The door swung open, and she kicked, her foot connecting with air.
A feminine set of hands grabbed her ankle, twisted, and Eva landed on her back. The cuffs bit into her wrists, this time hard enough to make her cry out at the unexpected pain.
“Hi, Eva,” a familiar voice said.
Eva opened her eyes. “Pauline?”
Chapter Sixteen
Pauline? Quinn’s disbelief echoed her own.
But Eva couldn’t find the words. What was Pauline doing here? Was she one of them? But she was kidnapped? None of it made sense. “What? I don’t…”
“You okay?” Pauline helped her to her feet. “I didn’t mean to hurt you. It was my first reaction. I’m sorry I hit you so hard.”
Eva took a quick step back. This was weird. And off. “I’m fine.”
Pauline gave her a sympathetic smile. “You’re not. You’re bleeding.”
What the hell is happening? Quinn asked. He sounded out of breath. Did they hurt you?
Her mouth tasted metallic. “I bit my tongue when I landed,” she said, answering Quinn’s question and Pauline’s concern at the same time.
Don’t scare me like that.
“Still...” Pauline opened the door. Two men, reminiscent of the security guards from yesterday, stood at attention outside with GLOCKs on their hips and M-16s in their hands. “Get me a cup of ice,” Pauline said. “The crushed kind if you can find it.”
One hurried off while the other stared at Eva with death in his eyes before going back outside to guard the entrance.
“Hired guns,” Pauline said, shutting the door. “They’ve been instructed to not kill you, but they will shoot you. I’m telling you so you’ll think twice before you try to run.”
“Of course.” Eva nodded, not sure what else to do besides play along. When had Pauline decided to help the people who killed her father? Had they converted her when she was kidnapped?
None of this made sense.
Pauline produced a key. “If I take those off, you have to promise not to try and hurt me. Can I trust you?”
Stay sharp, Quinn said. Do what you have to.
Like she needed to be told.
But she also sensed this was a test. Perhaps for herself or maybe Pauline if the person running this were watching.
“For now.”
“Fair enough,” Pauline said. She made a whirling motion with her finger, and Eva spun, putting her back to Pauline. Instead of the cuffs falling away, Pauline pushed her hair to the left side. “What are you doing?” Eva recoiled away from her touch.
“We both know that your people would never let you meet Kilburn without some form of communication.”
She knew about the earpiece, and it wouldn’t take long for her to find it.
Stall, Quinn said.
Stall? A sound idea, but she was a prisoner, and there were armed guards on the other side of the door. Right now, Pauline seemed downright amiable, and Eva didn’t want to give her a reason to be anything but that until she knew what the hell was happening.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Eva said twisting away. “There’s nothing there but hair.”
“I thought we were friends,” Pauline said, sounding hurt.
Another test. She sensed it. Even though it didn’t add up. Besides, Pauline would find the device anyway. Eva lifted up her hair. “Here.”
I’ll find you, Quinn said. I’m coming. Don’t—
“—there.” Quinn’s voice cut off as Pauline pulled the tiny transmitter from behind Eva’s ear.
The cuffs slid away, thumping to the carpet.
Pauline held up the tiny communications device. “This is a thing of beauty,” she said, admiring it. “But I can’t have you talking about me.” She crushed it beneath her heel. “Not until I’ve had a chance to explain.”
Eva rubbed the circulation back into her wrists. Well, talking would buy time while Tempe and Quinn tried to stop whatever the hell was happening.
“What do you want to talk about?”
Pauline nodded toward a set of chairs pushed against the wall. “Sit.”
“Okay,” Eva said, drawing out the word. Taking the chair to Pauline’s right, she wished she’s been smarter when she had the chance. Told Quinn more. The number of guards. Kinds of weapons. Anything other than bitching about her cuffs.
Moron.
“I suppose you’re wondering what’s going on,” Pauline said, turning in the chair, one leg crooked against the arm and the other on the floor.
Eva mimicked her position, building the connection that already existed them. Buying time. There was a knock on the door, and the guard entered, carrying a tumbler of crushed ice. He handed it to Eva and walked back out. She stuck a piece in her mouth. It did feel better. “Of course.”
“First, I want you to know that I truly value your friendship. I wasn’t joking when I said that I considered you family.”
“You have an odd way of showing it.”
“Why do you think I got you out of the building? I knew when my men entered, there would be bloodshed. I didn’t want it to be yours.”
When her men entered the building.
Pauline was the mastermind behind this? It didn’t seem possible. “What do you mean, your men?”
“Just what I said. This is all mine.” Pauline shifted, bringing her other leg up until she was sitting cross-legged in the seat, facing Eva. “From the moment they took Felix from the plane, it was part of my plan.”
The apartment. “That’s why you set me up at the apartment. Created a picture of me killing Agent Oliver.”
Pauline gave slow nod. “I knew this could get crazy, and I didn’t want you hurt. I figured that once I was in control, I’d get you out of jail. I have to admit, I didn’t think you’d escape, but I should have known.”
“So not brainwashed?” Eva asked.
Pauline shook her head.
“And not kidnapped?”
