Isabella gasped audibly and quickly clasped her hand over her mouth.
Barkley!
Was it possible? How had he gotten out of prison? How did Harrison know it was Barkley? She watched as Harrison smiled up at Barkley.
“You don’t need the ski mask, Barkley. I recognize your voice.”
Barkley laughed without humor. “So you know me. Then you know I want the bastard who put me away. I told him I’d be coming to get him and his family. This is just a setback. I will find him.”
Harrison Washington stood. “Fuck you, Barkley.”
Barkley turned his back to him and smiled at his men, but then turned back to Harrison and shot him in the chest. Harrison looked shocked, and then fell to the floor. His wife screamed and ran to him. Everyone stood. Barkley shot his gun into the air, making everyone cringe back into their seats. He looked at his men.
“Turn this place upside down. For every hour we don’t find him, someone dies.”
Isabella was terrified. What should she do? She couldn’t let him kill innocent people. She was so scared, but knew she only had one choice. Taking a deep breath, she opened the bathroom door and stepped out.
“You don’t need to kill any more people.”
Barkley turned to look at her then moved toward her and came to a stop in front of her. He took his mask off and smiled at her.
“Well, well, well. Look at who we have here…if it isn’t the governor’s daughter, Isabella Lofton. I remember you from the courtroom. You looked down that pretty little nose of yours at me like I was dirt.”
“Not dirt…scum,” Isabella hissed defiantly, raising her chin at him.
Barkley burst out laughing, and then quickly sobered. “You’ll do.”
He wrapped his fingers around her arm and told his men to get out. He dragged Isabella with him before turning back toward the people in the room.
“I’m letting you live because I want you to let Governor Lofton know I have his precious daughter and I’ll trade her for him. I’ll be calling in a few days to make the switch.”
Isabella glanced around at the faces in the crowd. They looked as stunned as she felt, but she knew there was nothing they could do to help her. Barkley led her down the steps to a van parked in the driveway. She saw two sheriff’s deputies lying on the ground, in all likelihood dead. She choked back a sob. Barkley put her in the back and moved to the front passenger seat. He turned around in the seat to keep his gun aimed at her.
“How did you get out of prison?” she asked him.
He shrugged. “It helps to have friends in certain places. It doesn’t concern you. Your daddy will trade places with you. Only thing is, you see, I don’t plan on doing any trading, I plan on killing you both. You’ll be kept alive until I have him, too.”
Isabella sat back and folded her arms across her chest. Barkley’s eyes went to her breasts. He grinned at her. She turned her head away from him. She knew she had to act cool or he’d play on her fears. She just wished she wasn’t wearing a gown and four-inch heels because she’d be more than willing to risk jumping out if she had jeans and running shoes on.
She was looking at the scenery they were passing, trying to recognize something, anything, which might help her when the van came to a stop. The man who’d been driving got out and opened the side door. Reaching in, he tied her hands together, and then put a blindfold over her eyes. She bit back a groan as she realized she’d never know where they were going now. She heard him get back into the driver’s seat and start driving again.
It seemed like quite a while before they came to a stop again. Someone pulled her from the van, carried her into a house, and set her on her feet. The person took the blindfold off her. Isabella blinked her eyes against the light until they adjusted. The man standing in front of her looked at the top of her breasts and leered at her. She smiled sweetly, and then slammed her knee into his groin. He grunted and hit the floor. She tried to kick him again but someone grabbed her from behind.
“You did enough damage, princess. Let him alone,” a deep voice said in her ear. She shivered. She could feel his breath on her cheek. He pulled her by the arm, leading her to a chair where he pushed her down into it. She glared up at him but he stood so the light was at his back. She couldn’t make out his face—just his body. He was tall, well over six feet. His broad shoulders blocked the light. She could see he wore a T-shirt, which hugged his flat chest and stomach. He moved away from her to stand behind the chair.
“What the hell were you thinking, Barkley? The governor’s daughter, for Christ’s sake.”
