Garrett’s Destiny by Anna Blakely

Chapter 13

“Avery!” Garrett’s eyes flew open. He shot to his feet…and then promptly fell back on his ass.

“She’s not here.”

Garrett turned his throbbing head toward the unfamiliar voice. A man was sitting against the opposite wall, his knees up, hands hanging loosely between them.

Clean-cut in a pair of khakis and a Hawaiian shirt, he appeared to be in his mid-to late forties. But what struck Garrett the most was the way the man was staring straight ahead, almost as if he was in a trance.

“Where is she?”

“They took her. Her and my daughter.”

A flash of a memory struck, and Garrett realized who the man was.

They’d been in line. The HTs were leading them into an old warehouse of some sort. One had taken Avery away from him. She’d been screaming. So had this man’s daughter.

“Where did they take them?” He grimaced at the gnawing headache filling his skull.

“No idea. One minute she was beside me, and the next that bastard was ripping her from my arms.”

Ah, Christ.

Nausea churned in his gut to the point he thought he would puke.

“Dude, are you okay?”

Garrett’s head snapped up to another voice. Younger but still male.

Sitting in the corner to his right, a twenty-something man with chin-length hair and dazed, bloodshot eyes drew circles in the dirt next to his leg.

“What?”

“I asked if you were okay. You look like you’re about to hurl.”

The guy talked like a surfer who’d smoked enough weed to last him a week.

“I’m good.” Garrett—slowly—got to his feet again. Once he was sure he wouldn’t face-plant, he walked to the door and began assessing the knob.

“It’s no use,” the girl’s dad mumbled. “The lock and hinges are both on the outside.”

The man was right. The building might be old, but the door wasn’t. It was metal and sturdy…and there was no way he’d be able to break it down without an entry ram.

Fuck.

Swinging his gaze to the right, he squeezed his eyes shut and waited for the spinning to stop. Damn, he’d have to watch that.

Carefully, Garrett opened his eyes again and studied the rest of the room.

Small, probably twelve-by-twelve. Cinder block walls, dirt floor, and a tiny as fuck window that he could probably pull himself up to, but no way would he or the other two men fit through it.

Goddamnit. “We need to get out of here.”

The father shook his head. “Already told you, there’s no way out.”

Not good enough.

“So we find a way.”

“You think I haven’t tried?” The distraught man stood. “What, you think I don’t want to get out of here? To find my daughter…my fifteen-year-old daughter who’s going through God knows what?”

“Then help me think of a way out!” Garrett seethed.

He knew he was losing his shit, but damn it…this was Avery. Sweet, caring Avery who’d risked getting shot to save his ass.

No way in hell would he just sit back and let these assholes decide their fate.

Sure, they’d demand a ransom in exchange for their safe return. Probably already had. But Garrett knew better. He’d seen it in their soulless eyes.

The men who’d taken them had no intentions of ever setting them free.

“He already told you, man,” the stoner chimed in. “There’s no way out. We just need to sit back, relax, and let the cards fall where they may.”

“Yeah well, you do that,” Garrett bit out harshly. “In the meantime, I’m getting the fuck out of here.”

“You’re just going to make things worse.”

He turned back to the father. “No, I won’t. Trust me.”

“Trust you? Man, I don’t even know you!” Spit flew from the guy’s mouth as he seethed. “And those men…those monsters took my daughter! What if we do something to piss them off, and they hurt her in retaliation?”

“I understand you’re scared, but—”

“You understand?” The angry man’s face twisted with painful emotions. “How can you possibly understand? They didn’t take your daughter!”

“No, but they took the woman I love!”

Garrett’s declaration echoed off the room’s cement walls. Shit. He hadn’t meant to say that out loud. Not to this man, and certainly not before he’d had the chance to tell Avery how he felt.

Must be the concussion.

No matter the reason, it was out there now, and he couldn’t take it back. Funny, he didn’t even want to.

“Then don’t you care about what’s happening to her?” The guy challenged. “To both of them? For Christ’s sake, Jess is only fifteen.” His voice cracked. “Who knows what they’re doing to my baby girl.”

Tears filled the poor man’s eyes, and Garrett’s chest tightened with sympathy. “Look, man. I get it. And I can promise you, I care very much about what happens to both your daughter and Avery. But sitting on our asses won’t do either of them any good.”

“Neither will getting ourselves killed.” The man began pacing the small space.

He was right. Now wasn’t the time for emotions.

If he had any chance of getting to Avery in time, he needed to start thinking like the operator he was, and not some heartsick boyfriend ready to tear down the walls to find his woman.

Think, damn it. Think!

“How long was I out?” Garrett began gathering as much information as he could.

The dad stopped and looked at him. “I don’t know. Couple hours, maybe? They took our watches and jewelry before they split us into these rooms.”

Glancing at his wrist, he realized the man was right.

He had no idea if his alert went through. And since the son of a bitch who’d struck him had stolen his watch, he couldn’t try to send it again.

Come on, Shadow. Tell me you got the signal.

