Capturing Charlie [Braden Security 5] (Siren Publishing Classic)

by Dale Cadeau

  “Hi, beautiful,” Grant said with a smile. He moved up on one elbow, so he was face to face with her.

  God, he must be delusional, Charlie thought. Bringing a hand to his brow, she felt it for fever. There was none and he was still looking at her with the twinkle in his eyes. Grant reached out and took her hand from his forehead.

  “I’m perfectly okay, Charlie. How are you?” he asked her, still holding her hand.

  Charlie pulled her hand away from Grant’s. “You’re not okay, Grant. Your head is bleeding and you were unconscious for a while. Not to mention that we seem to have been kidnapped and taken someplace and we don’t have a clue where.”

  “Don’t worry, Charlie, everything will be okay. We just have to get our bearings and I’m sure we’ll be missed soon. James and the rest of the guys will soon be looking for us.”

  “I’m sure you’re right, but let’s sit up and let me see your forehead. It looks like the bleeding has stopped.” Charlie swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood up.

  Grant flopped on his back and watched Charlie stiffly stand up. She looked a bit wrinkled, but nothing was more lovely to him.

  It had been excruciating waiting months to get close to her. He had wanted her the first time he had spotted her standing nervously in her office. When Chase had introduced him to her, he knew that it was his lucky day. He had had to resist her charm for those long months. All he wanted to do was claim her and possess every inch of her. His nightly dreams, as he got to know her better, had become more exotic as time went on. It was so bad now that he spent every night in the shower, taking the edge off and swearing at Chase for staying away longer than was expected. Grant knew he couldn’t make a move until Chase came back. As a member of Braden Security and Chase’s brother and James’s friend and comrade, he had to toe the line and act professionally around Charlie until his job was done.

  Oh, he knew it wasn’t a normal job for Braden Security, but it was still a job that he had been assigned by James. He couldn’t let his feeling get in the way. Chase had left his business and livelihood in his and Charlie’s hands. He couldn’t let him down. Millions were made every day in Chase’s business. He couldn’t let his mind wander and put those millions of dollars and other people’s lives and jobs at stake. Reaching out a hand, he took Charlie’s and made her sit down beside him.

  “Come sit down, Charlie, and let’s take stock of everything we know. I was out for a while. I’m ashamed to say that they got the jump on me, and my only excuse was being too involved in you.” Grant continued to hold her hand and rubbed his thumb over her knuckles, trying to reassure her that they would be okay.

  “Oh, Grant, I’m all mixed up. We’re stuck…well I don’t know where and you seem to have changed. You’re not the same guy that I have been working with for months,” Charlie said, not meeting his eyes.

  “I’m the same guy, Charlie. I have just been released from the reins that that have been holding me back. Don’t you know that I adore you?” Grant took his other hand and ran a finger down the side of her face, taking hold of her chin and making her look at him.

  “But you’ve never said anything or acted that way toward me.

  “In fact, I was almost giving up on you ever noticing me. That’s what tonight was about. A last-ditch attempt on my part to get you to notice me and find out if you felt anything for me outside of work. I didn’t want our time together to end. I didn’t want this to be our good-bye,” Charlie told him, giving his hand a squeeze.

  “Well I’m glad that you gave me one more night.”

  “Even though it ended this way?”

  “Well, when I was getting ready for tonight, I have to admit that I had thoughts of ending up somewhere else with you.” Grant raised her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles.

  Charlie could feel herself blush, she didn’t know how to deal with this romantic Grant. He had always seemed to be more about facts and figures and not emotional. This new Grant would take some getting used to.

  Grant knew that he had shocked Charlie, but he just couldn’t hold back. He knew it wasn’t the right time or place for him to say something, especially when he didn’t know how much danger they were in. He had made it sound like they had no worries to Charlie, but in the back of his mind he was worried. The men had gotten the jump on him, which made him think this was a professional job. He knew he had been wrapped up in Charlie, but usually he was aware of his surroundings.

