Case rolled his eyes. “The reception from your chopper sucks. I heard about half of what you said. Tell me it’s not on top of my building.”
“Of course it is,” Ian tossed back, finally setting his gun down and freeing Fain…White…Kent…god, he wished Agency assholes would pick one name and stick with it. “He might have left the CIA, but the dude still likes to make an entrance. And Case is right. When you called me earlier tonight I wasn’t sure if you were telling me my brother was in danger or if you were ordering a pizza. Your cell service sucks. Are we talking about Tony Santos? The asshole who only likes blondes? The last I heard the Agency was putting him out to pasture for mental health reasons.”
Kent nodded. “He’s a crazy motherfucker. Or at least he wanted everyone to believe it. I think he would have taken Mia on the beach that day in Colombia, but I let him see me.”
Case ran a hand over his hair, trying to force himself to think. Panic sat in his gut, but Mia didn’t need that right now. “Santos is a former CIA operative, right? So how much would he know about Hope McDonald and the drug?”
Kent stood, stretching his long arms. Case would bet Ian hadn’t been kind in this particular bondage session. “He would likely know everything. I’ve been tracking him. I think he was a Collective plant, but he got out before I could get any evidence on him. It was right around the time Smith got burned and I was pulled back to the States. Things were a little chaotic and they’re only now beginning to calm down. Tell me something, Smith, were you in DC to try to get Agency backing for the Sierra Leone op?”
Ian frowned. “How the hell do you know about the Sierra Leone op?”
Fuck. Everyone listened to his messages. “When did you get hold of Mia’s phone?”
Kent sent him a sympathetic stare. “On the plane from Austin to here. She spent a lot of time on her other line talking to someone named Kori. It was fairly easy to get the private phone in my hands. I only listened to the last message, but I get it. I really do. She’s an amazing woman. I’m going to do everything I can to help you get her back.”
Ian’s head shook Case’s way. “I told you to talk to the woman, not lay out all our secret plans to her in voice mail. Why? Why do all my best agents lose their freaking minds the minute a nice pair of breasts walk into the room?”
“I do not need your sarcasm.” Mia was in danger.
Ian sobered. “I’m sorry, Case. I know what she means to you. I’m surprised she was here though.”
“I wanted her with me when we went to get Theo,” Case admitted. “I wanted her with Charlotte and Erin. I know Grace isn’t coming with us, but I wanted her with the rest of our…wives.”
Ian put a hand on his shoulder. “Of course you did. I’ll stop being such an ass. We have to get to the office and get someone over to Chelsea’s to take care of our girls. I need Charlie and Chelsea trying to figure out where Santos would take Mia.”
Ten had already told them. Case forced his hands to stop shaking. They still had the advantage. He turned to Ten. “You said you got some intel about Mia. Was it random?”
Ten shook his head. “No. It was a hacker. At least he said he was. He said he’d been searching the Dark Web and he had some stuff he thought I should look at. I’ve been trying to build a new network now that I’m no longer with the Agency. It helps that I’m not with a big firm either because I’m less likely to be able to track someone down. Sometimes even the bad guys have consciences about certain things. As this asshole proves.”
Ten was gesturing to Kent, but Case wasn’t so sure he was a bad guy at all.
Kent stared at him. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
“Hutch.” He was still in there. He was doing his best. He’d lain low and waited for the time he could help his team. Hutch was out there asking if he could come home now.
Ian took a deep breath. “Why would Santos take her to McDonald?”
“For the money she’ll bring in,” Case replied. Drew would pay anything to get his sister back. “McDonald needs money. For protection and to keep her experiments going. They can’t steal enough to make themselves comfortable. Mia is a big payday. Drew will write a check for a hundred million and not blink an eye.”
“Why not steal her in Colombia?” Ten asked. “Obviously Santos was trying to lead you to a place where it would be easier to take her.”
He had to shrug at that one. “Theo didn’t let it happen. I don’t know. He was willing to let them take Hutch but not a female. You know how protective Theo can be about women. I guess no drug could take that out of him.”
How much had Theo paid for that transgression? How much blood had he shed to keep Mia out of hell?
“So now we’re going to rescue two family members,” Ian said, his jaw firming with surety.
“I want in.” Kent’s shoulders had squared.