by Katie Knight
At the same time, he realized that probably meant his feelings for Hanna were a lot stronger than he wanted to admit.
He wasn’t about to tell her that, though. And Darren didn’t give him the chance. The new security detail grabbed her suitcase then turned and headed toward the vehicle. Hanna tried to follow him, but Jake put his hand on her arm. It was now or never.
“Wait,” he said. “I need to know that you know this is for the best. That I’m not doing this because I want to, but because I have to.”
Hanna shook her head, biting her lip, but said nothing. Pulling away from his grip, she turned and followed her new guardian to his SUV. She didn’t look back.
Jake tried to tell him it was self-preservation. That she was only being so cold and aloof because she was mad at him. And at the situation.
But it hurt like hell.
For some reason, he had an overwhelming urge to let her know just how much he cared. Just how much he wanted her to be okay. Just how much he wanted to protect her.
And their baby.
But their safety was out of his hands now.
Darren opened the passenger door for Hanna, and she climbed in. Then he walked around the back of the SUV and threw her suitcase in the trunk before getting in the driver’s seat. Moments later, they were racing down the dirt path leading out to the main road. She knew if Jake had been the one behind the wheel, she would have felt safe. With Darren, though, such a maneuver felt reckless.
Hanna was upset at the way she had left things with Jake, but she knew that if she had said anything to him before leaving, it would have only made things worse. So instead, she was left fuming in a strange car with a strange man on the way to a strange place.
She figured talking to Darren might ease some of her anxiety. At the very least, it would remind her she was in good hands. So once they pulled out onto the main road, she tried to strike up a conversation.
“So how long have you been doing this kind of work?” she asked.
“A little time,” Darren said without turning to look at her.
“Do you like it?”
He shrugged. “It’s easy work. With my training.”
“What’s your training?”
“Military.”
Hanna tried to give the man the benefit of the doubt. She realized Jake probably wouldn’t reveal too much about himself either when tasked to protect someone he didn’t know, so maybe Darren was following the same protocol. She also tried not to read too much into his body language…even though it certainly didn’t seem warm or protective. He was cold, standoffish, and hadn’t looked at her since sliding behind the wheel.
She decided to try a different tactic. Ask about something less personal.
“So where are we going?” she prodded.
“A new safe house.”
“How much farther is it?”
“Just down the road.”
Hanna sighed. It was like trying to squeeze water from a rock. Fortunately, Darren’s phone started ringing, giving her a chance to regroup.
Instead of answering through the car’s speaker system, which was now glowing at the incoming call, he picked up the phone and held it to his ear. Hanna couldn’t hear the other end of the conversation.
“Yes,” he said. “Yes, I do… She’s sitting right next to me.”
Something about the way he said that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. He’d sounded almost proud, as if he’d secured a major prize. As if she were the prize.
“Nikolai was right,” Darren continued. “Uh-huh…she was exactly where he said she’d be.”
As soon as Darren said “Nikolai,” something changed in his voice. Suddenly, he had a trace of an accent. He sounded nothing like he had back at the cabin, when giving Jake his credentials. And as the call continued, Hanna realized with horror that what she was hearing was a slight Russian accent.
Just like on the audio files they had recovered from the diner.
The revelation hit her like a bucket of ice water. Her heart started racing as she looked frantically around for a way to escape. They were still on desolate country back roads, though, and they must have been traveling at least sixty-five miles per hour. She certainly couldn’t jump out of the SUV. Not yet at least.
“Should I just do it now then?” the imposter asked the man on the other hand. “It would be an easy job.” He gave a sideways glance to Hanna, and she felt a lump rise in her throat. “Clean, too.” He was silent for a moment as he listened to whoever was talking on the other end, and then he grumbled. “Fine,” he said. After ending the call, he turned to look at Hanna.
“You’re lucky Dmitri wants to ask you some questions,” he said. “Otherwise this would be the end for you.”
Hanna gulped, then took a deep breath. If she panicked, she knew she would never get out of this. If she could just keep her cool, though, there might be a way to resolve everything in her favor. Or at least stay alive until Jake had realized what had happened and came after them.
Jake. What would he do in this situation? She looked around the front seat for something—anything—to use as a weapon. The cigarette lighter could work, right? If it was hot enough, she could use it to burn the man. What else?
Before she had a chance to formulate a plan, the man spoke again, disrupting her thoughts.
“He’s not coming after us, you know,” he said. His accent was thicker now. Obviously, he had no reason to hide it anymore. “He has no idea he handed you off to the wrong man. And by the time he realizes it, we’ll be untraceable.”
“I don’t think you’re giving him enough credit,” Hanna said. She wondered if she was saying it more for her own benefit than for his. Who was she trying to convince? Regardless, she continued. “You’ll never get away with this. Trust me.”
The man laughed. “Do you really think you and your little SEAL friend are a match for an organization of our size—our power? You have no idea what the boss is capable of.” He turned to look at her, and that’s when she noticed a long, jagged scar running from the bottom of his ear all the way down to his collarbone. There were no other cars on the road, but at the angle they were traveling, the moonlight illuminated the grotesque scar tissue.
