Even though all she’d done was sleep and fall deeper into her own self-pitying thoughts, she was still always exhausted. But she hadn’t lost sight of her goal. She still needed to get out and she needed to do it before the exchange went down.
Would Isobel give up the Dragon Heart necklace to get her back? Maybe. Melody didn’t doubt that Isobel loved Melody in her own way. But love or no love, it didn’t matter. Even if Isobel gave these guys the Dragon Heart, they were never going to let her get out of this alive. Which meant she needed to act soon. The guys had been taking turns watching her and now they were both there. That meant something.
It probably meant she should’ve made her escape attempt earlier, but considering her inability to move her arms or feet, any escape attempt was out of the question.
But she was getting desperate now and it was time to bring out all the tools in her toolbox. So even if she was dirty and exhausted and hadn’t looked into a mirror in days, it was time to turn on the charm and get shit done.
“I, um...” Her voice was dry after a day of not speaking. “I have to go to the bathroom.”
It was the one little freedom she got and she refused to be grateful about it. The only reason they would help her to the bathroom was so there would be less cleanup.
Ahh, the gross details of kidnapping no one liked to think about.
Except Blondie had never been the one to take her out. Only Baldie. Did that mean Blondie was the boss and he got to delegate out the tasks he didn’t want?
“Hold it,” snapped Blondie as he started to shut the door.
“I’ve been holding it!” she called with a raspy voice. “I wouldn’t ask you for anything if I didn’t have to,” she added begrudgingly.
“Fine. Come on.” He stepped inside and even though she knew that she had called him in, she still inched away as he approached.
He seemed annoyed at the added inconvenience, but it only took a fraction of a second for him to reach her and, with a hard grip on her upper arm, he pulled her up.
The pressure on her shoulder was painful, but Melody made sure to let out a moan with a little extra oompf.
“What?” he snapped.
“My arm. The floor is shockingly not the best place to sleep.” She needed him to at least cut the ties around her feet, but the first rule of working a con was to not ask for anything up front. That was too suspicious. She needed to make Blondie think it was his idea to cut her loose.
He started to pull her forward and she gave one undignified hop before she crashed into him, “accidentally” shoving her elbow right into his kidney, scoring her an annoyed grunt from him.
“I’m so sorry,” she said hastily. “I’m having a hard time... The room is spinning. It won’t happen again,” she lied.
He tightened his lips but once again they started toward the door. This time when she fell, she made a show of falling away from Blondie, instead slamming her other shoulder into the door before Blondie could pull her back to his side.
“Seriously?” he asked.
“It won’t happen again! I swear.”
He sighed and once again took her arm and started to half drag her down the hall to where she knew the dirty bathroom was. Her little act wasn’t going to work. He wasn’t going to cut her loose. But there was one other option. When she’d fallen against him, she’d taken the chance to feel what exactly was filling up those utility pockets.
Right as they were almost to the bathroom, she fell once more, this time fully body-slamming Blondie so they both fell into the wall.
“Oh my God!” she said loudly as they fell forward. Right after her bound hand slipped into his side pocket and picked out something small and metal, she made sure as much of her body was touching his as possible. If there were so many contact points, he wouldn’t know what to focus on and, hopefully, wouldn’t realize she just made a lift.
Except when her hips pressed against his, there was a noticeable bulge that was definitely not a gun.
She immediately jerked away and averted her gaze to the floor. Shit, that wasn’t supposed to—
His hand was back on her arm as he practically shoved her into the bathroom. “You have thirty seconds.” Then the door was slammed shut and she was left dumbstruck.
He had a hard-on for her but was distinctly not threatening her, at least not sexually. Which was surprising considering he had no problem threatening her every other way.
But she didn’t have time to focus on it now. Thirty seconds wasn’t a lot of time with the knife she’d gotten. The small blade was barely two inches long, but at least it appeared sharp.
She couldn’t angle the knife right to work at her wrists, but she was able to sit down and get a good rhythm at the ties on her ankles. Right as she heard footsteps approaching, she was able to finally get through the thick plastic of the zip tie and she heard the satisfying crack as it finally gave way. Before she could even think about how to get her wrists, the doorknob started to turn.
Melody scrambled up and gripped the tiny knife in her hand. No matter what came through that door, she was going to have to make her move now.
But she’d rather die trying to survive than doing anything they wanted. This would be a good way to go. This would make her family proud. This would make her proud.
She took one deep breath. When the door was open far enough, she ran through, the knife aimed right at the man who’d opened the door. Except it wasn’t Blondie. It was the bald one. His eyes widened in shock as he fell back. She knew the two-inch blade wouldn’t slow him down long and she needed all the help she could get. As he started to get up, she kicked him fiercely in the crotch. Once he fell, she kicked him again, aiming right for the windpipe, leaving him gasping for air as she took off running.
Fair fighting had never been her style anyway.
“Are you ready for the call?” asked Scott as he tried to see what Toni was doing with all those computers.
“It’s eight fifty-five and the call is at nine. What do you think?” she snapped.
Scott reached up for the small button on the outside edge of his comm to mute it. “I think that a yes or no would be fine.”
