Gabe allowed a flash of his inner feelings to emerge. He could at least give her that. “I’ve never had to pretend with you, Skye. Never.”
A shuddering breath and then that amazing smile reappeared. “Let’s go mingle.”
Standing on the other side of the room, pretending an interest in a conversation about a new play opening next month, William watched Skylar and Gabe Maddox as they moved through the room. He had to give them credit for having the guts to come here. Of course, they believed they would find something incriminating on him. They wouldn’t. And even if they did, they would never leave the estate alive. He’d made sure of that.
Though he nodded his interest, his eyes moved to a bulky figure standing in a shadowed corner. One of seven newly acquired bodyguards who had only two purposes—keeping William safe and doing away with Maddox and Skylar.
He didn’t anticipate it would be easy. Gabe Maddox was a trained professional. Just one look at that hard face sent shivers through William. The man had a lethal edge that scared the hell out of him.
And Maddox had come with some formidable company. That mountainous man who claimed to be Skylar’s chauffeur was most likely cover as well. Between the two of them, his men would have their work cut out for them. But they were well trained, too. And they were missing something he suspected Maddox and the fake chauffeur had. His men had no conscience.
He’d taken them to his little hideaway and tested them. If they hadn’t performed correctly, he would have had them killed. That hadn’t been necessary. They’d behaved splendidly and appropriately … like rabid dogs. The girls they’d entertained themselves with would eventually recover, but they would never forget. And neither would his precious jewel, who’d been made to watch. She’d been gratifyingly obedient after the exhibition had ended.
Yes, once Maddox and Skylar met their end, life would once more be exceedingly pleasant.
“You there?” Cole kept his voice low as he spoke into the tiny microphone hidden behind his shirt collar.
The almost invisible earpiece Gabe was wearing should have been working flawlessly. When he didn’t get an immediate answer, Cole straightened from his semi-relaxed pose against the brick retaining wall and headed toward the back entrance of the mansion. Gabe not answering meant major problems.
“Yeah, I’m here. Sorry. Was in the middle of a group. Had to step away.”
The grim tone of Gabe’s voice told Cole more than his words. The man was on edge in more ways than one.
His eyes on the lookout for more threats, Cole said, “I spotted an interesting-looking character hanging around outside. He seems awfully interested in me and I don’t mean in the ‘I want to be your BFF’ way.”
“Yeah,” Gabe muttered. “At least two more in here. One’s attached to Harrington’s ass. The other has zeroed in on me.”
“Want me to go ahead and take care of my guy?”
“If you can do it without attracting attention, go ahead. Let me know when it’s done. I want to get what we can and get Skye out of here as soon as possible.”
“Will do.”
Keeping up his pretense of a bored employee with nothing to do but meander around the outside of the small apartments that housed the servants who’d traveled with their employers, Cole strolled toward a pathway he’d discovered earlier. The path, hidden by shrubbery, would be the perfect spot for him to take the gorilla by surprise. If he chose to follow him.
The thud of oversized feet behind him assured Cole that the man indeed had an interest in him. And judging by his lack of finesse, the man was not only dumb, he was overconfident. His favorite kind of prey.
Cole paused at the edge of the path and looked left and right and then entered into the dense shrubbery and disappeared from view. A clomp, clomp came from big feet as they crashed through the bushes. The guy had most likely been told not to lose sight of his target.
A big head and beefy shoulders entered first. Cole swung an upper cut to the guy’s jaw and an immediate but controlled kick to his too soft belly. While the man was hunched over, gasping for breath, Cole brought his knee up and connected with his nose. A satisfying crunch immediately followed.
With a roar, the man jerked his head up. Blood slung everywhere. Cole stepped back a few feet to avoid the spray. “I get your attention?”
“Son of a bitch!” The man rushed him. Cole sidestepped him, turned and kicked. His foot connected with the side of the man’s head, dazing him. While he wobbled, Cole took advantage and jumped on his back, taking him to his knees. The guy swung a giant fist behind him, trying to knock him off. Cole hung on, squeezing the oversized neck until he went still beneath him.
Getting to his feet, Cole took plastic ties from his pocket and bound the man’s feet and hands together. Then he pulled him deeper into the bushes. And because he didn’t want to see or hear from him again tonight, he pulled a roll of tape from his pocket, tore off a strip, and slapped it on the man’s mouth.
From another pocket, he pulled out a white handkerchief and wiped at the blood he hadn’t been able to avoid. Feeling reasonably clean, Cole stepped back through the bushes and headed back to the mansion. On his way, he gave his mic a click and said, “I’m done.”
No answer. Adrenaline surging, Cole took off running. He didn’t see the man step out of the shadows until it was too late.
twenty-four
Skylar tapped her foot underneath the table, the only nervous gesture she could get away with. Gabe had left her at the table with her father and a few of his friends with the excuse of needing to go to the men’s room. She didn’t believe him for an instant. Something was up.
“Did your mother get in touch with you today?”
She twisted her head slightly for a quick glance over at her father, unwilling to take her eyes off the door Gabe had gone through for more than a second. What if something happened to him? What if he didn’t come back?
“Skylar, did you hear my question?”
