ScKelsey’s bottom was going numb. She’d already tried shifting, but her bonds were so tight the best she could do was alternate which way she leaned. Her mind kept supplying her with that disturbing headline she’d read about a man having to get his legs amputated because he fell asleep on a toilet and cut off circulation to his feet.
She didn’t want to lose her feet.
That wasn’t all she stood to lose right now.
One of the beefy guys that didn’t speak much English strode down the center aisle of the plane. She stilled and stared at the seatback to her left.
Why had they secured her to the leg of a chair? Why not give her a little courtesy and tie her sitting in a comfy chair? Was this intentional? Some sort of psychological trick?
The man passed her without a glance.
She peered after him, but her line of sight was hindered by a partial wall that sectioned off the rear galley.
Where was Dixon?
The man he’d called Skilton hadn’t glanced at her after ordering her capture. She’d ridden in a different vehicle and hadn’t seen either in hours.
If they were holding her on a plane, it stood to reason that they wanted to leave soon. Where were they going? How far would it be? And was there any way for her to alert the others? Did they even know? What about the security guards?
They hadn’t bothered blindfolding her.
The way she saw it, they intended to kill her or turn her. That’s what she would do in their shoes. Evan had told her something about files Logan had found in the rubble. Files with their names, pictures and information in them. It stood to reason that Nadine had told Skilton everything she could about them. He’d come at her prepared and hit her where she was most vulnerable.
What that was, she didn’t know.
The best vulnerabilities were blind spots.
Men’s voices blended together with movement. She leaned to the side for a better view.
A man walked backward dragging something.
No, those were trousers and a shirt. He was dragging someone.
Kelsey cringed.
She knew who it was before they made it to her.
Two men hauled a barely conscious Dixon into the cabin with her.
“Fuck,” she muttered.
He’d been worked over badly. What skin she saw was black and blue. His lip was split bad enough it looked like it needed stitches. Someone had bandaged the worst wounds and cleaned him up a little. There was still blood soaking his button-down shirt and matted in his hair.
The two men secured Dixon’s wrists to the legs of a chair, much the same as they’d done to her. Only difference was that they’d been kind enough to secure Dixon in such a way that he could lean against the side of the plane. Kelsey could not.
Their task done, the men left her with Dixon.
Kelsey licked her lips and watched the men leave. She shifted her hips again, this time rolling them forward, so she sat more upright.
“Dixon? John? Hey,” she whispered.
Dixon groaned and rolled his head to one side. He peered at her with the eye that wasn’t swollen. He grunted. Or was that a groan?
“What happened? What did they want?” she asked.
Dixon grunted again. Was something wrong with his throat? Was he unable to speak?
Chances were, he’d never experienced pain like this either.
“John here is learning a hard lesson.”
Kelsey jumped and twisted her head to stare at the man in the light blue knit shirt. He stood at the entrance to the rear cabin on the plane.
She hadn’t heard his approach.
He stood there, maybe two feet from her, hands clasped in front of him, for several moments. Studying her, perhaps?
Kelsey took the opportunity to look at him. Maybe the smarter thing to do would be to stare at the floor, but she’d been a captive before. She knew her value as a hostage was low. What he’d most want to know, Nadine would have already told him.
“Why am I here?” she asked.
Skilton, if that was his name, took a step closer to her then turned and sat in the very seat she was secured to. His knee was almost the perfect height for her to set her chin on should she want to. Instead, she considered biting the man out of spite.
“You and your people are quite the thorn in my side.” He stretched his hands along the arm rests and settled in.
Kelsey decided it was best to say as little as possible. If this was the master mind behind it all, he was smart. She couldn’t get over confident and believe she could match wits with him. That wouldn’t serve her well at all.
“You’re here because we might learn from one another. Killing you seemed like a waste. Besides, Nadine spoke highly of you.”
She swallowed.
This bastard.
Nadine.
If Kelsey ever got her hands on the woman, she’d regret the betrayal.
“Don’t mind John.” Skilton gestured at the senator. “He’s learning a hard lesson about loyalty. After all, I did for him, he went and betrayed me. Even worse, he screwed up so badly he drew your attention.”
Huh.
That wasn’t how they’d connected things to Skilton at all. It was the hacker’s hidden cache of information that had tipped them off, but she wasn’t going to correct him.
Was this a piece of information Nadine hadn’t known? Or was it a trap?
“There is only one outcome for poor John here. I do not suffer betrayal well. An example must be made of him.” The old man gestured at Dixon. “Don’t bother trying to talk to him. He can’t speak, you see.”
“What did you do?” she asked before she could stop herself.
“Cut his tongue out. He can’t speak out against me if he can’t speak at all, now can he?”
Kelsey felt cool air hit the back of her throat.
They’d cut the senator’s tongue out?
Someone spoke. Someone outside her field of vision.
“Hm?” Skilton glanced up then said something in a language she couldn’t place. “We’ll have to continue this chat later, I’m afraid.”
He stood and walked away.
Kelsey shivered and stared at Dixon.
She’d wanted him brought to justice, not this. Never this.
There were some punishments you didn’t wish on your worst enemy. Dixon deserved to face punishment, but not torture.
