Nate turned to Kristin. “Search her purse and pockets.”
Libby was still gasping for air when Kristin took her handbag and dumped the contents on the floor. She stooped and dug through everything—Libby’s lipstick pouch, her wallet, the pockets of her bag—and unfolded every piece of paper. When she didn’t find anything, she stood and shoved her hands into Libby’s pockets. Thankfully, there was nothing but the phone. She handed that over to Nate.
“Unlock it,” he said, handing it back to Kristin to give to Libby. She typed in the numbers, though she considered refusing. He wasn’t going to find much, however, and that might buy her a little time.
“Who is Knight?” Nate asked. Daniel ended his call and walked over to stand behind Nate. He didn’t look as angry as Nate, but she didn’t kid herself that he was innocent. He was there, after all.
“A man I met. We’ve, uh, been having sex.”
“What do you mean you have his order?”
Her face flamed and her belly hurt. Thank God Jared had told her to be vague and never mention what she really had. She’d thought he’d read too many tomes about the National Security Agency and spies when in fact he was right. “It’s kinky stuff. I was answering his command.”
Nate scrolled upward. There were no other texts. “Where is this command?”
“It was in email. I deleted it.”
He handed the phone to Daniel. “I see.”
Daniel’s gaze flicked over the texts. “Who helped you escape, Libby?” he asked in a mild voice.
A chill washed over her. If she’d thought Daniel was somehow oblivious, she’d just gotten proof that he wasn’t. In fact, he was less emotional about the entire thing than Nate. Which probably made him more dangerous.
“No one. I climbed out the window when they thought I was too groggy to do anything. Then I walked until a man found me. He took me in and helped me until I felt better.”
“But where have you been all this time? Who were you staying with?”
She lifted her chin. “The same man. I fell for him, and I do what he tells me. It’s a master-slave thing.”
God, could she sound any more ridiculous? She knew people did that kind of thing, and more power to them if that was their kink, but it wasn’t hers. She really didn’t like being told what to do. If she did, maybe she’d have married Seb Wilcox and never left rural Ohio.
“And how did this man make the men on the mountain disappear? Because that was one hell of a trick. Men, guns, snowmobiles, dogs. All gone.”
Libby blinked. “I-I have no idea. What do you mean disappear?”
“As in gone. As in they haven’t made contact since they said they’d found you staying with a man in another cabin. What happened? Did you give this man the media card? Did he pay them off or promise them something? Who is he?”
Fear crawled down her throat at his questions. Not because she didn’t know the answers, but because she was beginning to feel like time was running out. Where was Jared? How much longer could she do this?
As long as you have to, Libby.
Yes, as long as she had to. Because she was strong enough, and she had enough faith. And he was coming. He’d promised. It was her job to stay alive until he did.
“He said he was former special forces. I didn’t give him anything because I didn’t have anything.”
“He was meeting you outside the building this morning. Why?”
“I told you. It was about sex. He wanted me to walk out of the building and go have sex in his car. He’s kinky that way.”
Daniel studied her. Nate was glaring. Kristin looked intrigued. Then she shook her head. “It’s a lie. Libby is too goody two-shoes for that kind of thing. In all the time I’ve known her, I’ve never known her to have a one-night stand. She wants the ring and the church, not kinky sex in a public parking lot with a mystery man.”
Daniel leaned against the arm of the sofa and crossed his legs. He was wearing a gray business suit made of expensive fabric and tailored to fit, and a crisp white shirt with cufflinks and a red tie. Someone had probably told him it was a power tie. Maybe his fiancée. He scratched absently behind one ear. Then he held out a hand to one of the men. The man placed a gun in his fingers.
Libby’s pulse skyrocketed. Was he about to shoot her? But Daniel walked out of the room, carrying her phone with him. A few more seconds and an ear-shattering bang made her jump and squeak. Daniel returned moments later without the phone and gave the gun back to the thug who’d given it to him.
