Luke frowned as he checked the street. He couldn’t see her anywhere.
He turned back to the senior field agent he was talking to.
“Can you excuse me for just a minute? I promise I’ll bring Kincaid in for debriefing, but I just need to check something.”
He jogged over to Drew and pulled him aside.
“Did you see where Maggie went?”
Drew immediately looked up at the empty car. He scanned the street, shaking his head.
“Uh, no. Maybe she went back inside the hotel for a moment. A restroom visit, maybe?”
A muscle in Luke’s jaw flexed as he looked about again.
“I don’t think so. She would have told someone.”
Drew shrugged. “Maybe she did, but look around you, Luke. This place is a circus at the moment.”
Luke nodded, but his expression didn’t change. He felt unsettled, wary, his stomach muscles coiling instinctively. Something was wrong.
He strode up to their car and peered inside. She wasn’t taking a nap in the back seat. He glanced up and down the street. No honey-blond seductress in sight.
He stared at the hotel in front of him. A little dark bubble protruded from the awning. A surveillance camera.
He reached into the car and withdrew the laptop.
The screen flickered to life. He could still access the security system. He typed quickly, scanning each camera view before moving on to the next in the directory. An image of him leaning against a car on the street finally came into view.
Drew came up beside him as he back-tracked the footage.
“What, no tracking device on her this time?” Drew quipped, peering over his shoulder.
Luke watched the screen. Some great big lug of a guy sidled up behind Maggie. Both men stiffened as they saw the man pull a gun on her.
“Damn.”
“Who the hell is this guy?”
“My guess is that’s Tiny,” Luke said, watching intently. He wanted to reach out to the guy and ram his head through the car window. He’s using his gun on my woman. Luke didn’t bother to resist the protective, possessive urge that swelled over him, making his muscles tense for action. Maggie was in danger.
They watched the man force Maggie into a four-by-four and take off.
“Right, let’s go,” Luke opened the passenger door of their car. “You drive.”
Drew started the car and peeled off a tight turn before taking off down the street.
“How are we going to find them? That timed footage shows he’s got nearly a ten minute head start on us.”
Luke typed furiously into his computer, swaying in his seat as Drew darted through the Seattle midday traffic. “I’m going to hack into the traffic camera system. We’ll be able to track them.”
After a few minutes Luke relaxed somewhat. He was in the system, and he’d just located the truck. He called out directions to Drew as they weaved their way through the city. At least this thug had no idea they were on his tail and coming up fast.
“They’ve just turned on to the I-90,” Luke said, scrolling through the network of online cameras until he located the blue four-by-four. “They’re leaving the city.”
Drew nodded as he took the onramp to the interstate highway. “So are we.”
Drew pressed down on the accelerator and zipped through the traffic. Luke divided his time between monitoring the pickup truck’s progress on camera, and checking the traffic in front of him.
“There!” He pointed at a vehicle up ahead. The midnight blue truck was traveling in the fast lane.
“Let’s get closer,” he told Drew. “I want to confirm the license plate and run a check.”
Drew nodded.
They rode in silence, and Luke tried to calm himself. He clenched his fists over the keyboard. If that bastard hurts Maggie—He shook his head at the thought. No. He wouldn’t let it happen. Couldn’t let it happen. He needed her. She wasn’t just a distraction on a case for him. Yes, she infuriated him. But she made him laugh too. And she matched him. Head to head, no backing down from him. He knew she was gentle, caring and loyal. He also knew she was one smart lady, and he prayed she’d use her wits.
“Will you shut up, woman!” Tiny pounded the steering wheel.
Maggie tried not to flinch. “I only asked you about your mother,” she said. “It’s a subject that interests me at the moment. My own mother just died. She had cancer.”
She’d read enough about abductions to know she needed to make him see her as a person, not an expendable commodity. If she could get him to relate to her, she might stand a chance of coming out of this alive. She’d already broken the first rule—never allow yourself to be taken to a second location.
She glanced out the window at the calm, steel gray waters of Lake Washington. It looked like a pane of smooth glass.
