Outside, I heard raised voices, the squeal of rubber on concrete, and a gunshot. Then there was a thud, another shot, and silence. My heart skipped. What had happened? Had someone been shot?
I raced into the bathroom, choosing not to look at my surroundings, and tried the latch on the window. It didn’t open, so I scanned the room, spotting a piece of timber leaning against the wall in the corner. I grabbed the board, weighed it in my hands, and then lined it up with thewindow. I swung it like a baseball bat, but the glass didn’t shatter. I stared in disbelief. Only the tiniest chip had appeared. It must be reinforced. I swung again, aiming for the chip, and again. Gradually, a crack appeared, and then the glass panel crumpled outward. A moment later, a face wearing a visor appeared in the window.
“You okay?” Kade asked.
ZEKE
I went willinglyas Bergen Cole pushed me into the vehicle he’d parked around the side of the building. I hadn’t seen it earlier because we’d approached from the other direction. We should have cleared the area first, but I wasn’t expecting him to be here, so I hadn’t bothered. That had been an oversight. Clearly, after we’d spoken with Patience about our lead, she must have gone straight to him and they’d decided to use our plan to their advantage and sat in wait for us.
That’s what we got for trusting someone.
And yet, Fiona trusted me. I wouldn’t let her down. I smiled to myself. Maybe it made me certifiable to find joy in a moment such as this, but knowing she trusted me to protect her meant everything.
Patience came racing out of the building, carrying the Monet. Bergen popped the trunk open and she slid it inside, then slammed the trunk shut and got into the front passenger side. I flopped against the back seat, keeping low in case Kade’s team arrived and started shooting. They were trained to use non-lethal means of apprehending people if possible because it was easier to keep the police happy thatway, but they’d shoot if they had to, and this might be a situation that called for it.
The car lurched forward. Outside, I saw a flicker of movement, and then a figure appeared in front of us. A muzzle flashed and the windscreen shattered as a bullet tore through it. Glass tinkled to the floor. I rolled toward the side door and tried the handle, but it was locked. I flicked the lock and tried again, but it didn’t budge. I cursed. He must have used his override button to shut down all the locks in the car.
Another shot cracked in the night, and Bergen cried out as it punctured his shoulder. He put his foot on the accelerator and the car rocked, an awful thud sounding as we hit a person. My gut tightened. I hoped whoever it was would be okay.
I lurched forward, reaching for Bergen’s weapon, but I found myself staring down the barrel of Patience’s handgun.
“Don’t fucking move,” she hissed. Her eyes were wild, and I stopped, knowing she’d shoot me in an instant if she thought she had to. “Put your wrists together. Slowly.”
Bergen didn’t slow the car as we hurtled around a corner. I wondered if anyone from King’s Security was on our tail. I had another tracker in my shoe that I’d worn in case anything happened to the watch, so they wouldn’t have any problem following us.
Patience pulled a zip tie from her pocket and glanced from it to my wrists. Realization seemed to dawn on both of us at the same time. She couldn’t put it on me without lowering the gun, and I could hardly zip-tie my own wrists.
I smirked. “What’s your plan with that?”
She dropped it and moved so quickly I wasn’t prepared when the gun smashed into the side of my head. My vision went hazy and then dipped out.
When I opened my eyes again, my head was throbbingpainfully and my wrists were bound together in front of me. Damn, she must have knocked me out and taken care of it while I was unconscious. At least my legs were still free.
In the front, Patience was on the phone, speaking with a phony British accent.
“Yes, that’s right,” she was saying.
I rolled my eyes, then winced in discomfort. The accent was clearly fake, and whoever she was talking to must know it.
“She had red hair, and she was tall and slim. She had something with her.” A slight hesitation, and then she added, “A painting, maybe. It was hard to tell in the dark.”
It must be the police.
“Help!” I yelled, knowing it would take a few vital seconds before Patience or Bergen could react, during which time the officer on the phone might hear everything. “I’ve been kidnapped!”
Patience ended the call and whipped around. She aimed the gun at me. Honestly, with how much time I’d spent staring down the barrel of a gun tonight, it was starting to lose its sharp edge of fear.
“Can I shoot him?” she asked Bergen.
“Not here.” He sounded as if he found the idea distasteful. “Too much cleanup. We’ll drop him in a quiet alley somewhere. That way the mugging story will be an easier sell.”
I snorted, despite the pain beating through my mind. “You must know that no one will believe it. Come on. My company is investigating you and the next minute Fiona is in jail and I’m dead? The police aren’t stupid.”
“We don’t need them to be,” Bergen replied. He shifted in his seat and I heard his quick intake of breath. The gunshot wound must be bothering him. How much blood had he lost? Enough to pass out? One-on-one odds werebetter than two-on-one, even if Patience was armed and I wasn’t. “As soon as we’ve sold the Monet, I can pay off whoever the hell I need to to make it stick.”
“Good plan. Real solid. That’s definitely not going to land you behind bars.”
“It will work.” His tone was grim.
“It will,” I agreed. “You’ll be in prison in no time, and I’ll be free to kiss the hell out of my woman. I appreciate you making it so easy.”
Bergen glanced over his wounded shoulder. “What the hell is your deal? Do you want to die?”
No.
I’d never had a death wish, and I’d done things I wasn’t proud of to save myself in the past, but I’d never wanted to live quite this badly before. Fiona gave me a reason to want to stick around and find out what the future held. When I did leave this world, it sure as hell wasn’t going to be because of an asshole like this guy.
He pulled over and shut off the engine. I raised up enough to peer through the windows. We were in a dark alley, exactly as he’d said. There was a click as he unlocked the doors.
“Get out,” he ordered.
