by Terri Reed
The heavily accented voice wasn’t Chase’s. Kosloff? Would he be bold enough to do his own dirty work? Nathanial couldn’t make out the man’s face—he stayed just out of the light enough to keep hidden.
“What assurances do I have that you won’t kill her?” Nathanial called back.
The tip of a rifle poked out of the door. “You don’t.”
“I’m not coming in until I know Dr. Martin is unharmed,” he said, bracing himself. It would be too easy for the man in the doorway to put a bullet between Nathanial’s eyes. But then the shooter would also find himself on the receiving end of Audrey’s bullet.
The man disappeared. When he returned to the door, he held Dr. Martin by his beefy hand. A ski mask covered his face, which was a good sign. If Dr. Martin couldn’t identify him, there was no reason to kill her.
Nathanial turned his attention to Dr. Martin. She had a gag over her mouth. She wore her hospital lab coat, and her wide-eyed gaze locked with his. He saw her terror, but he also saw her strength. She was afraid, but she wasn’t cowering. She was, after all, Audrey’s mother, and Audrey had learned to be strong from the woman who’d raised her. “It’s going to be okay,” Nathanial assured her.
The man jerked her back into the house. “Now you come in.”
“Sure.” Nathanial stepped onto the first stair. “Where’s Chase?”
“Stop stalling,” the man yelled. “Get in here.”
A loud bang from the back of the house distracted the man at the door. He turned toward the sound. Nathanial vaulted up the stairs and tackled the guy, taking him down to the cherry hardwood floor in a heap. Nathanial scrambled for dominance and landed a well-placed punch to the man’s jaw, knocking him out.
Dr. Martin crouched down behind the couch as Blake, Sheriff Crump and Deputy Paulson came into the living room with another masked man with hands cuffed in tow.
The sheriff hurried to Dr. Martin’s side and quickly released the gag from over her mouth and the rope binding her hands together. She hugged her uncle.
“We found this one in the kitchen,” Blake said as he pushed the man to his knees. Gripping the edge of his ski mask, Blake ripped off the mask. Nathanial didn’t recognize the guy. “Not Chase.”
Focusing on the unconscious man, Nathanial stripped him of the mask. “Not him, either.” Blake handed Nathanial a set of zip ties to cuff the man’s hands together.
“I’ll let Audrey know to come in.” The sheriff pulled out his phone and stepped to the front window next to the Christmas tree.
Nathanial could only imagine the relief Audrey would feel learning her mother was safe. He wanted to go to her. He still had trouble believing he’d told her he loved her. The admission had bubbled up without forethought. But he didn’t regret it.
That she hadn’t expressed any similar sentiment stung. Though he couldn’t fault her. There would be time enough later to discover if she felt the same. And if she didn’t...he didn’t want to think about how lonely and unfulfilling his life would be without her in it.
“Dr. Martin,” Blake said. “Can you tell us what happened?”
“I was leaving the hospital when a man approached me,” she said. “He had a badge and said he was here to protect me. He drove me home. Then he surprised the stuffing out of me when he tied me up and locked me in the bedroom so I’d be out of the way.”
“Where did he go?” Nathanial asked.
She shook her head. “I don’t know. It’s been hours since I’ve seen anyone until that one came in and brought me to the door.”
Blake addressed the man on his knees. “Where’s your boss?”
The guy stayed stubbornly silent.
“What was the plan?” Blake asked. “Were you to kill Officer Longhorn?”
The suspect’s gaze flicked to Nathanial then away. Nathanial took that as a yes. Disappointment filled him. This wasn’t over, but at least Dr. Martin was safe.
“That’s odd,” the sheriff said as he turned from the window. “She’s not picking up.”
Dread crept up the back of Nathanial’s spine. That was the one thing about overwatch—you had everyone else’s back, but no one had yours.
