“Using the traffic cameras, it looks like they went east, but then they fell off the grid. Same with her phone. I was able to track it to a tower in the area about the same time they disappeared from traffic. They turned off on a side road, unfortunately.”
“Right.” He closed his eyes a moment while he thought. “Get agents out there where they disappeared and just start searching. This is a kidnapping and we’ve got a good lead in the direction they went. Let’s go give this everything we’ve got and see if we can find her. Oh, and contact the field office’s SWAT and have them on standby to take the lead if we wind up needing them to do so.”
“On it.” Annie hung up and Caden turned back to Heather. He handed her the laptop and she snapped it shut and tucked it under her arm.
“I’m going to make a few more calls and I should have your answer about the drug and how to quickly dilute the effects of it. Stay tuned, but please find Sarah and Gavin.”
Caden nodded, noting the worry in her blue eyes and the pinched mouth. She was scared for her friends. He understood. He was terrified.
Sarah climbed out of the driver’s side and stood for a moment to gather her nerves. While well aware of the woman behind her with the weapon, Sarah was also painfully aware of one other thing.
“Where’s Gavin’s truck?”
“In a parking garage about thirty minutes from here.”
Sarah drew in a shuddering breath. So, there would be no tracking Gavin via his truck. And now she’d handed herself over to the monsters responsible for Dustin’s death—and who knew how many others.
For the first time since leaving the hospital, real fear swept in and nearly paralyzed her.
The gun at the base of her spine pushed her forward. Help wasn’t on the way. She’d truly thought they’d beat her and her captor to the location. She was thrown, mentally and emotionally. With her mind processing her new predicament and recalculating the plan, she decided she had two goals.
Find Gavin and her father and stay alive while doing so.
“Go. Inside.”
“I know this place,” she murmured. “Why do I know this place? Marshbanks Labs.”
“You can think later. Get inside.”
Sarah figured she could get the gun away from the woman with a few well-placed self-defense moves she’d learned in the service—and from two well-meaning brothers who wanted her to be able to take care of herself—but if she managed to do that without getting shot, how would she go about finding Gavin and the general?
Tamping down the desperate need to get away from her captor and the desire to find the men, she bit her lip and let Donna direct her to the glass doors. The woman punched in the code and the doors slid open.
Sarah stepped inside the air-conditioned lobby and stood still, listening, watching—and praying that Donna knew how to use the weapon and wouldn’t accidentally pull the trigger. “What now?”
“Walk.”
“Where are my father and Gavin?”
“You’ll see them soon enough.”
Sarah allowed the woman to maneuver her down the stairs. She shoved open the heavy metal door at the bottom and stepped into a long hallway. The basement of the building. “To the end.”
“Why am I here? What do you want with me?”
“I don’t want anything to do with you. My part ends here.” She stopped in front of the first door on the left. “Open it.”
Sarah twisted the knob and threw it open.
The plush office inside was a direct contrast to the stark exterior. A man sat in a leather chair behind the oversized executive desk, his back facing her. He paused. Drew in a deep breath and turned. “Hello, Sarah.”
Sarah blinked. She should know this man. He looked so familiar. Why couldn’t she place him? “Who are you?”
He raised a brow. “Marshall McClain.”
Everything rushed in. Her father’s friend from college. The fraternity brother who owned a private pharmaceutical company. “It’s your drug that’s killing people.”
“I need to get back to the hospital,” Donna said from behind her.
“We’re almost done here.”
“What about Richard?”
“I’ve taken care of him. Just get back to doing what you do best and then leave the rest to me.”
“They’re closing in, Marshall. We need to shut this down and get out of the country before everything blows up in our faces.”
The man’s eyes hardened. “You have no clue what you’re suggesting. As soon as Sarah signs a few papers, all will be fine once again.” He opened the top drawer of his desk and set a small stack on the flat surface in front of him.
Sarah frowned. “Sign what papers?”