TUESDAY. FEDERAL DETENTION Center. Washington, DC.
It was a good thing Logan couldn’t enter the detention center with his gear on. In his foul mood he was likely to want to use it. Removing that temptation was for the best.
He stared at the back of the offer’s head guiding them through the building.
Zora had quickly organized the relocation of all of the detainees they’d been holding at the secure site. It was blind luck that Skilton hadn’t taken an interest in the facility he’d broken into beyond capturing his targets. He could have wiped out everyone they’d captured.
From what Logan understood, most of the team was here as well. It was hard to see the fault in the plan to gather here, what with layers of security, thick walls, and dozens of armed guard’s on-duty at all times.
Diha hadn’t been able to tell Logan much concerning Joon’s disappearance. Logan had been surprised to hear that out of the four agents, Joon was the least suspicious. While his departure was wasn’t reported, he wasn’t currently under any sort of travel ban. He was allowed to come and go as he pleased so long as he completed the internal review meetings. Diha hadn’t come out and said it, but he’d heard it in her tone. They just didn’t have the manpower to expend tracking him down.
Logan was ready to accept that Joon was a dead end. But that left Logan with no idea where to look next.
He needed intel. He needed people. And he needed to find Kelsey. Even if she truly didn’t care for him, he wanted to know she was safe. That was it. He’d back off, leave her alone and whatever else she asked of him. So long as she was safe.
/>
At long last the guard showed them into an office space area. Logan recognized a few faces from headquarters, but that was it.
“Where is everyone?” Logan glanced over his shoulder at Evan.
Before he could answer, a door opened and Tucker leaned out. “TL? Man, you okay?”
Logan headed for his second in command. Behind Tucker were Jamie and Harper, along with Zora and another man Logan didn’t recognize. Tucker wisely stepped back and out of Logan’s way. Zora glanced up and met his gaze with her impassive stare.
He’d always done his best to accept the scraps of information she gave them, but not now. Truth was he didn’t trust her to prioritize Kelsey’s life above her damned objective. In fact, it was Logan and the others going rogue who’d saved Kelsey in the first place from an abduction.
“Where are we with finding Kelsey?” he asked.
“Good to see you weren’t badly injured,” Zora said.
“Evan!”
Logan glanced over his shoulder to see Felecia throw herself at her husband. The warm reunion only made him colder inside.
“Kelsey?” he said again.
Tucker gestured at a laptop. “We have their vehicle on camera for a few blocks before we lost it. I’m guessing they split up. Changed plates. Something to throw us off.”
No one else spoke.
“And?” Logan prompted.
Still no one uttered a word.
“That’s all we have?”
“Logan, we have—”
He held up his hand. “If you’re going to say we have bigger fish to fry or people looking into it, I do not want to hear it. Where were you? Why wasn’t there more security? How did this happen? You keep saying you trust us, but you don’t tell us a damn thing and now Kelsey is gone.”
“Logan,” Tucker said in a low voice, “that’s not fair.”
Logan turned around met Tucker’s gaze.
He lifted his hands. “You need to calm down, man.”
“And you need to remove your head from her ass. We’re losing people. Good people. Now I understand there’s a bigger goal here, but if we lose sight of the people? End goal doesn’t mean shit.” Logan’s gaze slid past Tucker to Felecia.
Felecia’s father, Obran, had been something of an international underworld celebrity. He’d begun doing simple forgeries. When Logan and the others had targeted him, those forgeries had changed. He created new identities and lives and even faces for people with the help of a now disbanded team.
Obran had known Skilton’s name. Logan was willing to bet that Obran knew a lot more than he was letting on.
“I want to talk to Obran myself,” Logan said.
Zora shook her head. “That’s not going to happen.”
“I’m not asking. Where is he?”
“I’d like the room, please.” Zora pressed her hands to the table top and looked at him. “Logan and I need to have a word alone.”
He crossed his arms over his chest and stared back at her.
The others filed out quickly and quietly.
The door closed, leaving them in near silence.
“Every available resource is focused on finding them,” Zora said.
“No, they’re focused on Skilton. For all we know, he’s killed and disposed of Kelsey by now.”
“Logan, I’m going to take the liberty of speaking to you as a friend right now.” She lowered herself into a rolling desk chair. “I understand your relationship with Kelsey is a bit of a rollercoaster and you have feelings for each other.”
He stepped back, surprised by her statement.
Zora’s lips curved into a small smile. “What? You think I hadn’t picked up on that? The two of you have been circling each other for months, and then all of a sudden you figure out how to play nice?”
He opened his mouth but didn’t know what to say.
“Before you ask, I don’t know anything. I’m only guessing based on body language and what I’ve observed. You’re a very loyal person, so it stands to reason you’d have strong feelings should any of our team be in danger. But for you to turn on your own teammate? It has to be something quite strong. More than a simple attraction. You love her, don’t you?”
Logan took a moment to absorb her words. He ignored the question. His feelings were irrelevant right now.
