Locked and Loaded

by HelenKay Dimon

“I’m not sure any of it is.”

  Luke was wrong on that. Adam knew. He could feel the twist in his gut every time Trevor’s name was mentioned. The fact that the man lived and thrived while Maddie faced danger was a constant reminder to Adam of Recovery’s failure. With each second he lost faith in Rod and their ability to end this nightmare with Maddie beside them.

  As far as Adam could tell, bargaining with the devil wasn’t working. Trevor needed to feel the slice and sting, to know his life could be snatched away, before he’d help.

  Holden held up a contacts case. “You might need these.”

  “Only to see.” Adam folded it in his palm. “What now?”

  “Zach is trying to track the second car,” Luke explained.

  Adam caught the note of doubt in Luke’s voice. “You don’t think it will work.”

  “The area was pretty rural and not a location we can depend on for a lot of feeds.”

  Adam appreciated the truth, but he wasn’t sure where that left them. If anywhere.

  When no one interrupted or asked a question, Luke continued. “We run a search on the dead men and see if we can trace them back to someone. Caleb and Avery will check any forensics.”

  It was a solid playbook and if they had more time and a few more leads, maybe it would pan out. But as Luke described it, the plan would never work.

  Adam said the words that wouldn’t leave his head. “They are going to kill her.”

  Mia patted his good arm. “You don’t know that.”

  They didn’t know. They didn’t see Maddie flinch or feel the hard knots under her skin. He had. “She’s already injured and vulnerable.”

  “Adam Wright, stop it.” Claire’s hands moved to her hips. “Maddie is one of the most self-sufficient women I’ve ever met. She fought you off. She escaped that Knevin person. She didn’t melt into a puddle when gunmen arrived. She gave up everything to live. And all of that shows she’s a fighter.”

  But Adam knew the one thing the men standing with him understood and the women wanted to forget. “Maddie can’t outrun a bullet.”

  “Okay.” Luke clapped his hands. “This isn’t helping. We’re going to check in with Zach and get started.”

  Adam had another plan. Not one he could share or depend on Luke to support. He didn’t blame Luke for that. He was the leader and had to think of the safety of the team and preserve some amount of cover for them. He was responsible.

  Adam’s plan wasn’t. It was reckless and bordered on irrational. But it was Maddie’s only hope.

  He held up the contacts case and went into the bathroom. After he put them in, he started the countdown. Armed only with his watch and his administrator capabilities, he disabled the building’s alarm system.

  The cloak of security would be down long enough for him to slip out. He’d have only minutes to get to his car and out of the lot. He didn’t want their headquarters vulnerable for any longer than necessary.

  If any of them concentrated on the security cameras instead of their assigned tasks, they’d see his trick. If not, the infinite loop would give him a short period of cover.

  There were exactly two ways out of the building. The obvious one was the door and Luke guarded it as if he knew Adam planned to make a break. The other was the escape hatch in the back corner under the stairs. Always have two ways in and out was Luke’s rule.

  The space was tight and uncomfortable, and in his current banged-up condition he doubted he could fold his body small enough to get in there. But he would do it somehow.

  He stepped out of the bathroom and all eyes went to him. Just as he expected. His team was smart enough to know he wouldn’t accept this plan without a fight.

  Holden broke the silence. “I could use your help tracking the car.”

  Adam glanced down at the mix of blood and mud caked on his shirt. “Let me change first.”

  A stare burned into the back of his shirt as he walked, probably from Luke, but no one tried to stop him. When Adam made a show of digging through the stack of clothes he kept here, the buzz of conversation returned.

  A quick look through the slats of the stairs and he saw his moment. His team shuffled around, looking at documents and videos. Caleb and Avery huddled over a feed coming in from Zach.

  It was ten minutes before Luke noticed Adam was gone.

