When Day Breaks

CHAPTER 35

THEY scrambled into two vehicles, shoving in clips, lifting assault rifles into place and positioning knives and flashbang grenades.

Swanny had given the GPS locator to Joe, who was driving him and Hancock while Nathan, Edge and Skylar brought up the rear.

By using satellite imagery, they were able to pull up a picture of the exact location that gave Eden’s position. It was a house on the outskirts of Paris, just to the south, in a suburb with houses spaced short distances between them.

They had to make damn sure their entry was clean and not have an innocent caught in the cross fire. Swanny prayed the entire way. He prayed that Eden was alive. He prayed her kidnapper hadn’t figured out the necklace was a tracking device and left it in its current position as a decoy. Because if that was the case, they were well and truly fucked. They’d be starting from zero again, and every precious minute counted.

“Drive faster, goddamn it,” Swanny seethed.

“I’ve got it to the floor, man,” Joe replied, his expression grim. “Get yourself together. We can’t afford to let emotion cloud your judgment. We don’t know for certain she’s where the tracking device is, and we don’t want to burst into a civilian’s home and blow them all to hell.”

Swanny ground his teeth together. Bullshit. Let his judgment be clouded by emotion? How the hell could he not be up to his eyeballs in emotion and adrenaline? Not to mention bloody fucking terror. The woman he loved was suffering horribly. He knew only too well what she was enduring, and he’d been trained to withstand torture in the military. Violence hadn’t touched Eden until recently. She wasn’t meant for pain and disfigurement.

Tears gathered and burned in his eyes, but he blinked them away, knowing he needed perfect vision and his senses sharp. They might get only one shot at this. If threatened, the crazy-ass woman would probably take Eden down even knowing she was about to die herself.

Hancock, who’d been studying the close-up map of the neighborhood, lifted his head.

“Looks like there are two entrances. Judging by the background in the video, my bet is the basement level. It was dark with concrete walls and the floor had appeared dusty and damp.”

“So we go in quietly, undetected, and then we take her by surprise with a flashbang. Eden will be disoriented but she’s likely already so from the drugs,” Swanny said in a grim tone.

“Nathan and I will take the front,” Joe said from the driver’s seat. “You and Hancock go in the back. Sky and Edge will cover front and back just in case she gets by you.”

“Like hell she’s getting by me,” Swanny vowed.

Hancock nodded his agreement, almost looking insulted by the idea that anyone would get by him.

Ten of the longest minutes of his life later they pulled to a stop three houses down from the one that signaled Eden’s presence.

They piled out, quickly spreading out, guns up. Joe motioned for Nathan and then gave a hand signal for Edge and Skylar to each take an exit while Swanny and Hancock broke into a run, quickly clearing one of the iron fences between a neighboring house and the back of the house where Eden was being held captive.

The door was locked, but Swanny quickly jimmied the lock and pushed the door quietly inward, stepping lightly and soundlessly across the floor. Hancock followed closely behind, a pistol in one hand and an assault rifle cradled in his other arm, the strap wrapped around his arm to anchor it in a shooting position.

They froze just at the stairway to the basement when they heard a chilling scream shatter the silence.

Relief and rage vied for top reaction to Eden’s shriek of pain. Relief that she was alive, and rage that the crazy bitch was cutting her up piece by piece.

Swanny and Hancock crept down the stairs, only pausing when they heard a slight noise above them. Swanny swiveled, gun up, but then relaxed when he saw Nathan and Joe following them down.

Satisfied that they had backup, Swanny resumed his quiet descent. He stopped when the wall cut away, giving a way to see inside the basement. He didn’t want the woman to have a clue anyone was here. He needed to get a bead on Eden and her captor so they could attack strategically.

Moving inch by careful inch, each one seemingly taking hours, Swanny peeked around the edge of the wall and into the dimly lit basement area.

He caught his breath when he saw Eden tied to the chair she’d been bound to in the video. Her head was drooping, blood sliding down her face from multiple cuts. Her tormentor had her back to Swanny and his team, and her laughter filled the room.

“One more video, I think,” she said in a smug tone. “Something to give your father to remember you by. Then I’ll slice you open and let you bleed out and film the entire thing. Your father will pay for all he’s done. For taking my mother’s life. My father’s life. For taking my life from me for so many years.”

Eden lifted her head sluggishly, her unfocused gaze on the woman. Her lips curled and she gave the woman a look of pure hatred and distaste. It was obvious to Swanny she was in shock and likely still sluggish from the drugs. But it was what she did next that surprised the hell out of Swanny and filled him with pride even amid his rage and fear for her.

“Go fuck yourself,” Eden croaked.

Swanny made the go signal before the woman could retaliate. In her anger she might well kill Eden on the spot.

Swanny lobbed a flashbang so it landed right beside Eden’s chair and ducked briefly behind the wall so he and his teammates wouldn’t suffer the effects.

The room exploded with sound and two different sets of cries went up as Swanny rushed in, Hancock and the others hot on his heels. The woman was on her knees holding her head but she still reached blindly for her gun, lifting it in Eden’s direction.

Swanny didn’t hesitate. He put a bullet into the back of her head, crumpling her the rest of the way to the floor. Then he rushed over to where Eden was tied to the chair, tears that had nothing to do with the explosion burning a trail down his cheeks.

He ripped off his shirt and placed it to her face to stop the flow of blood covering her cheeks and forehead. Hancock dropped behind her and quickly sliced through the rope securing Eden to the chair.

She immediately sagged forward and Swanny caught her in his arms, swinging her upward, cradling her securely.

“Eden! Eden, honey, talk to me, please. Can you say anything? Are you hurt anywhere else?”

She blinked, confusion furrowing her brow. For a moment her gaze locked with his and relief swamped her eyes before going glossy with tears. It ripped his heart right out of his chest to see her so fragile and vulnerable. He pressed his lips to her forehead, uncaring of the blood that smeared his own face.

“Swanny,” she whispered, her voice hoarse from her screaming.

“Yes, baby. It’s me. I’ve got you now. You’re safe. No one can hurt you now.”

“L-love y-you.”

He lost the battle and broken sobs welled in his throat. “I love you too, honey. God, I thought I’d lost you. I thought I’d lost you. I couldn’t bear it.”

She closed her eyes, pain contorting her features.

“Stay with me, Eden,” Swanny said as he turned to take her up the stairs. “Stay with me, baby. I’ll get you to the hospital. Everything will be all right. I swear it on my life.”

“S-stay with m-me.”

Her voice was so faint he had to strain to hear her. He kissed her hair, just wanting to touch her, reassure himself that she was alive and in his arms as he made quick work of the stairs.

“I’ll never leave you,” he vowed.