“Daddy needed a little coaxing.”
Eva slumped in the chair. It was true. But how? And she knew the answer as soon as the question flickered through her thoughts.
Money. Pauline was the only heir of a billionaire. She could do whatever she wanted.
“Why this charade?” she finally asked, once reality had sunk in. “None of this makes sense.”
Pauline smoothed her hair back. “As much as I want a family, there are bigger things than what I want, personally. I knew Papa wouldn’t agree to do what I asked, and I wanted time to convince him otherwise.”
Goose bumps broke out on Eva’s arms, and she forced herself to ask the next question even though she was dreading the reply. “What do you want?”
“My mother failed me, but I did learn a valuable lesson. People are too preoccupied with stuff. Commercials tell us what we want, and people eat it up like candy. Technology rules our lives. People can’t have dinner without checking their phones.”
Pauline rose and walked to one of the large windows. “Look at them down there. They’ve lost sight of their families. Their children. I want to help them.”
“By killing them?” Eva asked.
Pauline whirled to face Eva. “Not at first. At first, I wanted to scare them. I thought the threat of a bioweapon would be enough to make them see the light.”
“And now?” Eva asked.
“I was wrong.” She shrugged. “I thought I understood people. That fear was enough to make them see what I saw. But even I missed the truth.
“Fear is superficial. Easily forgotten. It wasn’t until I saw my father die, and I knew I’d never get to see him again, that I truly, deep down in my soul, knew what mattered. What I was missing.”
She turned back to the window, and Eva stared at her back. Beneath that innocent façade, Pauline was broken. Shattered. How had she missed it?
Pauline continued. “Do you think I want this? I don’t want people to die, but the reality is that they are dead already, and I want to save them. To bring t
hem back to life.”
She pressed her forehead against the glass. “To do that, I’m going to give them loss. Utter sorrow. And when the pain fades, those that are left will be more alive. Kinder. More compassionate. And our world, the entire world, will be better for it.”
For a moment, Eva couldn’t speak, and she readjusted her assessment. Pauline wasn’t broken. She was delusional.
But there was something that Pauline didn’t know. And maybe it would snap her out of this craziness. No matter that, Eva knew the tragic, broken girl was going to prison, but if she could get her to see the truth and surrender, maybe she’d get the help she needed.
“You can want all this, but it won’t happen. We have the weapon in lockdown. I’m sure your people are going to try and get to it, but by the time they can, this building will be overrun with agents.” Rising, she walked over and put her arm around her enemy. “Let me help you. Let’s get out of here.”
Pauline shrugged her off and held out her phone. On the screen was a text. Five words.
Item retrieved. On our way.
She put the phone back in her pocket. “My people are just as good. Better. Once I have the weapon, we’re out of here, and soon, we’ll change the world.”
Armageddon. “No,” Eva whispered. Wanting it to be a lie.
“It’s going to happen. I need to know if you want to survive and to be a part of my brave new world.” Pauline opened the door and slipped through, stopping long enough to give Eva a hopeful smile. “I have someplace safe, and I want you there. You’re tenacious and honest, and I need that in my life. Think about it. You have five minutes.”
…
Quinn slipped out of the stairwell and onto the sixth floor, taking refuge in the janitor’s closet. He didn’t know if they’d had guards all over the building or just the upper floors, but he’d have to assume the building for now.
Even if it was only the top three floors, they’d be searching the rooms for him, or anyone from HRS. Might even be searching. But unless they had an entire army, it would take time to search a ten-story building. Even an almost empty one.
Still, he couldn’t linger. Not with Eva’s life on the line.
He called Tempe to give her the update.
“Pauline is part of this?” Tempe’s echoed his own surprise. “Are you sure?”
He wished he wasn’t. Mercenaries, he could handle. He had no compunctions about shooting thugs who hurt women. But Pauline? She was an unpredictable, unknown element in this scenario, and it made him nervous. “Positive. Maybe she’s brainwashed. Stockholm syndrome?”
“Maybe. Don’t kill her if you can help it, but if it comes down to either her or Eva, you know what to do.”
“Understood.” As if there were any other option.
“I assume I can’t get you to wait and let a hostage negotiation team handle this?” Tempe asked.
He hesitated, running the scenarios through his head. But there were no answers, not with Pauline in the mix. “Pauline is rich, so whether she’s working for them or running the show, the person in charge isn’t worried about money. This is something else.”
“The weapon?”
“You read my mind.”
“It’s secure,” Tempe assured him.
He knew that and was sure that Pauline did, too. Which made him even more nervous. “So why bother? We’re missing something. Something important.”
“And Eva’s right in the middle of it,” Tempe finished. “What do you need?”
So she was letting him see this through. Was it because she believed in him and that he could both save Eva and prevent the weapon from being stolen? Or did she think he’d fail and didn’t want to risks any more lives than she had to?
Knowing Tempe, she hoped for the former. Planned for the latter. Not a comforting way to go through life but sensible. And smart. “A diversion would be useful.”
“I’ll do what I can.”
Sirens blared in the distance.
