by Lisa Weaver
Her stomach a bundle of knotted-up nerves, she pasted a smile on her face and brought her offering to the table.
“I thought iced tea would go well with dinner.”
“Sounds great. Thanks.”
Brianna watched the agent gulp the icy beverage. When he didn’t seem to notice anything unusual about the drink, she allowed herself to relax a bit.
Halfway through the meal, her nerves kicked in again. Donovan wasn’t showing any signs of getting drowsy.
What if this plan doesn’t work?
When he reached for a second serving of fried rice and fumbled with the carton, she exhaled softly in relief. Confusion swept over Donovan’s face, and he shot her an accusing look as comprehension dawned.
“You drugged me,” he slurred.
Brianna cringed, suddenly questioning the sanity of her scheme. But desperate times called for desperate measures.
“I’m sorry. It’s just a few sleeping pills. You’ll be fine.” She pulled the note out of her jeans pocket and dropped it on the table. “Whoever left me this message can help my father. I have to meet them.”
The look of panic on Donovan’s face told her he didn’t agree. No surprise there. Seeing him struggling to stand, she grabbed his car keys and his cell phone from the counter and rushed out the door.
Donovan’s whole body was leaden, mired down by the drugs Brianna had slipped in his drink. He couldn’t believe Luke’s little spitfire had pulled one over on him. Discovering she’d taken his cell phone, he concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other, his goal the landline on the other side of the room. His world went black before he reached it.
∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
Brianna’s hands trembled on the steering wheel as she drove to the rendezvous point specified in the note. She felt terrible about drugging Donovan, but the note had made it clear she had to come alone. She couldn’t risk blowing this.
Making her way to the pier across the darkened beach, she began to have second thoughts. At this late hour, the beach was deserted.
What if the author of the note was bluffing? What if making this meeting won’t help my father at all? Worse, what if this is a trap?
The sound of rapid footfalls coming from behind her broke into her chaotic thoughts. She spun around to see a man walking toward her. His face was shielded by the hooded sweatshirt he wore, so she couldn’t see his profile. He was taller and more muscular than the man who’d bumped into her at the deli that morning.
This doesn’t feel right.
As if sensing she was preparing to run, the man held his hands out in nonthreatening gesture.
“It’s okay. I’m not here to harm you,” he murmured soothingly. “I’m here to help. I have evidence that can put the man responsible for the threats against your father behind bars.”
“Who are you?”
“My name is Chase Fleming. I used to work for Lawrence Mendacci.”
“What do you want in return for your help?”
“You’re awfully cynical for someone so young. The only thing I’m after is justice.”
“Then why not go to the authorities?”
“Do I look like I have a death wish? Mendacci has moles in every agency. Meeting you is risky enough.”
Before she could reply, a sharp crack reverberated through the air. She froze in stunned disbelief. Someone was shooting at them!
Chase rushed to her side, urging her down to the dock floor and shielding her body with his.
“We’re too exposed here,” he whispered urgently. “When I say ‘go,’ I need you to run behind that piling. I’ll cover you. When I’m sure you’re safe, I’m going to run in the opposite direction to draw the shooter away. I’m the one he wants. He knows I have information that can put Mendacci away.”
“But …”
“This isn’t the time for ‘buts,’ sweetheart. Don’t worry. I’ll get in touch with you again as soon as we shake them. Now go!”
Heart in her throat, Brianna ran for the shelter of the pillar. As soon as she reached it, Chase made a break for the opposite side of the pier. To her horror, another shot rang out before he made it to cover. A dark, wet splotch blossomed across his chest. Frozen in shock, she saw him teeter at the side of the dock before he tumbled into the waves below.
Brianna swallowed back a scream. Her car was in sight. The only option she had now was to make a break for it. She ran.
Yanking open the car door, she collapsed into the driver’s seat, trembling in terror.
I have to get back to Luke’s estate. Donovan will know what to do.
She was about to turn the key in the ignition when a hand snaked out from the back seat and clamped around her throat.
“Where do you think you’re going?” her captor snarled. “There’s someone who’s very anxious to see you. You don’t want to disappoint him now, do you?”
He pressed a foul-smelling cloth to her face, and she clawed at his hand in a frantic attempt to remove it. The evil glint in the man’s eyes was the last thing she saw before darkness overcame her.
∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
Luke knew he shouldn’t infringe on his fellow agent’s assignment. He’d made the decision to step back and let Donovan take over, and he should stick to it. But the heartfelt text message he’d received from Brianna asking to see him had whittled away at his resolve. He’d tried to ignore her summons, but he missed her like hell. And he had unfinished business with her.
The knowledge that he’d walked away from the most special woman to ever enter his life burned in his gut like battery acid. He’d done what he had to do to ensure her safety, but he’d botched things up by not making it clear he was only stepping back temporarily, not walking out of her life permanently. He needed to set things straight. He vowed not to leave her tonight until he conveyed how much he loved her. He’d be relentless until he broke down every barrier standing between them. He had to make her see that he couldn’t live without her. He fingered a small box in his jacket pocket, rubbing it like a talisman.
