I straighten up, ignoring the dull ache between my thighs as it all clicks into place. Striding toward Hunt and Anderson, I flip the flashlight on my cell phone and direct it at the prisoner being held between my two friends. “Get rid of the mask and goggles.”
Hunt restrains her as Anderson removes the balaclava and goggles.
I mask my shock as I stare at her insolent face.
Who the fuck is this girl?
“You have a lot of explaining to do, Athena.” My cold tone matches the cold expression on my face.
“Bite me, Drew,” she coolly replies, blowing wispy strands of hair out of her eyes.
Anger trickles through my veins, and I want to put her over my lap and smack the defiance out of her. “Hold her arms out,” I command.
“Get your fucking hands off me,” she hisses as I start searching her body for weapons.
“Trust me, I’m taking no joy from this,” I lie, brushing my hands over her chest, the sides of her breasts, her stomach, back, and ass. Pushing her thighs apart, I cup her crotch through her pants.
“Liar,” she seethes. “Unless you’re actually stupid enough to believe I’ve shoved a weapon up my cunt.”
“Stranger things have happened.” I run my hands up and down her legs, quickly unstrapping the knives I find tied to both calves. I toss them to Charlie and stand. “She’s clean.”
Anderson and Hunt lower her arms to her sides, still holding on to her in case she tries to run again.
“Don’t move,” Hunt says, extracting an earbud from her ear. Flicking the flashlight on his cell, he inspects it up close with a frown. “Where did you get this?”
She smirks at him, firmly keeping her lips closed.
“What is it?” Anderson asks.
“Some kind of communication device, but I have never seen one like it,” Hunt says, slipping it into his pocket before he turns her head, checking her other ear. Finding it empty, he runs his flashlight slowly over her body, plucking a circular black disc from her shirt. His frown deepens as he stares at it. “I’m guessing this is some kind of microphone. I’ll take them back and check it out.”
“You really don’t want to do that.” Athena’s smirk grows wider.
I step right up to her, gripping her chin in my hand and arching her head back. “Who are you working for and why?”
“Right back at you,” she coolly replies, and my brows climb to my hairline.
“We don’t have time to do this here,” Charlie says. “We need to go now.”
“Hold her,” I tell Anderson while I grab Athena’s bag and rummage through it.
“That’s mine, asshole,” she says, not even attempting to wriggle out of Anderson and Hunt’s hold.
“Consider it payback for rifling through my office,” I snap, removing a set of handcuffs and some rope. I walk around my buddies and pull her hands behind her back, clamping the handcuffs around her wrists before tying her ankles together with the rope. She doesn’t fight, and I appreciate it because we need to get the fuck out of Dodge before we all die. The plane I have on standby won’t wait forever. Especially if the Bulgarians reach out to the Serbians for assistance.
“I’ll get you back for this,” she says as I toss her over my shoulder and secure her with my arm across the back of her thighs.
“Stay quiet unless you plan to die out here.”
She doesn’t reply, and we take off running, heading down the narrow driveway where our car is parked.
“Open the trunk,” I say when we reach the car.
“Drew, I?—”
“Don’t want to hear it, Anderson.”
Charlie opens the trunk, and I shove a glaring Athena inside. She’s shouting abuse at me, so I grab the packing tape I used on Petrov’s son and slap a piece over her mouth to shut her up.
