Throwing her legs over the side of the bed, she grimaced at the dirt streaks marring the ivory sheets. Whoever had taken her hadn’t changed her out of her torn cocktail dress or cleaned her up in any way. Somehow, that made her feel better, though it did nothing to reduce the panic rising.
They hadn’t found Lee, had they? Why had the men taken her? Who did they work for?
“Hello, Viktoria.”
Viktoria lurched off the bed and whipped around at the familiar voice. “Katrin?” Shock blanked her mind and she clasped her throat, then clues began bombarding her. Katrin asking about Viktoria’s schedule, her finding out about the airport changes from Aleta, her preying on Viktoria’s fears about her public image as a way to get her to come to the fashion show and draw them away from the plane—
“Why?” Viktoria dropped her hand and moved to the end of the bed. Her heart pounded so hard, she could barely hear anything. Her childhood friend had tried to kill her. She just couldn’t grasp that fact.
Katrin sighed from just inside the doorway. “It’s your fault, really.” She frowned petulantly. “If you weren’t such a stickler for rules and such an abnormally good person, then we wouldn’t be in this situation.”
“What are you talking about?” Anger simmering within the shock began to grow. “Who’s ‘we’?”
“Our fathers,” Katrin snapped. “If it wasn’t for you, they’d still be running a very profitable—if not exactly legal—business on the side, and both our families would stay rich.”
“No.” Viktoria shook her head, refusing to believe her father would participate in anything illegal.
Katrin flounced deeper into the room. “A little corruption is hardly a big deal, but when you started taking on a more active managerial role in your father’s company, Jon Aronsson insisted that anything that might upset his precious little princess had to stop.” Her eyes flashed. “He didn’t want you finding out and thinking less of him.”
Air felt trapped in Viktoria’s lungs. Her mind whirled through the last few years, pinging on the few inconsistencies she’d found that her father swooped in and said he’d handle.
“My father,” Katrin’s voice hardened, “doesn’t have the option of starting a new division like you’ve done. He’s been making less and less money while you and your father have been getting wealthier.” Hatred poured from her expression, drying Viktoria’s mouth. “It’s your fault my family is losing our fortune.”
Viktoria blanched at the callous reason Katrin wanted her dead. Money. She’d always been spoiled and selfish, but this was beyond comprehension.
“The simplest solution was to kill you,” Katrin announced. “Remove the reason your father held out and he’d start up the side deals again, but you survived all the attacks.” She paused in the center of the room. “At first, I was furious but now that I’ve finally captured you, I’ve got choices on how to make your father do what I want. I can coerce him, dangle your safe return as the carrot but only if he restarts the deals. But this time you’d participate and use that analytical brain to increase our profits—”
“Like hell I’d help you.”
“Then I’ll kill you myself,” Katrin snarled, “just to punish you for making so much trouble, and to show Aronsson the penalty for thinking he can rob my family of our wealth.”
Nausea rolled Viktoria’s stomach. Nothing of the girl she grew up with remained in this heartless, self-centered woman. And her father…a man she worked herself to the bone to please and impress…the man who expected her to put her family and the company first over her own personal desires…That he would participate in something that would jeopardize them all shocked her to the core. She’d barely lived, always afraid of causing a scandal, or embarrassing her father…and he was the one who would cause them shame and dishonor. He’d been so greedy and short-sighted, he’d risked destroying the company for money. Money they could live without or earn legitimately if he’d been patient…since she’d taken over the COO position, their bottom line had strengthened and increased.
It just wouldn’t sink in. She needed Lee. She needed him to hold her and help her process the betrayal destroying her world.
“How did you find me?” Viktoria asked to slow the punches that just kept coming. “After I jumped, I mean. You had men right there.”
“The bracelet,” Katrin preened. “My idea.” She patted her chest. “It had a tracker woven into the braid, but it came off and my men were searching in the wrong area until you so nicely called to them.”