He raced from the house, tore down the drive and scrambled up the hill that faced the cottage and the ocean. The place where he’d left Audrey was empty save for her rifle and flak vest. Eerily similar to what Drew had said Nathanial’s disappearance had looked like. Terror clawed through him with razor-sharp talons.
He had to get to the ocean before they could throw her in as they had him.
SIXTEEN
Awareness came in spurts of sensation. Cold seeped through Audrey’s clothes. Light filtered through her silted eyes and stung her retinas. The roar of the ocean in her ears. The salty taste of brine filled her mouth and nose. The gentle rocking of a boat buffeted by waves made her stomach roil. Her head throbbed, and her arms were pulled back in an awkward position and bound at the wrists by a thin rope.
Anger erupted within her chest, heating her skin and her mind. Oh, no, you didn’t just kidnap me!
She held herself still, taking stock, assessing the situation. She needed to be smart, wait for an opportunity to escape. But first she had to know what she was dealing with. And whom.
After a recon of the area above her mom’s cottage to make sure it was safe, she’d taken a position perched in the snow-covered V of a large paper birch tree that stood less than fifty yards from the cottage. She’d watched through the Nikon scope attached to her Remington rifle as Nathanial walked up the path leading to her mother’s front door. There had been a noise behind her, just a whisper of sound. Expecting to see one of the white-tailed deer that were in abundance in Maine, she’d glanced over her shoulder at the exact moment that she’d been struck in the head with the butt of a rifle.
Just as Nathanial had been when he’d been taken from the rooftop in New Brunswick. Though in her case, she thankfully had her memories. A blessing, to be sure.
But why take her? They could have killed her or left her there unconscious. The answer washed over her with a sickening certainty.
To punish Nathanial. To use her as leverage against him. Chase had worked with Nathanial and for some reason must hold some ill will against him.
Well, little did her captors realize they’d messed with the wrong woman.
Slowly she shifted, hoping for a better view of her surroundings. The boat was the open picnic style of a local boat maker. She recognized the company logo on the floorboard. It wasn’t a fast boat, nor one meant for choppy waters, which led her to believe whoever had her wasn’t from Down East and had no idea how dangerous taking the small day cruiser into the winter ocean would be.
No doubt they planned to take her out to sea and dump her overboard the way they had Nathanial. She wasn’t sure if her captors were cowards, unwilling to actually do the killing, or if they took joy from cruelty.
A foot appeared in her line of sight. Droplets of blood splattered the top and sides of the heavy black boot.
She ground her teeth together. But whose blood?
“Drop him over there,” a man said. The timbre of his voice struck a chord within her. She’d heard it before. It wasn’t Chase’s. But it was American.
Oh, no. Please, Lord, don’t let them have taken Nathanial, too.
The thud of a body hitting the floorboard jolted through her but was outside her field of vision. Unless she wanted to give away that she was conscious, she couldn’t move to see who lay there.
“We’ve got a problem,” another man stated. One of Kosloff’s thugs, if the accent was any indication. “Ivan and Sven were captured.”
“I should’ve known,” the first man said. “Kosloff will not be pleased. But now that we have Longhorn’s girlfriend, he’ll come to us, and then we can finally get rid of him.�
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Audrey’s stomach churned. She was correct. They planned to use her to bait Nathanial into a trap.
But if it wasn’t Nathanial they’d dragged aboard, then who?
The boat’s motor revved as they began to move.
“Halt! Sheriff’s department!” Deputy Harrison yelled.
“Stop!” shouted a familiar voice. Nathanial!
Gunfire erupted over her head. She sent up a plea that God would keep those onshore safe. Keep Nathanial safe, she prayed.
* * *
Nathanial watched with helpless frustration as the boat taking Audrey away raced through the churning waves until it was a tiny speck. He held Drew’s Glock in his hand, but he hadn’t fired. He’d been too afraid of hitting Audrey, who had been lying unconscious on the deck. The sight made his blood run cold. There were no other boats on the private dock. Short of jumping in the ocean and swimming, there was nothing he could do.
