Hunter didn’t fumble with a key. He pushed his hand against a gadget against the wall. The pad lit up and two beeps ringed out. A moment later a heavy thunk echoed in the narrow space. The door hissed and opened about an inch. Hunter shoved it with his shoulder. “Inside. All three of you.”
I stepped inside, and my toes sank into the plush carpet. “What is this place?”
Hunter switched the light on and the room illuminated. A table and a few chairs. A mini fridge and a TV. It didn’t look like a long term solution, but anyone would be okay spending a few hours in this room.
“Safe room.” Hunter answered with just a hint ofno duhto his voice. “Theo has one here, in his office building, and in the house as well.”
Tiffany followed me in. “Why does my brother need a safe room?”
“That’s a question best left for him to answer.” Hunter turned to Ryder. “You can lock it from the inside. Push the bar down and one of us will enter the code when we’re ready to get you. You do not open it for anyone. Not me, not Theo. And not your wife. Not without the code word.”
“Code word. Right.” Ryder nodded. “What code word?”
“Cowgirl. They will knock and tell you the code word. It’s that or nothing. Now close the door and push that bar down.”
Ryder did as Hunter instructed. With a loud thud he dropped the bar and we were sealed in.
Cut off from the rest of the world.
As soon as that door closed, the silence was absolute and more than a little disconcerting. No more shouts and screams. The sounds of heels clacking had disappeared. The only thing wecould hear was the ragged, heavy breathing of the three of us as the adrenaline started to fade and dread started to settle in.
“Everything’s going to be okay.” I repeated the statement over and over. “Everything’s going to be okay.”
Ryder paced from one end of the room to the other. His long strides highlighted just how small the space actually was. “She’s okay.” It seemed he had a similar mantra to mine. “She’s trained and she’s with her team. Fred was small fry compared to what she could actually handle.”
He was right of course. Shiloh had been a police officer before she joined Salinger Security. Everyone was aware of what she could do. Hunter as well. He probably knew a thousand different ways to neutralize a small timer like Fred.
No, the surprise was Theo. That commanding voice, I’d never heard before. I’d heard him plenty bossy. In fact, just before we’d left for the evening he’d shown me just how bossy he could be. But there was something different about the way he’d taken charge. More importantly, the way Nick and Hunter had let him take charge. That was something we needed to discuss.
Tiffany shifted closer to me and she tugged at the blue satin until she was comfortable. She pushed her foot against mine to get my attention. The hot pink polish against her pale toes were such a contrast to my light brown feet and nude pink polish. I looked up and met her gaze.
She shook her head. “Fred or Theo? What do we tackle first?”
“Might as well start off with my just stupid enough to be dangerous ex-husband, I suppose.” I had no idea what the man was trying to achieve, but it was obvious he was not going to succeed. “Can’t he just leave me alone?”
Ryder finally sat on one of the chairs, resting his elbows on the table. “Obviously not. That man is a narcissist and he’s behaving like someone stole his favorite toy.”
“He was here for you, Maggie.” Her eyes narrowed. “I don’t know how he planned to succeed, but I think his plan was to kidnap you.”
The events of the last several minutes ricocheted through my mind. First, there was the alert that someone had breached Snow servers. Theo’s reaction was natural. Normal even. He was the CEO of a multi billion dollar company, it was natural he would spring into action. But that was clearly a distraction. The question was whether the intent was to distract him or get him on alert.
I may not have been a CEO or even have the skills that Shiloh seemed to have but I wasn’t useless. The slow and steady success of The Reverse Cowgirl was testament to the fact that I was a strategist.
The time between the alert coming through and lights going out was suspicious. Not enough time to even leave the room, let alone be far enough away to kidnap me.
“I think Fred wanted things to look like he intended to take me.”
“Maggie.” Tiff’s voice was soft but her mind was working too. “Remember, I said I think Theo was hiding something? I think he’s more than the CEO my father wanted him to be.”
Ryder rolled his eyes at the two of us. “Really? You think?”
I shook my head and ignored the man who was going out of his mind worrying about his fiancée. “I agree. What’s more, I think Fred knew. He knew that a threat to me would force Theo out of whatever cover thing he was in.”
He played it well. He gambled that Theo was hiding this part of himself from me and he was right. The question was would I let him get his way.
Before I could think things through further, a heavy metallic THUD rattled the door, shaking the bar in its brackets. Then came the sound of metal scraping.
All three of us stood, startled at the sound that was not meant to be there. Ryder moved forward and pressed his full weight against the door. Tiffany joined to help him.
