Forged in Steele

CHAPTER 20

RIO was awakened from a deep sleep by the beeping of his secure phone. He rolled carefully away from Grace, who murmured a sleepy protest before snuggling right back into his side. He smiled and kissed the top of her head before turning and reaching for the phone on the nightstand.

“This better be good,” he growled into the phone.

“I have something that I believe belongs to your KGI.”

Rio went silent as shock gripped him. “Hancock? What the fuck are you calling me for?”

Titan’s leader, a man that Rio had trained himself, and who he’d thought had gone rogue, was not the type to call to ask about the weather. If he was calling Rio in the middle of the night, or calling him at all, it wasn’t to exchange pleasantries.

“Pretty young female doctor? Ring any bells?”

Rio sat up in bed. Grace woke up beside him and went quiet as she studied him in the dark.

“What kind of stunt are you trying to pull, Hancock? If you have Maren, I’ll have your balls on a platter.”

“If you want her back, you’ll pay attention. I’m sending an encrypted message outlining coordinates. Be at the assigned location two days from now at oh two hundred hours. Don’t be late or I can’t guarantee her safety. And Rio, I’m only handing her over to you. Anyone else shows and the deal is off. We clear?”

“Yeah, I got it,” Rio muttered.

The phone went silent in his ear and Rio lowered the phone. Son of a bitch. It shouldn’t surprise him that Hancock was involved. The man had his fingers in a lot of shady goings-on. It wasn’t clear who Hancock worked for exactly. Titan had started as a government covert black ops organization that didn’t officially exist. But then a few years ago it had ceased to unofficially exist either, and it had been disbanded. Only, Titan was still alive and operating. They’d brought down Gordon Farnsworth, the man responsible for Grace’s abduction, and as a result, Rio and Grace had adopted Elizabeth, Farnsworth’s orphaned daughter, a precious little girl whom Grace had healed at great risk to herself.

It would have suited Rio just fine never to have crossed paths with the man again. But apparently fate wasn’t that kind.

“Rio?”

He turned to see his wife’s worried face peering anxiously at him.

“What’s wrong?” she asked softly.

He cupped her cheek and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Not sure, baby. That was our old pal Hancock. Apparently he has Maren, or at least knows something about where she is.”

She sucked in her breath, her eyes growing wide with alarm. “Is she all right?”

“I don’t know yet. He’s sending encrypted information and says he’ll hand her over in two days’ time. I need to retrieve that information, and then I’ll need to call up Steele. He’s been turning the world over trying to find her.”

“Do you have to go?”

He grimaced. “Yeah, baby, I do. Sorry. Hancock says if I don’t show, the deal is off. I’ll take you and Elizabeth to see Shea. You can stay with her while I go with Steele.”

Her eyes brightened at the mention of her sister. Then she smiled. “I’ll let her know I’m coming.”

Rio rolled his eyes. “Cool your jets for just a second before you start the telepathy. If Shea finds out this quickly, then she’ll tell Nathan and then Nathan will tell Sam and the others and they’ll all know before I even know what the hell is going on.”

She smiled and threw back the covers. “I’ll wait until you tell me I can contact her. In the meantime, I’ll wake Elizabeth and we’ll pack a bag while you do your top secret super spy stuff.”

“Kiss me first,” he murmured.

She offered her sweet mouth and he took it hard, tasting her and letting her taste him. He never grew tired of her kisses, of her love. She was a goddamn miracle. His miracle. She’d saved his life and it had nearly killed her. He’d never forget that, nor would he ever let her put herself at risk like that again.

“I love you,” he murmured against her lips.

“Love you too,” she said with a breathy sigh.

“Go wake Elizabeth. We’ll need to pull out as soon as I download the information. I’ll put in a call to Steele to meet us at the KGI compound. He and his team are God only knows where at the moment. He’s taken this mission to find Maren very personally.”

Grace frowned a moment, her brow wrinkling. “Steele doesn’t take anything personally, does he? He’s more of a machine than a man. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him express any emotion.”

“I have no idea what’s under his skin on this, but he hasn’t rested a moment since Maren went missing. He laid down the law and told Sam this was his mission and to go fuck himself if he didn’t like it.”

Grace’s eyebrows went up. “Maybe Steele has a thing for Maren.”

Rio laughed. “I doubt it, honey. Steele is . . . well, he’s Steele. He lives for his team and not much else.”

“I bet that’s what they used to say about you too.”

Rio paused. “You got me there, love. When I met you, my priorities changed on a dime and I’ve never looked back. You and Elizabeth are everything to me. You know that, right?”

She smiled and cupped his face in her hands before kneeling up to plant a scorching kiss on his lips. “Yeah, I know.”

TWENTY-FOUR hours later, Steele stood inside the war room at the KGI compound with his team, waiting for the information Rio had promised. He hadn’t slept worth a damn in weeks. His sole goal of finding Maren pervaded his every waking thought. His team had been just as focused. He knew he was working them hard. His demands were nearly inhuman. But they’d accepted without complaint and had adopted his drive to locate Maren as their own. Three months. Three goddamn months since she’d disappeared, and he was no closer to finding her now than he had been in the beginning.

Except now they’d been brought in by Rio’s cryptic message that he had intel on Maren. That was it. Nothing else. Steele seethed with impatience. What the fuck were they doing here? If Rio knew where Maren was, then why the fuck weren’t they in the air, prepared to go in and get her out?

Rio stepped inside the war room and the entire gathering came to attention. Sam straightened and focused his attention on the other team leader, as did everyone else in the room.