Moving on, he went back to the timeline, again. If the father was right, they’d been here two hours. Add that to the two hours it had taken them to drive here, and four hours had passed in all since the group had first been ambushed, and he’d sent the alert.

From past experience, Garrett knew a flight from Charlotte to the DR took approximately three hours. Shadow and his boss would’ve needed an hour or more to gather intel, wrangle the rest of the team together, and put a plan into place before heading this way.

So, if his math was correct, his team should be on sight within the hour. Maybe less.

But that was only if his alert had gone through. And he couldn’t—he wouldn’t—risk Avery’s life on an if.

“You said rooms.” Garrett addressed the middle-aged man again. “As in plural?”

The man nodded.

“How many?”

“Six. Maybe eight.” The guy shrugged. “I didn’t have a lot of time to count. Those jerks just grabbed people and pushed them inside as they came to each door. A few here, a few there. Didn’t seem to be any specific rhyme or reason to who they put where, either.”

Ignoring the skull-splitting headache still pounding away inside his brain, Garrett turned in a slow circle, studying the dark, dank room again.

They were in an old warehouse of sorts. From what he’d seen when they first arrived, it was one level, about six thousand square feet, and surrounded by that huge ass concrete wall.

As far as schematics went, it wasn’t nearly as detailed as he would’ve liked. But it was enough to maneuver his way around.

These HTs, however…those bastards were a different story.

Before every op, he and his teammates gathered as much intel on the hostage takers as they could, so they knew exactly who they were dealing with.

All Garrett knew about the assholes who’d ambushed them was that they were local, and they were ruthless. And, just like every other HT, they believed they were owed something.

On top of all the unknowns, this op was different than most on multiple levels.

Not only was he one of the hostages—a fact that burned his ass on principle, alone—but the woman he’d come to love was also being held against her will.

If they’ve hurt her, so help me God…

They had no idea where Avery and the girl had been taken, nor did they know what these bastards were putting them through.

God, please let her be okay.

A renewed sense of purpose filled the cells of his body. The rage he’d tampered down before came out in full force.

But rather than act out with useless words or fists to a wall, Garrett used it as fuel for the hell he was about to rain down upon his enemies.

Because Avery was out there somewhere. She needed him. And in this moment, in every moment going forward, she was all that mattered.

Running a hand over the stubble on his jaw, he looked at the father and asked, “What’s your name?”

“Brett.” The man stopped moving and faced him. “Brett Caldwell.”

“Nice to meet you, Brett,” Garrett spoke with his calm and steady hostage negotiator tone. “I’m Garrett. And you…” He turned to the kid who didn’t act concerned in the least. “What’s your name?”

“Danny.”

“Hey, Danny.” He tipped his head. “Okay, here’s what we’re going to do. I’m going to do my best to get us out of here so we can go find Jessica, Avery, and the others. But first, I need you two to promise you’ll do what I say, when I say it. Can you do that?”

“Hell, yeah,” Danny agreed instantly.

Brett was expectedly hesitant. “I want to find my little girl more than anything, but—”

“I know you do.” Garrett didn’t give him a chance to opt out. “And I have an idea I think will work, but only if you trust me.”

The other man’s skepticism shone through his worried gaze. “You’re talking about risking Jess’s life. Give me one good reason why I should listen to anything you have to say?”

“How about I give you two?” Garrett offered. “One, you were right. We won’t do our girls any good if we’re dead. And if we stay here and do nothing, that’s exactly what’s going to happen.”

“How do you know that?”

“Reason number two.” He drew in a deep breath before revealing, “I’m a hostage rescue specialist.”

He felt shitty telling these guys the truth about his job before sharing that bit of information with Avery. But he’d done so because he needed them to trust him. Otherwise, they were all fucked.

“Cool.” Danny let the word drag as he grinned. Almost as quickly, he dropped his brows in confusion and asked, “What’s that mean?”

Lord save me from pot-smoking millennials.

Resisting an eye roll, Garrett explained, “That means my job is to locate and rescue people who are being held captive.”

“Like us!” the kid responded with pride.

“Yes, Danny.” He spoke with patience he was about to lose. “Like us.”

“Is that true?” Brett stared back at him with clear eyes. “You really do this sort of thing for a living.”

“It’s true.” Garrett nodded. Then, with a smirk to help put the man at ease, he jokingly said, “Of course, I’m usually on the outside looking in, but it can’t be all that different, right?”

Brett’s thin lips twitched, and Garrett took it as a win.

“Okay, listen. Since coming to, I’ve heard the occasional movement coming from the other side of the door.”

“Like feet padding across the dirt.”

“Exactly.” Garrett nodded. “That means at least one of the HTs, er…hostage takers…are still here. Now, I have a way to get them in the room so we can overpower him. But the only way this happens is if we work together as a team. Can you guys do that?”

“Whatever you need, bruh.” Danny stumbled to his feet.

Brett, however, was still hesitant to agree. “How solid is this plan of yours?”

“It’s our best shot of getting out of here and finding your daughter.”

The other man thought for a second longer before nodding. “Okay, then. Tell me what I need to do.”