“I didn’t have a choice. Damn guards got Lofton out of there before I had a chance to look for him.”
“Shit! This isn’t a good idea. We need to take her somewhere and drop her off.”
“No,” Barkley shouted. “I’ll tell him he can take her place. I’m the boss here and I make the decisions. You just keep an eye on her.”
Isabella heard the man sigh with irritation as Barkley left the kitchen. “If you behave, I’ll untie your hands. Don’t try anything. Got it?” he said to her.
She nodded since she knew she didn’t have a choice. This man would chase her down and she had a very strong feeling he’d catch her. He moved back to the front of the chair. She watched him untie the rope and once she was untied, she rubbed her wrists.
“Thank you,” she whispered. She wanted to cry, but she refused to let any of them see her fear. She watched as he moved away from her.
“Do you want something to drink? Coffee? Water?” he asked with his back to her. A very broad back. His tight jeans hugged his butt. A very nice butt.
“Coffee, please.”
She saw him nod and get two coffee cups out of the cupboard. He filled both and set hers on the table. He added sugar and cream to his.
“You can come over here and make it the way you like it,” he told her, and then he leaned a lean hip against the counter. Isabella knew he watched her every move.
She walked toward the table, spooned four teaspoons of sugar into her coffee, and then added cream before taking a seat at the table.
“Do you like a little coffee in your sugar?” he asked with a smile in his voice.
She nodded at the question. “I need something to kill the taste of the coffee.”
He chuckled and she glanced up at him. The air whooshed out of her. He was…gorgeous.
Drop-dead gorgeous!
The man was at least six four without an ounce of fat on him. All solid muscle. The muscles in his arm flexed as he lifted the coffee cup to his mouth. A mouth that was…heart stopping sexy. A bow shaped upper lip with a full bottom lip. His cheekbones were high, his chin strong. His jaw line was hard and covered with stubble. He was a very rugged looking man. His hair touched the bottom of his nape, cut in different lengths and was so black she swore that if she touched it, she’d have ink on her hands. His black eyebrows were thick and sat over green eyes. His nose was straight and narrow. He looked to have Native American in him. Her gaze traveled down the length of him. His jeans left little to the imagination. They hugged him perfectly. Continuing down his long legs, her gaze landed on well-worn cowboy boots. She was in awe of him. She’d never seen a sexier man in her life and she’d met plenty of them attending balls at the mansion. She dropped her gaze when she remembered where she was and what he was—a criminal.
* * * *
Montgomery Bradford stood there staring at her. He’d known she was beautiful but to see her in person was like a kick in the gut. Her long red hair was so beautiful, he wanted to wrap it around his hand and pull it to his face. It reminded him of the color of rich ground cinnamon. Her pert nose made him want to kiss it. The Cupid’s bow mouth was so soft looking it was making his water.
But it was those blue eyes that really pulled a person in. They were the most amazing shade of blue. She was taller than he’d expected. She was almost six feet tall in those heels so he figured that put her at about five foot eight. He shook his he
ad. He was here for a reason and he had to keep his concentration where it belonged.
When Barkley told him he was going to the mansion, Mont thought it was a bad idea. He didn’t like the idea of Barkley planning to kill all of the family. He’d seen the pictures of the family and his heart had hit his stomach when his gaze landed on Isabella Lofton’s photo. He couldn’t let him kill her, but Barkley hadn’t allowed him to go with them. Forced to stay behind, the entire time he sat at the house, he’d prayed Barkley didn’t kill anyone but especially the beautiful young woman now sitting at the table. When he discovered Barkley had brought her back as hostage, he’d breathed a sigh of relief.
He wasn’t happy about the innocent men killed though. He knew the police would protect the governor and the first lady. Barkley was an idiot thinking he could just stroll into the governor’s mansion and take the governor. But what he’d done was worse. Now Barkley had a bargaining chip. Mont sighed and took a seat at the table beside her. She refused to look at him.
