The words trailed out after him.
Joshua hobbled over to the door and flipped the lock on it. “Nice old man,” he commented.
Pru didn’t answer. The second the door had closed, she turned toward the tray and gave her full attention to one of the plates of shepherd’s pie. Her mother had taught her never to talk with her mouth full.
Chapter 9
Joshua smiled to himself. The women he was accustomed to were obsessively weight conscious. Even his own mother worried about the extra ounce or two she occasionally put on. The prime minister’s daughter ate as if she truly enjoyed food, even taking into account the fact that she was probably starving.
Pru raised her eyes from the plate. Secret Agent Man was watching her. She could almost read his mind. She shrugged as she swallowed the last bit in her mouth. “I guess I didn’t realize how hungry I was until I started eating,” she confessed. “My stomach feels as if it was glued to my spine.”
He picked up his plate from the tray and slid half of what was there onto hers. “In that case, have some of mine.”
Not that she didn’t welcome the extra portion, but she didn’t want to seem gluttonous. “And what are you going to live on? Air?”
Settling back on the bed beside her, he sank his fork into the serving that was left. “I’ve eaten today. From what I could piece together, you haven’t eaten much in the past two days. Those guys back there didn’t seem like the hospitable type,” he said before he began to eat.
She’d had exactly one meal since this whole ordeal had started. “All right, I’m not going to argue with you.”
He was about to say that was a first. But the words faded from his lips as he watched her slip the forkful of food between her lips. Pru closed her eyes, apparently savoring this mouthful just as much as she had the very first. She looked as if she was in ecstasy.
It made him wonder if she looked nearly that enthused and passionate when she was making love with a man.
The moment the thought came into his head, he discarded it. None of his concern, he told himself. The only thing that was his concern was getting her back to London and her father before the vote was taken on Wednesday.
Mentally crossing his fingers, he put his plate back on the bureau and took out his cell phone. But when he tried to make a call, nothing happened. Again.
Snapping the cell phone shut, Joshua muttered a few choice words under his breath. It was beginning to look as if the only way to get in touch with the prime minister was going to be to physically show up at Number 10 Downing Street.
He had a little more than fifteen hours to bring her back safely. Piece of cake, he told himself.
Pru reached for the glass of water Alvin had brought her. “Still no signal?”
“Nothing.” Joshua seriously thought about taking a long swig from the half-pint that the old man had left with him, but it was only the frustration urging him on. He couldn’t drink on the job, no matter what so-called glamorous spy stories maintained to the contrary.
Picking up his plate again, he resumed eating. Prudence was looking at him. Probably wondering if she could ask for more, he thought.
But when she spoke, it had nothing to do with sharing his dinner. “This probably won’t do any good, but you could try making a call from mine.”
Joshua stopped eating. “You have a cell phone?” Each word was metered out and wrapped in disbelief.
Why was he looking at her so oddly? “Yes.”
She had to be kidding, he thought. “The kidnappers didn’t take your cell phone away?”
Her plate empty, she stood up and placed it on the bureau, then dug a phone out of the inner pocket of her jogging shorts. The cell phone was one of the smallest he’d ever seen.
Pru held it up for his benefit. “Apparently not. Maybe they didn’t think they had to worry since they had me completely bound and gagged. And since yours isn’t working, I figured mine won’t, either.”
Crossing to her, Joshua took the phone from Pru. He didn’t care how tied up she was, the kidnappers wouldn’t have overlooked searching her to make sure she didn’t have anything to help her get away. That most definitely included a cell phone.
“Something’s not adding up here,” he told her. Flipping the cell open, he pressed the green button to activate the phone line. He stared at the screen. Nothing.
Pru sighed, frustrated. There had to be some way to get in touch with her father. She didn’t want him worrying on her account. Or going against his conscience because he thought that was the only way to save her. “Doesn’t work either, I take it.”
She saw him raise an eyebrow as he looked the phone over carefully. “Not sure about that yet.”
“What do you mean?” The next minute, he was taking the phone apart. “Be careful,” she warned. “That’s expensive.”
“Not without a battery,” he told her.
“Then what’s that?” she wanted to know, pointing to the gray rectangular devise that was inside her phone.
“Not like any battery I’ve ever seen,” he answered. Taking it out, he examined it slowly. Lighter than a standard cell phone battery, it felt almost hollow. He turned it over and then stiffened. “We have to get out of here.”
She didn’t understand. All she wanted to do was stretch out on the bed and fall asleep. “Why?” she protested. “We’re safe here.”
“No, we’re not,” he told her firmly.
He had a job to do, she understood that. But no one knew they were here. What was the point of fleeing? At least until morning.
When she spoke, it was as if she was trying to reason with and calm a willful, stubborn child. “I understand that you’re programmed to worry, but I am not about to let paranoia govern my every move. I’m tired, Secret Agent Man. We’re both tired, you probably even more than me. If you want, I’ll even take the first watch so that you can—”
Instead of trying to outtalk her, Joshua merely held up what she still thought was supposed to be the battery. What did that prove?