“The ones your father has already signed. I promised him that I’d let you live as long as he signed them.”
“Wow, that was almost convincing. You’re a really good liar.”
He leaped to his feet, fists clenched at his sides. “Listen to me, little girl, I didn’t grow up with every privilege handed to me. I worked hard and clawed my way to the top. I will not let a few million dollars keep me from finally achieving what I’ve slaved and sacrificed everything for!”
Sarah swallowed.
Donna cleared her throat and pushed Sarah farther into the room, then handed Marshall the gun. “I’ll be back to help wrap things up. Just let me know what else you need me to do.”
“Thank you, Donna.” He held the gun on Sarah. “You’ve done a good job today.”
“I’m sure that gratitude will be reflected in my bank account by tomorrow?”
“Of course.”
She turned on her heel and slipped out the door without a backward glance.
Sarah turned her attention back to McClain. “I’m not signing any papers.”
“Then your father and Black will die. It’s really that simple. Because the only reason they’re still alive is so I can use them as incentive to get you to sign.”
“Which means as soon as I sign, we’re all dead anyway.” She paused. “And I thought those signatures had to be witnessed by a lawyer.”
“They do.”
She drew in a breath. “I see. You have one of those on your payroll as well.”
“Of course.” He almost looked amused. “You have no idea how big this operation is.” He studied her a few minutes. “I’ll give you an hour to think about it.”
“I don’t need to think about it. If I’m dying anyway, you’re not getting the payoff that comes with it.” However, the longer she dragged this out, the longer she had to think of a way to escape and find the men.
His jaw tightened and he opened a side drawer. “Dr. Kilgore was nice enough to make up this solution for me.” He withdrew a bottle with a spray top. “It’s very effective.”
Her gut churned and the fear she’d been holding at a controllable level just notched up into a new area. “And?”
“And if you don’t cooperate—”
A chime sounded and he glanced at his laptop. His eyes went wide and a string of curses slipped from him. He darted to her, pulling the trigger on the spray bottle. Sarah had no time to duck, just turn her face at the last second. The liquid hit her in the cheek. She gasped, then realized that was the worst thing she could have done. Dizziness hit her and her legs gave out. Hands from behind caught her and lowered her to the floor.
“We don’t have long, Marshall.” Donna had come back. “The pilot’s waiting.”
Sarah tried to break loose from the hard grip that held her, but she was so weak and the darkness was demanding.
“I can’t leave without her,” he said. “And I need that guy she’s so crazy about. She’ll sign the papers eventually.”
“What about her father?”
“We don’t need him anymore. Kill him.”
Noooooo . . .
Sarah lost the fight and let the blackness claim her.
CHAPTER
TWENTY-FIVE
Gavin jumped when the door flew
open. He’d untied the general, but left the ropes arranged in such a way as to disguise their looseness. He kept his own hands behind him.
A man entered, carrying Sarah draped over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Marshall McClain, the man who’d betrayed the general. McClain set Sarah on the floor, then motioned to the woman hovering behind him. “Do it.”
“Sarah!” The general stood, the untied ropes falling around his feet.
A woman stepped forward—Nurse Donna?—syringe in hand and aimed at Sarah’s arm. Gavin came off the floor and tackled the nurse. She screamed and buckled beneath his weight.
“I’m going to kill you!” The general went after McClain.
A gunshot sounded and Gavin spun to see the general slump midstep to the floor.
“Don’t move!” McClain’s yell froze him.
Donna scurried from underneath him, panting and clutching her side. He’d hit her hard enough to break something, but the pain didn’t hold her back and she darted to Sarah’s side searching for the syringe. Gavin went after her one more time, only to halt when the man aimed his weapon at Sarah.
“Move and she dies, right here, right now,” the man said.
Gavin stayed put, but his gaze darted to Donna, who’d found the syringe, needle once again aimed at Sarah’s arm.