“Phone’s dead,” he told her. “Nobody can track you here. So I suggest you get busy telling us where that card is, or this is going to be a very painful day for you.”
Her stomach fell. What if he was right and Jared couldn’t find her now? He’d put something on the skin of her back this morning and told her it was a tracker, but what if it wasn’t working right?
Have faith.
“I don’t have a card. Paul told me that RIM doesn’t work the way it’s supposed to, and he told me all he needed was a couple more years to fix it—but you wouldn’t let him. That’s all I know. That’s all he ever said.”
Daniel’s eyes narrowed. “That’s not what Paul said to us. He said he made a copy and gave it to you. So I need to know what you did with it, and if you gave it to anyone else.”
Her heart thumped. This was it. She was dead. But she’d be damned if she’d let these assholes win.
Daniel sighed. “Tell you what—we can do this easy or hard. Tell me where the card is and you can die quickly, without pain. Lie to me, and I’ll make sure every bone in your body is broken first. It won’t be pleasant. These two men are experts in torture. They can make you wish you were dead while keeping you alive to suffer every unpleasant moment of pain. Your choice.”
Libby’s heart thumped but she didn’t speak. At a nod from Daniel, one of the men stalked over and hauled back a fist to hit her. The blow landed hard on her jaw and her head snapped to the side. The momentum kept carrying her until the chair tipped and crashed to the floor. Pain rolled over her in waves as she tried to catch her breath.
“What’s that?” Kristin said as Libby’s head reeled.
Libby tried to focus on where her former friend was pointing. It wasn’t until Kristin picked the item up and straightened that Libby realized what had happened. Her shoe had come off when the chair fell. Kristin was holding the media card.
Libby moaned as she stared at the dark piece of plastic.
Now they really would kill her.
Jared prayed he could reach Libby in time. He knew what it was like to fail at the mission, but this was one mission he couldn’t fail. If he did, it would break him. He knew it deep in his bones. If he didn’t get to Libby in time, if he didn’t protect her from harm and keep her safe, he didn’t know how he’d survive the pain.
He sat against one wall in the military-grade helicopter Ian had managed to produce, as it winged its way toward Harper’s Ferry and Kristin Martin’s house, and stared at the blue sky beyond. If he didn’t get there in time, if he lost Libby…
If he lost the woman he didn’t want to live without…
Dax’s hand closed over his shoulder, squeezing. “We’ll get her, man. We’re only fifteen minutes behind them at this point.”
A lot could happen in fifteen minutes and they all knew it. But nobody said that. Brett Wheeler fixed him with a knowing look. “Your girl’s a fighter, Jared. She’ll do what she has to do to survive.”
His girl.
She was his girl, and he wanted her to know it. More than anything, he needed to get to her before it was too late and let her know how he felt. What she’d done to him. How she’d taken what he’d thought was broken and showed him that it wasn’t. That he was better with her in his life than without.
Fucking hell.
“Shit,” Dax said. He was studying the computer screen.
“What?” Jared asked.
“We’ve lost the phone. It went dead. But the trac
ker you put on her is still there.”
“That’s why we did it,” Jared said, thanking God they had. Praying it was enough.
“ETA in five,” Colt called back to them from his seat beside the pilot.
They’d gone back and forth over the plan, but had finally settled on a direct assault. The more time they wasted trying to infiltrate quietly, the more danger there was for Libby. She had the media card on her. If Weir or Anderson got it and accessed the information, they’d have no more use for her. There wasn’t a moment to spare. It was still a risk to storm the property, but they hoped the element of surprise would be on their side long enough to get to Libby.
“She’s still on the ground floor,” Dax said. “In the same room she entered a few minutes ago.” He pulled up a schematic of the house. “It’s the living room, to the left of the entry, and it runs the width of the house. There are eight windows—two in front, six along the side. The rear wall has a set of french doors. The front of the house faces the river while the rear faces woods and a long drive to the main road.”
