Free 9781618854704HolidayGemBeckNC by Paloma Beck Page A

abandoned furniture lay entirely in
shambles. He approached Gage and immediately saw what Gage was looking at.
    “Fuck,” was the only
thing he could say as he stared at the writing on the wall. The message was
written in Italian and was definitely in Donovan’s handwriting.
     
    Same group
looking for us. Connected to Pisano kidnapping.
    Let myself get
captured. Rendezvous in Pontedra.
     
    After reading it to himself, Seamus
spoke the message aloud for Caedon to record through their comm device. He
memorized the words and then he wanted to scream at the risk Donovan was
taking. Did he not remember how bad Caedon’s parents had looked when they
rescued them?
    As if reading his mind,
Caedon’s voice rang clear through the earpiece. “Listen carefully to me. We can
get him out before any harm is done. There’s a reason Donovan let himself get
captured. He’s smart. He obviously saw this as our way in. And remember, he had
the fake CIA credentials.”
    Gage agreed and offered
up his own proof. “They’d never left him in this room thinking he was secure if
they’d suspected he was a Breed. You should see this shithole, Madden.”
    Madden interjected,
“It’s likely they think he’s CIA and Donovan is smart enough to use that to his
advantage.”
    “And the smart son-of-a-bitch
led us right to their door,” Gage nodded his head and grinned. “I knew he was
the smart one out of you two.”
      “Look, Seamus, they’ll use human torture
techniques which mean nothing to a Breed.”
    “But his reaction to
the torture will make it obvious he isn’t human.” That got Seamus moving.
“Okay. So what’s the plan? We obviously have to move quick .”
    “Double time it back to
the drop off point and return to the Sinster home. By then, we’ll gather a full
team. We’re going to take these bastards out.”
     
    * * * *
     
    They arrived back at
the Sinster house as the first rays rose in the morning sky. Seamus sat in
Gemma’s bedroom and watched her sleep before he headed down for the first
briefing of the day. By now, Caedon would have some intel to share.
    It was only a few
minutes after they began running through information that Seamus felt Gemma’s
alarm through their bond. He called to her in his mind, “ I’m back. We’re in the dining room in a briefing .”
    “ Donovan? ”
    “ He wasn’t there but we know where he is now. Come join me when you’re
ready .”
    “ Will I be in the way?”
    “ Never. Get dressed and come down .”
    “Gemma’s on her way
down,” Seamus told the men, both present and over the connection. “I won’t hide
anything from her but let’s try not to scare her. Got it?”
    Grunts of agreement followed.
This had turned into a dangerous mission and much depended on it if what Caedon
had dug up was right. Already Lucas and Granger were on their way. Caedon and
Madden would be following shortly, leaving behind only the Santucci security to
watch over the compound hidden within the Santucci Vineyards. Of course, Valentino,
Madden’s father, as well as Anton would be there should anything happen, but
all their instincts said the battle would be played out in the small town of
Pontedra, Italy. Having the full TEU team on the mission clearly spoke to that
potential danger.
    “We have a solid plan,”
Lucas, the second-in-command spoke, “with the intel gathered overnight by
Caedon, we’ve been able to determine an exact location and watch for movement.”
    “We know there are
currently at least twenty men in the building with Donovan. And we got a
definite sighting of Van. He’s unharmed and just like we thought, it’s obvious they believe him simply a human.” Caedon’s fingers tapped on his
keyboard while their monitors flashed different photos of the men and Van
exiting a dirty truck and entering the run down building.
    Lucas focused them on
their objective, “First priority is getting Van out. Seamus and Madden are
taking point on that. Gage and Granger will be