“Were you an only child? I am,” she said. She thought family was a good place to start. Everyone has family, right? Well, actually, she didn’t. Not now.
It hit her, then. She was alone. No more rattling breaths in the deepest of night. No inquiries as to how her day had been as soon as she walked in the door. No more hugs as she left for work, no more Christmas dinners and Mother’s Days. She was alone in the world. Her thoughts flew to Luke. The one man for whom she’d broken her ninety-day-probationary-period-before-intimate-contact rule.
She wanted to get back to him. So what if he was likely to leave within a New York minute? She made up her mind. Life is too short for ninety day rules. If she could have one night, just one more night in his arms, it would be worth a lifetime of living on that memory. She eyed the highway. She had to get away from Tiny. But how?
He pulled over to the exit ramp for Mercer Island. Personalize the situation, Maggie. Think, think!
“Where did you grow up? I grew up here in Seattle.” She was rambling. She knew it. Anything to distract him. Was it working?
Tiny growled as he pulled the gun from his jacket and pressed it to her temple. “I swear, if you don’t shut up, I’m going to shut you up. Permanently.”
Maggie winced as the barrel of the gun ground into her temple.
Drew took the exit for Mercer Island. They were now three cars behind the pickup. Close enough to keep the vehicle in view, far enough away to avoid detection.
“I don’t get it. Mercer Island? Isn’t this like millionaire’s row? Why would he be taking Maggie here?” Drew asked.
“You know, in all of this we’ve known that Viper was hired to do a job. We haven’t really looked at who hired her. Him.” Luke shook his head. It was still hard to believe Viper was a weedy little man.
Drew shot him a look. “What, you think Tiny works for the mastermind behind all this?”
Luke’s eyes remained on the truck up ahead in traffic. “Yep.”
Maggie watched Tiny’s hands as he turned the steering wheel. He slowed down to take a corner, and both hands were occupied with driving the stick-shift.
He had big hands that bore the scars of countless fights. She gulped. This could be her only chance.
She shifted slightly in her seat, eyeing the winding road ahead.
He approached another curve, his foot easing on to the brake and he geared down. She reached out a stealthy hand and grasped the door handle. Slowly, silently, she pressed down on the lever.
Tiny steered into the curve. Like a slow motion action sequence from a movie, she put her shoulder against the door and shoved. Her muscles bunching in one fluid move, she twisted and launched herself.
She felt weightless, suspended in air. Until a hand grabbed the back of her dress and yanked her back inside the truck.
“Slippery bitch,” Tiny growled. His hand let go of her dress and flashed up to grab hold of her hair. Maggie cried out as his tight grip pulled strands of hair from her scalp, and the dashboard filled her vision as he slammed her head against it.
Everything went black.
Chapter Seventeen
Drew pulled the car over to
the curb and he and Luke watched the pickup truck turn into an estate drive. The wrought iron gates opened, the truck drove through, and the gates closed.
Luke frowned. Most of the homes they’d passed were discreetly hidden by fences and trees, and this property was no exception. A high stone fence and tall cedars obscured any view of the property itself. Who owns this place?
Drew’s cell phone rang and he answered it as Luke’s fingers flew over the keyboard. He could access any number of databases that could give him that information.
Drew covered the phone and turned to Luke.
“It’s Reese. He wants to know why we left the scene without a proper debriefing with the local agents. Apparently they want to talk to us.”
Luke didn’t look up. “Tell Reese there’s another player in motion, and we’re on his tail.”
Drew relayed the information as Luke brought the property owner’s record up on his screen.
His jaw dropped. He hadn’t seen that coming.
Drew covered the phone again. “Reese says he’ll inform the locals and organize backup for us. He also said you better have a good explanation for blowing up his safe house, and some guy is making claims about a stolen motorcycle.”
Luke shook his head as he double checked the property information. Yep. Same name.
“Tell Reese that’s the least of our problems.”
Maggie’s head hurt. A lot. Her eyelids flickered. A haze of red and yellow swam into focus. Damn. I’m in hell. She could even smell smoke.