Hanna didn’t even want to think about how he had gotten such a scar. She went back to plotting her escape—it seemed more important than ever to get away from this man before they got to Dmitri, whoever that might be. They were approaching an intersection and she realized now was her chance. When they had slowed to about twenty miles per hour so they could make the turn, she reached for the door handle.
But it wouldn’t budge.
Her captor laughed. “Do you really think it would be that easy?”
Hanna was getting desperate. She decided the best plan of action—what she figured Jake would have done—was to force them into some kind of collision. Preferably on the driver’s side. Then she could simply flee the wreckage.
Without pausing to think about her plan—she knew she was losing precious time and if she overanalyzed it, she would never actually do it—she reached for the wheel and jerked it to the left.
The man was a lot stronger than her, though—and clearly anticipated such a move—because they barely crossed over the centerline.
He looked at her with a menacing glow in his eyes and shook his head in mock pity before turning back to the road ahead.
“You’re not getting away this time,” he growled.
Hanna had never felt such emotional turmoil in her life. There was dread and panic and fear at what was about to happen to her, and then there was guilt. Guilt for brushing Jake off, and for not letting him do his job when this man had arrived to pick her up. She had been so ready to leave that she had ended up endangering her life—and the life of their baby—once more.
Hanna vowed that if she survived this whole ordeal—and if Jake talked to her ever again—she wouldn’t challenge him so much. And she would trust him. She would trust him to take care of her and the baby.
Who cared if he didn’t check off everything on her list? The man who had those qualities wasn’t real. But Jake was. And he had risked his life time and again to save hers.
She couldn’t help but wonder if he would do it again, though. Or if he even knew she needed saving.
Twenty-Four
The house was eerily quiet after Hanna left. Even the fire had died shortly after she’d left, and he didn’t have the heart to throw another log on. He had to clean up anyway and get the hell out of there.
Jake was used to being alone, but this time it felt different. He couldn’t seem to shake off an impending sense of doom. He figured it was because the situation was now out of his control. He had no idea how it was going to end, but he was certain there would be a standoff of some sort. After all, the men who killed Gordon weren’t going to stop until they had gotten what they wanted from Hanna. Which meant whoever was protecting her would likely end up facing extreme danger sooner or later.
Handing Hanna over to someone else went against everything Jake stood for. Doing so meant putting someone else in the line of fire, which was never something a SEAL did. It also meant conceding defeat in a way—admitting that he wasn’t up for the task, which was something Jake never did. He didn’t feel like he had much of a choice, though.
At the end of the day, he couldn’t do his job adequately because of the hold Hanna had over him. And her life—and the life of their baby—was more important than Jake’s pride. So handing her off to someone else had been the only option.
As Jake packed his bag, he found himself wondering what might happen once this whole situation was resolved. That is, if Hanna wanted to talk to him ever again.
Could they make it work? Could they raise a baby together? And could they foster a healthy relationship of their own? Could he be an honorable SEAL, an attentive husband, and a doting father? All at the same time?
Maybe it was foolish of him, and maybe it was never meant to be, but he liked to think the answer was yes. Before he could consider the logistics, though—or how he was going to meet all the qualities on Hanna’s own checklist—he heard a car pull up to the cabin.
Jake glanced out the bedroom window. He didn’t recognize the vehicle, but he realized whoever it was couldn’t be bringing good news. He scanned the bathroom and then the bedroom for any more belongings, zipped his bag, and slung it over his shoulder before heading outside to greet the visitor—and make his getaway if necessary.
As he stepped out onto the front porch, his hand hovered over his waistband, where both pistols were still tucked snug against his body. The driver got out of the vehicle and waved at him. He certainly didn’t appear threatening, and Jake wasn’t sure what to make of it.
“Jefferson sent me,” the man said. “I’m the security detail.”
With a sinking feeling, Jake realized immediately what had happened. This was Hanna’s new guardian. The real Darren.
Which meant the man she had gone with had been an imposter. And she was most likely in danger.
Jake raced down the steps. “We have to go,” he said as he reached for the passenger-side door. “Right now.”
“Why?”
“There was a breach. A man came and took her. He said he was the new security detail.”
Thankfully, the man recognized the urgency of the situation. He got back in the car, and Jake hopped in the passenger seat.
“I’m Darren, by the way,” the man said as he turned the car around and started heading back toward the main road.
“Jake.”
“How long again did they get her?”
He glanced at his watch. “She can’t have been gone for more than fifteen minutes.”
“And did she leave in a vehicle?”
Jake nodded.
When they reached the main road, Darren stopped the car. Jake looked left and then right and then left again, but there was no way to guess which way they had gone.
“Which way did you come from?” Jake asked.
Darren pointed to the left.
Jake nodded. “Us too. It’s pretty populated down that way. So they more than likely headed right.”
“But you really can’t be sure.”