Rio’s team flanked him. They were still down one man, and so far Rio had shown no interest in replacing him. They were fools to operate a man short. Rio should have already replaced his man and had him training with Nathan and Joe’s team. But then Rio did things his way, just as Steele did, so Steele couldn’t really fault whatever reasoning he had. He doubted he’d be quick to replace one of his own team members. He sure as hell hadn’t replaced P.J. when she’d quit the team and walked away. But then there’d never been a question of her coming back. Steele refused to even consider it.

“What have you got?” Steele demanded when Rio got close enough that everyone could hear his report.

“Hancock called me,” Rio said bluntly.

A round of cursing went up from those gathered. Steele’s blood ran cold. Hancock and by proxy, Titan, were bad news. They’d gone rogue and there was no telling who was signing their paychecks.

“He said he’ll deliver Maren at oh two hundred hours tomorrow.”

“What the fuck?” Steele bit out. “That bastard has Maren? What the fuck kind of stunt is he pulling? I’ll nail his ass to the wall for this.”

“I’d hazard a guess that he’s in deep cover within Mendoza’s organization. Or rather Tristan Caldwell, as that’s his newest alias,” Rio said.

Sam’s expression was stony. “So he’s just going to hand Maren over to us?”

“Give me a second to run down his communication. Then we can move from there,” Rio said calmly.

The room went quiet and Steele’s fingers curled into fists at his sides.

“The deal was that Mendoza, or rather Caldwell, made a bargain with Maren. She would oversee his recovery from his latest plastic surgery, and in return he wouldn’t harm her or touch her. Hancock believes she’s in danger now and that Caldwell is looking to waffle on his end of the deal.”

“Son of a bitch,” Steele swore.

“Hancock was willing to leave her until his mission was complete and he brought down Caldwell. I have no idea who the hell he’s working for, but it wouldn’t surprise me if Resnick was somehow involved. Or if he’s not directly involved, he knows something. But Hancock is apparently concerned for Maren’s safety and he wants to pull her now.”

“Why the fuck doesn’t he just take Caldwell down now?” Garrett demanded. “It makes no sense. He’d risk pulling Maren out but he won’t pull the plug on Caldwell?”

Rio shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine. I don’t claim to understand the workings of Hancock’s mind. He’s cold and calculating. I’m surprised as hell that he gives a damn that Maren is at risk. He’s the type to put mission above all else. We know that much. He damn well let Grace walk into a situation where she could have been killed, and he did it to achieve his objective. This isn’t his usual M.O. so I’m leery of his offer to hand Maren over to us.”

“Where and when?” Steele asked bluntly. “I don’t give a fuck about his mission or his objective. If he can give us Maren, that’s all I care about.”

Rio eyed him speculatively, staring at him a long moment as if trying to peel back the layers in Steele’s mind. Good luck with that. Steele returned his stare, not backing down one inch. He didn’t flinch. Then Rio quirked one eyebrow upward.

“Maybe Grace was right,” he muttered.

Steele’s eyes narrowed. What the fuck was that supposed to mean?

Rio shook his head. “Never thought I’d see the day.”

“Can we get on with it?” Steele ground out. “We don’t have time for this shit. Just tell me where I need to be so me and my team can get on the road.”

Rio blew out his breath. “There’s a problem with that. Hancock will only deal with me. Says if anyone else shows, it’s no deal. I know you won’t like it, but I’m going to have to go. You and your team can be on standby while I retrieve Maren.”

“Hell no,” Steele burst out.

Several disagreements were voiced in the room.

Garrett had a pinched look on his face. Sam was shaking his head and Donovan’s expression was dark.

“How the hell do you know this isn’t a trap?” Sam asked. “You and this guy have history, Rio. What if he’s using Maren to take you out? How do you even know he’s telling the truth about any of this?”

“I don’t know,” Rio said calmly. “It’s a chance I have to take.”

“I don’t like it,” Donovan muttered. “This reeks of a setup.”

“He’s not going alone,” Terrence said, speaking for the first time.

“Hell no, he isn’t,” Steele broke in. “Me and my team will be there.”

Rio held up his hands for silence. “Look, Hancock is a cagey, paranoid bastard with ice in his veins. I don’t doubt for one second that he’ll pull the plug on this if I show up with two teams. Yeah, my team goes. Where I go, they go. Hancock will know this. Even if I’m at the meeting place alone, he’ll know I never go anywhere without my team. Steele, you and your team are going to have to hang back with Terrence and the others whether you like it or not. Once I have Maren, we’ll pull out and hook up with you as soon as I have her safe.”

“So he’s just going to give us Maren and expect us not to give a fuck that Mendoza or Caldwell or whatever the fuck he calls himself is still out there and a threat to Maren?” Steele asked.

Rio nodded. “Yeah, that’s exactly what he wants. He’s risking his mission to get Maren out, which is highly uncharacteristic of him. He won’t hesitate to pull the plug on the entire thing if he even thinks we’re planning to move against Caldwell before he’s ready to shut Caldwell down himself. I know it goes against your grain to stand down, Steele, but that’s exactly what we’re going to have to do if we want Maren back and out of harm’s way.”

Steele’s jaw clenched until his teeth felt ready to break. Hell yeah, it went against his grain to just walk away and let the bastard who’d abducted Maren go free. He wanted the bastard taken down where he’d no longer pose a threat to her. But first and foremost he wanted Maren out of Caldwell’s grasp, and if he had to sit on his hands for the time being, then it was what he’d have to do. As long as he got Maren back, Caldwell and Hancock could go fuck themselves.

“You tell your buddy that if he fucks us on this, I’ll hunt his ass down. I’ll devote the rest of my life to hunting him down and taking him out,” Steele said in an icy voice.

Rio raised one eyebrow. “I’ll let him know.”

“Now where the hell are we going?” Steele asked.

“Kosovo,” Rio replied grimly.