What is that? A flower? She pulled her head back a little and groaned, or at least tried to. A gag covered her mouth. Her head was doing its best to separate from the rest of her body. She blinked the white stars out of her vision and took a couple of deep breaths. She was lying on a rug. A very nice rug, from what she could see. Burgundy with a golden fleur-de-lis pattern stretching off into the distance until it ended at dark paneled walls.
She tried to sit up and realized her hands and feet were bound. She glanced around her. Where the hell am I?
It was a large room, but it gave an impression of intimacy. A massive fireplace took up a large portion of one wall. Logs were burning, yet Maggie still shivered. So it wasn’t the fires of hell she’d smelled burning. The dark paneling covered the lower portion of the walls, and coupled with the deep green above it, gave a closed-in effect from her spot on the carpet. She could vaguely make out the patterned ceiling. A desk—larger than her mother’s bed—sat in a prime position in the room, before floor to ceiling windows half-covered by rich, burgundy curtains. She hadn’t expected to land amid such masculine opulence when Tiny had abducted her. A warehouse, or some other seedy location, maybe. Not a luxuriously appointed study. Her stomach clenched. She didn’t know what to plan for, didn’t know what was coming her way. Waking up here was a surprise, and she was beginning to hate surprises. Who owned this place? Whoever it was, she doubted they would help her?
She dragged her cheek against the carpet, working the gag loose in short time. Should she scream? Or would that alert her abductors?
She needed to assess the threat level. But to be able to do that, she needed to move freely.
She struggled against her bonds, her teeth sinking into her lip as the skin of her wrists and ankles burned. The rope was tight, and she couldn’t find any give in it.
Her shoulders slumped. How did they do it in the movies? Maybe if she got her wrists in front of her, she could use her teeth to undo the knots?
She bent over at the tummy and tried to slide her wrists down her legs. She let out a breath, trying to fold her body as tightly as possible. Her eyes bulged and she could feel her face heating with the effort. Her head still throbbed.
She gasped, relaxing. Her hands rested against her buttocks. Obviously those movie stars must do yoga or something. She just wasn’t that flexible.
She lifted her head, listening. Nothing. Silence. Was she here alone? Somehow, she didn’t think so. She didn’t know how long she’d be left to her own devices.
She rolled to her knees, her movements slow and inelegant. She paused, waiting for the rest of her head to catch up with her. Her stomach heaved. Ugh. She swallowed, fighting off nausea. When her head stopped spinning she took stock. Oh, good. Now she could see the desk. Surely every evil mastermind had a letter-opener conveniently sitting on their desk. She hesitated. The mastermind. Of course. Viper had committed the act, but the spy was hired by somebody. Somebody with enough money to pay the man a small fortune to murder and steal top secret military research. She didn’t know any of the international players in the spy game, though. Who hired Viper?
Footsteps echoed in the hall. She heard them approach the study door.
Maggie froze as the door handle began to turn.
Luke eyed the front gates, wanting to yell. His fist thumped against the car door. “Dammit, Maggie could be hurt.” Or worse. Luke pushed the thought out of his head.
Drew tilted his head back. “Reese told us to wait for backup.”
“And meanwhile, Maggie is in danger, alone.”
Luke flung the door open and stalked to the trunk of the car to survey the small armory available.
“Look, I realize you want to go in there and save the day, but we should at least have a plan.” Drew got out of the car and faced Luke over the roof.
Luke slid the magazine into one of the guns he’d selected. “You can tell the plan to the reinforcements when they arrive.”
“What if I have a better weapon?” Drew asked. He ducked his head back into the car and reached for something in the back seat.
Luke heard the sound of a zipper, and when Drew stood up again, he clutched a dark, shimmery fabric in his hand.
Luke gaped. The Visi-suit. “Aren’t the feds supposed to have that?”
Drew shrugged. “I was getting around to it, but Maggie disappeared before I had a chance to hand it over.”