Not taking her eyes from the door, she said, “Sorry, Dad. Yes, I heard your question. And no, Mother didn’t call me today. Why?”
When he didn’t answer her, she risked moving her eyes for an instant to give him another glance. His mouth was pursed with disappointment. Sighing, Skylar faced him and said, “No, Mother didn’t get in touch with me. Why? What does she need?”
“She’s planning a trip to Europe and wants you to go with her.”
Spending an afternoon with her mother was about as much as Skylar could handle. Going to Europe with her was a torture she refused to inflict upon herself.
She shook her head. “I don’t think so, Dad. I have too much to do here.” She twisted around again, her eyes searching for the tall, dark figure of her husband. Where could he have gone?
“Skylar, is he that important to you?”
That brought her attention back around to him full force. “What are you talking about?”
Suddenly her father looked old, almost elderly, and so very sad. “Is Gabe Maddox that important to you?”
Unable to give him anything but the truth, she answered softly, “He’s everything, Daddy. He always has been.”
Tears filled his eyes. She had seen her father cry only twice before. At her grandmother’s funeral and the day Gabe returned her home from her abduction. And now.
“I’m so sorry, Skylar. For so many things. I caused you such heartache.”
Speechless, Skylar could only stare at him. What could she say? Other than agree with him.
“If you love him, Skylar, that’s all that matters.”
She shook her head, confused and angry at this odd turnaround. “Not that I need your approval, but what changed your mind?”
“I’ve never seen love like that between a man and a woman before. I saw him looking at you earlier, when you were talking to the mayor. His feelings were written all over his face. The man adores you. I never should have interfered in your life. I thought I knew what was best for you. I didn’t.”
> Once again, she was speechless. Not because she didn’t know what to say, but because she knew it wasn’t true. If Gabe had looked like he loved her, he’d been acting. Their conversation earlier proved that. He wasn’t interested in being married to her.
But she was happy about one thing. At least her father understood the depth of the pain he’d caused both her and Gabe. Not that it did any good now.
“I don’t know what will happen between us, Dad. But I’m glad you feel that way. I—”
“Skye, let’s get something to eat,” Gabe murmured in her ear.
Relief flooded her as Skylar whirled around, her heart leaping for joy. She swallowed a gasp. Gabe had a split lip and tiny specks of blood on his white shirt. “What happened?”
“I’ll tell you later.” He offered a cool nod to her father, who seemed as speechless as Skylar had been earlier.
Walking beside him as they headed to the buffet line, she whispered again, “What happened?”
“Needed to get rid of a couple of Harrington’s men.”
Skylar skidded to a standstill in the middle of the room. “You went after them by yourself?”
Taking her by the elbow, he urged her forward. “I’m fine, Skye.”
She jerked away from him. “That’s not the point. You could have been killed.” A mass of emotions swept through her, fury leading the way. “What would have happened if they had killed you?” She stopped to glare at him. “Dammit, don’t you dare do that again!”
Taking her arm once more, he led her to the buffet table. Standing behind her as they waited in line, he whispered so only she could hear him, “I’m sorry I scared you.”
Unable to help herself, knowing that soon he’d be leaving, that soon she’d never feel his warmth against her again, Skylar leaned back against his hard body.
Gabe, apparently not caring that dozens of eyes were on them, wrapped his arms around her from behind and pressed a kiss to the back of her head. He held her for several seconds and then said, “Let’s get something to eat. Handling those bozos worked up an appetite.”
Skylar picked up a plate and began to pile food on it, not caring what it was. Eating food while all these feeling churned inside her seemed impossible. Still, they needed to act normal, as if nothing was wrong.
She nodded her thanks to the server who poured dressing on her salad, smiled at the man who carved a slice of prime rib for her, and even managed to say “Thanks” to the bartender who handed her a glass of wine. She turned to look behind her and gasped as Gabe grabbed her arm.
“Where are we going?” Skylar whispered out of the corner of her mouth. One moment she’d had a drink in one hand and her plate of food in the other, the next moment he’d taken both from her, handed them to a wide-eyed servant, and said, “Let’s go.”
Stumbling a little to keep up with him, she smiled serenely at the people she passed, who seemed equally surprised to see her normally controlled companion acting like a caveman.
Finally reaching the hallway, she jerked at his hand and whispered furiously, “What’s the matter with you?”
“Both your drink and your food were drugged.”
“What?”
“The dressing on your salad … the drink you picked up that the bartender took back to wipe the bottom. Both times something was slipped into them.”
“Gabe, I didn’t see a thing.”
“Because you weren’t looking.”
She couldn’t argue the point. Her mind had been occupied with a thousand other things. “So you think William’s trying to poison me?”
His big body vibrating with tension, his eyes roamed the area, as if a threat could come from anywhere. “Drugs to incapacitate you. The killing would come later.”
Skylar eyed the furious man in front of her. Was this just his overprotectiveness coming out, or was everyone on William’s staff out to do away with them?
Apparently sensing her doubt, Gabe never stopped looking around for a threat as he said, “I don’t hallucinate, Skye. What ever we eat or drink this weekend is likely to be spiked. We need to get this shit over with and get out of here tonight.”