Viktoria cringed. Lee would be so disappointed. He had been right to question how well Viktoria knew Katrin. He’d made no secret he didn’t trust her or her security. Viktoria wished she’d asked him what he’d sensed—what she’d missed in her stubborn refusal to see the truth.
“I can see your mind churning.” Katrin pointed at Viktoria’s head. “Do you think someone’s coming for you?” She shook her head. “Unlikely. No one knows who’s been after you except for your father, and he won’t tell the authorities about the grudge my family has against him. To do so would mean admitting to his illegal activities. Awwww,” Katrin sneered, sticking her bottom lip out. “Are you thinking about your Neanderthal? Did you just imagine him bursting in and saving the day?”
The evil cackle that emanated from Katrin’s throat raised Viktoria’s hair.
“Think again.” Katrin’s eyes twinkled. “I made sure Aronsson severed the contract with the security company. So, if Lee survived the jump, he’ll be ordered back to San Diego, not running after you.”
Grief lanced Viktoria’s heart. After their last conversation, she didn’t imagine Lee running after her anyway. She had to find a way out herself. If she survived, she’d force Lee to listen to her—
“You should stop thinking about a rescue,” the light dimmed in Katrin’s eyes, turning ugly, “and start coming up with reasons why I should let you live. Because right now? The odds aren’t in your favor.”
“Katrin,” a new female voice said, “I have Jon Aronsson holding for you.”
“Aleta?” Viktoria snapped her head back to stare at her assistant standing in the doorway. “You aren’t sick?” Dear God, how deep did the betrayal go?
“No.” Aleta’s expression hardened and she lifted her chin.
Katrin laughed and clapped her hands underneath her chin. “I had her tell you that so she wouldn’t be on the plane.” Katrin slithered toward the doorway. “That way, she could still be my spy without putting herself in danger.” Turning when she got to the threshold, Katrin peered over her shoulder. “When I realized I couldn’t kidnap you, I devised a way to give my man access, so he could rig the charges on the plane.”
Monster. This woman had almost killed innocent people just to stay rich.
“Think about those reasons,” Katrin called as she walked out. “We’ll talk about whether you live or die soon.”
20
“I count at least five guards patrolling,” Harris whispered, peering through a pair of high-powered binoculars. “Their pattern is set and easy to discern. I’d bet they’re hired thugs with no specialized training or particular loyalty to their boss.”
Lee peered through the scarred and pitted spotting scope Chance had brought with him. The scope had been the one Lee had brought home when he left the Rangers. One of the few items that survived the pipe bomb. Lying on his stomach, he scanned the sprawling mansion-style farmhouse in the valley below, thirty miles from where he’d woken up by himself after the jump. In the last sixteen hours, all he kept imagining was Katrin or her men hurting Viktoria. In his blackest moments, he wondered if he’d be too late and find her dead. Too many times, he almost went after her himself. Waiting for his brother’s flights, then Chance meeting with his SEAL buddy before the four-hour drive to the hotel, then casing the property had worn Lee raw.
“I agree, Harris,” Chance rumbled from his prone spot beside Lee. “Their body language reveals they’re relying on the might of their guns to st
op a threat.”
Full darkness had descended half an hour ago, making it harder for Lee to see, but he roved the spotting scope over the guards moving in the back of the property. By the way they held the machine guns and rifles, he agreed with his brothers’ assessments.
Fitting the brand new, state-of-the-art comm device into his ear, he turned it on. “Testing.”
Brady, Chance’s SEAL pal, had really come through on almost no notice, but all the gear came with a price. Between Chance, Harris, Lee, and Brady, the brothers had enough comm devices, weapons (including tranq guns since no one wanted to end up with murder charges), ammunition, and body armor to infiltrate the mansion, grab Viktoria, and rendezvous to where Brady would be waiting. That was the price. Brady understood Lee’s need to keep his promise and complete his mission, but insisted on participating. Lee appreciated the man had skills, but at the moment, he only trusted his brothers, so they’d compromised. Brady handled the transportation—getting them in and out—plus monitoring the police frequencies and being a backup if needed.
