Silver Shield Security Box Set
Page 120
They both sat up and Emily fixed her gaze on the door. She held her breath as it was opened. At first she didn’t see anyone, then a man stepped into the room. The door was immediately shut behind him. When he lifted his eyes to hers, she gasped in surprise.
“Wayne?” Her eyes misted as he hurried towards her.
“Emily, honey, are you alright?” he asked before wrapping her in a bear hug.
Feeling Wayne’s arms around her was like a glass of cold water on a hot and humid day. It seeped into her soul and refreshed her from within.
“I knew you would come,” she said softly, trying hard to blink back the tears that had pooled in her eyes.
“Yeah, she was pretty confident about that,” Kendra added. Emily heard the smile in her voice.
Wayne moved until he was in front of Kendra. “And she was right about that,” he said and reaching for the young girl, he wrapped his arms around her.
That gave Emily the chance to get her emotions back under control. She took a deep breath and let it out in a rush.
“What are you doing here? I mean, how did you get here?” Emily asked.
Wayne sat back, sitting in a way that they could both see him.
“You are both here because of me,” he said.
“They took us to draw you here, right?” Emily had guessed that it was something of the sort and he’d just confirmed it.
“Yeah.”
“Is this about the weapon?”
Wayne didn’t reply immediately. Instead he asked, “Did you get to see who is behind all this?
Emily shook her head in the negative.
“Remember Jack Chance?”
“The guy that used to hang around years ago? I always wondered what happened to him,” she said, but inside her heart began to beat a wild and erratic pattern.
“Yeah. He went missing in action during a mission in Cairo. Turns out it was one elaborate plan. He’s the one who stole the weapon and he’s asking for the microchip that runs the weapon as ransom for you two.”
Jack Chance was here? And he was the one behind all this? The information was almost more than Emily could handle. If there was one person she hadn’t missed, it had been the sleek, self-assured man who had been one of Wayne’s closest friends. She had always been uncomfortable around the man and had come close to issuing an ultimatum to Wayne. But she hadn’t wanted to be one of those wives, so she’d borne his obnoxiousness.
“But you’re not giving it to him, right?” Emily asked.
Wayne looked away, avoiding her piercing gaze.
“Wayne Carter!” she called his name sharply.
“Dad, you can’t give it to them.”
Wayne looked at Kendra but not before Emily had seen the grief in his eyes.
“I have no choice. I can’t let anything happen to you two.”
Kendra shook her head vehemently. “We’re only two people, Dad, but if you give it to him so many people will get hurt.”
Wayne shook his head, rejecting her line of reasoning.
“Don’t worry, Wayne. We’ll find a way out of this,” Emily said, trying to comfort him. She knew this had to be hard for him…choosing between loyalty to his country and the family he loved. It was particularly hard for people in the armed forces. They had taken an oath to put their country first.
“We need to get you out of here.”
“What’s the surveillance like?” Emily asked, kicking into work mode.
“Not bad, could be better?”
“Audio?”
“No, just video.”
“Hmm…” It didn’t surprise her that Wayne was on top of things. She had expected no less. If only she could get in touch with the guys, she was pretty sure Rusty could temporarily disrupt the feed. With her hands and feet free, she needed no more than two minutes to make her move.
Suddenly she noticed the device on Wayne’s wrist. Was that...? She lifted her gaze to his and lifted her brows in inquiry. Wayne glanced at his wrist and smiled.
“It’s yours. The guys gave it to me.”
For the first time since she was abducted, she knew without a doubt that they would be alright.
“Can you cut us lose?”
“We need something sharp,” Wayne said examining the ropes that were used to hold them.
“Like a blade or something. Too bad we don’t have Tamika here with us. She always finds a way to keep a blade on her, no matter what.”
“I have something sharp,” Kendra said, but both Wayne and Emily were preoccupied and did not pay her any attention.
“We’ll think of something. Once you’re free, you get Kendra out of here,” Wayne said.
“What about you?”
“Make sure you both get as far away from here as possible,” he went on, ignoring her.
“What about you, Wayne?” Emily asked more insistently.
“Go on to Chicago. I’ll meet up with you there,” he said. When he saw the mutinous expression on her face, he could not keep the smile on his from escaping.
“Why are you smiling? What’s there to smile about?” Emily snapped, unhappy with what he was saying. She understood the need to keep Kendra safe, but the thought of leaving Wayne behind was not something she wanted to contemplate.
“You are looking too intense, you need to relax, Emily.” He shouldn’t, but one of his favorite things was riling her up, and even though this was not the time and place, he could not help himself.
“Relax? Relax! How the hell am I supposed to—?”
The flow of words was halted by Wayne’s hand over her mouth. She gazed into his eyes and was lost. Suddenly, everything that had seemed so huge, too difficult to forgive, faded into insignificance. As she looked into his eyes and saw the wealth of love in his, she knew then that where this man was concerned, there was nothing she could not forgive.