“Get away from her,” the general said. “Don’t do it. Please.” His eyes closed and Gavin prayed he’d only passed out and wasn’t dead.
Donna glanced at McClain, who nodded.
“The shot won’t kill her,” McClain said, “but it will encourage her to see things my way. It’s simple. When she signs the papers, she gets the second dose which counteracts the first.” Sarah stirred and McClain raised a brow. “I need her signature and I need it ASAP, but we’re going to have to take care of that in the plane.”
Sarah groaned and Donna jabbed her with the needle. Gavin hollered, ignored the weapon aimed at Sarah and lunged, catching the man in the stomach. The gun tumbled from his fingers and hit the concrete.
They stumbled backward while Donna screeched at them to stop. Gavin drew his fist back, pausing when the weapon fired again. The bullet whizzed past his face so close to his nose, he could almost smell it. He jerked back.
“Stop! I’ll kill her! Do you understand? I’ll kill her and you and everyone in here! Stop! Stop now!” Donna’s hysterical screams registered, and he stilled, his eyes going to Sarah. Awake, she met his gaze, confusion and fear mingled with sheer fury. She tried to roll to her feet and staggered. Fell on her backside.
McClain scooted backward, breathing hard and shooting black looks at him. He scrambled to his feet and snagged the gun from Donna. “Get up.” He gestured to Sarah, who simply looked at him. Her gaze shifted to Gavin, then finally landed on her father and her eyes flickered. She shook her head and narrowed her eyes. “General,” she whispered. She reached out a hand and moved, trying to get to her father.
“Pick her up,” McClain said. “We need to get out of here now.”
“What about the general?” Gavin asked, glancing at the wounded man. He lay still, eyes closed, but his chest rose and fell.
“Regrettable, but he’ll be staying here. Go. Out the door. And just in case you’re tempted to try something like that again, keep in mind that I’m the only one who can reverse the drug. Neutralize it, so to speak.”
Gavin lifted Sarah into his arms. She gave a whimper of protest and wiggled, her gaze fixed on her father.
He’d said something about a “cure” a few moments ago. “What are you talking about?” Gavin tightened his grip. “Hold on, Sarah, please.”
“T-64. The drug she was just injected with. I’m the only one who can offer an antidote.”
It had a name. T-64. The drug that had killed Sarah’s brother and so many others.
Gavin’s heart thudded, not with the effort of holding Sarah, but with the knowledge that she was going to soon suffer the effects of the drug. “There’s a cure?”
“Of course. Now go!”
Gavin could no longer stall. He stepped out of the room, sparing a backward glance at the general. The man lay still, bleeding, but still breathing.
Nurse Donna consulted her phone and groaned. “They’re surrounding the building.”
“Shut up,” McClain ordered. He shoved the weapon in Gavin’s back. “Donna, you go first.” To Gavin, “Follow her. Out the door and up the stairs. All the way to the roof.”
Help was on the way. Gavin’s heart leapt even as he desperately searched for a way to buy some more time. But even if he had to leave with Sarah, law enforcement would search the building and find the general. With that worry off his mind, Gavin could focus on Sarah. He followed Donna with Sarah in his arms.
“General,” she said again. “Gavin, my father . . .”
She stiffened and he tightened his grip. “Stay still, please. Trust me.”
Sarah went limp and his heart did all kinds of funny things at the instant response that said she fully believed he’d take care of her—and her father.
At the top of the stairs, Donna led them through a maze of corridors and up one last flight of steps. She pushed through the metal door, and Gavin found himself on an airstrip that ran the length of the massive building. A small plane was ready and waiting, the propellers beating the air. He thought he could hear sirens above the whir of the blades.
“Get on the plane, Donna.”
“I’m not going!”
McClain turned the weapon on her and pulled the trigger. She screamed. Then clutched her bleeding chest and stumbled backward, fighting to stay on her feet. And failing.
Before Gavin could act, the weapon was once more trained on him and Sarah. “I’m not playing around. Get on!”