If there were fewer woods, they could have set down somewhere close by and infiltrated more stealthily, but the only spot to land was the long stretch of property that sloped down to the river. The helicopter was equipped with stealth technologies to reduce rotor noise and the pilot was combat-trained. He would set them down as close to the house as he could manage. From there, they’d storm the building and rescue Libby.
Dax held up a hand as he seemed to be staring at the computer. Then he whooped. “I’ve got audio. The transmitter’s still working. Should have visual here in a second.”
Jared pressed the button so he could hear Libby talk. He needed to know she was still alive.
“You need an access code,” she was saying. She dragged in heavy breaths like she was hurting, and that made his blood boil. What had they done to her? “The card won’t work without it. And I’m not telling you the code unless you tell me where Paul is.”
“We’ll see about that,” a male voice said.
“Is that Weir?”
“Yeah,” Dax replied. “They’re putting the card into a reader. I can see Anderson now. She’s facing him and he’s got the computer. There’s another man standing by. Dark hair, mustache, mid-thirties maybe. Ah, and there’s Weir. He just walked into view.”
“Jesus, we only need a couple more minutes,” Jared growled.
“Almost there,” Jace said. “Hang on.”
The sound of typing came over the comm. Then Weir swore.
“She’s not lying,” Anderson said. “There’s an access code required, same as on Paul’s card. But the code isn’t the same. Canny bastard.” He paused for a moment. “We don’t really need it. We know this is the right card. Let’s just destroy it and get rid of her. We’ve got this, Dan.”
“No. We have to verify the information. If we don’t, we’ll always be watching our backs and wondering if Hicks left a ticking time bomb somewhere. If this card isn’t it, or if there’s something different on it, we need to know.”
“Then we need a code.”
Weir strode toward Libby. A moment later, the sound of a hand connecting to flesh echoed in their ears. Libby cried out in pain, and anger clawed at Jared’s insides. If he got his hands on Daniel Weir, he was going to kill him. Smarmy fucking used car salesman. Traitorous bastard.
“What’s the access code?” he demanded.
“Where’s Paul?” she asked again.
“He’s dead,” Weir told her. “As dead as you’re about to be if you don’t give me the code.”
“Go ahead,” she said with a sneer. “But you won’t get the information on that card—and you won’t find out who else has a copy. If I don’t return, they know what to do with it.”
Jared had to admire her balls, but he was terrified for her too. She was making shit up as she went and she was probably scared to death. She’d probably also given up on the idea of him rescuing her like he’d promised.
“Hang in there, Libby,” he said. “We’re coming.”
“Damn,” Dax said with a whistle. “She’s brave. Weir looks ready to pop a blood vessel—but he’s not moving.”
“He’s still trying to decide if she’s bullshitting him or not,” Tyler said. “She’s doing a fucking great job of it. I’d hesitate too if I were him.”
“We’re about to drop onto the landing zone. Get ready for the go order,” Colt said.
Thank fuck.
The helicopter dropped swiftly. They were out the doors before the craft touched the ground, weapons drawn. A shot came from the house, but Jared kept running toward it. There was another shot, and a man dropped onto the porch as one of Jared’s teammates took him out. The door whipped open and a second man stood there with a gun, aiming it directly at Jared.
The man fired. The bullet whizzed past Jared’s ear as he returned fire. The man dropped as Jared’s bullet found its target. Jared leapt onto the porch and burst through the door, guns at the ready as his teammates shattered windows and doors with their entry into the room.
Nate Anderson started to run for the back but Ty tackled him and took him to the ground. Another man stood beside Libby, hands up as if he knew it was best to embrace the inevitable. Daniel Weir was gone. So was Kristin Martin.
“Get Libby,” Brett said through the comm. “We’ve got these two. Sweeping for the others. They can’t have gone far.”
Jared rushed to Libby’s side and gripped her chin gently, forcing her to look at him. “Baby, it’s me. I’m here.”
Tears leaked from her eyes. One lid was swollen shut and her face was purpling where she’d been hit. Blood dripped from the corner of her mouth and her lip was split. Her glasses lay smashed on the floor and one shoe was off. She had a knot forming on her skull when he carefully probed. His heart dropped to his toes.