Her fingers were moving so rapidly over the keyboard until the screens suddenly lit up with various sized boxes, all showing different sections of the building. “I’m more than ready for the call,” she said. “This is what I was trying to get done.”
“You hacked into the security feed?”
She rolled her eyes. “No. I could’ve hacked into that joke in five seconds. I just piggybacked off their Wi-Fi signal to get the camera feed sent to us in an undetectable way so they’ll never even know they were hacked.”
“You’re modest. I like that about you.”
She turned around in her chair to glare at him. Scott had a feeling his sarcasm had hit a nerve.
“I’m not here to be friends with anyone.”
“I noticed.”
“I’m just here to get my sister and get out.”
“What the fuck do you think I’m doing?”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “I think you’re using my sister’s kidnapping as an excuse to get revenge on the people who had your wife murdered.”
Scott leaned forward, setting one hand on the desk in front of Toni and one hand on the back of her chair. “I think you should leave my wife out of this.”
Toni didn’t even lean away from him as he invaded her personal space. “That’s impossible. This entire thing is all because of Catherine Hart. It’s naive of you to think otherwise.”
“Let’s get one thing straight, okay? You say her name one more time, I will throw you and your equipment out of this van and I’ll leave your sister to die. Got it?”
“I got it. And you’ve made it very clear that you’re completely over her death. I’m glad we can agree.”
Scott was half tempted to make good on his threats, but the ringing phone forced him to put his priorities in order. He just had to make it through this ni
ght and he would never have to deal with Toni Fucking Murray again.
He pushed away from the desk and snatched his phone out of his pocket while unmuting the comm with his free hand. “Are we doing this?”
“Who am I talking to?” asked the man on the other end. From the sound of it, it was Greg Stranger himself.
Scott signaled to Toni to start tracking the call. “I’m facilitating the exchange. Before we send you the necklace, we need proof of life. I want her to repeat a sentence back to me verbatim.”
“No. We’re going to do this—”
“No. The only thing you have that we want is Melody Murray. If we don’t have proof that she’s alive and in good enough health to speak, we’re not giving you any damn necklace. What’s it going to be?”
“Hold on,” said the man on the other end.
Scott looked over to Toni and she gave him a thumbs-up, signaling that the trace was working. From the time that he had to wait, Scott would guess that Stranger had to take the elevator to a different level.
“What do you want her to say?”
“I want to hear her say ‘Toni hates everything.’”
Toni gave him a questioning look and shrugged. It was something that was unique and would let her know that they had found her clue. Maybe it would offer her a little comfort.
“Shit,” said Stranger.
“Shit? What happened? Where is Melody?”
“The drop is being rescheduled.” He abruptly hung up.
Toni’s eyes were wide as she stared at Scott. “What the hell was that?”
“That was a variable. Melody wasn’t where he left her.”
“So where the hell is she?”
Scott knelt next to Toni and motioned for the screen. “Were you able to track the call?”
“Yes. Based off the distance from us and him, he was either on the second floor or in the sub-basement. Based off the interference I picked up on the call, I’m ninety percent sure it’s the sub-basement.”
“Okay. So our game plan is staying the same. Weston, move into the sub-basement and search out Melody. You’re not going to be alone, so keep your eyes and ears open. Isobel, where are you on the safe?”
There was silence over the other end. “Mom?” said Toni. “Where are you?”
“Isobel!”
Austin ran a hand up and down Jennifer’s back. “It’s going to be okay.” He had no idea whether that was true, but he wasn’t about to freak her out any more. They were still on the dance floor and he didn’t want to draw any extra attention to them.
“My mother and sister are now both missing. How is this going to be okay?”
Scott answered before Austin could. “Jennifer, Isobel is MIA. Can you make it upstairs to check what happened? Bring Austin with you.”
“The entire point of having us here was so we could be a distraction and be noticed and now you want us to run a job?” snapped Austin.
“Things change. Toni has the security feed up for all of the fifteenth floor and there’s no sign of Isobel.”
Jennifer’s heart leapt into her throat. “You don’t think—”
“I think that when she heard Melody wasn’t there, she turned off her comm and went looking for her. Remember when I said that rebellions like this are what get people killed? This is what I was trying to avoid. So now we have to adjust.”
Austin scanned the room but didn’t see any sign of Stranger. “We need to get a keycard that can get us into the stairwell then.”
“You get the keycard and I’ll distract.” Jennifer pulled away from Austin and walked away. It was strange to know just how stressed she was but from looking at her, she seemed utterly calm and collected. A true professional.
But if she was doing her job, he’d better do his. He spotted the nearest empty table and swiped one of the half-empty drinks that had been abandoned. He pretended to take a sip as he dipped two fingers into what smelled like whiskey. Then he dabbed the liquor on his neck and sides of his jacket.
He glanced over his shoulder and saw that Jennifer had nabbed a black shawl that made her bright-red dress a little less noticeable and was headed over to the exit in the northwest corner. He started in the same direction and added a little stumble to his walk. When he made it to the security guard, he gave his drunk stumble a little extra oomph and went careening right into the beefy six-foot-tall guard.