  Nothing had been unusual or out of place. It was a well-lit area and he had seen people walking on the other side of the street. No, these men were efficient and swift. They had him down and useless in minutes. Charlie hadn’t even had time to scream. He had blacked out, but only for a moment. He knew if he fought back that he would be putting Charlie’s life in danger. He wouldn’t be fast enough to stop the other guy holding her, do something that he couldn’t stop. So he had stayed still and let things unfold. Charlie’s life was precious to him, more now than ever, and he wasn’t taking any chances. He hoped Charlie would forgive him for playing possum in the van, but he didn’t want to alert the men that he wasn’t as out of it as they would assume.

  The team would know he was missing shortly when he didn’t show up for the ten o’clock meeting in the morning. He had never missed one since they started the company. He was so lost in thought that he didn’t focus back to the small room until he felt tears on his hand, the hand that was still holding Charlie’s cheek. Grant smiled, trying to hide his thoughts, and wiped at Charlie’s tears.

  “It’s not that bad. You’re not alone, I’m here with you.”

  Charlie moved her face away from his hand and sniffed. “That’s the only good thing about this.” Wiping her face with the edge of her blouse, she turned tear-stained eyes down at him.

  “Why do you think they grabbed us? I’ve been trying to think of why, ever since I woke up in the van.”

  “Well, let’s think about that,” Grant said, sitting up on the bed. “Did you reach any conclusions?”

  “No, not really. I don’t have any money or anything of value that they would want. It has to be something connected to you. Maybe something to do with Braden Security?”

  “You could be right, but why would they want me? I’m very seldom the man on the frontlines. I mostly work in the background.” Grant ran a hand through his hair and winced as his hand brushed the bump.

  “Here, let me look at it.” Charlie took his hand away from the bump and gently moved his hair so she could see the wound.

  Taking her fingertips, she gently ran her hand over it. When Grant winced again, she told him, “It doesn’t look that bad, I’ve heard that head wounds always bleed a lot. Stop being a baby. I’ll look and see if there is something in here to clean it.” Getting off the bed, she went to a small table that held an old bowl and basin like from the 1800s. It was empty. Scanning the room once again, she saw a small door in one corner, hidden in the shadows that the light didn’t reach.

  “I found a door.” Walking over to it, she opened it up. Expecting a closet, she was surprised that it was a small bathroom. Walking in, she found the utilities old but clean.

  Grabbing a washcloth from a rack behind the toilet, she wet it in the sink and brought it back to Grant. Standing over him, she took the cloth and gently wiped the blood from around his wound. This time Grant didn’t wince once. Smiling at his manly suffering, she sat down beside him. “There, it doesn’t look bad at all. You’ll probably only end up with a headache. You must have a very hard head. You hit the pavement awful hard.”

  “I do have a headache,” Grant said, lazing back on the bed. “Maybe if you kiss it better, it will go away,” Grant told her with a straight face.

  Charlie laughed at him. This new Grant was taking some getting used to, but she liked it. “If I thought it would help, I would.”

  “You never know until you try.” Grant looked up at her with one eye open and the other closed.

  “Okay, but just this on
ce. We have to get serious about our situation,” Charlie said as she bent down to give a swift kiss to his forehead.

  As she got nearer Grant, both of his eyes snapped open. Grant took a hold of her shoulders and leaned up and kissed her directly on the mouth. Grant let the kiss linger for a few moments. When Charlie didn’t seem to object, he then slowly released her and let her rise back from him. Her taste was addictive to him. He knew she would be like a drug and go straight to his head. Grant reluctantly let her go. She was right, they had to get serious and leave all the good stuff for later.

  As Grant released Charlie, they both heard the door to their room open. Hastily sitting up, he pulled Charlie closer to him as he watched the two men enter the room. One was holding a tray and the other held a large submachine gun. Grant knew that he didn’t stand a chance, so he just watched and observed them as they came in. The first fellow put the tray down on the small table, while the other stood at the door, with the gun aimed their way.

