Gabby was standing with bound hands and a gag over her mouth, far too close to the edge. She looked like she was freezing in jeans and a short-sleeved T-shirt. But the fear she felt right now was probably worse than the cold. Jax didn’t know her, didn’t care about her the way he cared about his family, but she also should never have been caught up in this situation.
Her brother had done the right thing and been killed for it.
She had tried to find out the truth of what happened to him, and now she was a pawn in someone’s sick game to get something that didn’t belong to them. Or did. He wasn’t convinced the company was innocent, despite their protests.
Whoever this was, if they weren’t part of the company, then they were a competitor, and the lawyers sent by the company’s board knew who they might be. Right?
Either way, it was Jax putting his butt on the line.
And honestly, it felt more normal than a lot of what had been happening in his life lately.
He made sure the weapon he had stashed in the back of his belt wouldn’t be visible and climbed out. Even if they spotted that one and had him throw away his weapon, he wouldn’t be without protection. Thanks to Kenna’s tactic of stashing weapons in all kinds of places.
He held his hands up. No one behind him on the bridge. Just his car, with the engine clicking as it cooled.
He hadn’t worn a jacket, hoping the Henley he’d pushed up to his elbows made him look casual and nonthreatening to these guys. He walked forward in the glaring beam of the SUV headlights.
The man beside Gabby held her arm while she whimpered and cried.
Behind him, Jax could see another guy. There to cover his buddy. Probably more men were around, out of sight in the dark. But he could only see these two.
“Let her go,” Jax called out, “and I’ll give you what you want.”
He stopped about ten feet away.
Neither man spoke.
Jax pointed at the railing beside Gabby. “Bring her back from that edge!”
Another man emerged from behind the SUV, over to Jax’s left.
He had zero control in this situation. If he said the code phrase and the cavalry sped onto the bridge, Gabby would be dead, and most likely so would Jax. They’d kill him, take what they were here for, and then shoot their way out of the situation.
The man holding onto Gabby yelled, “Show us the flash drive!”
Jax lowered his left hand slowly, stuck two fingers in his left front pocket and raised it to show them the drive and the port that it went into, both in a plastic baggie. He had a vest on, sure, but didn’t like feeling this vulnerable one bit.
If he had to guess, these were the same guys from the day before. They’d escaped into the car wash and evaded these men.
Guys who knew they’d been in the house. Probably watched them through a link to the internal cameras. Realized they had discovered the drive everyone was looking for. Came after them. Jax’s family. His pregnant wife. His young adult daughter. His wife’s cousin—sister—whatever.
No. Didn’t matter what kind of guys these were. This would be over tonight.
Jax held the bag out. “The drive for her.” He motioned with his chin like he hadn’t even bothered to learn Gabby’s name. “Everyone walks away.”
“Okay, FBI,” the guy holding Gabby said. “Hand it over.”
The guy to the left started toward Jax. He came close enough to grab the bag out of Jax’s hand. Jax took half a step back. “Let her go at the same time.”
Despite the cool night temperature, sweat ran down his back.
The thug to his left produced a gun and pointed it at Jax’s head. He lunged forward and grabbed the drive, then backed up.
At the same time, the guy holding Gabby shoved her.
Over the edge.
Gabby screamed. Jax ran to the spot where she’d been standing. Gunfire broke out from the rear of the SUV—the man who’d been covering his friends.