Gavin couldn’t do much to protest with Sarah in his arms—which was something McClain had no doubt thought of. Regret that he couldn’t help Donna or the general overwhelmed him. But there was nothing he could do—except whatever he had to do to keep Sarah safe. Killing was second nature to this man and Gavin would have to tread carefully.
He climbed the portable steps and ducked into the six-seater plane. Sarah slid from his arms and into the nearest seat. He discreetly felt under her seat. A parachute. Good. And bad. He broke out in a sweat at the plan forming in his mind, but he had a feeling it was the only way. Using his body to shield his actions from the man behind him, Gavin pulled the chute from its nook and placed it behind Sarah. “Wiggle your arms through the straps when you can,” he whispered. Her eyes went wide, and she grabbed his hand and squeezed, her grip stronger than he would have thought.
“Hurry up. Get her strapped in,” McClain ordered.
He did as instructed, wondering if she was as groggy as she was leading him and McClain to believe. Regardless, Gavin finished and turned to face yet another weapon held by the pilot. Apparently, McClain had an entire army on his payroll. Gavin took the seat next to Sarah while McClain stepped in and shut the door.
“Get this thing in the air,” McClain yelled to the pilot. He turned back to Gavin. “No funny stuff or you’re dead and I’ll figure out what to do about her after that. As soon as we’re at cruising altitude and out of danger of being detected, she’s going to sign the papers. You hear me, Sarah?”
She ignored the man, keeping her eyes shut.
Gavin raised his hands as though in surrender.
McClain took the passenger seat in the front but stayed facing them, with the weapon trained on them. “Wrap the seatbelt around your arm and tie yourself to the armrest.”
After a brief hesitation, Gavin grabbed the lap belt and did as ordered. McClain reached over and grabbed the end, yanking it tight. The strap cut into his forearm, but Gavin kept his expression blank. He wouldn’t give the man the satisfaction of seeing him wince.
Sarah’s head lolled over onto Gavin’s shoulder, and he slipped his free arm around her to pull her closer.
“We have to get out of this,” she said, her voice low enough not to b
e heard by the two men up front.
“We will,” he said. “I’m working on a plan. Keep your eyes closed and act like you’re still drugged.”
“Not hard. I am. A little. Fortunately, I managed to dodge some of it.”
The plane accelerated down the rooftop runway and swooped into the air. He looked out the window and saw the authorities below, entering the building. Some pointed up to the plane and Gavin figured they’d have a police chopper on the way, if they didn’t already.
“They injected you with that drug, Sarah. You have to tell me if you start feeling . . . it.”
She gave a short nod. “Right now, I feel pretty good. Like I could conquer the world. Other than being a little sleepy, that is.”
“Good, we’re going to have to use that ‘conquer the world’ feeling as soon as we’re in the air.”
“How so?”
“Sarah,” McClain said, “glad to see you’re awake and feeling better. For now.”
Gavin wanted to smash the smirk off the man’s face. Instead, he narrowed his eyes and waited.
The plane banked left and the pilot said something to McClain, who jerked his attention to the window.
A police helicopter closing in. Thank God. Gavin leaned closer to Sarah. “The bird’s here. Please tell me you’ve parachuted out of a plane before.”
She hesitated. “Twice. For a story I was doing on a special forces team. Both times I was strapped to someone who knew what they were doing.”
“Twice?”
“I enjoyed it so much the first time, I wanted to do it again. They humored me.”
“Okay, good to know.”
“What about you?”
“I’ve got one under my seat, but I’m going to be the distraction that gets you out the door.”
She gulped and her eyes went wide. “So . . . you’re saying . . . ?”
“Yeah. I’m just saying, if it comes down to it, you’re going to have to do a solo jump.”
Sarah shook her head and noted the pilot and McClain were still in heated conversation about the helicopter. McClain had a headset on and every so often would tell the pilot what to say, then turn and check on them.
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