Jake’s frustration—and sense of impending doom—was mounting with every minute that passed.
“No,” he said. “You’re right. I have no way of knowing.”
“You should call Jefferson,” Darren said. “Fill him in on the situation. In the meantime, I can drive around and see if I find any signs of them.”
Jake nodded. At this point, that was really the only way to proceed. If they split up, they could cover more ground. In other words, they had a better chance of finding Hanna sooner rather than later.
He couldn’t believe he had let this happen. If they hurt Hanna…well, he knew he would never forgive himself. This was exactly why he had arranged for another guardian in the first place. Something about their dynamic made it impossible for him to do his job. But even in passing her off to a new protector, he’d managed to screw things up. How the hell could he have been so stupid? How could he have let her go with that man without performing the necessary due diligence first?
Darren dropped Jake back at the cabin before taking off to look for Hanna.
When Jake got out of the car, he sprinted up the steps and back inside the safe house. For the first time in days, he was grateful to be alone. He could lash in privacy. And that’s exactly what he did.
“Goddamnit!” he yelled as he kicked the leg of the coffee table. It broke, and the lamp that had been resting on it slid to the ground, the glass base shattering into a thousand little pieces.
Jake never let his anger get the better of him—he’d had years of training on stifling it and keeping his cool in even the most stressful scenarios—but this was too much for him to handle. It was like every error he’d made when it came to protecting Hanna was worse than the last. And now he had literally handed her over to the people who had killed her client. The people who wanted to kill her.
Kicking the coffee table hadn’t relieved any of his stress, but he didn’t have another moment to waste. So he grabbed his phone and called Jefferson.
He was determined to do whatever it took to get Hanna back, and he knew his contact was the only one who could help.
While stopped at an intersection, Hanna realized it might be her best chance to attempt a getaway. As the man glanced left to check for oncoming traffic, she reached over swiftly and tried to unlock the doors from the center console. After pushing what she assumed was the unlock button, she heard clicks on every door.
The man turned abruptly. Her hand was still hovered over the console, and before she could pull her arm back, he grabbed her wrist. He didn’t get a very firm grip on it, though, and she was able to pull away.
Hanna wasted no time opening her door and sliding out. The road was dark—there were no streetlamps or headlights in either direction—and she had no idea where to go, but she figured anywhere was better than sticking around.
She picked a direction and started running. Seconds later, she heard a car door slam. She was certain she had never run faster in her life. Fueled by pure adrenaline, she sprinted until her lungs were burning. And then she sprinted some more.
She could hear the man’s heavy footsteps catching up to her own, though. It felt like she had been running for miles—how the hell was he still on her tail?—and she was running out of steam.
Just when Hanna thought she couldn’t run anymore, the man tackled her. She wrapped her arms around her belly as she tumbled to the ground, skinning both knees and elbows in the process.
The man held her down, twisting her arm in such a way that the more she tried to free herself, the more it hurt. She realized it was not unlike the hold Jake had had the other man in earlier that night. The man who had broken in through the bedroom window and taken her down to the woods to extract what he wanted from her before killing her.
Then it hit her that this man undoubt
edly had the same plan. As soon as he got what he wanted, he would surely kill her. All because she hadn’t let Jake do his job. She had ignored his warnings time and again, and then she had been so burned by what felt like another rejection that she had left in a hurry. And had failed to let him vet the man appropriately in the process.
She would give anything to go back in time and listen to him. Or to see him driving up now. Up to this point, he had honestly seemed invincible. And part of her had been expecting him to come to her rescue—to their rescue—at any moment.
But there were no headlights in the distance. The street was deserted and all was silent.
She was all alone.
Which meant she had to get herself out of this mess.
“Please,” she said, hoping to appeal to the man’s humanity. “I don’t have what you’re looking for.”
“Well, now, we both know that’s not true,” he said in a thick Russian accent.
“I swear I don’t. And once you realize I don’t, will you please let me go?”
The man twisted her arm a little tighter, as if to make a statement. “It doesn’t matter what you do or don’t have on your person,” he said. “Or what you stashed anywhere else. The mere fact that you’ve had regular contact with Gordon is enough to make you a person of interest. And let’s just say Dmitri finds you very interesting.”
Hanna knew by this point that trying to escape was fruitless. He had at least two hundred pounds on her and was determined to bring her to Dmitri, whoever that might be. But she realized the man probably had some valuable information. And if she ever were to get out of this alive, it was probably information she and Jake could use to bring them down. So she decided to try a different tactic to see if she could get the man talking.
“How do you even know what Gordon told me?”
“We know,” the man said. “We’ve been listening. We know you have the flash drive, which means you know things that are none of your business to know.” He tightened his grip on her arm just a little more. “You can either give it to us willingly, or we have ways of finding out where it is. The moment that little weasel saw the cache of firearms we’d hidden among the latest batch of canvases from Paris, we knew he couldn’t be trusted to keep it a secret. The boss tries to avoid getting his hands too dirty, but some things can’t be avoided.”
