Page 135 of Rescuing You

His phone dinged, and he tapped the address, then typed it in the laptop’s browser.

It was a four-star hotel in the heart of Mytilene, only eight kilometers away. Not even five miles.

“Thanks. I owe you.” He was going to owe everybody by the time this was over.

“Anytime.” Alyssa, always snarky, sounded serious. “Go get her, cuz.”

“That’s the plan.” He ended the call and pushed to his feet.

“What are you doing?” Bryan asked.

“I have to go after them.”

“You got a location?”

“They’re just up the road.”

Bryan pushed to his feet. “You have weapons for Derrick and me?”

“You’ll be safe here.”

Bryan’s eyebrows hiked. “You think you’re going to go after them alone? Wounded? I don’t think so.”

“I’m not putting you in danger.”

“Then you’re not leaving.”

Michael couldn’t help it. He smiled. “Look, bro, I appreciate⁠—”

“You think I can’t stop you? You’re wounded in a couple of places.” He nodded at Michael’s side, where he must’ve seen the bandage earlier. “You could outrun me, sure, but here? No way.”

Michael could get past him, but he thought it would be rude to say so.

“When it was Sam’s girl we were saving,” Bryan said, “you had no problem calling us in to help. You think this is going to be easier than that was?”

“You thought that was easy?” Michael flashed back to the burning building, the smoke, the screams.

“We knew what we were getting into. What do you know now?” Bryan barely paused to give him a chance to answer. “How many are there? They already tried to kill you once, probably assume you’re dead. When they see you’re alive, you think they’ll hesitate to shoot you? I’m guessing they won’t miss twice. How are you going to save your girlfriend if you’re dead, Michael?”

All those questions, and Michael had no answers.

He only knew he had to go. He’d figure it out as he went.

Like he usually did.

Like he’d done when he’d flown to Iraq without telling his team leader.

And how had that ended? He’d almost gotten himself—and Leila and Jasmine—killed. More than once. If he’d told Brock, the team could’ve gotten in and out in a matter of hours.

It’d taken Michael days…

And now he’d lost them both.

He’d feared Leila had been taken because of him. That assumption had propelled him onto this journey. And that assumption had been wrong.

But in his arrogance—and his fear—he’d gone it alone. As he so often did.

And because of that, he’d lost…everything.