“Watch it, buddy,” said the guard in a stern voice.
Austin let out a billowing laugh as he pushed a bit harder than necessary on the guard while his other hand slipped into his pocket and lifted his wallet. Like riding a bike... Picking a pocket never got old.
“I’m so sorry,” he said, speaking close enough to the guard’s face to have him reeling back.
“That’s enough. Step away, sir, or I’m going to have to remove you.”
Austin slipped the wallet out of sight before he stumbled back. “Lighten up. It’s a party. I’m just partying.” He meandered a few feet away while muttering to himself as he took out his phone, as if to drunk text his ex.
And that was right when Jennifer walked up. He was able to just see her in his peripheral vision.
“Hello,” she said in her super sweet voice that he knew was bullshit. “I just found this on the ground and I know its owner must just be devastated at the loss. If I know my jewelry, and I do, these are real diamonds.”
Smart girl. She’d swiped a bracelet that was probably worth a hundred thousand. That had to be enough to get the guard to personally leave his post and try to find its owner.
“Thanks for bringing it to me, ma’am. I’ll make sure it gets to its rightful owner.”
“Oh, that’s so great. I was worried just thinking about how panicked the owner is going to be.” She smiled up at him and for a second, Austin forgot his character as he noticed that the guard looked back at Jennifer with a doofy look in his face. A doofy look Austin was becoming all too familiar with. Jennifer did seem to have that effect on men. Now if the guard would do his damn job and take the bracelet instead of looking at his girlfriend as if she was the sexiest thing in the room...
Well, she wasn’t his girlfriend. And she was the sexiest thing in the room. Fuck, the guy just needed to stop.
Finally, he seemed to pull himself away from Jennifer’s charm and took the bracelet from her as he left his post. But Austin couldn’t make his move then because the guard was still making googly eyes at Jennifer over his shoulder. If he could roll his eyes any harder, the damn things would fall out.
Once the coast was clear, he picked the keycard out of the wallet and, as quickly as possible, made it to the door and swiped the magnetic card over the slot. The door lock clicked open. “Do guys fall in love with you everywhere you go?”
“They do when I’m handing out free diamond bracelets,” she said as they both slipped into the stairwell.
“I thought the secret to a man’s heart was through his stomach.”
“That many carats can buy a lot of dinners.”
Couldn’t argue with that. It was a thirteen-story climb up and Austin was fit, but they took the stairs so fast that they were both breathing hard by the time they got up to the top level. “Do we need to be on the lookout for anything?” Austin leaned against the wall, giving himself a few seconds to recuperate.
“I don’t see anyone on the cameras, but from what I can tell, Stranger’s office isn’t monitored,” said Toni over the comm.
“Criminals don’t really like cameras.” Jennifer brushed a loose piece of hair behind her ear. “Any word from Mom?”
“Nothing yet. Her comm is turned off and she’s not on any of the cameras. I’m cycling through all the feeds, though.”
“She’ll show up,” said Austin. “She wouldn’t have left if she didn’t know that we could handle this.”
He could tell from the look on Jennifer’s face that she wasn’t convinced, but it was all the comfort he could offer her at the moment. “Toni, we’re going to need you to gu
ide us. We don’t know the layout like Isobel did.”
“I’ve got you. Once you’re out the door, you’re going to take the second left and his office is all the way at the end.”
“Okay,” said Jennifer. “We’re going in.”
Austin pulled open the door and went first. Even though they had someone on the cameras, it was second nature to proceed cautiously. It creeped him the hell out to know he was being monitored, but there were some benefits to having people in his head.
“What’s your status, Weston?” said Scott.
“Just got to the basement. Starting my search now,” said the gruff whisper.
Austin couldn’t believe the detail in the audio these things picked up. Toni had to have nabbed this technology from some government agency he probably didn’t even know existed.
They reached the turn, and there was still no sign of anyone. Almost all the lights were off, so the glow of the cityscape and the moon outside gave a soft blue sheen to the office space. The corridor they were approaching was lined with offices on one side and cubicles on the other, and the offices cut down on the light spilling in.
“You sure we’re good?” asked Austin. Even though he couldn’t see or hear anyone, his other senses were telling him something was off.
“I haven’t seen anyone up there but you.”
“Come on, Austin.” Jennifer took the lead. “We’re this far already. No turning back now.”
“Famous last words,” he pointed out as he followed her.
Stranger was the owner of the company, so he had the plush corner office at the end. The door was closed. Jennifer tentatively reached out and Austin held his breath as she turned the handle.
The knob clicked and the door swung open. It wasn’t even locked? Well, that was a plus.
A plus that was quickly negated by the sound of a gun cocking.
Melody turned down another corridor, but it was just more dusty shelves filled with dusty boxes. Every single door she’d found was locked, so it was dead end after dead end.
She forced herself to stop and listen, trying to get her heart to come back to a manageable beat. It was the only thing she could hear and if she wanted to survive, she was going to need her hearing.
The Cocky Thief (Stolen Hearts Book 1) Page 15