Wayne moved his hand and cradled her face in his palm. Emily’s breath caught in her throat as her chest swelled with emotion.
“Sweetheart, you know I love you, right?”
“Oh, Wayne,” Emily sighed as her heart melted.
“Oh, come on!” Kendra muttered in disgust. “Guys, you’re not alone in here, you know.”
Wayne flashed a brief smile at the sound of his daughter’s voice, but he did not move his gaze from Emily’s.
“You and that brat over there are my world. I’m really sorry I got you into this…”
“No, Wayne. It wasn’t your fault,” Emily cut in, shaking her head.
“It is my fault. At least I’m man enough to own up to my mistakes. And we are going to get out of here.”
“How are you so sure?” She needed to know the source of his faith.
“I’m so sure because Emily Silver of Silver Shield is here and if anyone can bust us out of here, it’s you, honey.”
Emily shut her eyes and swore under her breath as she felt tears prick the back of her eyelids. No matter how many flaws he had, Wayne Carter always came through for her. Always. Even after they were no longer together, he still found ways to be there for her and all she’d done was give him grief for it.
“Wayne, I lo—”
“Okay, if you’re all done making doe eyes at each other, could you focus on getting these ropes off my hands and feet?”
This time, both Wayne and Emily smiled at the strident tones in the girl’s voice. She sounded tired from lack of food, but they could still hear the bossiness in her voice.
“It appears your daughter has taken after you, my dear,” Wayne said, his eyes twinkling with amusement.
“What are you trying to say, Carter?” Emily asked with a frown that did nothing to mask the laughter in her eyes.
Wayne was not touching that with a ten-foot pole. Instead, he ignored the question and shifted closer to Kendra.
“We need something to cut the ropes with,” he informed her.
“That is what I’ve been trying to tell you,” Kendra said in exasperation. “I have something we can use.”
“The hairband I’m wearing? It straightens out into a sharp blade.”
There was total silence for a few seconds as both adults took in the implication of what she’d just said.
“That can be turned into a blade?” Wayne asked, staring at the top of Kendra’s head.
“You’ve been carrying something sharp around and on your head, for so long?” Emily asked in alarm.
“Yes,” she answered to both questions, sounding really tired.
“But why on earth would you do that?”
“It was given to me by the Cutts. They said I was to use it if I ever find myself in this exact same situation.”
Emily turned to Wayne. “Wayne, we need food,” she said suddenly. While she could do without food for a couple more days, she could not bear to hear the weakness in her daughter’s voice.
“Food?” he repeated, looking confused by the abrupt change in subject.
“Yeah, food. We haven’t eaten anything since yesterday. If we have to run for it, I don’t want her fainting on me.”
“Ha! I never faint,” Kendra scoffed. “And I’m great in both jujitsu and tae kwon do so you’re gonna need me.”
“Is that so?” Emily did not bother masking her amusement.
“Really?” Wayne sounded intrigued.
“Yep. Alma and Dick made sure of that. I began training when I was just seven years old. They wanted me to be independent and self-reliant.”
“Hmm,” was all Wayne said.
Emily felt her heart swell with pride for her daughter and gratitude towards the Cutts. She had a feeling that before this was over, she would have much more to be grateful for where her daughter’s adoptive parents were concerned.
“Well, I need sustenance,” Emily declared.
Wayne nodded and got to his feet. Then he walked to the door and rapped on it.
“What do you want?” a voice asked through the closed door.
“Food. If you starve your prisoners to death, you no longer have bargaining power.”
After a brief silence, the voice spoke from the other side of the door, “We’ll arrange something.”
“Make it quick.”
Emily watched him walk back and her chest expanded with pride. Their eyes met and she smiled, not minding that her feelings were clear to see in her eyes. She loved Wayne Carter with every fiber of her being and she did not care who knew about it. There was so much uncertainty about their situation. She had no idea if they would all get out unscathed, but one thing she knew for certain was that she was definitely looking forward to spending the rest of her life and growing old with him. Definitely.
Chapter Twenty-two
Jack watched them through the screen in his office. The woman and child were still seated with their backs to each other, hands and feet bound. Wayne Carter sat on the floor next to them and they seemed to be playing happy families. Earlier, he had sent for food for them and when it came, he had fed the food first to the girl, then to the woman. After giving them food and water, he ran his hand over the young girl’s head in a loving caress, then took off the headband holding her hair back before smoothing the hair over her head.
Jack shook his head in disgust. Wayne Carter had gone soft. He had almost expected the man to have untied the women by now and all he was doing was playing the sappy husband and father. It was pathetic really. He had expected a little more action, at least an escape attempt from the great Wayne Carter. He had his men on standby and would have foiled any such attempt, still… it would have been fun.