“Are you hungry?” he asked her.
She shook her head and sipped her coffee. She sat the cup down and stared at it.
“Don’t even think about it, princess,” Mont said low with warning.
Her head jerked up and she glared at him. “How do you know what I’m thinking? And stop calling me princess.”
He held her gaze, and when she raised her chin glaring at him harder, Mont hid a smile. She was tough. Good. She was going to need to be. “I could see the wheels turning as you looked at that coffee cup. What else am I supposed to call you–princess?”
She glanced down at her evening dress and frowned.
“You can call me by my name,” she hissed. “I don’t suppose you have some other clothes I could change into?”
“Not right now, but I’ll see what I can do, princess Bella.”
“Well, that’s fitting since you’re obviously the Beast.” Isabella dropped her gaze back to her cup, but he noticed her shoulders tense and there was the frown again, which furrowed her lovely brow. She nodded her head, a subtle bit of gratitude, and yawned. The tops of her breasts rose higher in the gown. Mont felt his groin tighten. Fuck! He couldn’t afford to get involved with her in any way, shape, or form. He was here for one reason and one reason only.
He stood and rinsed his cup out. She pushed hers away toward him. He took it and rinsed it out too.
“Come on, I’ll show you where you’ll sleep.”
Isabella stood. He took her arm in his hand and led her to a room off the living room. It was just a normal house for them to stay in until Barkley got to his main agenda, Governor Lofton. There was a couch, a recliner, and another chair in the room with a TV located in the corner. The floor was hardwood and covered with scatter rugs. It was a one-story house.
Silas Blackman, the man Isabella had kicked in the groin, stood up from the recliner and moved toward them. He was short and overweight, and his brown hair was dirty and greasy.
“I’ll take her to the room,” he said to Mont.
“I don’t think you will. She already proved she’s able to kick your ass. I’ll take care of it,” Mont said with conviction in his voice. He’d made up his mind he was the only one who would take care of her. The man gave him an evil look, but backed off. Mont led her to a room, opened the door, reaching inside to turn on the light, and then he nodded for her to enter.
He watched Isabella Lofton move into the room and stop in the center of it before glancing toward the bathroom.
“There’s no window in there, so forget it and the one in here is nailed shut.”
* * * *
Isabella turned to glare at her captor.
How in the hell did he know what she was thinking all the time?
He grinned at her, showing perfect, even white teeth. Dimples peeked in his cheeks. He was drop dead gorgeous…and undoubtedly, dangerous. It was important she remember who the man’s boss was. Sure, if she had met him at any other time, she probably would have flirted with him, but he was one of the bad guys. Gorgeous, he was definitely gorgeous, certainly not a beast but on the wrong side of the law all the same. She sighed in defeat, and walked slowly to the bed, taking a seat on the edge of it. The room was sparsely furnished. The king size bed sat against one wall. There was a dresser with a TV on it and a window on the wall with a doorway leading to a bathroom. The last wall held the door through which they’d entered. She wasn’t going anywhere too soon.
“So am I supposed to sleep in this gown?”
“Princess, you can sleep nude if you want. Not my problem.” He strode out the door and pulled it closed behind him. She heard a lock turn and wanted to scream.
Isabella knew she had to get out of here. She should have flirted with him. Maybe if she got him interested in her, she could get him to help her. Stifling a yawn, she groaned. Tomorrow. She’d try getting him on her side tomorrow. Whatever it took to get him to help her, she’d try. Getting away from Barkley was her main agenda. The man was pure evil and she hated him.
She lay down on the bed and closed her eyes. A tear slipped out one corner, and then another followed. She knew her parents had to be terrified knowing she’d been taken. She imagined her mother crying for her and her father demanding the FBI do whatever it took to find her. All the warnings, and reminders to be careful and, when it did happen, it was from their home she was taken. She cried herself to sleep.
