Brianna shifted on her chair and divided a wary glance between Hunter and the senator. “You’re going to bring him here?”
When Viktor stood, Hunter squared his feet, his senses on alert. He angled his body to keep both Viktor and Olaf in view.
“No,” the senator said, signaling to his bodyguards. “I’m taking you to him. Olaf, please ask Gunther to escort the prince to the rendezvous point.”
Brianna rose to her feet and placed a hand on Hunter’s arm. Her expression said she was torn between hope and alarm. Clearly she wanted to see Chris, wanted to believe he was safe, but her refusal to tell the men anything about Ben told him she didn’t trust the senator and his men any more than he did. Hunter wrapped an arm around Bri’s shoulders and leaned in to kiss her head by her ear, whispering, “Stay alert.”
She sent him a look that said she understood and agreed with his warning.
When they hesitated to follow the senator out the front door, Olaf seized Brianna’s arms and hauled her toward the door.
Hunter saw red. Shoving between the henchman and Brianna, he grabbed Olaf’s wrist with an iron grip and snarled, “Let go of her!”
Brianna gasped and flicked a worried glance from Olaf to Hunter.
Olaf held Hunter’s steely glare for long seconds and flipped back the edge of his jacket to reveal the pistol he wore in a chest shoulder holster.
Hunter didn’t back down from the thug’s unspoken threat, and finally, the senator spoke from the door.
“Is there a problem?”
The henchman answered in a foreign language, but he released Brianna’s arm and stepped back. He jerked his head toward the exit, and Brianna headed slowly toward the door. As she left the living room, she cast a longing look toward her purse, where her phone poked out of a front pocket, but when she slowed her steps, Olaf stopped beside her. He blocked her path to the purse, the cell phone, and with a shuddering sigh, she followed the senator out of the beach house.
Hunter patted his pockets, feeling for his phone, and groaned internally, remembering he’d left it in the rental car, plugged into the charger. They had no means to call the police if things went sideways.
Unless he could overpower Olaf and get the phone from his breast pocket. But there was still the matter of the pistol under Olaf’s jacket and the weapons the senator’s other thugs were no doubt carrying somewhere hidden from view. Hell, Senator Snazzy Suit could even be packing. Not good odds.
He caught up to Brianna in two long strides and laced his fingers with hers, giving her hand a squeeze of comfort and encouragement, as they walked outside.
A large white SUV pulled onto the crushed-shell driveway behind their rental car and stopped. Thug One and Thug Two flanked the senator as he approached the car, then Thug One, who sported a spider tattoo on his neck, slid into the front passenger seat while Thug Two opened the back door for Viktor.
Hunter and Brianna were steered into the middle row of seats next to the senator and Olaf, and Thug Two took the third row at the back of the SUV.
Hunter tried to plan, to run the logistics of various escape scenarios through his mind as they rode to their destination, but soon after they pulled away from Brianna’s beach house, Viktor spoke up again.
“I’m surprised you would leave your son with him so young.”
Brianna flinched, then sat straighter. “He’s safe. And I only plan to be away from him a couple of days.”
“In Meridan, mothers spend hours a day, every day, bonding with their newborns.” The senator’s tone held reproach, and Hunter bristled on Brianna’s behalf. He saw the guilt that warred with irritation in her expression.
“Until this trip, I spent every hour since his birth with my son.” Her voice cracked, evidence the emotion Snazzy Suit’s comments had riled.
Hunter put a hand on her knee and said quietly in her ear, “He’s trying to get in your head. Don’t let him.”
“What’s that, Mr. Mansfield? Please share,” the royal senator said, calling him out as if he were a child in school.
“I said you’re a bastard, and she should ignore you,” Hunter growled, his temper spiking.
Viktor leaned forward to glare across the seat at him. “Is that so?”
“Yeah.” Hunter flashed him a sour grin.
“Hunter,” Brianna warned, squeezing his hand.
Viktor met the gaze of Thug One in the visor mirror and gave a small nod. Turning to the backseat, Thug One leaned over and slammed his fist in Hunter’s jaw.
