“Why do you want Sugar?”

“I took you for a smarter man.” Did the world not see she was the one thing that could crumple his empire? Women talked more than they should. She would certainly come back to the States and tell the world what he was actually doing in Afghanistan. Buck shook his head. He was betting that she wouldn’t mention what a great entrepreneur he was. No, her focus would probably lie in the terrorists he was aiding in exchange for cash. “It’s better not to ask questions.”

“Jared will come after you. Me. Both—”

“Titan’s days are numbered.” Buck gestured nonchalantly. “Jared and I have a not-so-friendly game of Annihilation running. Stems back from our Ranger days. This is more personal than you realize.”

“Probably not.” The man’s voice was harsh and knowing.

The man’s comeback was unexpected, but men under duress rarely behaved as they should. “So, do we have an agreement?”

“You take my family, return them at your leisure, then I let you live another night?”

Feisty son of a bitch. Too bad this guy works for Titan. Buck sighed, uninterested in explaining himself, but needing to shore this up. Time was ticking. “No one will take me out. Not you. Not Jared Westin. Not a rogue ATF agent who should’ve minded her own business and died in the Middle East. You’ll always know in the back of your mind that I took them once, and I could do it again.”

Silence. Silence was golden. It meant: “Yes, sir. I’ll do it, sir. You’ve got me by the balls, sir.”

Just the way Buck liked his friends and enemies. “We’ll be in contact. And until then, know everyone is safe. Temporarily.”

***

Jared didn’t care about inciting fallout in the Middle East or pissing off people in power. It wasn’t his concern. Loyalty ran like blood through his veins. Sugar was a part of his network, which roughly translated to being part of his team. The Titan net had been cast over her, and he would do just about whatever it took to get her and shake some sense into her. Afghanistan? Shit…

The knock on his door made him wish for good news. But he wasn’t counting on it.

“Get in here,” he yelled.

The door opened, and Parker walked in with a folder in one hand and a tablet in the other. The look on his face wasn’t promising.

“Speak.”

Parker slid the tablet onto Jared’s desk. “Details on the hostage we pulled out.”

Jared grabbed the electronic device. He tapped on the screen, and it lit up. Kip Pearson. The file gave Pearson’s generic stats like height, weight, and profession. “He works for GSI?”

Global Security International was Titan’s rival. Wish we’d known that shit when we flew Kip home. Wish the asshole had shouted, “Hey, buddy, you’ve left my partner on the side of a Taliban-infested mountain.” What the fuck was that all about?