Hidden Currents by Christine Feehan

see why they wouldn’t.”
    Sarah watched him closely. “Who are you sending in to protect them?”
    He inwardly cursed. “Matt’s going.” Matt Granite was Kate Drake’s fiancé and hell on wheels in a fight. “He’s leading the second team in.”
    Sarah laid her head on his shoulder for comfort, briefly closing her eyes. “I hate this. That everyone we love is at risk, but this is for Elle. Has Jackson said anything at all to you?”
    Jonas shook his head. “He won’t talk, but he’s back to the man he used to be before he came home with me. Colder. Edgier. Jackson is like Ilya, Sarah, and as much as I respect Ilya, he isn’t an easy man.”
    “If these men deal in human trafficking, I’m terrified to think what could have happened to her this last month.”
    Jonas looked away. Jackson knew and his reaction had been scary. Sarah didn’t want to know on some level, it was just too painful. Deliberately he glanced toward the cabins. “Hannah was sick most of the trip. I should have made her stay home.”
    “She would have followed us.”
    Jonas made a face. “That’s why I didn’t bother giving her an order. She never listens anyway.”
    Sarah smiled for the first time. “I’m sure that doesn’t surprise you. Libby’s with her and truly, we need her. She can command the wind like no one else; not even Ilya is quite as adept.”
    Jonas would have tried to stop Hannah if they were going after anyone but her baby sister. There would be no stopping his wife, pregnant or not. Not with Elle prisoner and Jackson losing his mind inch by slow inch.
    “Team one is going in.” Ilya’s voice resonated in his ear.
    “We have a go,” Jonas announced aloud. “Tell the others to get ready.”
    Hannah would have to bring the storm in hard and they would have to trust Ilya’s ability to keep a helicopter stabilized in violent winds if they were going to pull off the rescue, because they’d have to send it in later to back up the rescue team. But first, they had to bring down the energy field Gratsos protected himself with.
    As if reading his thoughts, Sarah paused and turned back to him. “You know, Jonas, when that field comes down, Gratsos can use psychic energy as well. We don’t know him, we don’t know what he’s capable of, so be careful.”
    Jonas locked his gaze with hers and a shiver went down her spine.
    “I saw Jackson pounding the hell out of the floor, half out of his mind. Whatever that man did to Elle, he’s going to pay, Sarah, one way or another. I don’t give a damn how psychic he is. I’d bet on you against him any day of the week. Multiply that by your other sisters, and the man doesn’t have a chance.”
    Jonas walked to Jackson’s side where he was giving last-minute instructions to the team heading out in the boat. The three men going to the island to “fix” the power went in unarmed on a smaller boat. He knew these men, good friends willing to risk their lives to help Jonas and Jackson get Elle back. They were going into a war zone without a weapon other than their trained bodies.
    “Team two will be right behind you,” Jackson assured them, looking at the four divers, already in scuba gear, positioning themselves low in the boat. “Matt, you and Tom have to move fast. Our men will be at risk until you take out their guards and get their weapons to them, and we won’t have anyone up in the air until you give us the signal.” Jackson trusted Kate Drake’s fiancé. He was a former Army Ranger and both Jonas and Jackson had worked with him numerous times.
    Matt’s eyes were cool. “We’ll have them covered.”
    “Remember, we leave nothing and no one behind. This has to be quick and clean. Get in and get out. I don’t think we have any civilians other than the housekeeper and the package.” Jackson kept his mind away from Elle, it was the only way he could function. They weren’t going in after his heart and soul, they were going in on a rescue mission and they