Brianna yelped in shock and distress, and Hunter, having grown up with two older brothers, instantly reacted by surging toward his attacker and grabbing the scruff of Thug One’s neck. No sooner had he grabbed his opponent than Thug Two snaked a beefy arm around Hunter’s throat from behind and yanked him back onto the seat, strangling him.
“No!” Brianna cried, slapping and clawing at the man’s arm. “Stop it! Let him go!”
Hunter wrestled with the choke hold, but the henchman had both a size advantage and better leverage.
“I will not be disrespected. I am a member of the Royal Senate of Meridan, and I will not be insulted again.” Viktor sent Hunter a menacing scowl. “Do you understand?”
His lungs ached, and blood pounded at his temples as the senator’s henchman squeezed his throat. The last thing he wanted to give the miserable pompous man was respect, but he couldn’t protect Brianna if he let Olaf take him out now over a test of wills.
“Let him go!” Brianna continued tugging on the thug’s arm, her tone desperate and frightened.
Finally, as the SUV drove into a more populated part of town, Viktor jerked a nod. “Enough, Axel.”
The thug—Axel, Viktor had called him—released him, and Hunter gasped in deep gulps of oxygen.
Brianna whipped around on her seat, fury rolling off her. “Why are you doing this? I’m nothing to you. And Hunter has no part of any of it. Let him go!”
“I’m afraid that’s not possible. If I release him now, he’ll go to the police, try to play the hero for you and Meridan’s wayward prince.”
A chill ran down Hunter’s spine as he read between the lines of the senator’s explanation. The possibility of them going to the police after the rendezvous with Chris should have been as big of a concern. But Viktor didn’t mention it. Because Viktor didn’t intend for there to be an after. After the meeting with the prince, if that was even where they were going, Hunter felt sure he and Brianna—and probably Chris, as well—would be dead.
Chapter 16
A frisson of ice slithered through Brianna as the SUV pulled to a stop at a small private harbor where a handful of boats from small sailing vessels to mammoth yachts were docked. She cast a harried glance about for anyone she could shout to, anyone who might see them as they left the car, but the harbor was suspiciously empty.
Her stomach roiled, and she mentally kicked herself for having trusted the senator. When he’d said he had Chris safely in his custody, she’d believed he was on their side, that he was trustworthy. Or perhaps she just wanted so much for him to be trustworthy, wanted to believe Chris was safe and this whole frightening chapter of her life could be resolved, that she’d fallen for his smile and easygoing manner. Hunter hadn’t. Hunter had sensed trouble from the start, but she’d convinced him to go along with the senator, to hear him out. She should have listened to Hunter. Instead, he was now in danger. They were both in danger. Because it was quite clear to her now these men were not allies with Chris.
As the SUV stopped, the hulking men in the front seat got out and opened the back doors. The senator climbed smoothly from the vehicle and ran a hand down his suit coat. The driver glared into the SUV at her and waved for her to step out.
She clenched Hunter’s hand tighter and exchanged a dubious look with him that silently asked,
What do we do?
“Ms. Coleman, please,” Viktor said with what she now considered an oily smile. A snake’s simpering grin. “This way.”
“No. Take me back to my house,” she said, knowing in her heart of hearts the chances of that happening were less than zero.
The senator’s brow furrowed in irritation. “We have an appointment with King Cristoff to keep.”
“Bring him here. I’ll wait in that bait shop over there.” She pointed to a dilapidated building at the far end of the weed-infested parking lot.
“Get out of the car,” Olaf groused behind her. He fisted his fingers in the shoulder of her sweater and tugged her toward the vehicle door.
Hunter clamped his hand on Olaf’s arm, despite the other thug’s rough treatment of him earlier, and grated out, “Let. Go. Of. Her.”
Viktor stepped into the space between the open car door and the backseat, ducking his head to glare back inside. “Ms. Coleman, I’d advise you to cooperate. Do not forget that we have Cristoff in our custody.” He twitched her a leering grin. “And we know that Mr. Mansfield’s brother has your son at his house. If you care anything for the safety of either of these men or your child, you will come with us quietly and do exactly as we say.”