“Jared?” she whispered, her breathing strangled. She’d been hit more times than they’d heard and not just in the face. Black anger swirled inside him at the thought of her enduring that kind of pain. Any pain. Libby didn’t deserve that.
“Yes, baby. I’m here. You’re safe.”
“I knew you’d come. I stalled them. I did my best, but I was ready to give up. It hurt so much. My face, my stomach… Couldn’t breathe….”
He kissed her forehead. “You didn’t give up. You were perfect.” He pulled out a knife and cut her wrists free, then dropped and freed her ankles.
“Oh god, that hurts,” she said. “So bad.”
“It’s the blood rushing back into your extremities,” he told her, though he didn’t know it wasn’t something worse. Not until he examined her.
Jared turned. Brett and Ty had Nate and the other man subdued. They knelt on the ground, hands clasped behind their necks. As much as Jared wanted to beat the shit out of both of them, he bent to pick up Libby instead. “I’m taking you to the helicopter. We’re getting out of here.”
She clung to him. “Thank you for coming.”
He wanted to laugh at the way she said it. If the whole damned thing wasn’t so heartbreaking, he would. That was his Libby. So polite. She lifted her hand, fingers trembling, and pressed them to his jaw, touching him sweetly.
“I’ll always find you, Libby. I told you that.”
“You’re my knight in shining armor.”
He was, and he was damned glad of it. He carried her outside and stepped down to the yard, striding toward the waiting helicopter. A shape darted toward him from the side of the house. At first he thought it was one of his guys, but when the stride didn’t slacken, he threw a glance in that direction.
Kristin Martin ran at him. “Liar!” she screamed.
Too late, Jared realized she had a gun. And she was aiming it at Libby, who lay in his arms with nothing between her and the bullet that Kristin was intent on firing.
Nothing but him. As Kristin kept running, Jared turned away, putting his body between her and Libby. He didn’t have time to get to the helicopter. He did
n’t have time to do anything but protect his woman with his life.
The gun roared a moment later. When the bullet hit, he felt the fire of it all the way to his toes. Then he dropped to his knees as Libby screamed.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
“Jared!”
He’d collapsed on top of her, pressing her into the snow. Libby’s ears were ringing with the sound of gunfire and everything seemed like it was coming at her in a dream. In fact, she prayed she’d wake up and find out this whole thing had been a nightmare. She’d be beside Jared, naked in his bed, her body replete from his lovemaking. Nothing bad would be happening. She could shiver and cling to him and it would all go away. She’d wake in the morning to the scent of bacon and coffee, and Jared would smile at her over the breakfast table and make her world seem so damned full of hope and possibilities.
But the man whose body was so heavy on hers groaned, and she sobbed his name again. “Jared! Please, please, Jared. Please be okay.”
He didn’t move and panic started to claw at her insides. If he was dead…
Libby blinked up at the pale sky, her good eye aching as light stabbed into her retina. The other eye was swollen shut. A shape appeared above them. Kristin stood with long hair streaming over her shoulders, face looking wild and angry. She had both her hands clasped together, holding the gun she’d shot Jared with. She was shaking so hard she couldn’t quite aim the gun properly, though.
Anger flooded Libby’s body like a hot wave. She had to do something.
She moved her free hand, hoping to push Jared off her, and brushed something hard and metallic. Jared’s gun. It was in a holster at his waist. She prayed it was ready to fire since she couldn’t do that thing he’d shown her with the top of the gun right now. He’d told her before that if there was a bullet in the chamber, the gun would fire. It was getting the first bullet in there that required her to pull the top. But if he’d fired the gun, it was already there.
He groaned again and Libby made a decision. She dragged the gun out and up, intending to blast Kristin into eternity. But Kristin cried out suddenly.
Black Knight (A Black's Bandits Novel): HOT Heroes for Hire: Mercenaries Page 22