by S. M. Butler
24
The first thing that Jordan realized as the car pulled into the art gallery’s parking lot was that he was neither restrained nor blindfolded. So, either he was going to die inside that building tonight or Reilly didn’t intend to kill him. And if he didn’t intend to kill him, he wanted something instead.
As the car stopped, someone opened the door from the outside. “This way, please, sir.” He barely noticed the guy in the suit next to him. The one that had been in charge, that had pointed the gun at him, had left him in the gentle care of these men after he’d gotten a phone call.
Turned out he was only thirty minutes from the gallery, not an hour like he’d thought. Fucking GPS probably had him taking the scenic route all around the country before getting into the city.
He stared up at the building. It was one of those modern art structures, decorative and artistic at the same time. Going in there might mean not coming back out. When he didn’t check in, Bea would track him. Not only did he have a chip in his spine, but there was one in his pocket too. Someone somewhere would find him eventually. He just wasn’t sure if it would be after he got a bullet to the brain.
“Would you tell me if I was walking into a nice hole in my head?”
“No,” the man beside him replied in a flat tone.
“Well, at least you’re honest,” Jordan said as he stepped forward. It was almost regal the way the men opened doors for him. The gallery was open, so whatever guns they had were vanished by the time they were inside. But he had zero doubt that they weren’t armed and dangerous.
Even the sanitized air of the gallery couldn’t mask the sweet smell of expensive art filling his senses. He’d been focused on getting to the vault with Muldoon the last time he’d been in here that he really hadn’t noticed the art. People milled about like they had all day. Some were focused on specific pieces. Others were deep in discussion.
None of them even noticed as the men led him to the very back of the gallery, back into offices he remembered vaguely passing by on his way to the vault that night. The last door on the right opened, another faceless security guard holding it open for him as he walked through.
Sitting at the desk, George Reilly twirled a letter opener in his fingers, his legs crossed. He leaned back against the huge office chair as Jordan entered. His dark eyes glittered in the dim lighting. A smirk lifted one side of the older man’s mouth. He motioned to the chair in front of the desk. “Mr. Levi. Please sit.”
“I find defending myself much easier if I remain standing.”
“Nonsense. There will be no harm to you here. I simply want to talk.” When Jordan didn’t move, his gaze moved to Jordan’s bum leg. “Perhaps you would like to rest your injury? I understand your types do heal quickly, but you’re not infallible.”
His types? Reapers? He frowned.
“Yes, I know about your team. I know a lot, actually. That’s not why you’re here. Not exactly, anyway.”
He swallowed hard as he stepped in front of a chair that looked like it had been rocked out of its usual position. Scrapes marred the perfect hardwood.
“Sit down, Mr. Levi. You have my word. You will not be hurt here.”
He lowered himself into it, ignoring the twinge of pain in his leg. He really didn’t want to sit, but he didn’t exactly have the advantage here.
“A lot of men make promises they don’t intend to keep, Mr. Reilly.”
“Oh, you know who I am.” Though there was surprise in his voice, there was none on his face. The man was controlled, shuttered.
“The television doesn’t ever quite get your good side, though.”
Reilly’s expression changed, a grin spreading across his face and he chuckled, still twirling that damn letter opener. “You are quite the joker, aren’t you?”
“Some say so,” Jordan replied evenly.
“Would Miss Lawson be one of those?”
It was an innocent question, but it made his heart hurt like a thousand knives had driven into it. Reilly knew he’d used Penny’s access. That was the only reason he would bring up someone not inside his world. “Who?”
“My gallery assistant. The one you banged—many times I might add—and then stole her access codes to gain access to the floor below.”
He clenched his fists tightly. “There’s a floor below?”
“Mr. Levi, let’s not insult each other by playing the idiot.”
“Where is she?” Jordan growled.
“She’s fine,” Reilly replied. “It seems I now have need of your service, Mr. Levi. May I call you Jordan?”
“No,” he ground out.
