A couple of quick texts to Simon secured me a rental car. While keeping an eye on my agent, I moved closer to exiting. Like I expected, she followed. She trailed after me at what I bet shethought was a safe distance, near enough not to lose me but not right behind me.
I went to the registration to sign in for my car like it was any other ordinary day.
Then I strolled toward the parking lot to pick it up.
As soon as I heard her footsteps gaining in speed, the patter of her shoes smacking on the pavement as she hurried toward me, I reacted. I ducked as another man pushed a dolly of luggage, blocking me from her sight.
Tucking low next to the car I’d rented, I watched her stop and spin around.
“What the actualfuck?” she whispered hotly to herself. “Is he a freaking apparition?”
Smiling widely with the anticipation of how much fun this would be, I launched up and grabbed her. She tensed, her lungs bracing to scream, but I covered her mouth with my hand. Ignoring how she tried to bite, I turned my hand sideways and wedged it further in to prevent her from being able to use her jaw well.
Still, she drew blood.
I winced as I carried her to the car. Simon came through with hacking into the parking garage next to us, triggering the fire alarm. The pandemonium of that alert gave me the cover to haul my agent toward the car.
She fought. She bucked. She resisted. And dammit, she almost got away. If she were any taller, she might have succeeded.
But she didn’t.
I wrestled with her, opening the door and shoving her in.
Or I tried to. That was the plan.
She was skilled, though, twisting and fighting so much that she nearly pulled me into the backseat with her.
All right, little agent. I see you’re playing hardball.
Even though she was being difficult, I had to admire her tenacity to get free. That took guts. Determination. Spirit.
None of those were any match for the syringe of a sedative I still had in my pocket, the one I intended to use on the banker I wasn’t supposed to kill any longer.
She grunted against my hand as I jabbed the needle into her thigh.
As she began to go lax, closing her lids and preventing me from staring into those light-blue eyes that were even more dazzling and mesmerizing this close, I sighed and loosened my hold on her.
“Gotcha,” I teased before she was out.
I tucked her fully into the backseat and grinned, wondering where this side quest of kidnapping the agent expected to capturemewould take us.
6
SADIE
Iwoke up groggy at first. My tongue stuck to the top of my mouth. Dizziness swamped my mind, deepening the confusion and lack of orientation.
What the…
My lids wouldn’t cooperate. They were too heavy. Sluggish.Iwas sluggish. Lead weights dragged me down, making me sink even harder against whatever firm surface I was on.
What…
I blinked, forcing my eyes to focus on something other than the solid blackness of sleep.
Then again. And again. Like slow-moving shutters that were malfunctioning, I kept trying to open my eyes.
A thick sensation of choking gripped me, and I immediately coughed. The urge to gag didn’t hit me, but I struggled to swallow adequately. Something kept my mouth too full. Alarm kicked in. The instinct to survive pushed me to wake up further.