  The first guy turned toward them after laying the tray down. He had on a ski mask that didn’t allow a person to see his face at all, but he was a big bruiser of a guy in a black T-shirt that stretched over bulging muscles with black jeans. Nothing to distinguish him from anyone else. The guy at the door was dressed the same, but seemed to have harder, meaner eyes looking back at them.

  “We don’t want any trouble from both of you. If you follow our orders, this will all be over sooner than later. No one has to get hurt. Now I’m going to ask you some questions and I want straight answers. Do you understand?” the first guy told them as he walked and stood near the other in the doorway.

  “Yes, we understand. But why are we here? We have nothing that you would want.” Charlie spoke up.

  “Since you seem ready to talk, you go first,” the guy told her.

  “Is your name Amber Stone?”

  “Yes, that’s my name, but everyone calls me Charlie,” Charlie answered, trying not to sound flustered.

  “Do you work for Braden Investments as their right-hand man?”

  “What is this all about? Ask me the questions, not her,” Grant butted in, pulling Charlie even closer to him.

  “You wait your turn, Mr. Braden.”

  “What are you—” Grant silenced Charlie with a quick squeeze to her arm when she started to speak.

  “Let the guy continue, Charlie, we want the whole story.” Grant interrupted before she could say anything else.

  “Okay.” Charlie turned to him with a bewildered look in her eyes. Grant didn’t give anything away, just glanced at her with a serious expression in his eyes, then turned back to the guys standing in the doorway.

  “Answer the question for the man, Charlie,” Grant told her.

  “Yes, I work for Braden Investments. I don’t know if you would call me his right-hand, but I try.” Charlie knew she was blubbering more that she needed, but the tears were being held back by a thread.

  The guy turned to Grant. “And you are Mr. Chase Braden?”

  Grant didn’t say anything, just stared back at the guy, his eyes going steely blue.

  “You don’t have to deny your identity. He just asked out of courtesy. We have a picture of you from before your trip to Canada. They told us you have changed some, but we know it’s you,” the guy holding the gun told them with a sneer in his voice.

  “So, you know. What do you want?” Grant answered back, his facial express revealing nothing.

  The guy gave Grant another sneer. “Us, we don’t want anything from either of you, but our employer does. We’re just going to make sure he gets what he wants.” He ushered the other man out of the room and he followed, closing and locking the door behind them.

  Grant reached out and put a hand over Charlie’s mouth as the door shut. He could see that she had a million questions and one was about his mistaken identity, but he didn’t want the guys on the other side to hear them.

  “Don’t say anything yet,” Grant whispered in her ear. “We don’t want them to hear anything we have to say. Remember, I’m Chase and your boss. Do you understand?”

  Charlie eyes got wider, but she nodded and he lifted his hand from her mouth. Getting up, he walked to the door and listened, hearing the men talking in the other room.

  After a while, he came back and he sat down on the bed, taking Charlie’s hand and making her sit beside him.

  “Well, at least have an idea of why we were grabbed.” Grant still spoke softly to Charlie, rubbing a finger over her top of her hand, trying to sooth her.

  “I don’t understand. What’s the difference between you and Chase? We’re still being kept captive.” Charlie took her hand back from Grant and took the corner of her shirt and wiped the tears that had escaped.

  Grant reached an arm around her and hugged her to his side. “Think, Charlie, they think that they have you and Chase. Both of you hold the means to millions of dollars in your hands. They must have gotten the go-ahead when Chase arrived back from Sam’s camp in Canada. Working with an old picture, Chase and I do resemble one another, at least we did a year ago. Chase now has beefed up. Have you seen him since he came back?”

  “No, I’ve only talked over the phone to him. He wanted some time off before he steps back into the day-to-day grind.”

  “Well if you had seen him, you would know that we couldn’t be mistaken for one another now.”

  “Who do you think is giving the orders?”