  MADDIE CAME AWAKE with a sharp intake of breath. Her head popped up through the black void in which she’d been swimming, and she gasped. Afraid to move, she looked around. She didn’t have to guess her location. Everything was familiar because she sat in the middle of the living room in her West Virginia cabin.

  She tried to move her arm, but cables tied her to a chair and some sort of band forced her wrists together behind her back. She couldn’t kick or get the leverage to slide. They—and she had no idea who “they” even were—had locked her ankles to the thin wooden spindles of her dining room chair.

  Gray clouds blocked the world outside her window. The overcast weather fit the mood and desperation of the situation. Inside the cabin wasn’t any brighter. The lights were off, making the room cool and dark. She didn’t know what time it was or how long she’d been out, but she guessed it was early morning.

  She could smell the rain in the mountains, feel the incoming storm at the base of her sore back as she always did. There was no sign of the men from the cars or of Trevor or of any of the people she remembered from Knevin’s circle.

  The one person she wanted to see was the one face she blocked. If she let her mind wander to what could have happened to Adam and where he was now, she’d lose it. Right now she needed all her strength and determination.

  Bringing her here was their one mistake. She knew this house. She’d practiced drills and worked on endless escape scenarios. If her back held out, she could get to the roof or crawl through the tunnel to the shed. She’d still be miles from safety, but she’d have a chance. From there she could fight.

  But she had to get loose first.

  She twisted her hands, trying to wrench free. The bindings rubbed a heated burn across her skin but didn’t break. They were too tight. Her shoulders were strapped down and her fingers useless. They grew numb from lack of circulation.

  She glanced around for anything that could help. Whoever held her had moved all the furniture to the sides of the room. Nothing was close. All the sharp objects and glasses were missing. She couldn’t saw through the cables with a pillow or gnaw through them with her teeth, so she had to come up with something.

  She looked around the room. On the opposite wall was a small clock. She’d gotten it free when she’d taken her car into the garage for a brake job. It was ugly, with a logo of a cartoon car. Right now it was her favorite possession.

  She needed to smash the glass. If she was able to knock life into her fingers, she could try to cut through whatever held her hands together.

  After listening for movement or voices and hearing only the usual life in the woods, she got started. She rocked her body back and forth. On the third tip forward, the chair crashed to the hardwood. Unable to brace for the landing, she fell with a hard smack against her previously injured shoulder.

  The impact knocked the breath from her body and vibrated through her. She didn’t feel any pain. She was past the point of bruises. The muscles in her legs jumped involuntarily and her skin prickled.

  She shook her head and inhaled several times to jump-start herself after the spill. On her side, she shimmied her way across the floor.

  The task took what felt like hours.

  Spanning the ten feet exhausted her, robbed her of every last ounce of strength. But giving up was not an option. She thought about Adam and never having the chance to tell him how much she cared for him, and she felt a flare of energy that keep her arms and legs moving. She bent at the waist, ignoring the new shock of squealing pain radiating down her legs. With her feet as close to her chest as the cables would allow, she tucked and then pushed her legs out. Her ankles slammed into the wall
. She repeated the move over and over until her muscles shook and her legs went numb.

  The clock bobbled. The sides rattled against the soft green walls. The noise cracked like fireworks in the small space.

  She hesitated, waiting for her attackers to come running, but nothing happened. The only sound she heard was the swift winds swaying the branches outside.

  After one last countdown, she wound up and shot her feet out again. The smack jarred her bones, but it worked. The clock bounced against the wall and fell. It clanked as it rolled to a stop. The glass splintered but didn’t break.

  “Yes!” She didn’t realize she’d been grinding her teeth together until she relaxed her jaw and the soreness in her gums eased.

  Now she had to break it.

  She balanced most of her weight against the back of the chair. When she rocked forward, the leg hammered into the cracked glass. The clock skidded across the room as pieces of the shattered glass went flying.

  She flipped to her stomach to shift the chair closer to the shards. The bits crunched under her. The sharp edges cut into her chest through her shirt.