“I know what you must think of me, but I promise you I am focused on bringing Kelsey home. She is a priority. At the same time I cannot forget that Dixon was also abducted, and that Skilton is a very dangerous person. I have to balance those three efforts with our limited resources. I’ve already tried talking to Obran, but he hasn’t been very forthcoming.”
“What about the wife? Karen? What about her?” Logan asked.
Zora nodded. “She and their son are here under protection. Just in case.”
“Let me talk to her.”
“I’ve found her to be even less helpful than Obran.”
Logan shook his head. “I need to try.”
She sighed. “I can’t tell you no. Karen isn’t under arrest. She’s here for her own benefit.”
“Thanks,” Logan muttered. “And, sorry.”
“I appreciate that, but it is unnecessary. I’ve used you for my own means. You aren’t wrong about that.”
“Maybe, but I know you care.”
“Go.” She waved. “I have things to do.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Logan turned and let himself out the door.
Tucker was waiting outside like a guard dog. Logan wasn’t ready to recant what he’d said. These days, Tucker didn’t feel like he was part of the team anymore.
Evan took a step into Logan’s path. “What are you going to do?”
He glanced at Felecia. “I’m going to try talking to Karen.”
Felecia flinched at the name. To Logan’s knowledge, Felecia saw her younger brother regularly but never their mother.
“Do you know where she is?” he asked.
“Um, yeah. She’s down the hall, third door on the left,” Felecia said. “You think...she’d help?”
“I’m grasping at straws.”
Felecia blinked a few times, but didn’t say anything else.
Logan nodded and strode down the hall she’d indicated.
Third door on the left.
He paused, gathering his thoughts then knocked.
“Enter,” a woman called out.
Logan twisted the doorknob and pushed it open.
Felecia’s little brother, Jacob, lay on a cot with earbuds in. His eyes were closed and his breathing even. His mother sat in a desk chair with a magazine in hand and a lamp at her back.
“He asleep?” Logan asked.
“Out like a light.” Karen set the magazine aside. “I don’t suppose that’s what you’re here to talk to me about.”
“No. Can I ask you a few things?”
She stood, smoothing her hands down the baggy sweater she’d worn over skinny jeans. “In the hall.”
Logan backed up, and she exited the room, pulling the door shut so only a sliver of light got in.
“I don’t know if you’re aware of this, but Skilton has kidnapped one of our team. Kelsey?”
Karen nodded slowly. “I remember her.”
“Do you know anything that could help us in finding her?” Logan wished he could ask that question better, but that was all he had.
Karen’s eyes slid over his shoulder and widened.
Logan glanced behind him at Felecia.
Her smile was gone, and she had a stony expression on her face. Given what Felecia had found out about her mother, namely that she wasn’t dead and knew full well what hell her daughter was living through with her father, it was a rocky relationship.
“Kelsey is my very best friend,” Felecia said. “Tell him. Please? I’ll come to dinners. Whatever you want, so long as we find her.”
Logan glanced back at Karen.
Her lips were parted, and she swayed. He could see her heart there on her sleeve, how badly
she wanted to go to her daughter. But Felecia had kept that door firmly shut.
Karen glanced up and down the hall. “Is here safe?”
“Here is what we have. What do you know?”
“About Skilton?” Karen shrugged. “Some. Enough. What my husband told me. Skilton is careful. He rarely comes to this part of the world. When he does, he never enters or leaves the same way twice. He prefers to masquerade under legal pretense. So, a cargo flight. Diplomatic trip. That sort of thing. He’s connected to wealthy and powerful people. He wouldn’t hesitate to use them, twist their arms a little so he can’t be connected. That’s all I know. I swear.”
Logan glanced at Felecia.
She nodded slowly. “Thank you.”
“You’ll...” Karen licked her lips. “You’ll come to dinner?”
“Maybe. If Kelsey is safe.”
“Thank you,” Logan said.
Karen looked up at him with her dark eyes. “I hope you find her. Not for my sake but, well, because no one should be at that man’s mercy.”
“Me, too. Thanks.” Logan turned, his mind buzzing with possibilities.
“Did you hear something in that?” Felecia fell into step with him.
“You mean did I hear a way to find him? Yeah. Yeah, I think so. Where’s Diha?”
“This way.”
Felecia led Logan through the open area where the others were still gathered, down another hall and into a long, narrow room.
Diha and Cat were both bent over a computer. Miles, Diha’s boyfriend, was at another desk. The other lab assistants were also present.
“I think we know how to find him. Skilton, I mean,” Logan announced.
All eyes fastened on him.
“What?” Diha pressed a hand to her stomach. The other she reached out to Cat. “How? How can we help?”
“Karen said he uses people. Wealthy people. Diplomats. Cargo. He likes to enter legally. So, how big of a pool does that leave us with?”
Diha cringed. “Around the holidays? A lot. Especially if we’re factoring in cargo and freight options.”
“Can you work with that? Given that we know Skilton hasn’t been here for long?”
Diha chewed a nail and glanced at Miles. “Yes. Yeah, I think so. It might be a long list, but it’s something.”
Logan nodded and stepped back. Diha clapped her hands and began issuing orders.
Intercepted Risk (Aegis Group Task Force Book 5) Page 33