Brianna felt her gorge rise, and she had to swallow several times to force the choking bitterness back down her throat. Trembling to her core, both with fury over the senator’s intimidation tactics and fear that he’d make good on the threats, Brianna slid to the end of the seat and climbed out of the SUV.
The henchman with a spider tattoo on his throat grabbed her upper arms and hauled her close to drag her toward the pier. Though the man didn’t draw his weapon, she could feel the bulge of the gun under his coat jabbing her side. She stumbled as the man yanked her along, leading her across the cracked parking lot. She twisted, glancing behind her for Hunter, praying at the same time that he could manage to escape and that they were bringing him with them. As selfish as it was, she didn’t want to be alone in this ordeal, felt safer with him near her.
But that same selfishness and fear of being alone were what had dragged Hunter into this nightmare in the beginning. She’d pleaded with him that first day at the car accident to stay with her. And he had. Faithfully. For far longer than most men would have. For longer than she had any right to ask. And now he might die because of her, because he’d been kind enough, brave enough, loyal enough to stick by her through all kinds of hell.
He’d stood by her as no one else in her life ever had. That realization sent a bittersweet, heart-squeezing pang to her core.
Senator Viktor and his men marched them down the buckled wooden pier to a large speedboat, tethered in a slip at the far end of the dock. The thump of their feet on the wood-plank dock echoed hollowly, reverberating inside her like the slow, dread-filled beats of her heart. Were they really going to meet Chris or were they simply going to ferry them out into the ocean, where they could shoot her and Hunter and easily dispose of their bodies?
If she fought back, tried to run from them, did she have a prayer of escaping, or would she be guaranteeing she and Hunter would be killed in the attempt? Olaf stood directly behind him, and the angle of the henchman’s arm told Brianna he held his gun at Hunter’s back, out of view.
“Search them,” Viktor said, waving a hand toward her.
Immediately, the man with the spider tattoo patted her down, touching her in intimate places and making her skin crawl. Hunter was given a similar frisking, and Olaf took Hunter’s pocketknife and keys and slipped them in his shirt pocket before once again jabbing his gun in Hunter’s back.
As the senator’s thugs boarded the speedboat, she met Hunter’s eyes. His creased brow and keen, assessing gaze told her he, too, was looking for an escape, weighing the risks.
What do we do? she asked with her eyes. She couldn’t just let Viktor’s men lead them to their slaughter like meek little lambs.
Hunter gave her a tiny, almost-imperceptible nod, saying he understood, he agreed—then reared his head back into Olaf’s nose. While Olaf staggered and howled in pain, Hunter spun to face the henchman, grabbed Olaf’s wrist and thrust his arm, and the gun in the man’s hand, into the air.
Though startled by Hunter’s move, Brianna took advantage of the other men’s distraction and shoved hard on Mr. Spider Tattoo. He lost his balance at the edge of the pier and teetered into the water.
The SUV driver, who’d already climbed into the boat, scrambled back toward the dock. Hunter stopped him with a swift kick to the chin, knocking the man back on his butt.
“Run!” Hunter shouted.
She did. But the spike of adrenaline fueling her blood was not enough to counter the dragging effect of her postpartum body, her concussion-mending skull and short legs. She’d made it only to the parking-lot end of the dock when Axel caught up to her and tackled her from behind. They fell together, the broken pavement scraping her skin and the henchman’s heft knocking the wind from her lungs. Though breathless and aching, she fought the man’s grip, struggling to wiggle free of his grasp. He wrapped a muscled arm around her waist and hauled her to her feet. When she continued fighting, he lifted her like a sack of flour and tossed her over his shoulder. Still she flailed, hoping she’d get in a good lick or two to the thug’s groin or kneecaps or spleen or—
The sound of a single gunshot sent ice through her veins and stilled her heart. “Hunter!”