The hairs on the back of his neck began to prickle when he pulled into his driveway. Lights were on throughout the house, but Donovan’s BMW wasn’t parked outside. The certainty that something was very wrong slammed into him like a tsunami.
He raced to the door, his concern skyrocketing when the knob turned easily in his hand. Storming in, he found Donovan lying in a heap on the floor.
Fighting to control both his fear for Brianna and the fury fizzing in his veins at the reality that her captors had harmed one of his fellow agents, he moved to check Donovan’s pulse. To his relief his friend stirred, returning to consciousness with a ragged groan.
“Are you okay?” Luke demanded. “What happened?”
Donovan struggled groggily to his feet. “I’m fine. I’m sorry, Luke. I didn’t see it coming.”
“It’s not your fault. Who took her?”
“No one. She drugged me and took off.”
“She what? Never mind. Do you have any idea where she went?”
“Yeah. She handed me a note before she ran off. It’s on the table.”
Luke grabbed the paper, scanning the message. “Damn,” he muttered, flinging it back onto the table. “I’m going to …”
His cell phone rang, interrupting him midsentence. It was Liz, and she didn’t waste time with any preliminaries.
“Luke, I’ve been trying to reach Donovan, but he’s not answering. I’m worried something has happened. I just got a call from Philip. Someone contacted him claiming to have Brianna. They’re asking for twenty million dollars for her safe return.”
Luke’s heart went free-falling to his toes. The bastard had Bree.
“Donovan didn’t answer his phone because Brianna drugged him and ran off. Someone slipped her a note promising information that could help her father if she made a meet at the pier off West Avenue. Mendacci must have had his goons waiting there to grab her.”
“But if Mendacci has Brianna, why
would he bother with a ransom? Twenty million is pocket change for a guy like him. Besides, she’s all the leverage he needs to bring Philip back into line. It doesn’t make any sense.”
“You’re right. He wouldn’t care about the money. Something’s off.”
“The caller told Philip he’d be back in touch with the drop-off location in an hour. Hopefully that conversation will shed more light on things.”
“We don’t have time to wait for the call. Brianna took Donovan’s phone when she left. I think she did it on purpose, knowing we’d be able to track it in case something went bad.”
“Clever girl. I’ll get a bead on the signal and get right back to you.”
Fifteen minutes later, Liz called back with the intel. “The trace pings to a spot two hours from your present location, on Wildwood Road. It’s isolated. The aerial view shows a single cabin at the end of a gravel lane.”
“That has to be where they’re holding her. I’ll take the helicopter. I can be there in twenty minutes.”
“Absolutely not. There’s no way I’m sending two agents into a God-only-knows-what kind of a situation without backup. Mendacci could have a small army holed up at that place. You’ll sit tight until I can get reinforcements to you.”
“Please, Liz. You have to give me the green light on this. We can’t afford to wait for backup.”
There was a long pause as she weighed his request. “It’s against my better judgment, but okay. You and Donovan can go.”
“Donovan’s in no shape to go anywhere after drinking the pharmaceutical cocktail Brianna slipped him. He can barely stand. I’ve got this. I’ve fielded worse before, and it isn’t like we have a lot of options. We need to extract her now.”
Liz sighed, knowing she didn’t stand a chance of talking him out of going after Brianna. “Just bring her back safe and sound.”
He fully intended to. He couldn’t imagine life without Brianna by his side. She was as essential to him as the air he breathed. He had to have a chance to tell her so face-to-face.
Disconnecting, he placed another call to secure medical assistance for Donovan. Then he phoned the airport to have his chopper prepped.
It was waiting for him when he arrived at the helicopter pad. Once he was in the air, he quickly obliterated the miles separating him from Brianna.
When the signal from Donovan’s phone locked in on Brianna’s location, he banked the helicopter and looked for a clearing to set down in. He felt it would be safer to go the rest of the way on foot, rather than chance alerting her captor or captors to his arrival.
Approaching the cabin, he took cover in the heavy brush surrounding the driveway and trained his binoculars on the windows. He had no idea if she was being held by a single man or several. He assumed it was probably the first rather than the latter, but he needed to be prepared for any eventuality. There was no guard in evidence, only a jeep parked on the rocky path leading up to the place.
There was no sign of Brianna. It appeared the cabin had only one occupant. Moments later, the front door opened and the man exited. Pacing in front of the cabin, he was carrying on a heated conversation on his cell phone.
The conversation quickly escalated into a full-blown argument. The man shook his head vehemently, occasionally punctuating a reply with a flailing hand. If he was talking to Mendacci, the mobster was getting an earful.
Luke couldn’t believe his luck when the man ended the call, jumped in his vehicle, and sped off. This was the break he needed. He had to act on it. Though he hadn’t seen her, he knew Brianna was being held here. He could feel it in his gut.
His gut didn’t let him down. He found her in the farthest bedroom from the front door, blindfolded, gagged, and handcuffed to a wrought-iron bed that hadn’t been visible from the window. Tamping down the desire to chase after and rip the man who’d done this to her limb from limb, he rushed to her side.
“Bree, it’s Luke,” he told her gently.
