“If I say drop or get down,” he whispered, “don’t hesitate. Hit the floor immediately.”
Her hand tightened on his arm. “Holly’s lucky she has you. You two are perfect together.”
He didn’t respond. He’d gone into this assignment convinced curses, magic and luck were just a bunch of hooey. However, the more he was around Holly and her family, the more he realized magic might be real. Now, when he needed it most, he prayed it was real.
As they neared the building, he spotted the first sign of life in the two guards, dressed in black, sporting military-grade weapons, helmets and flack vests.
They held their weapons at the ready until Simon and Lissette were within fifteen feet of their positions. Then one of the men pointed his rifle at Simon.
The other called out. “Halt.”
Simon and Lissette stopped immediately.
“Identify yourselves.”
Simon spoke first. “I’m Dr. Bastian Gautier. This is my wife, Dr. Evangeline Gautier. We’re here for our daughter, Holly.”
The man holding them at gunpoint remained still. The other set his rifle against the wall and approached the fake Gautiers.
Simon tensed until he was close enough that he could see his face. Simon relaxed a little. This guard wasn’t one of the two men who’d attacked him earlier.
“You,” the guard pointed to Simon. “Hold your arms straight out from your sides.”
Simon did as instructed and held steady while the guard ran his hands over his shoulders and out to his wrists, then skimmed across his chest, under his arms, down his torso and all the way to his running shoes.
The guard straightened and moved to Lissette.
She immediately raised her arms out to her sides. The man ran his hands over her shoulders to her wrists, then across her chest.
She smacked his hands. “Excuse me!”
His eyes narrowed. “It’s this or we do a strip search. Your choice, lady.”
Lissette glared at him and raised her arms again. “You’d treat your mother this way?”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said and continued his pat down, straightening after skimming over her left ankle, not bothering with the right one.
Simon released a quiet breath. They hadn’t found her knife. Not that it was much of a weapon. He hadn’t been completely sure what the guards would have done had they discovered it on her.
“Follow me,” a guard said and turned. He gave the other guard a brief nod as he passed him.
That guard retracted his rifle to the ready position and stood fast at the door.
Once inside the building, they were led down a short hallway with doors on either side and out into what appeared to be a warehouse.
“We wait here,” the guard said, coming to a halt in the middle of the cavernous space. Overhead lights were only partially lit, which thankfully left enough shadows that they might delay the moment of recognition a little longer.
“We came like they told us to,” Simon said, hoarsening his voice to sound older. He also hunched his shoulders a bit to disguise their width. “Where’s Holly?”
“Where’s our daughter?” Lissette demanded, her voice strident. She sounded like a worried mother.
“She’ll be released as soon as you’re on board our research vessel,” a voice said. A man stepped out of the shadows, dressed in tailored slacks, a black button-down shirt and a black blazer.
Simon recognized him as Marcus Solberg. Gunnar Reznik stood at his side. His heart skipped a beat, but Reznik’s expression wasn’t changing.
Simon hoped the dim lighting kept the fixer from recognizing him in his hastily assembled disguise.
“We aren’t going anywhere until she’s released,” Simon said, his gaze sweeping the warehouse, counting the guards positioned in a semicircle around them. Five, plus Gunnar. Too many for Simon to take. He’d have to stall long enough for Remy and his team to secure the exterior and breach the interior.
