Page 16 of Wicked Obsession

“Guide me to him,” Mako said.

Voice quiet, Ryder gave directions. The SEALs had found the kidnapper—he’d stake his career on it. The knowledge allowed him to find his battle calm, the thing that had been eluding him from the moment he’d discovered Langley was missing. He was going to get her back and it would be tonight. He refused to believe anything else.

They’d nearly reached the Jeep when the tracker went stationary again. “It stopped,” Ryder reported. “We need to ease in slow.”

“Copy that,” Bryce said.

The area was almost desolate, something Ryder hadn’t expected close to a major city in SoCal, and dark enough that they nearly missed the Jeep. It was empty, pulled completely off the road on the right-hand side. Mako parked behind it, then killed the lights and the engine.

As they scrambled out of the SUV, Bryce popped the hatch. They quickly donned theirvests and comm gear. “We could use a few night vision devices,” Ryder complained quietly as he checked his weapon. It was his fault they didn’t have any. He hadn’t wanted to spend the ambassador’s money on something he was sure they wouldn’t use.

“We’ll get by without them,” Rowland said. “Let’s find where they went in.”

Nodding agreement, Ryder said, “Mako, Griff, take the left side. Stony and I will check over here.”

It didn’t take long before Griff signaled. The track was overgrown, but the vegetation showed signs of being recently crushed by tires. “Want to bet there’s a white Chevy Impala at the end of this path?” Griff asked.

“Not taking that wager,” Rowland said, tapping on his phone. “Google Earth shows a house that direction. I’m estimating less than a mile.”

Taking a look at year-old imagery didn’t give Ryder up-to-the-minute intel, but it did allow them to make plans. “Stony, you take the east side of the house. Mako, you have the west. Griff and I will take the front.”

“What about the back?” Bryce asked.

“That’ll depend on how many SEALs there are and what they’re doing. Let’s roll.”

Without NVDs, they couldn’t make out muchof the landscape. It wasn’t night, but it was dark enough to hide detail. The drive was rutted, pockmarked with holes that could turn an ankle, and vegetation to hide them. It forced them into a measured lope and Ryder struggled to keep his pace steady. He wanted to reach Langley now, but racing down the track and coming up on the backs of another Special Forces team that didn’t know they were there was a good way to get shot.

It seemed like they’d been moving forever, and if signs of the weeds and tall grasses being tamped down weren’t obvious despite the encroaching darkness, he might have questioned if they’d lost the trail.

They reached a curve, and Mako and Stony split off to come in on the sides of the house. He and Griff gave them thirty seconds then continued moving toward the front.

They were forced to slow down, to move stealthily as the house came into view. The structure was falling apart, and in spite of the lack of good light and the tall grasses growing around the building, he could see gaps in the siding, patches missing from the roof. It was dark, not a single light. No electricity was a given in an abandoned house, but wouldn’t the kidnapper have a lantern or two burning? Maybe this wasn’t the right place.

Griff’s hand signal caught his attention. TheImpala they’d spent the afternoon looking for was parked to their right, mostly hidden by a thicket of brush. He nodded.

He thought he saw motion near the porch. The kidnapper or a SEAL?

Using what cover there was, he and Griff eased their way closer to the house. A figure made his way up the stairs. This time Ryder gave the signal to his teammate. Something in the way he moved made Ryder think it was Taggart.

What—

The sharp report of a gunshot sliced through the night. Griffin locked his hand around Ryder’s biceps, stopping him before he could do more than take a step forward. At the same instant, the SEAL kicked in the door. Another crack of breaking wood came from the rear of the structure.

Taggart entered the house and Ryder tried to shake off his buddy. He tightened his grip.

“We can’t go in,” Griff said, voice less than a whisper. “It’s too risky.”

Shit, he knew that. The danger wasn’t only to his team, but to the hostages as well. Friendly fucking fire. It pissed him off to be on the outside, to be forced to wait. What if Langley had been the one to take the bullet? Damn it.

Rowland’s voice came across his earpiece. “Langley escaped through a window.”

His eyes closed. Shewasalive.

“She’s headed your way, Ski.”

“Copy that.” He couldn’t do anything about the thickness of his voice.

Seconds later, she came into view. For a moment, he drank in the sight of her. She was running a little awkwardly, but she was in a full-length dress. There were no signs of a major injury, and he was able to take a deep breath.

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