  Swinging the bottom of the chair around, her fingers lined up with the glass pieces. She reached out for one, when she heard a thud near her head.

  She froze.

  Glancing over, she saw black shoes and dark pants. Her gaze moved higher, but she couldn’t see anything from this position. She didn’t have to. Terror ripped through her when she realized she wasn’t alone in the room.

  A deep chuckle filled the silence. “If you wanted me to cut you, you only had to ask.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Sela ran after Adam as he stalked through the quiet private hallway of Trevor’s company, Orion, two hours before the building opened to the public. He’d come in before six thinking the hallways would be abandoned. Turned out Trevor had full staff on at all times.

  Adam had used his fallback plan. He’d shut down the internal security cameras a few minutes before. Knocking out the guys manning the monitors and typing right on the keyboard had proven faster and easier than hacking his way in. He hadn’t had time for routing and proxy servers. The butt of his gun had worked fine.

  Just proved that walking into a building as if you belonged there worked better than any subterfuge. He’d made it the whole way to the basement level before anyone tried to stop him. That guy was curled up in a bathroom stall right now. His headache would last at least a day.

  Adam had ripped open the door to the outer office of the suite and spied Sela’s desk. Small room, big desk. It was a nice setup for a boss who wanted to enjoy some quiet time with his assistant.

  Now Sela slid in front of Adam as he reached for the door to Trevor’s inner office. “You can’t go in there.”

  “But I am.” He wore a T-shirt and carried a gun. A smart woman would know he wasn’t all that concerned with rules and restrictions.

  She frowned at him. “You need an appointment.”

  Adam looked her over. He couldn’t figure out if she was brave or stupid. She certainly seemed prepared to sacrifice her life for Trevor. That meant one thing: this was not the usual boss-secretary relationship. Not the kind Human Resources bragged about in sexual-harassment seminars.

  Finding a hot blonde in Trevor’s outer office wasn’t a surprise. Adam assumed pretty women with big breasts went with the wealth-and-power routine. This one looked a bit young, but it wasn’t his business.

  He put his hand on Sela’s arm and pushed her to the side and away from the doorknob. “You should leave.”

  “I can’t let you—” Her gaze lit on his gun.

  Adam knew then she hadn’t seen it before. That explained the show of bravado.

  “Don’t hurt him.” She whispered the plea.

  “Your boyfriend will be fine.”

  “He’s my boss.”

  “Call him whatever you want. I’m going in.”

  Fear played on every part of her from her trembling lips to her nervous hands. “I called security.”

  He knew that was a lie. He’d been right next to her since he hit the floor. They’d ridden up on the elevator together, her balking when he got off on the security-restricted floor. “Congratulations on following office procedure.”

  “You should leave while you can.”

  “You either need to move or shoot me. But either way, I’m going in that door.” He pointed at Trevor’s nameplate. “I can’t.”

  “Do I look like a man who is playing around here?”

  “Please.” All the color leeched out of her already pale skin.

  Adam almost felt sorry for her. He didn’t want to terrorize her. It was not his style. “Do yourself a favor and only sacrifice yourself for someone who’s worth it. This guy isn’t.”

  The door opened in front of Adam. Trevor stood there in a black designer suit and bright blue tie. No weapon. No worry on his face. He possessed his usual cool detachment.

  Sela snapped out of her stupor. “Mr. Walters, I tried—”

  “It is fine, Sela. I have been watching our guest since he walked in the building. He disabled the building’s cameras but not my private feed.”

  “Security is on the way.”

  Trevor waved her off. “We will not need any help.”

  Her eyes widened. “Sir, he has a gun.”

  “Probably more than one, but I am willing to bet Mr. Wright needs something from me. If so, he can ill afford to shoot me.”

  “Your ego will get you killed one of these days,” Adam muttered.