Harris, Chance, and Brady each confirmed their comms were working.
“Let’s do this.” Lee rose to a crouch and pulled the tranq gun from its side holster. Dressed all in black, he and his brothers hustled down the hillside and slipped through the split-rail fence encasing a meadow. Not once had they seen an animal the entire time they’d studied the property, so they chose this as the entry point. Lee hoped their luck held out, and they didn’t find themselves face to face with a bull.
Racing through the unmown grass, they exited near the barn. Picking their way across the lawn, they dodged and ducked the guards, using the deep shadows. Lee knelt by the elaborate deck between the pool and the house. Harris and Chance filed in behind him.
They crept along the back—
“Down,” Chance hissed and Lee instantly flattened to the deck.
Peering to the right, he watched a guard lazily stroll along the other side of the unlit pool, then back onto the lawn again.
Rising, Lee snuck against the house until he reached a room that had no one inside. Lee holstered the gun and whipped his lock pics out. The flimsy single bolt on the French door took him no time to unlock while his brothers watched for guards. Slowly opening it, he slipped into the dark room and found himself in a library. Harris and Chance silently crossed the threshold and closed the door behind them.
Moving to the back of the couch to remain out of the guards’ visuals, he pulled his burner phone out. Lee strained to see the display he had dimmed to keep from being discovered. A red dot blinked on the detailed map he’d downloaded to work in conjunction with the tracking program for the tracer on Viktoria’s necklace. It would have been cool if it showed the house’s floor plan but it didn’t, so he had to make do with extrapolating whether he was getting hot or cold based on his coordinates in relation to the red dot.
“That way,” he whispered, pointing left as he palmed his tranq gun.
A large black shape tromped into the library, freezing Lee and his brothers. The guard jolted as if startled, then dropped in a noisy heap. Chance lowered his tranq gun, and Harris vaulted over the couch to hide the guard behind the door.
Hustling down the brightly lit hallway, Lee stopped when they reached another room. “She’s in here.” Heart lodged in his throat, his instincts said the door wouldn’t be open if Viktoria was truly inside…or he’d find her not breathing.
Using the stacking technique—a single file line with each person breaking off in a left, right direction as they entered—they found themselves in a windowless bedroom. Similar to a panic room, yet not, since the occupants couldn’t lock themselves inside. Instead, they could be locked in…like a beautiful cell.
The red dot continued blinking but Viktoria wasn’t there. Lee found the necklace and what was left of her dress piled on the floor near the bed.
“Shit.” He held the necklace up.
“Judging by all the security,” Harris knelt beside Lee, “she’s still in the house.”
“We’ll find her.” Chance clapped Lee’s back.
In what condition? He bit back the question. Please, God, let her be alive.
Click-clacking heels clipped smartly on the hardwood flooring in the hallway.
Lee stuffed the phone away and crowded against the mattress with his brothers, rising just enough to peer at the doorway. The footsteps didn’t slow as the unidentified woman passed the room.
“Split up,” Chance instructed as he rose.
“I’m following her.” Lee silently crept out of the room in the same direction of the woman.
Harris and Chance turned left, in the opposite direction.
Keeping the tranq gun at the ready, Lee followed the sounds of the woman’s heels. He couldn’t be sure, but the brief glimpse he got of her face, he thought he recognized Aleta, Viktoria’s assistant, from the security file Boom had given him. It would make sense if she was involved. She’d already been feeding Katrin Viktoria’s location. Lee had hoped the woman was being used, but it looked like that wasn’t the case if she was roaming here freely.
A shadow grew on the floor at the corner in the hallway. Lee jumped into the closest room and pressed his back against the wall. Edging over to peek out, he found Aleta talking in Icelandic to a hulking man. Her hands slashed in the air, then one connected with the man’s face. His skin flushed red and he looked ready to kill her but instead, he pushed her to the side and stomped up the hallway.
Lee waited until the man disappeared from sight. “Harris, Chance,” he whispered, “one guard headed your way and he’s pissed.”
