Marine's Mission - Rebecca Deel Page 0,62
are still a few guards roaming the place. This mansion is huge.”
Owen smiled at that, then turned to Toni. “You ready to go?” When she nodded, he stood and held out his hand. Once on her feet, Toni swayed.
Owen’s hands went to her shoulders to steady her. “Talk to me, Toni.”
“Sorry. They haven’t fed us much. I’m weak.”
“Did they give you water?” Jackson asked as he helped Ellis sit up.
Toni shook her head.
The medic reached into his mike bag for a bottle of water, and poured in a powdered mix. After shaking it, Jackson handed the bottle to Toni. “This is an electrolyte mix to help with dehydration. It’s safe for you and your baby. Drink it slow.”
“Thank you. Ellis needs one, too.”
“Once we’re headed back to the jet, he’ll get his own.”
“Drink, honey,” Ellis said to Toni. “I have to know you and the baby are okay.”
While she drank, Owen crouched on Ellis’s other side. Together, he and Jackson lifted the software programmer to his feet. His face blanched.
“I’ll give you pain meds along with fluids once we’re on the jet,” Jackson murmured. “You’ll be on your way home soon.”
“Don’t care about me. Need Toni and the baby safe.” Fury lit his gaze. “Wagner hit her. I tried to fight him off, but I couldn’t stop him.”
Owen laid his hand on Ellis’s shoulder. “You held out long enough for help to arrive and protected Toni and your baby. Good job, Ellis.” He glanced at Jackson. “Can you handle him?”
A nod. “Let’s go. The sooner I start treating him, the better.”
“Rafe, we’re coming out.”
“Copy. Clear.”
They left the room with Owen and Toni in the lead. When they reached the archway, Rafe hurried downstairs to help Jackson with Ellis. A minute later, Owen and Toni reached the door. “Zane, are we clear?”
“For the moment. Looks like another guard is heading your direction from the west side of the house.”
“Copy.” Owen nudged Toni back against the wall. “Stay here.”
Toni’s hand clamped around his forearm. “Where are you going?”
He patted her hand. “I won’t be long. Jackson and Rafe will keep you safe until I return.”
When she released him, Owen opened the door and slipped into the hallway. As he headed toward the approaching guard, he listened to the voices of his teammates over the comm system as they reported their positions and the number of guards neutralized. Jesse, Texas team’s medic, reported the locations of Wagner’s wife and children. Thankfully, they were asleep.
“Guard approaching from the hallway to your left,” Zane murmured. “Thirty feet.”
Without acknowledging the information, Owen slipped into the shadows of another alcove and waited. Two minutes later, footsteps heralded the approach of the guard. Waiting until the man passed his location, Owen slipped out behind him to put him in a sleeper hold.
Something must have warned the man that trouble was on his six because he spun at the last second. He scowled at Owen and threw a roundhouse punch.
Owen moved enough for the punch to miss, throwing the man off balance. He slammed his fist into the guard’s kidney, dropping him to his knees. After knocking him out with a sleeper hold, Owen cinched his hands and feet with zip ties, and used the man’s belt for a gag. “Z, empty room.”
“To your left.”
“Copy.” He dragged the guard to the room and rolled him to the back of the storage closet.
“You’re clear,” Zane murmured.
Owen returned to the stairwell entrance, opened the door, and motioned for the others to get moving. “Jon?” he whispered.
“Front is clear.”
“Copy.” When the rest of the strike team and the hostages joined him, Owen led the way toward the front door of the mansion. Ellis and Toni didn’t have enough strength to walk far. Good thing the vehicles were nearby.
They neared the front door without incident. After Owen scanned the front of the mansion for threats, he led the others out. When Toni stumbled, Rafe scooped her into his arms without missing a stride.
Over the comm system, Eli said, “Brody, go.”
“Copy.”
Just as Owen and the others reached one of the SUVs, gunfire and shouts came over the comm system. A moment later, Brody said, “targets are down. Wagner’s dead. Banks is injured but mobile.”
“The program?”
“Unknown. We have Wagner’s computer system and every memory device in his office, including Owen’s flash drive.”
Owen breathed a sigh of relief. Two out of three objectives had been met. Once they were in the air, Jon would find out if Ellis’s program had been sent to the purchaser with