She sobbed her relief behind the gag. With a sure, quick swipe of his knife, he dispensed with her blindfold and removed the gag. He went to work on the handcuffs next, quickly picking the locks. As soon as her hands were free, she fell into his arms, hugging him tightly.
He hugged her back with the same fierce intensity. “Did he hurt you?”
She shook her head emphatically. “No. Thank God you found me! I guess taking Donovan’s phone was a smart move on my part, huh?”
“It was brilliant. The drugging your bodyguard and taking off on your own bit, not so much. I found Donovan unconscious on the kitchen floor when I stopped by to see you tonight.”
“You came to see me?”
“Yeah. We can talk about that later, though. Right now, we need to get out of here. There’s no telling when your kidnapper will be back.”
No sooner than he’d voiced the thought, the crunch of tires on gravel echoed outside. Their window of opportunity had just slammed shut.
“Oh no! He’s here!”
“It’s okay. I promise I’m going to get you away safely. I need you to do exactly as I say, though. No second-guessing me. No improvising. Got it?”
“Got it,” she nodded.
“When he walks in the door, I’m going to ambush him. I need you to wait here in the bedroom; it’s where you’ll be safest in case there are shots fired.”
Taking his phone out of his pocket, he placed it in her hand. “If something goes wrong, climb out the window and get the hell out of here. Liz’s number is programmed in to my cell. Call her as soon as you’re a safe distance away, and she’ll send help.”
“But …” she began to argue.
He silenced the protest she’d been about to utter with a kiss. Drawing back, he squeezed her hand in reassurance.
“Trust me. Everything is going to be fine.”
∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
Watching from the window, Brianna couldn’t believe her eyes when her captor froze in his tracks on his way to the door. After a moment’s hesitation, he turned and ran for his vehicle.
He was speeding down the driveway when Luke came back for her.
“He’s gone,” he told her. “Something must have clued him in.”
“I think it may have been my fault. He must have seen me looking out the window and realized I was free. He would have known I couldn’t have gotten loose without help. I’m sorry!”
“You have nothing to apologize for. Anything could have tipped him off. He could have noticed my footprints, for all we know. It’s not important. What matters is that you’re safe, and that you’re going home.”
“But we can’t let him get away!” she protested. “We have to do something.”
“The only thing we have to do is get you out of here,” Luke countered. “He’ll be back, and he’s certain to bring reinforcements. Don’t worry, we’ll catch him eventually.”
She could see Luke’s driving compulsion to capture the assailant warring with his desire to protect her.
“He could be the key to putting an end to this, Luke. We need to go after him!”
“There’s no way I’m letting you chase after a felon with me. And I can’t leave you here alone. Mendacci himself could be headed here as we speak.”
“I’ll stay on the sidelines. I won’t get in your way.”
“Even if I were to agree, I don’t have ground transportation. It was quicker to get here by air. I know you’re terrified of flying, so my plan was to rescue you and then wait in a safe spot until the reinforcements Liz is sending arrive. I thought you could travel back with one of them. The only transportation option we have until backup gets here is my helicopter.”
“You’re a pilot, too?”
“I’m a man of many talents,” he grinned.
“Then why don’t we stop debating this and go after my kidnapper?”
“Are you sure?”
“Absolutely.”
“If I agree, you’re not to leave the helicopter until I subdue this guy. Is that understood?”
>
“Understood,” she agreed. “Let’s do this.”
Luke led her to the clearing where he’d left the chopper and helped her on board. Squeezing her hand in reassurance, he lifted off. It wasn’t long before they spotted the black jeep tearing down the gravel road at breakneck speed.
“I’m going to buzz low in front of him. It’s a gravel road, so the turbulence from the chopper blades will kick up the dirt and impair his visibility. He’ll be forced to slow down.”
“Then what?”
“I’m going to hand the stick over to you. All you have to do is hold it steady while I shoot out one of his tires. It’ll be a piece of cake.”
“Right. Piece of cake …” she repeated doubtfully.
Still, she found herself following his instructions while Luke took aim at the truck. One well-placed shot later, the vehicle came to a jarring halt on the side of the road and Luke took the controls back from her damp hands.
“You did great,” he told her proudly, putting the chopper down in front of the truck and blocking the driver’s escape. “Stay here. I’ll let you know when it’s safe to disembark, okay?”
Glowing from his praise, she nodded, flashing a thumbs-up. She watched as he made his way to the disabled truck and subdued the dazed kidnapper, then handcuffed him to the steering wheel.
She’d promised to wait for Luke’s signal, but the need to be wrapped in his arms was too strong an urge to ignore. She was about to break the rules and ignore his request that she stay put when he finally signaled it was okay to come to him.
He didn’t have to tell her twice. She was at his side and wrapped in his arms in a heartbeat.
“It’s over,” she breathed.
“This part is. But you’re still at risk, and in need of protection, until we nab Mendacci,” Luke cautioned. “I’ve phoned an update into Liz, and the police are on their way. Parker is just fifteen minutes out from us. He’ll take you back.”
“I’d rather stay with you.”
“That means making the trip home in the helicopter. Are you sure you want to do that?”
“Yeah,” she nodded. “I kind of liked flying! So, what happens next?”