“Yes, so?” And then she realized that there was a tracking device within all the later model cell phones. Like hers. But she also knew the phone had to be on, sending out a signal and there were no signals going out. He knew that, she thought. “If those thugs back at the farmhouse think they’re going to use the GPS device on it to find me, the signal has to be coming in and as we damn well know, there is no signal.”
His expression did not change. “No phone signal,” Joshua emphasized.
“Right, no phone signal.” Since he seemed to still be offering the battery to her, she took it. Turning it over in her hand, she looked the so-called lightweight battery from front to back.
And then she saw it.
The tiniest little black dot on the underside. At first, she thought it was just a mark, a tiny piece of dirt that had gotten into her phone. And then she had a sinking sensation in the pit of her stomach.
Pru raised her eyes to Joshua’s. “This isn’t dirt, is it?”
Joshua took the battery back. Placing it on the floor, black dot exposed, he took the bottle of whiskey and poured some over it. A barely perceptible sizzling sound was emitted for less than a second before it stopped.
“No,” he answered, disgusted, “it’s not. They’re tracking you.”
How was that possible? “But signals are out because of the storm.”
“Regular signals,” he pointed out, hitting his heel against the gray shell just in case. He heard it crack as he ground it against the floor. “Whoever’s behind this undoubtedly has access to the latest high-tech devices. That means that this storm probably isn’t impeding them in the slightest.”
As he spoke, Joshua stripped off his shredded pants and quickly put on the jeans and shirt Elizabeth had brought him. Pru realized that not only was she staring at what probably was the most spectacular specimen of manhood she’d seen in a very long time, but she’d stopped breathing as well. She forced air into her lungs slowly. Apparently his
organization required its agents to be in absolute top physical form.
Joshua saw the look on her face and despite the dire circumstances, he made no effort to hide the smile that rose to his lips. “Didn’t your mother teach you not to stare, Prudence?”
She swallowed, embarrassed. Hoping that color didn’t creep up along her cheeks and give him further satisfaction. “Didn’t yours teach you to change your clothes in private?”
“We never got around to talking about that,” he quipped dryly. “C’mon, we don’t have any time to spare.”
But she cast one last longing glance at the bed. “You really think—?”
“I really think,” he answered with conviction, not bothering to finish the statement because they both knew what he was saying. That even now, her kidnappers might be closing in on them. Grabbing her hand, he pulled her out of the room.
The house was dark inside. Alvin must have put out the candles. She looked toward the staircase. “Shouldn’t we say something to the Wakefields?”
“The less they know, the better off they are,” Joshua assured her as he hurried her out the back door.
The air was heavy and pregnant with moisture as the rain remained being held in abeyance. Thunder rumbled in the distance, in between flashes of lightning. Joshua kept his arm out behind him, making sure that she was all but pressed flat against the house as she made her way out in his wake.
She didn’t understand why they hadn’t gone out the front door. “The car’s parked out in front,” she protested in an urgent whisper. “Why are we taking the long way around?”
“Precautions,” was all he told her.
“Do you really think—?”
Pru’s whispered question was abruptly aborted as she caught her breath. The next moment, she was being pushed even farther back into the shadows. Joshua was shielding her with his body as he backed up, dragging her away from the front of the house.
“That’s them,” she hissed.
Yes, he thought, it was “them.” The two men from the farmhouse. The one who’d gone with him to see about his car and the man who’d ordered him to do it. Abandoning their car, they were quickly making their way to the front door.
Joshua blamed himself for the way things were playing out.
“I should have searched you,” he muttered under his breath. The sound of breaking glass from the front punctuated his words. “Damn it, I should have known.”
Pru willed herself to get a grip. Nothing was going to happen to her. She was going to be all right, she silently promised herself.
“I thought you said you disabled their cars.” It came out like an accusation.
“Someone obviously knew how to override what I did,” he retorted angrily. His mind raced, trying to make the best of the situation. The kidnappers’ car was obviously in better condition than the truck they’d stolen. It made sense to take that one. Even if the keys weren’t in the ignition.
He turned toward Pru. “On my count, we make a run for it to the front. When you get there, get into their car. They’ll be busy inside. We can get away before they know what’s happened.”
To his surprise, Pru shook her head and gave no indication that she was going to move an inch no matter how high he counted. “No.”
“No?” he echoed incredulously. Had fear frozen her? “What do you mean, no?”
How could he even ask? Didn’t he realize what was happening only a few feet away? “We can’t just leave and let those thugs torture these people. Who knows what they’re liable to do to Alvin and Elizabeth.”
She had to pick now to get a heart, he thought angrily. He grabbed her wrist as she began to move to the front door.
“Look,” he began impatiently, debating just throwing her over his shoulder and making a run for it, bad leg and all. “I don’t like leaving them any more than you do, but they’re not my concern, you are.”
“Okay.” Pru yanked free, then stepped back quickly, holding her hands up out of reach “Then you’ll help me help them.”