He’d failed her. He went to his knees on the wet, slick dock. “Please, dear God. Don’t let them hurt her.”
Blake tucked his weapon into his holster. “We’ll get her back. Sheriff Crump is on the line with the coast guard now.”
The older man was hurrying back toward the cottage with his phone clutched to his ear.
“What if they dump her overboard?” Nathanial said. He couldn’t take it if she died because of him. He never should have let her take overwatch. He shouldn’t have let her come anywhere near the danger. He shook his head, knowing there’d been no way he could have stopped her. She was a brave, strong and stubborn woman who had proved over and over again that she was capable and good at her job.
And he couldn’t fault her for letting someone get the drop on her. Not when the same thing had happened to him.
Blake held out his hand. “Come on. We need to figure out what these guys in the cottage know.”
Nathanial grasped his friend’s hand and rose to his feet. They hurried back to the house, where Deputy Paulson was standing guard over the two thugs. The sheriff was with Dr. Martin in the kitchen, explaining the situation. Nathanial’s heart bled for her. She’d endured her own kidnapping and now her daughter had been taken. None of this would have happened had he not been beached on the sand like a whale.
Blake bent down so he was eye level with one of the men. “Listen carefully. I’m only going to offer this once. If you tell me where your boss’s base of operation is now, I’ll talk to the prosecutor about not deporting you. Because we both know you’ll fare better in the US prison system than in your home country.”
Nathanial crossed his arms over his chest, tucking his hands under his arms to keep from reaching out and pummeling the two goons until they gave up the information they needed to find Audrey.
“You talk, we’re dead,” the other thug said.
“Sven, we’ll have a better chance of not being dead if they get Kosloff,” the other goon argued.
“Not if we end up in the same prison,” Sven said.
Antsy with the need to do something, Nathanial stepped closer. “We’ll make sure you’re protected.” The offer grated on his nerves but he’d do, give, offer, anything to find Audrey.
“He has a warehouse on Moose Island.” The thug in front of Blake gave him directions to Kosloff’s hideout.
“Ivan!” His buddy groaned then pinned Nathanial with pleading eyes. “You’ll protect us? Kosloff is not someone you want to cross.”
“Tell me the name of the American who’s working with Kosloff,” Nathanial demanded.
The two men glanced at each other. “Which one?”
“The one in law enforcement,” Blake specified.
Ivan shrugged. “Kosloff has many officers working for him in many countries. We don’t know names. It’s better that way.”
Nathanial’s jaw ached from the force with which he clenched it. “Call Director Moore. We need everyone on this.”
Blake rose. “We’ll call from the car. The sheriff and his men can handle these two.”
Before Nathanial stepped out of the cottage, Dr. Martin stopped him with a hand on his arm.
“Please, find my daughter and bring her home safely,” she asked him. Her blue eyes, so like Audrey’s, dug at him.
He covered her hand with his own. “I will.”
Even if he died trying.
* * *
The boat halted, the engine dying with a gurgle. Audrey tensed. Where were they? She’d tried calculating the distance in her mind, but chills had set in, distracting her. Was this the moment when her captors would throw her overboard? No. She remembered what the man in charge had said. They were going to use her to lure Nathanial into a death trap.
“Bring them.” The command came from the American.
Rough hands grabbed at her. She couldn’t afford to pretend any longer. She came to struggling. Kicking with her bound legs and twisting, turning.
A large hand slapped her across the face. “Stop it. Or I’ll do worse.”
She opened her eyes fully and met the angry gaze of a big and burly man with a mean expression on an otherwise bland face. He lifted her from the floor of the boat and flung her over his massive shoulder.
Mortified by the undignified position, she levered herself as high as she could and took stock of the location. The boat had docked at a lone pier. She could see Calico Bay in the distance. They had to be on Moose Island. Relief washed through her. She knew this place.