Luke shrugged out of his jacket and hauled his shirt over his head. “No wonder the feds are so eager for their debriefing,” he said, his lips kicking up at the ends.
He’d checked all available floor plans and satellite imagery. He knew the mansion he planned to breach was well-secured. There were surveillance cameras everywhere, sensor detection and patrolling guards. He could handle most of the technology, and the Visi-suit would handle the rest.
“Tell Reese there’s a flaw in the security. The property backs onto Lake Washington, and the dock only has minimal security. The feds can come through there.”
Drew nodded and withdrew his cell phone from his pocket. “We’re going to need every advantage.” He frowned. “I still don’t understand, though. Why him?”
Luke pulled on the suit and activated the code at the collar, just as he’d seen Viper do at the hotel. “Tell Reese to check on his family. Maggie mentioned a daughter.”
“Damn, that’s freaky,” Drew murmured in awe as Luke’s form shimmered, then slowly faded from view. Drew frowned. “Don’t forget the hood, your head is floating.”
Luke pulled the hood over his head and closed the mask around his face. He was surprised how well he could see through the material. “Thanks. See you soon.”
“Good luck,” Drew’s voice reached Luke’s ears as he jogged to the stone fence. He waved, realizing too late that Drew couldn’t see him. Talk about freaky. He was now a phantom. All thoughts of his friend left his mind as he focused on the task ahead. Calm descended over him like a Seattle fog. He moved with a single-minded purpose. Save Maggie.
The door opened, and a middle aged man with salt-and-pepper hair strode in. His face was instantly recognizable.
Maggie’s shoulders slumped in relief.
“Oh, thank God you’re here.” She held up her wrists and twisted to see over her shoulder.
“Can you get this rope off me?”
Richard Bates, billionaire CEO of the largest technology firm in the world, cocked an eyebrow as he walked further into the study.
“Oh, I d
on’t think so. That would make the whole exercise pointless, now wouldn’t it, Viper?”
A dark figure followed Bates into the room, Maggie swallowed as Tiny crossed over to the fire and put his hands out, as though trying to warm himself. Her eyes darted between the two. Did Bates know what kind of animal he had lurking in his study? She was sure Tiny was responsible for the deaths of his companions back at the warehouse, as well as Kandy Karamel. She forced herself to focus on the conversation. Her brows pulled together in a frown.
“I’m not Viper,” she told him. Was this a misguided effort to retrieve his stolen research? But wasn’t Tiny working for the man behind the theft in the first place? So how did Bates know Tiny? Confusion only made her headache worse. “Viper was caught earlier this morning.”
Richard’s face grew grim. He strode up to her, pulled one arm back and slapped her face. Hard.
She bit back a scream as heat rushed to her cheek.
“Try again, Kincaid. I know it was you.”
Maggie shook her head. Her face felt like it was on fire.
“No,” she choked, “you’re mistaken. I’m not Viper.”
Bates put his hands on his knees and hunched over so his face was on level with hers. “I know who I deal with, Kincaid. I must say, you weren’t trying very hard to hide your identity.” His lips pulled back in an ugly sneer. “I know exactly who I hired. Now, where is the suit?”
The blood drained from her face. Maggie felt as though her circulation had just shut down. In shock. “You hired Viper?” Her thoughts were sluggish, as though trying to understand a problem with the complexity of quantum physics. “Why? Why would you hire a spy to steal your own work from you?”
Bates sneered. “You’re almost convincing, Kincaid. I can understand now why Fletcher cut you so much slack.”
He straightened. “But I’m not so trusting. Perhaps you need something to help jog your memory?” He nodded to Tiny, and Maggie watched in horror as the large hulk of a man placed a poker into the hot embers.
Her gaze shot to Bates. “I’m not Viper,” she told him. “Viper was caught, and your suit was retrieved. It doesn’t matter how much you hurt me, I can’t give you something I don’t have.” Her words were fast and low as she desperately tried to make Bates see reason. “Viper used my identity to frame me for his actions.” How could she get through to the man? His expression was implacable.
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