  Trevor pushed open his door and drew out a hand, indicating Adam should step inside. “I could say the same thing about you. It takes quite a bit of…shall we say, confidence, to barge in here with a gun strapped to your side.”

  Adam had no intention of giving Trevor his back. He used the weapon to wave the other man into the office first then clicked the lock behind them. He knew Sela was even now screaming for security to come running.

  “I’m happy to see you understand what’s happening here, Trevor.”

  “I am more concerned with how you got through security and how easily you disposed of my men and video cover.” Trevor stood behind his desk, flipping his pen between his fingers. “I see some additional training is in order on my end.”

  “Shut up.”

  Trevor smiled. “And here I was being friendly.”

  “Stop talking.”

  “Fine. Tell me why you are here, Adam.”

  “Give Maddie back.”

  The pen hung loose from his fingers. “Are you saying you lost your woman?”

  “If I get her back safe and unhurt, you get to live. Any other condition, you die.” Adam didn’t move from his spot. He stood, legs apart, right in front of Trevor’s desk.

  Face-to-face, Adam was able to see every move. If Trevor reached for a gun, Adam was prepared to shoot his arm. He’d keep firing until he got the information he needed.

  Trevor hesitated, and the tension in the room increased to suffocating proportions. “You do realize you are in my office.”

  “Yes.”

  “That security is right now storming up here and waiting for my order to break in.”

  “And you are well aware of how good a shot I am and that I’m not afraid of dying.” Adam raised the gun, aiming at Trevor’s forehead.

  “If you do this, you lose everything.”

  “So do you, starting with your life, and I can live with that.”

  “I do not have your girlfriend.”

  Adam didn’t bother to deny the relationship. That’s exactly what she was, or what she would be once he got her back and explained that her running days were over.

  “I am going to start shooting in ten seconds.”

  “Maybe you should wait for Luke.”

  “What?”

  Trevor held up his hands as if waiting for permission to move again. When Adam nodded, Trevor turned one of the three monitors on his desk to face Adam. “As I said, there’s more than one
monitoring system in the building. Using mine I believe you can see that is him in the elevator.”

  Luke and Holden stood there, staring at the floor panel. Adam couldn’t see the weapons in the grainy video but knew both were carrying.

  “I see the entire Recovery team is suffering from a serious lack of control,” Trevor said.

  “This isn’t about them. This is about you and me. They won’t stop me from killing you.”

  “I believe Luke is smarter than that.”

  “I’m running this one.”

  Sela’s voice sounded over the intercom. “Sir, you have visitors.”

  Trevor touched a button on the phone. “Send the Recovery men in. Security should stand down.”

  “Sir—”

  “No one comes in unless I say so. They can wait in the kitchen.”

  Adam knew a code word when he heard one. “Kitchen?”

  “The safety word. The one that guarantees my men don’t kill you when that door opens or rappel through the window.”

  Adam shifted around to Trevor’s side of the desk. He pressed the gun against Trevor’s temple as he glanced outside. When he was satisfied an attack wasn’t imminent, he nodded at Trevor to open the door. With a touch of his keyboard, the door unlocked. “Nice trick.”

  Trevor held his body stiff. “You are not the only tech expert in town.”

  The door opened only wide enough for a body to slide through. Luke came in, gun raised. Holden followed, though he was focused on something behind them in the hall.

  “Welcome.” Trevor looked sideways in Adam’s direction. “You can lower the gun now. This breach is between me and Luke.”

  Holden remained by the door, but Luke stepped up to take Adam’s abandoned position at the desk. “I’m thinking about letting Adam shoot you.”

  Adam watched his friends. Neither showed any reaction other than unconditional support for the stunt at the warehouse and the bold move of coming there. In private they’d likely blast him, but they were a united front right now.

  The frustration inside him broke loose. “I want Maddie.”

  “I told you, I don’t—” Trevor swallowed back his words when Adam shoved the gun hard against his skin. “I see.”