The lug carrying her set her unceremoniously on the hard concrete floor of a large warehouse, propped up against the south-facing wall. High windows let in light but blocked the view in and out of the building. Another thug dragged the other captive, still unconscious, across the floor and left him in a heap next to her.
Rage simmered low in her belly as she watched the men move to take a standing position along bench tables to clean their weapons. The scent of gun oil mingled with the dank smell of the warehouse. She had to find a way out of here. A way to warn Nathanial to not come for her, that he’d be walking into a trap. The roll-up door they’d come in through closed with a loud grating sound that stroked the hairs at the back of her neck to attention.
A staircase at one end of the warehouse led to an office. The lights were on, and she could see the silhouettes of several men through the closed window shade. Kosloff and his high-ranking minions. The only other exit was a side door that she prayed led to the outside. She worked the rope around her wrists, desperate to loosen its hold on her. The skin around her wrists burned, but she continued on.
The heap of a man lying on the ground beside her groaned. The back of his blond head was matted with blood. He lay facing away from her, so she’d yet to identify him. His hands and feet were bound like hers were.
“Hey,” she whispered, hoping the man would come to so he could help her untie the cord around her wrists. “Wake up.”
She shifted so she could push at him with her feet. “Come on.”
He moaned as he flipped to his back, revealing his face.
Shocked rippled through her. “Chase!”
How could this be? He’d been the one to call her, threatening her mother’s life if she didn’t bring Nathanial to him. Had Kosloff turned on the ATF agent?
Chase’s eyes fluttered open. For a moment he lay still, then his body jerked as he tried to rise but the binding holding his hands and feet together prevented him from doing more than flopping about like a fish on a hook.
“Stop,” Audrey commanded in a harsh whisper, afraid he’d pull his arms out of their sockets, and then he’d be of no use to her.
He froze. His gaze zeroed on her. “What happened? Where are we?”
Darting a glance at their jailers to make sure they hadn’t drawn anyone’s attention, she hissed, “Shh. Not so loud.”
Too late.
One man left his place and came to stand over her. It was the same lug who’d carried her inside like a sack of potatoes. She bared her teeth at him with a growl of rage and frustration.
He hunkered down in front of her. His breath smelled worse than rotten fish on a hot summer day. “You’re a little wildcat. We could have some fun.”
He dared to skim his knuckles down her cheek. She pressed into his touch as if seeking his caress before jerking her head toward his fingers and chomping down hard on his pinkie.
He let out a yowl of pain and fell back on his behind. “Ow. She bit me.”
“Try that again and I’ll bite it clean off,” she ground out, which his buddies found hilarious. They barked out laughter at the goon’s expense.
He raised a hand to hit her.
“No!” Chase shouted and swung his legs in front of Audrey. Though she appreciated his attempt to stave off the blow, she braced herself.
The thug hesitated.
Audrey leveled her gaze on him in challenge. “You think your boss will be okay with you abusing me?”
He let out a disgusted snarl and jumped to his feet. Audrey let out a relieved breath as the lug stalked back to his weapon.
Chase shimmied to the wall and used it as leverage to bring himself to a sitting position. “Your mother?”
“Safe.” Audrey narrowed her gaze on him. “You’re working with Kosloff? How could you betray Nathanial like that?”
“No. I’m not. Absolutely not,” he insisted in a harsh tone. “They forced me to make that call. He threatened to hurt my wife and daughter.”
Her heart thumped. “We have to escape before Nathanial and the others walk into a trap.”
Chase’s gaze lifted to the office. “Kosloff and Wellborn are in there.”
Surprised, she stared at him. “Wellborn? Luke?” An image of the baby-faced agent rose in her mind. He’d seemed so sincere when she’d met him. “The border patrol agent is the one working with Kosloff? The one who betrayed Nathanial?”
“Yes.” The bitter tone lacing Chase’s voice made her shiver. “He’s the one responsible for the deaths of my men and the one who’s been trying to kill Nathanial.”