“Keep them outside,” he said. “I want Pauline and company distracted but not so jumpy that they do something stupid.”
Like kill his partner. The thought made him sick, and even years of training were barely enough to quash the unwanted visions. But he knew if he didn’t, he would put them both at risk.
“I hear you,” Tempe replied.
“I’ll resume contact once I have her.”
“Good luck.”
“Thanks.” He knew he’d need it.
Setting the phone on silent, he slid it into his pocket, and ran through the plan. Keep it simple. Find a mercenary. Disarm him. Get a disguise. Infiltrate.
Save the girl.
“Easy enough.” Though he knew it would be anything but that. These men were trained killers, and while they seemed to want to keep Eva alive, he doubted they held him with the same regard.
Cocking his weapon, he cracked open the door and found himself staring down the barrel of a GLOCK.
…
Two minutes left.
Eva stared out the window at the streets below. People hurried in clumps dictated by traffic and lights. Cars drove on the wrong side of the road. All of them so busy and with no idea they would soon be dead if Pauline had her way.
Crazy bitch.
Behind her, the door clicked open, but she didn’t bother to turn, knowing if she did that Pauline would see the truth and disgust on her face.
And right now, she needed to appear as if Pauline’s speech were swaying her.
The door closed. “Did you bring more ice?” Eva asked, hoping the teasing sounded genuine.
“No. Why?”
The voice was male. Familiar. And one that, under the circumstances, she’d both hoped and dreaded she’d hear. “Quinn.” She whirled to face him.
He stood in the middle of the room. Dark hair. Green eyes.
And the love of her life.
“I’m here to rescue you.” He managed an embarrassed smile.
“Nice job.” She shifted from one foot to another, wanting to run to him but not sure of what she’d do if she did. “When does the rescuing part begin?”
Silence.
“Screw it,” she said. Three strides later, he met her halfway, wrapped his arms around her, and lifted her off her feet. She let herself sink into his embrace, giving herself a few seconds to be grateful she wasn’t alone.
But she never was. She’d known he’d come. He’d promised.
Idiot.
“You should have waited for backup,” she said, punching him in the shoulder when he finally set her back on her feet.
“You would have come for me,” he said.
“No, I wouldn’t,” she replied.
“Liar.” He tucked her hair behind her ear. “Though I have to admit, I was surprised to see Pauline in charge.”
“I didn’t see it coming.”
“No one did. Are you sure she’s not being manipulated?”
“Positive.” He’d missed the important parts. The ones that confirmed that all of this—from the airplane kidnapping to the construction of the weapon—was part of Pauline’s s grand plan.
And the fact that Pauline had the weapon, she realized. He didn’t know about that, and if he didn’t know, then neither did anyone else. But did she dare tell him? The room was bugged for audio, if nothing else.
But with a minute left, it didn’t seem to matter.
“Trust me, she’s the brains,” she said. Crazy brains. “She’s like her dad. A genius.”
He took a surprised step backward. “Did she say why?”
“Lots of reasons, but suffice it to say that she wants to make the world a better place.”
His brows rose. “By unleashing a bioweapon?”
“She gave a compelling argument.” Eva laced her fingers through his. “And you should know that she has it now.”
Quinn paled. “That’s a game changer.”
She buried her head in his neck. “I know.”
He stiffened. “W
hat are you going to do?”
She raised her gaze to his and disentangled an arm so she could touch his face. Trace the square of his jaw. Imprint him into her mind. “When she leaves, I’ll go with her.” It was the only way to either try and talk sense into her, or if that didn’t work, kill her before she armed the weapon.
“Good. I want you to be safe.” His fingers wove through her hair, tugging at the strands. His words tugged at her heart.
She didn’t want to go. She’d never admit it to him, but she was terrified. Well and truly scared at what Pauline might do to her when she realized Eva wasn’t on her side. But more frightening was what would happen to Quinn if she didn’t try. The thought of him falling victim to the bioweapon took her beyond fear and into the same black hopelessness that had consumed her when her parents were killed. This sacrifice was for both of them.
“Do you trust her?” He pressed his forehead to hers, the connection as intimate as a kiss.
“I do.” And she did. If Pauline wanted her dead, she’d be dead by now. But Pauline wanted her alive and by her side.
“Good,” he said, his words thick.
She swallowed back the tears. “I’ll see if you can go with us.”
He tilted her face up and tried to smile, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “I think we both know she doesn’t like me. Leave me out of it.”
She remembered their conversation in Pauline’s apartment. The accusations. The anger the young woman had foisted onto Quinn. But she didn’t care what Pauline thought. She wanted him to live. At any cost. “I’ll talk to her.”
“Don’t. I’ll take care of myself,” he replied as adamant as she’d been.
“And miss my chance to be the white knight?”
The door opened, and Pauline entered, this time flanked by two guards. She’d changed into jeans and a shirt that matched her eyes. Her hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail, and a leather messenger bag was slung across her chest.
One of the guards held the weapon in his hands, and Eva’s skin prickled with goose bumps. The timer blinked but remained unset.
Risking It All for Her Boss: A Heroes for Hire novel (Entangled Ignite) Page 21