Sad. And to think that there had once been a time when he had looked up to the man. Wayne Carter had been the toughest of them all, the most daring, willing to jump right into the heart of battle. If he had actually gone back to Cairo for him…
Had they really gone back for him? He placed his elbow on the table and clutched his head. For the last three hours, he had been slowly going crazy at the thought that what he had believed had been untrue. Sure, as soon as Khadijah had approached him the day before they had left for Egypt on what was supposed to be a super-secret mission, he had known that he was going to take her offer. The lure of the wealth she had promised had been too much to resist. What he had not expected was the feeling of devastation when his teammates had abandoned him in a country torn apart by civil unrest. All the uneasy feelings of guilt that he had tried hard to ignore before then were torn away and replaced by anger, bitterness and a thirst for revenge.
To hear Wayne tell it, the fact that they had actually tried to find him was confusing as hell. He wanted to believe that the man was lying, but in his heart he knew that probably was not the case. Returning to the hellhole that was Egypt at that time would have been a suicide mission. Unfortunately, that was exactly what Wayne Carter would have done. He had a kind of recklessness to him that made him one of the best secret operators at that time.
And why would he mention Khadijah if he had not, in fact, met with her? Also, why had she never mentioned the fact that his friends had returned for him? All those years and she’d kept silent. The worst part of it was that he would never be able to ask her about it.
“Fucking hell,” he muttered to himself in frustration.
Jack shifted his hands to his aching temples and massaged them. Thinking so hard about what happened years ago was beginning to give him a headache. What did it matter anyway? It should not matter to him. It was not like he was going to abort the mission just because he discovered his need for revenge was no longer necessary.
Hell no.
“Hey, what are you doing?”
Jack looked up to find the beautiful engineer standing by the door. He stared at her silently for several moments, admiring her curves and the way her brown hair fell in wisps around her face, even though she’d caught it back with an elastic band. He shifted his gaze to her face and noted that her eyes looked troubled.
“What’s the matter?” he asked.
“Huh?”
“What’s bothering you? You look a bit off.”
She slid her gaze to the side before meeting his eyes. That slight action made Jack frown. Something definitely was up.
“It’s nothing,” she said.
He met her gaze and held it for a moment. Then beckoned to her. “Come here.”
She slowly walked towards him, only stopping when she was a few inches away from where he was seated.
“Closer.”
She closed the gap between them.
He placed his hand on her thighs, ran them up over her hips and paused on her ribcage. He had his hands just beneath her breasts. He heard her sharp intake of air.
“Now, you will tell me what the problem is.”
She looked over his shoulder at the screen he had been staring at just a few short moments ago. She caught her lower lip between her teeth in an act that was so unknowingly erotic. The swift kick of lust had him drawing in air into his lungs.
“You need to let them go, Wayne,” she said at last.
“Who?”
She nodded towards the screen. She was worried about Wayne’s family. How cute.
“Let’s say I do as you say and let them go, what do you think is the first thing Wayne Carter would do once he’s free?”
She thought about his question and then her face grew pale as she reached the answer.
“He’ll come after us,” she stated simply.
“Exactly. And trust me, babe, Wayne is not someone you want to mess around with.”
She shook her head, still struggling to accept what he was saying.
“But the woman, their daughter…what about them?”
Damn, but the woman was like a terrier with a bone. A cute one, but persistent nonetheless.
Jack got to his feet abruptly. She took a few steps back in surprise. He reached down and depressed a button on the de
sk.
“O’Neal? Bring Wayne Carter in.”
He felt her stiffen against him. Well, if she insisted on letting the guests go free, she needed to realize that her duplicity made her complicit.
Amanda Hutchins stared at him in horror. As the lead engineer on the CID Six Thousand project, she had enjoyed a special relationship with Wayne Carter. Although they had not strictly been friends, they had been friendly and he had treated her as an equal even though his brilliance far outshone hers. She had learned so much from him and he had listened keenly to her suggestions, never hesitating to implement them. If there was one boss that she could say she actually liked, he was that person.
Working so closely with him as she had, she’d come to realize several things about him. One was that he treasured loyalty above all else. The second was that he had a long memory and a mind like a steel trap. Wayne Carter never forgot.
“What on earth are you doing, Jack?” she asked in alarm.
“Bringing in Wayne Carter.”
“B-b but, I don’t understand,” she spluttered in consternation.
“CID is not going to work without the microchip. You know that. I need to get this show on the road.”
“Fine, then I’ll leave you to it.” She turned to walk away, but he grabbed her arm, holding her in place.
“Where are you going, sweetheart?”
She ran her tongue over her lips in a nervous gesture. “Well, ah…I don’t think my presence here is necessary.”
“On the contrary, I think it is really important for you to sit through this,” he countered.
“Jack, please…” He saw the pleading in her eyes but chose to ignore it.
She was as involved in this as he was. Well, maybe not as deeply as he was, but she could not continue pretending to herself that she was not a part of all this. She had betrayed Carter and it was time he knew that. Wayne Carter was a vengeful bastard and there was no way he was going to let something like that slide. She needed to know that in this game, you either took out the enemy or he took you out. There was no other way to play it.