“I found a couple in their forties in the theater room,” Harris replied grimly, “Their throats are slashed. I’m assuming they’re the rightful owners of the home.”
Well, that answered that question. Lee wondered how Katrin had established a secured location so close to the crash site when she couldn’t have known exactly where the plane would go down or whether Viktoria would survive the crash.
“We’ll add murder to the list when we notify the police,” Chance chimed in. “I’ve downed two guards.”
“I took care of the one in here,” Harris responded.
Lee sprang into the hallway, adrenaline pouring into his veins. He had to find Viktoria. If Katrin murdered the couple in cold blood just for her own convenience, what would she do to a woman she seemed to have a serious grudge against?
The heels continued to click on the hardwood floor. Lee used the sound to track Aleta like a puma to a deer, expecting to be taken to the rest of the herd—
Katrin’s high-pitched cackle broke the silence.
Lee slapped the lights off in the empty kitchen and raced to the swinging-style doorway. Cracking the door an inch, he peered into the room and found Katrin seated at the head of an oversized dining room table. Aleta plopped into a seat on the right, but he could only stare at the woman at on the left.
Viktoria. Dressed in a white T-shirt and sweatpants. Lee could only assume Katrin believed she was insulting Viktoria with the clothing, but Viktoria had carried off Cookie Bird. This was nothing.
Katrin lifted a glass half-full of red wine. “I’ve been thinking about your caveman, Viktoria.” She swallowed a sip. “That Neanderthal is gorgeous and so…raw.” She purred like a bitch in heat. “If he survived, maybe I’ll hire him myself. He’ll need a job now that your father’s fired him.” Her eyes flashed with glee. “And you’ll be dead, so you won’t need him.”
Mother. Fucker. The gun squeaked in his tightening grip. The callous way she spoke about killing Viktoria lit him to a boiling point. “Harris, Chance,” he pushed out through his locked jaw. “I’ve found her. Meet me in the kitchen.”
“…getting bored with my current boy-toy,” Katrin continued taunting.
“Lee wouldn’t touch you if you were the last female on Earth,” Viktoria snapped, pushing her plate away. “He's got class and intelligence.” She leaned forward. “In other words,
he’s way out of your league and far too good for you. He’s noble while you’re nothing but trash.”
“I like your woman,” Chance whispered, easing to a stop beside Lee.
Katrin slammed her wine glass onto the table, shattering it. “Lock this bitch back in the room. I’m done being hospitable. And get her father on the phone. His timetable to answer me has just moved up.”
Shit. If they returned her to the room with her clothes, they were screwed. That room only had one exit making it much more difficult to get her out. That left him taking on the security now, or waiting for another opportunity. Who was he kidding? He wasn’t waiting.
“We take her now,” Lee announced, backing away from the door. He flattened his back against the wall while Chance crouched behind the granite island in the center.
“I got held up by roaming guards,” Harris said through Lee’s earpiece. “Be there in a second.”
The door swung open and Lee froze. A man with a shoulder harness tromped through first, followed by Viktoria, then a second man wearing an olive-green T-shirt brought up the rear. Lee waited for the door to swing shut, then he fired. The tranq burrowed into Olive Green’s back.
A second shot fired almost simultaneously and Shoulder Harness dropped to the floor as well.
Viktoria whirled, her eyes wild as she searched, then widened when they landed on him. “Lee!” she whisper-cried, throwing herself at him.
Lee caught her easily. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him so hard, he forgot his name for a second.
“Come on,” Chance barked, grabbing Lee’s bicep, effectively breaking the kiss. “We gotta move it. Those shots weren’t silent.”
Grabbing Viktoria’s hand, Lee pulled her toward the hallway. Guards ran toward them from both directions. Damn it. He had to find her safe place before he could take care of the threat. Yanking her into the first room he came to, he found himself back in the library.
Gunfire erupted, echoing. The brrrrrrr of machine guns along with precision cracks of the tranq guns made it sound like a warzone.
Ranger’s Protection: SEAL and Veteran Series: Book Three Page 12