* * * *
Mont sat in the living room watching TV but his mind was on Isabella Lofton. This wasn’t part of the plan. Barkley had said he was going to bring the governor back here, and then Mont as Colt Raines would do what he had to do. Barkley fucked up. Mont tried to tell him there would be extra protection there, but Barkley refused to believe he couldn’t slip in there and get the governor. Then Mont heard they’d gone in there blazing. He’d been shocked when Smitty, one of the other men with Barkley, told him their boss had killed a man and that man was Harrison Washington. He’d told Mont how Washington had stood up to Barkley, and then Barkley shot him. He admitted all the men were shocked, but who was going to go up against Jonas Barkley? They had also killed two sheriff’s deputies standing guard out front.
Mont knew Harrison Washington was a close friend of the governor and his family.
Damn it! It wasn’t supposed to go down like this. Now Barkley had a way to get whatever he wanted because he had Isabella. He wondered if Barkley knew Isabella was an attorney. He knew her background because he’d done his homework on the family before all of this went down.
Jesus Christ! He ran his fingers through his thick hair. He was getting antsy. Could anything have gone worse? He stood and began pacing. Barkley should know better than to think the FBI would ever allow the governor to switch places with his daughter. Mont ran his fingers through his hair again in frustration, continuing to pace. He was so angry with Barkley. It was a stupid move on his part. He sighed. He had to suppose Barkley thought he’d had no choice but to take Isabella, after all, she’d seen him and knew who he was. God. Damn. It!
* * * *
Blackman’s eyes never left Raines as he paced the room. He didn’t trust him. He’d gotten too close to Barkley too fast. He’d always been Barkley’s right hand man, but now Raines was and Blackman could kill him and feel good about it. If Raines were out of the way, he’d have a chance at that little redhead. Oh, how he’d love to show her how good it would be with him.
Damn Raines!
Pretty boy was always in the way. He needed to get rid of him somehow. Once he figured out how then he’d go after the redhead. He’d always liked redheads. His eyes never left Raines as the man paced back and forth.
“Something bothering you, Raines?” Blackman growled with an angry sneer.
“Why would I tell you if there was?”
Blackman chuckled. “I bet that little piece of ass in there is making your dick hard. We’d all like a shot at her.”
Raines stopped and glared at him. Blackman watched the man’s hand
s clench into fists. “You’ll never get close to her as long as I’m alive.”
Blackman burst out laughing. “Yet another fucking reason to take you out.”
“Try it,” Raines said in a low, but deadly voice.
Blackman stood and moved toward him. “I’d love to but not yet. Your time will come. You and I will tangle. I can see it coming.”
“Anytime, Blackman, anytime.” Raines narrowed his eyes at him, goading him to make the first move, and then nodded.
Blackman scoffed. “You can bet your ass I’ll be ready,” he hissed at Raines before he strode from the living room and out the back door.
Chapter Two
Isabella woke feeling disoriented. Her gaze moved around the dark room, but she couldn’t make out anything. Then it came to her. That bastard, Jonas Barkley, had kidnapped her. With a groan of frustration, she got out of the bed to use the bathroom and bumped into something, hearing a grunt. Backing up, she hit the edge of the bed while reaching for the lamp she remembered being on the bedside table. Switching it on, she let out a gasp when she saw the man seated in the chair by the bathroom door.
“Going somewhere, princess?” he asked, half-closing his eyes against the light.
“I…I need to use the bathroom,” she told him with a scowl. “Why are you in here?”
“Making sure you don’t try anything…” She snorted and looked away. “And to keep Blackman away from you.”
Her head snapped back. “Is Blackman the man I kicked?” At his nod, she felt her insides quake. “Do you think he would try something?”
“Sweetheart, I know he would if I wasn’t here. He’s interested in you far too much for my peace of mind. Rape was never supposed to be part of the deal.”
Isabella took a deep breath, feeling the blood rush from her head. She felt sick and shuddered, thinking she might pass out.
Montgomery (Bad Boys of Dry River, Wyoming Book 2) Page 2
