“What the fuck?” Adam bent over, getting closer to the screen while Jamie’s blood drained from his head. “How the hell did she get out there?”
“Where is she?” Gray cried, breaking free from Chase and rushing to her brother’s side.
“Zoom out,” he ordered, taking over control when Jamie couldn’t get his hands to cooperate. Helpless, he watched the green space around Summer grow as Adam tried to make sense out of what they were seeing. “There.” He pointed to a cluster of buildings miles away. “Get the information on that location.”
With some effort, he managed to get his shit together long enough to copy the coordinates and plug them into Google Maps. In seconds the answer to the mystery came up on the screen.
“The Silver Buckle Ranch?” Gray said. “That makes no sense. No way Summer would voluntarily go to the Wagner ranch. She hates those assholes.”
“You sure?” Adam asked, his gaze roaming from person to person before landing on Jamie. “Maybe she’s having second thoughts about staying now that she knows the scope of what we’re dealing with.”
“No.” He didn’t believe it for a second. She loved Halia. She’d never leave her little girl. Not on purpose. And certainly not without a teary goodbye. There was another reason. There had to be. “Gray’s right.” He met Adam’s steady gaze and took comfort in the steely core he saw in their depths. “Summer didn’t ditch us to go back to the Wagners. Somebody took her. It’s the only explanation.”
“Adam!” Gray cried. “We need to go get her. Right fucking now!”
“Easy, Gracie.” He settled his arm around her shoulder and gave her a quick squeeze. “We’re not going to let anything happen to Summer. Okay?” She nodded, and Adam turned his attention to Jamie. “Tell me now if you want the lead.”
Ready to tear out of there, find a vehicle, and gun down everyone between him and the woman he loved, he was in no position to call the shots. Fuck no. He needed Adam’s cool head and the support of the entire JTT to make sure they got Summer back safely without jeopardizing themselves in the process.
“You’re the lead,” he said to Adam as he stood, never more grateful than this moment for the team who had his back. “I’m too close to this.”
“Roger that,” Adam acknowledged, his demeanor changing from concerned brother to leader of a black ops unit in the span of a heartbeat. “Chase, send a group text, get everyone in the boardroom. STAT.” Already on the move, he continued to bark orders over his shoulder. “Jamie, call Jay on the way. Tell him to pull up a live satellite feed of the Wagner ranch and give him Summer’s location. I want to know what the fuck we’re dealing with. And Davis, get the trucks ready. We’ll be moving fast.”
* * *
Her fingers frozen,and her hands still secured behind her back, Summer lay curled in a ball on the cold wooden floor. She’d sit up if she could. She couldn’t. One of her kidnappers had hog-tied her wrists and ankles together. Hours ago.
Marla’s order. Given over speaker phone while Summer listened from the back of the truck. The bitch had wanted to make sure she couldn’t escape. No need to worry. No chance in hell she’d get free.
No point in yelling for help either. There wasn’t another person around for miles. After a long ride and a short walk through knee-deep snow, one of the men had shoved her inside an unused outpost somewhere on the Silver Buckle Ranch.
After tying her—he’d left her. Alone. With wet feet. No heat. And no way to fend off the below-freezing temperature. As the sun dipped below the horizon, her body had started to cool, and now that full dark had descended, she shivered non-stop. An attempt to generate some warmth and a waste of the energy reserves she desperately needed.
Hang on. All she had to do was hang on long enough. Jamie would come for her. She had no doubt in her mind, and the bracelet on her wrist guaranteed he’d find her. Yeah, the assholes who took her were in for the surprise of their lives when he showed up with the rest of the JTT.
She heard the scuttle of a mouse nearby. The faint scrape of tiny nails against wood coming from somewhere behind her back. At least, she hoped it was a mouse and not something bigger. Like a rat.
Gross!Bile rose to the back of her throat as the panic she’d been battling swamped her again. She didn’t bother to struggle against her bindings. No question they would hold. And even if she could turn her head toward the noise, she couldn’t see through the dark anyway.
God! Why was this happening?Summer had forgotten about the flash drive. Hadn’t given it a second thought when stuffing her personal belongings into cardboard boxes. She hadn’t meant to take it with her when she’d left the ranch either, her head reeling from her sudden firing.
No. She hadn’t thought about the small computer stick in her pocket at all. Not once. Not even when her mother had started to pressure her about coming back to work for the Wagners.Two thousand dollars.Marla’s monetary offer to Melanie made more sense now.
She’d been trying to catch Summer in a trap the whole time. For what? A memory stick? Jeez, whatever information it contained, it had to be bad. Something career-ending for the governor. Why else would she risk everything by kidnapping a former employee—in broad daylight—from a public parking lot?
The wind howled, and the glass windowpanes rattled while her rapid breaths sent slivers of ice down her throat.Keep it together. He’s coming.Jamie’s coming.She tried to calm herself by focusing on her family.
Halia’s beautiful eyes. Gray’s wicked grin. Jay’s messy curls. She saw them all, but it was Jamie’s face and the command in his tone telling her to wait for him that brought a smile to her lips. Yeah, he’d threaten to spank her ass if she gave up too soon.
She mourned his loss as his image winked and fuzzed out, but then she remembered his kisses. Felt his caresses. Recalled his scent. He smelled the way she imagined a man should. The perfect combination of musky sweetness, exactly the way he tasted when she licked his skin.
His scent, combined with Halia’s baby freshness, could bring her to her knees. No. Not true.Theyhad brought her to her knees. The two of them. And now she had to stand up and fight. Be strong. For them. For her. For the rest of the JTT.
They needed her, and if Marla thought for a second, she’d kidnapped the meek little nanny she’d fired. She’d miscalculated. Summer never had a reason to fight before. Never had the courage to stand up for herself. Never had a family to defend.
She did now.
And Marla could go fuck herself. John too. He could go fuck himself. With her. Together. They could go fuck themselves separately—together.
