.”

Unable to curb my restlessness any longer, my jaw slackens, letting loose a barrage of questions. “Sir, how good is your intel?”

“It’s solid. I have a reliable inside source that’s feeding me information.”

Narrowing my eyes, I ask through gritted teeth, “Sir . . . how trustworthy is this source?”

The Colonel’s response is immediate and brokers no room for argument. “Incredibly. I’d trust this source with my life.”

Picking up on my line of questioning, my team begins to chime in. Sam is first to ask the question that’s been plaguing all of us. “Sir, what makes you think he has her?”

His jaw works before he replies, “I’ve been receiving intel on Sung-Hyun for months. His patterns were the same until a month ago. He became shifty, and all intel pointed to the fact that he knew he was being watched. Then my name came up several times in some of the conversations that we intercepted. Do I know for sure he has her, no, but if he knows about me . . . then he knows about her. It wouldn’t be hard to find out she was here teaching, and honestly, what better way to target your enemy than by taking something that will make them weak.”

Cold fingers wrap around my heart, slowing it to a sluggish beat. Time suspends as thoughts whiz through my overactive mind. What if my job endangers her? Can I take the risk? Would I survive if something happened to her? The answer is quick to come to me. No, I wouldn’t survive if something happened to her.

Brighton catches my gaze, holding it as he asks, “Sir, what does he stand to gain by targeting you?” Mentally, I toss the thought away. I can’t worry about this right now. Right now my priority has to be getting her back. Her father’s deep baritone brings me out of my mental trance.

“What everyone who targets me hopes to gain . . . information. Gentlemen, the information that passes across my desk would make your head spin. Think about it, the power one would gain from the information I deal with daily—information on leaders, terrorist, countries, weapons, things that start wars and level countries.” He pauses, closing his eyes and inhaling a deep breath. Upon opening them, the pain of his daughter’s abduction can be seen in his features, stilling my heart and halting my breath temporarily. It’s as if our pain is one, a living breathing entity, breeding and multiplying by the second.

Noah’s raspy voice breaks the tension. “Sir, I’m assuming you have more background information on this man that you can provide us with, correct?”

Nodding, he replies, “Yes, I have a rather large file that details all of his aliases, businesses, and who his contact is in North Korea. We’ve only scratched the surface. We do know he has local dealings with the Kkangpae. How deep or to what extent it runs . . . that I don’t know.”

Cooper leans forward, resting his elbows on the table, his brow furrows, creasing into a deep V. Catching the Colonel’s gaze, he holds it firmly, asking, “What’s the plan? I’m assuming you and Colonel Black have one, sir?”

“There is.” He pauses, looking to each of us for a moment. “Your team is specially trained to handle situations like this. You’ve extracted countless hostages, so this shouldn’t be any different. Yet, we all know it will be.” Scanning the room briefly, he continues. “It’s been brought to my attention that each of you have had the opportunity to meet my daughter. I’m hoping you’ll use that as fuel to aid you in your search. Be diligent, steadfast, be smart, and together we will find her and bring her safely home. I know I don’t have to tell any of you this, but I feel I need to remind us all that emotions can be deadly and make even the most routine situations turn volatile at moment’s notice. The loss of life weighs heavy and always lingers for those left behind.”

Silence ensues, settling around us for several long moments. Reaching forward, I place my elbows on my knees. In my mind, my body is like a caged tiger pacing furiously, yet on the outside, I’m calm and collected. Stoic, as the Army has trained me to be. My shoulders begin to tense as different scenarios pass through my mind. Sang-Hyun was already on our list. We were working our way through his corporation to him.

Seeing as he’s well known in Seoul, we knew about several different business fronts already. This definitely changes things. Blowing out a breath, my nails bite into the flesh in my palms. Muscles in my arms bulge, lengthening and tightening, preparing for the oncoming battle I feel stirring in the days to come. An acute sense of purpose assails me. This is the first significant lead. I can roll with this. We all can.

Pushing my shoulders back, a transient sense of calm descends upon me. Exuding calmness I’m barely in control of, I put to work the valuable skills the Army has spent years drilling into me.

“Sir, we’re gonna need access to all information you have on Sang-Hyun. We can compare it to the intel we’ve already gathered and go from there. First thing we need to do is put eyes on him.” Taking a moment to observe the room, my eyes roam over my brothers’ faces. Every face is darkened with differing degrees of fear, anger, and determination. There’s no doubt in my mind that every man here would stop at nothing to bring my girl home safely. With a curt nod in the Colonel’s direction, my voice is firm as I inquire, “Sir, I’m going to assume you’ll be active in the investigation and extraction?”

Colonel Parker’s reply is instant. “You better damn well believe I’ll be there every step of the way, Captain. You and your team couldn’t get rid of me if you tried.”

Colonel Black shakes his head, protesting fiercely, “A word, Kyle.”