She jerked her head up, twisting to search the pier for Hunter. Please, God, let him be all right!
She spotted him, still locked in hand-to-hand battle with Olaf. Spider dragged himself back onto the dock, glowering at her, then with a rough twist on Hunter’s arm, helped restrain him. Grunting in pain, Hunter cast a side glance toward her and visibly sagged when he saw that she’d been recaptured. A trickle of blood leaked from his nose, and the area around his eye was starting to swell. Her heart hurt seeing his injuries, but she saw no evidence he’d been shot and gave thanks for that much.
Axel let Brianna down, setting her feet on the dock but keeping a grip on her arms.
Senator Viktor stepped forward, clearly displeased with their little show of rebellion. He stuck his nose in Hunter’s face and growled, “You are dispensable. I recommend you not try that again.”
Hunter scoffed, “Don’t you plan on killing both of us anyway?”
Viktor shrugged. “Perhaps. But you have family in Louisiana. If you cause problems for us, we can settle the score in creative ways.”
Nausea roiled in her gut. That was the second time he’d threatened Hunter’s family. She hated the idea that the ripples of this horror could continue, more lives be destroyed. Because Hunter had been loyal to her had risked everything to help her, protect her. No matter what else happened, he was her hero. A chill that went beyond the cold wind burrowed deep into Brianna’s bones, and she longed to cuddle close to Hunter’s protective warmth. Her heart gave a bittersweet throb as the thug at her elbow shoved her toward the speedboat.
“Get in. We’re taking a little trip,” Axel groused.
With a worried glance to Hunter, she shuffled across the dock and boarded the watercraft. She knew compliance, stepping into that boat, was as good as stepping up to the gallows. But as long as she and Hunter were still alive, she held to a hope that they could escape. Hunter had never let her down, and she had faith that even now he was working out a plan to rescue them.
* * *
With a gun at his back and his nose bleeding, Hunter followed Brianna into the boat. His brain clicked through scenarios as fast as he could, kicking out the ideas that were too risky for Brianna and those that weren’t logistically possible. Keeping his expression as neutral as possible, he continued sorting through their circumstances, their resources, their chances of survival. He didn’t like the odds, but he refused to give up. His years in the army had trained
him well, and he wasn’t about to give up hope of getting Brianna safely home. She had a son to raise, and he intended to see that she got that opportunity.
He shuffled across the speedboat to sit close to her but was jerked back and shoved onto a seat on the opposite side. The motor roared to life as Olaf untied the ropes that tethered the boat in the slip. Soon they were skimming across the water, bouncing on the waves with the icy blast of sea air rushing past them.
They drove for several minutes, farther and farther from shore—and help. Soon their destination became obvious as a small yacht came into view on the horizon. The man who’d driven the SUV steered the speedboat up to the side of the yacht, and a man sporting a soul patch under his bottom lip tossed a rope ladder from the deck of the luxury craft.
The senator climbed up first, then Olaf. The tattooed henchman Brianna had shoved into the cold water by the dock aimed a gun at her. “Your turn. Go.”
Her legs trembled visibly as she moved to the ladder. She cast Hunter a side glance that searched his, and he wished he had other options. But while they were outgunned and outmanned, he saw no alternative except to cooperate. As long as they were alive, he still had a chance to save them.
“Go!” Spider jabbed Brianna with the muzzle of his weapon, and Hunter tensed. He narrowed his eyes on their captors, working to suppress the hatred and anger that only served to muddle his thinking. He needed a clear head. Needed to stay alert. When his opportunity to act came, it might be available for only a split second. He had to watch, listen and be prepared to act.
Brianna began climbing the wobbly rope ladder, and Hunter stood without being told and took his position at the base of the ladder, ready to follow her up. He had to stay close to her in order to protect her.
When Brianna reached the deck of the yacht, Olaf seized her arm and dragged her forward, toward the interior cabin. Hunter hustled up the last rungs and vaulted onto the deck. He hurried to tail Brianna, to keep her in his sights.
Protecting Her Royal Baby Page 20