Wrapping her arms around herself, she refused to get nervous now. Their plan had been to take the weekend to snoop and find something incriminating. Other than the timeline being moved up, nothing had changed.
“So what do we do?”
He put his fingers to his ear as if waiting to hear something. She knew he wore a wire and a hidden microphone so he and Cole could communicate.
“Sounds like Cole’s taking care of his guy.” He led her deeper into the hallway, out of sight of any guests, his eyes continuing to search around him as he reached inside his jacket. Pulling out the gun that was never far from his hand, he turned and gave her a fierce stare. “You stick by me at all times. If I say run, you run. If I say duck, you—”
“Duck?” She cut in, her dry tone and arched brows a reminder that she wasn’t stupid.
Ignoring her sarcasm, he took her arm and started down the hallway. “I scoped out the house while you were with your father earlier today. Cole did some questioning of the servants. We pinpointed an area to target. With Harrington’s men out of the way, we should have some time to explore.”
They headed down the long, elegant hallway. Portraits of long-dead Harrington ancestors looked down upon them as if in disapproval. Skylar shivered. Had other Harringtons shared William’s perversions? She hoped not.
Gabe stopped at a massive oak door and handed her his gun. “Keep it pointed down the hallway.”
“What are you going to do?”
His hand went inside his jacket again and this time pulled out a slender leather case. “Open the door.”
Wrapping both hands around the gun, Skylar turned and kept an eye out for anyone who might head their way. She could only hope she saw no one, since she was quite sure explaining why she held a gun in her hand would be one for the record books. She had no clue what she would say. Especially since guns terrified her. Just the feel of this one in her hand caused that cold pit of dread inside her stomach to deepen.
Her ears alert, the click behind her was a welcome sound. Keeping the gun pointed in the other direction, she glanced back to see Gabe easing the door open.
“What about cameras?”
He shot her a smile, and despite the fact that she was holding a gun and scared out of her mind, a thrill zipped through her. Gabe’s smiles were not only rare, they were beautiful.
“Taken care of.” He shot a look around and said, “Let’s go.”
Skylar came in behind him and released a relieved breath when she heard the door close.
“Okay, what now?”
It took all of Gabe’s self-control not to grab Skye and kiss her until neither could remember their name. The sparkle in her eyes and flush in her face told him that despite the danger and seriousness of their mission, she was enjoying herself.
“Look for any place he could hide documents, photographs, DVDs. It won’t be obvious … most likely hidden.”
He watched her for a few seconds and was glad to see she went for some areas he would have looked if she hadn’t. Figuring it was useless, Gabe nonetheless switched on Harrington’s computer and tried to access the man’s personal accounts. He wouldn’t leave incriminating information out for anyone to find. Gabe quickly clicked keys, tried various passwords and gave up. They had little time … no use wasting it on this.
He turned to see Skye crawling beneath a table. Ignoring the way her shapely ass wiggled enticingly, he turned to the massive desk. Each drawer opened easily and held nothing more dangerous than the usual office supplies. Nothing to hide here. His hands felt under each drawer, hoping to find a false bottom. No luck.
“Anything?” Skye asked.
“No, I—” When he moved away slightly, his foot landed on an area of the carpet that felt different from anywhere else. Going to his knees, Gabe felt around until he came to a patch of carpet that felt loose under h
is hand. He pulled until the thick material lifted. Underneath was a small metal door, with a keyhole. His heart kicked up a beat.
“I found something.”
Skye was beside him in an instant. “What?”
Taking his lock tools out again, Gabe set to work. Apparently, William felt quite sure that his secret hiding place could never be found, because it was ridiculously easy to unlock the door. Several folders, along with what looked like a packet of photographs, were crammed into the small area.
“Pay dirt.”
Together they pulled the folders from the compartment.
“Look through everything as quickly as possible. Ignore the photographs unless there are buildings you might recognize.”
“What are we looking for?”
“Anything that indicates a location.”
Gabe shuffled through piles of filth—photographs, perverted passages of loose text, writings and ramblings that were apparently William’s attempts at writing his own pornographic short stories. But no clue as to buildings or properties where Kendra might be stashed. When Skylar’s breath caught, he figured she’d come across a vile photograph or comment. “What?”
“It’s a deed.”
“To what?”
“A house and property … not far from here.” She glanced up at him, excitement gleaming in her eyes. “It’s got to mean something … why else would he have it hidden if it has no significance?”
“Good question, my dear Skylar. Would you like me to answer that before or after I kill you and your husband?”
Cursing himself for his inattention, Gabe grabbed the gun from the desk and pointed it at the man at the door. William Harrington, dressed in a tuxedo that probably cost enough to feed a small country for a year, stood unarmed. His flushed face revealed excitement but not a hint of fear. Of course, the two goons at his side had a lot to do with that. Both held .357 Magnums. And both guns were pointed at Skye.
“Mr. Maddox, please drop your gun on the floor and kick it forward.”
Gabe didn’t move. “You’ll never get away with it, Harrington. You think killing Skylar James won’t bring you a boatload of trouble?”
No Chance Page 29
