Hungry Like the Wolf(94)

Gage wasn’t going to pull any punches with his superior. He didn’t have the time, and neither did Mackenzie.

“Hardy’s men abducted Mackenzie Stone about forty minutes ago and have taken her who the hell knows where. My guess is that they’re delivering her to Hardy as we sit here on our thumbs.”

Mason looked at him sharply. “The reporter? What would Hardy want with her?”

“Payback,” Gage said simply. “I took away someone who was important to him, so he wants to take away someone who’s important to me.”

Mason’s brows rose. “You and Stone?” He swore under his breath. “Fuck, you should have told me. You don’t have a clue where she was taken?”

Gage shook his head. “Not yet, but I hope to soon.”

Mason regarded him thoughtfully. “What do you plan to do once you figure out where Hardy took her?”

Gage didn’t hesitate. “I’m going to get her back.”

“By yourself?” his boss asked drily. “Without telling anyone else in the department?”

Gage didn’t answer. He didn’t give a shit about proper police procedure in a case like this. There was nothing that’d keep him from going after Mackenzie.

Mason sighed. “I’ll get a BOLO out on Ms. Stone. Maybe we’ll get lucky and someone saw where they took her. Then I’ll get a team out here to take care of this mess.”

The deputy chief walked away, leaving Gage to wonder if the man was really going to look the other way on something like this. Then his boss stopped and turned back to glare at him. “And get Cooper to the hospital before he bleeds to death.”

Gage nodded as the deputy chief reached in the car for the radio. A few minutes later, Xander called.

“Tell me you talked to Zak,” Gage said as he put the phone on speaker.

“We did,” Xander replied. “Hardy’s men really beat the shit out of him. Probably figured he’d die from it, but he’s tougher than he looks. The doctors didn’t think he’d even come to for a couple of days, but he was already awake and shouting to talk to someone from the SWAT team when we walked in.”

“Does he know where Hardy’s men took Mackenzie?”

“Maybe. After kicking in his door and doing a number on him, they tossed him in the trunk of their car for the drive to the hospital. Through the backseat, he heard them talking about a private hangar where Hardy keeps a jet. Zak thinks that’s where they’d take Mac—so Hardy can kill her before he leaves the country.”

That last part made Gage flinch, but he forced the image aside. He had to stay focused on the fact that he was going to get Mackenzie back safely. Zak’s information wasn’t as concrete and definitive as he would have preferred, but it was the best intel he was going to get at this point.

“Okay. I’m heading to the airport,” he said. “Is Becker in good enough shape to do that computer thing he does and figure out where Hardy keeps his plane? There has to be some record somewhere that’ll give us a clue where that hangar is.”

“Don’t worry, Sarg.” Becker’s voice came on the line. “I’m already on it. If it’s a private hangar, it’ll be on the north side of the airport. Riggs and I will meet you outside the airport on the expressway. I’ll have something specific before you get there.”

Gage hadn’t been asking them to join him, but he appreciated it anyway.

“Gage.” Xander’s voice came back on. “You know Hardy is bound to have a lot of his men around the place. Who else is going in with us?”

Gage didn’t answer. He turned to look around the blocked section of highway and was surprised to see that his pack had stopped digging for clues and come to stand in front of him, their faces set and determined. His gaze lingered on Brooks and Cooper, still torn and bloody from their last encounter with Hardy’s men. Their faces were no less determined than the others.

He couldn’t ask any of them to do this with him. Hardy was going to have an army of thugs around him, and whether Mason looked the other way or not, this operation wasn’t likely to go down well with Internal Affairs and the politicians down at police headquarters. They were going to figure out that Gage had broken every rule in the book because his girlfriend was involved. He didn’t care what they did to him, but if any of his men went in there with him, they’d be risking their futures in the department as well. He couldn’t ask them to do that.

But as he looked at each of their faces, he realized he didn’t have to ask them.

“We’re all going,” he told Xander.