“Damn it, woman.” He shook his head, then grabbed her again before she could get away. “All right,” he whispered harshly against her ear, bringing her close to him to ensure that she wouldn’t make a break for it and do something stupid. Like get herself killed. “But you follow my lead,” he emphasized fiercely. “Otherwise, no deal.”
“Fine. Then lead,” she told him.
Joshua struggled for patience. This woman was quickly becoming the most annoying assignment he’d had in a long time. If he wasn’t careful, she was going to get both of them killed.
“Maybe I should have followed my father into his line of work,” he muttered.
She looked at him sharply. “What does your father do?”
“Womanize,” Joshua retorted.
She didn’t know if he was kidding or not, but now wasn’t the time to ask.
As they came around the front, he braced himself, ready for anything, knowing that at a moment’s notice, he might be forced to give up his life to protect hers. Adrenaline pumped through his veins at an accelerated rate.
He quickly took in the surrounding area. The front door of the Wakefields’ house was wide open. There were shards of glass all over the front step. Looking toward the driveway, he saw the car that the kidnappers had to have used. It was empty. Which meant that both kidnappers were now inside, focusing their collective attention on the two old people who were still there.
They heard whimpering. Elizabeth was crying. Pru squeezed his arm urgently. When he looked at her, she begged, “Do something.”
Joshua indicated that she should stay behind, or at least walk behind him. She pressed her lips together in a look of frustration, but she nodded. Only then did he enter the house. He measured his steps cautiously, moving to the sound of the voices, ever alert for someone to suddenly come at him from the shadows.
“Don’t hurt him,” Elizabeth pleaded with someone. There was the sound of flesh meeting flesh and Alvin groaned as Elizabeth screamed. “Please don’t hurt him,” she begged again.
They were in the kitchen. The Wakefields in their bedclothes, clearly confused and frightened by this invasion. There were two men, dressed in black as if they meant to live in shadows when they weren’t torturing people. Pru recognized them immediately.
“Then tell us where they are,” the man who’d been the driver of the van that had been used to abduct her ordered. He lowered his gun, holding it over Alvin’s left hand and aiming at one of the fingers. The other man was holding Alvin down, flattening the man on the table. The driver spared a glance at the trembling Elizabeth. “Your man’s going to lose a digit for each second that you don’t tell me.”
“They were in the room,” Elizabeth cried helplessly. “I saw them there before I went to bed. I don’t know where they’ve gone.”
“Looking for me?” Joshua asked calmly. He walked into the kitchen as if he’d come intent on nothing more dangerous than a midnight snack.
When the driver swung around to face him, Joshua fired a single shot. The kidnapper was dead before he hit the floor. Elizabeth screamed, as did Alvin. The second kidnapper reacted instantly, raising his gun. He never got the chance to fire. Pru dove for his midsection, knocking him down.
Joshua was at her side immediately, grabbing the man and yanking him to his feet. “Rope, I need rope,” he ordered.
Relieved to have all his fingers still attached, Alvin jumped to his feet and ran to the utility drawer to comply.
“Are you all right?” Joshua asked Elizabeth over the sound of his hostage’s curses as he twisted the man’s arm behind his back.
“Oh yes, thank you,” Elizabeth sobbed. As Alvin passed her with the rope, she clung to him, sobbing with relief that he was all right.
“I’m fine, too. Thanks for asking,” Pru ground out between her teeth as she rose to her feet. With a sigh, she dusted herself off.
“Oh, you’re more than fine, dear. You were wonderful,” Elizabeth cried.
The expression on Joshua’s face was dark. “I told you to stay behind me,” he reminded her.
Didn’t the man know the meaning of the words thank you? “I stopped him,” she said indignantly. “He was going to shoot you.”
“Not before I shot him,” Joshua assured her. He’d been about to fire when he saw Prudence making a dive for the man. He couldn’t fire then, not without risking shooting her.
“You’re that fast,” Pru mocked.
“I’m that fast,” he replied without any fanfare. He took the hemp that Alvin had found and began tying up the second kidnapper.
Elizabeth looked from one to the other, her expression mirroring her confusion. She stepped out of the way as Joshua planted the man who had held her husband down onto a chair. “You’re not a young married couple, are you?”
“No,” Pru replied gently, “we’re not.” And then she glared at the man Joshua was tying up. If she’d had a gun, she would have shot him herself. Not for abducting her, but for threatening the old couple the way he had. “Didn’t they even tell you who they were looking for?” she asked Elizabeth.
Alvin shook his head. “They just kept yelling ‘Where are they? Where are they?’ We didn’t know who they were talking about. You were the only ones who were here, but you didn’t look like the type to know people like this.”
“We don’t,” Joshua bit off, giving the ropes a hard yank to make sure they were in place.
“Oh, Alvin, you’re bleeding,” Elizabeth cried, horrified.
The old man touched the side of his head, then looked down at his fingers. There was bright red blood on them. “So I am.”
My Spy Page 9