  “I don’t know, but let’s get some sleep and see what comes to light in the morning.” Grant needed time to think, so he pulled her down beside him, keeping her nestled to his side. With his other hand he pulled at the blankets and covered them.

  Giving her a kiss on her forehead, he hugged her and tried to steady his breath. “Everything will be okay, you’ll see.” Grant hoped that he was right.

  Chapter Three

  Clay awoke from a sound sleep by the blaring of his cell phone resting on his bedside table. Taking time to hug Laura close and kiss her hair, he turned with a grunt and grabbed the damn thing. Looking at the clock, he saw it was only seven a.m. This had better be good, he said to himself as he picked up the cell and glanced at the number. James. What the hell did he want at this time in the morning? He was going to see him in a couple of hours at the meeting.

  “Clay here. What got you up at this time in the morning?” He knew that with Avery being pregnant, James had started to begin later in the day so he could spend more time with her.

  “Clay, I’m at the hospital.” At those words, Clay swung his legs out of bed and put the phone between his shoulder and ear, reaching for his pants.

  “Where? I’ll be there right away.”

  “No, that’s not what I need right now. Listen.”

  Clay sat back and took the phone in his hand again. “Okay, shoot.”

  “I just got to the hospital with Avery. I would love for you to be here to support me, as I’m going a little crazy here. I didn’t in my wildest dreams imagine it would be like this. Avery is in so much pain and cursing the day that she met me. But I digress. I got a call at the penthouse this morning while everything was going on. It came in on the landline. I tried to listen and take everything in that the guy was saying, but it was hard with Avery cursing in the background. The guy said he would call back around noon today and to be ready with my check book. He muttered something about, if I wanted to see my brother again. He also mentioned Charlie’s name, but that’s all I can remember.”

  “Someone’s got Chase?”

  “I don’t know. Being as he deals with millions of dollars every day, this isn’t the first call we’ve gotten threatening him. In the past it’s always been a hoax. I wouldn’t worry too much about it, but I can’t reach Chase to confirm that he’s all right. It’s killing me having to worry about him and Avery needs me here. Can you go to the penthouse and wait for the call and check everything out?”

  “Sure. I’ll call Angel to help and we’ll get right on it.”

  “Well
, about Angel, you won’t be able to reach him. He and Cyn are in the room next to ours. I guess our wives got in sync because Angel and Cyn were both here when we arrived. Call Grant, Gabe, and Tony. But keep me informed. I might not be able to answer the phone every time, depending on what’s happing here. But leave a message and I’ll get back to you. Please find out if someone has Chase.” James’s voice sounded desperate.

  “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of it. You and Angel just look after your wives, and good luck.” Clay ended the call and grabbed his pants back up. Standing up, he put them on and noticed that Laura was now awake and looking at him.

  “What’s going on?” Laura asked, as she sat up in bed and pushed the hair out of her eyes.

  “Well, I don’t want to alarm you, but we have two situations going on at once. James and Angel are both at the hospital with Avery and Cyn, it looks like they coordinated their delivery times together.”

  “Oh, that’s great. Let me get up and we’ll got to the hospital,” Laura said, getting out of bed.

  “I can’t go with you right now. I need to go to James and Avery’s penthouse and check a few things out.”

  “Oh, what else is going on?” Laura stopped on her way to the bathroom, looking worriedly back at Clay.

  “I really don’t know much until I can look into things, but James received a call this morning and it sounds like someone might have snatched Chase.” At Laura’s gasp, he continued.

  “But I don’t know for sure. I have to get over to the office and start digging into things. I’m going to call Grant, Gabe, and Tony to meet me there. Will you be okay going to the hospital alone? I really don’t think it’s a good idea right now.”

  “Don’t worry, I’ll call Jane and get her to go with me. We were meeting for lunch today anyway. We’ll just make it breakfast at the hospital.” Laura started back to the bathroom as Clay grabbed his phone to call the guys.