The scathing look Colonel Kyle Parker shoots his friend is one so scorching that I’m damn sure if it was anyone else other than Colonel Charles Black they’d have cowered in fear, tucking and running as fast as they could. However, Colonel Charles Black isn’t one to back down, and that man has a reputation for having balls of steel. Although, at this moment, I don’t envy him going up against Kylee’s dad because I’m pretty damned sure the anger and tension rolling off that man alone could kill a person.

“Not now.” His voice is firm.

“A word in the other room. It won’t take but a moment.” Colonel Black’s tone leaves no room for argument.

Nodding, Colonel Parker turns his attention back to us before saying, “We’re going to take a short break. Grab some coffee and we’ll resume in a few minutes.” Turning, he marches out the door with Colonel Black hot on his trail. Shutting the door behind them, it’s not long before their booming voices carry from the room next door into ours.

“Dammit, Kyle. You need to stay back and let Delta do their job,” Colonel Black protests fiercely.

“Don’t start with me, Charles.”

“See reason, Kyle. They’d love nothing more than to get their hands on you and try to torture information out of you.”

A deep, dark laugh rumbles from Colonel Parker’s lips. “As if they could break me. You know I’d die first. But nothing . . . and I repeat nothing will keep me from bringing her back safely.”

“Goddammit, Kyle! She means just as much to me as she does to you. I’ve watched that little girl grow up from a tiny little thing into an amazing woman. You’ve got to be smart about this, dammit.”

My gut clenches hearing the two friends go at each other, arguing over my Goddess. It’s clear from the interaction that this friendship goes deeper than the two let on. Fuck, it’s killing me not being able to fix this right away. Standing, I start pacing the room while the two Colonels go at each other, figuring their shit out. A few more moments pass with low, menacing rumbles from the other side of the wall before the door is thrown open to the briefing room. Colonel Black angrily marches in with Colonel Parker trailing closely behind, a smug grin fixed upon his face.

Muttering under his breath, Colonel Black turns, leveling me with his dark gaze. “Don’t fuck this up. There’s a lot riding on this mission, Captain.” Cutting his eyes back to his friend momentarily, he gruffly says, “You know what you have to do. Find her, bring everyone home safely.”

If only he knew how true that was. So much is riding on the success of this mission. This team, my team, could and would extract her safely. It’s what we do. We just have to find her first. Acknowledging the Colonel with a nod, I respond, “Yes, sir, understood.”

Colonel Black claps his friend on the shoulder, whispering something in his ear. Keeping eye contact, they both nod before breaking away, the tension between the two draining. Darting his gaze back to the rest of the room, the commander we all know is swiftly put back into place. Authority laces each word as he commands, “Keep me apprised at all times.” Squeezing his friend’s shoulder one final, time he turns on his heel, exiting the room.

The beat of my heart thrums in my chest as anticipation coils, wrapping itself around me like a snake ready to strike. Angling my body toward the table, I face my team, determination inscribed in every line, crevice, and shadow on my face. Speaking low, each word is clear and unambiguous as I say, “All right, boys, we’ve got a job to do. Let’s find our girl and bring her home.”

Turning all attention to the Colonel, my voice is just above a growl when I say, “Sir, we’re gonna need everything you have on Sang-hyun.”

Anticipation shines brightly in his eyes as he replies, “I thought you’d never ask.” Reaching down into a briefcase I hadn’t noticed before, he grabs a file that has to be every bit of four inches thick. Passing around copies, he looks at each of us and states, “Let’s get to work.”

Striding back to the chair, I seat myself and grab hold of the thick file. As if we’re mentally connected, my thoughts send a final message to my Goddess before delving into the mass of papers in front of me. “Be strong. I’m coming for you, Goddess. I’m coming for you.”

F
LINGING MY EYES OPEN,
I frantically search the room for the offending wetness. Penetrating cold spreads throughout my body, seeping into every pore. Standing before me in all of his menacing glory is the man from the basement. Sneering, he strides forward, eating up the space between us with several large steps. The ferociousness of his grin causes goose bumps to rise along my already chilled skin.

“I’m so glad you are able to join us, Agassi.”

Opening my mouth, I snap it shut immediately as flames shoot up the back of my throat, engulfing me in raw pain. Unable to abstain from looking around the room, my eyes begin taking in my surroundings. At some point, they’ve moved me back into the dingy basement with no windows and only one door. The bulb on the cord in the center of the room steadily sways like a pendulum in a clock. In the middle of the floor sits a large circular drain, stained in varying shades of dark gray and rust.

Staring at the colors, my stomach lurches, twisting and turning as poisonous thoughts try to leech their way into my subconscious. It’s blatantly obvious what it is. There’s no need to spell it out. Rolling my neck to the side, I let my eyes fall to the walls, noticing the chains and tools decorating the space. A small gasp catches in my throat. Raw, excruciating pain expands, sending jolts through my esophagus as it contracts from the involuntary gasp. Slowly breathing in and out through my nose, I glare at the offensive objects one by one as hot tears begin sliding down my cheeks.