The senator continued without a beat. “I’m quite impressed with how you managed to get into this place without setting off the alarm as well as how you got the data off the computer system without tripping the failsafe.” He leaned forward, bracing his weight on his elbows. “Couldn’t identify your friend. Perhaps you would like to?”
“I can’t say that I do,” Jordan said in a low tone. “What is this about?”
“A job,” he said.
“I already have a job,” Jordan said carefully.
“Oh, but this one you’re going to want to take,” Reilly replied. “It’s a retrieval.”
“Once upon a time, I was a thief, not a kidnapper.” Jordan shook his head. “The answer is no.”
“You misunderstand. I need something more delicate to extract than another human being.”
“What’s that?”
“The Reaper matrix,” he replied. “I know it can’t be isolated in your blood. We tried that with Muldoon. So, I need a sample of the serum that activates the matrix.”
Jordan didn’t even know how the matrix worked, if he was honest with it. He remembered getting stuck in the neck. Then the heart. Then the burning that passed over his entire body while every cell in his body was rewritten and reprogrammed. But Nathan kept that shit close to his vest. Though all of his team had been through the process, none of them really knew how it worked.
“That’s not possible,” Jordan said with a shake of his head.
“I trust you’ll make it possible.” The senator typed on the laptop in front of him.
“Why would I do this at all? If you know who I work for, then you know that guy signs my paychecks, but he doesn’t tell me a helluva lot.”
“There’s a lot of money in it for you,” the senator replied. “I will make sure you are well taken care of.”
“Money’s not everything.”
“And one more thing.”
“What’s that?”
The senator flipped the laptop around. The video was black and white and centered on a room he’d never seen. It was difficult to see, but he made out the thin outline. Then her face hit the light as she looked up and the bottom dropped out of his stomach.
Penny.
Her arms were around her legs, hugging them close. He remembered that position from his time with the Giroux family. That was how you protected vital organs from surprise attacks. Had they hurt her? As the light hit her, even though the grainy surveillance, her eyes were rimmed with pain and exhaustion.
Anger seared through his body, turning his vision red as he turned back to the senator. “Let her go.”
“Your little accomplice will stay right where she is.”
Every muscle in Jordan’s body tightened in silent fury. Had they kidnapped her from her apartment? Taken her from her job upstairs? Forcibly thrown her over their shoulder and marched her to wherever that was? They had a camera on her, so it had to be on the premises, right? That was how it used to be, but with the Internet, she could be anywhere. Maybe she wasn’t even in the gallery anymore.
“She’s got nothing to do with this.”
“Oh, but she does. You see, you used my employee to get into this building.” Reilly’s blue eyes turned dark as midnight. “You will do what I bid you to do… because now, her life will be your payment.”
“I don’t have access to the Reaper matr
ix,” he whispered. His lungs burned with need to get to Penny, to run from this room to wherever she was. “I can’t—”
“Find a way. She looks upset, doesn’t she?” He gestured to the screen with the letter opener. “I’d hate for something to happen to her. Perhaps a terrible accident. A painful one.”
Even the black and white of the video couldn’t hide the pain in her expression as she gazed at whatever it was she was looking at. Resolve toasted his fear. It didn’t matter that Nathan would kill him for this betrayal. He would do this, because Penny was all that mattered. It didn’t matter how impossible it might be. He would do it.
“All you want is the activation serum?”
The senator nodded. “You said you were a thief, not a kidnapper. I respect that. Yes, all I need from you is the activation serum.”
“I can’t tell you how it works. I have no idea.”
“That won’t be necessary,” Reilly replied. Jordan glanced at the man, noting the confidence in his expression. Maybe he did know how it worked. It was unclear what he knew about the Reapers. Nathan was as tight-lipped as they came and even the Reapers themselves didn’t know how they were reborn in death. Only that they were. But that look on Reilly… he had some of the answers already. Just not all.
“I do this, and you release her? She’s not part of this.”
“She is now, because you brought her into it.” Reilly leaned back in his chair. “She was quite the capable assistant. She practically ran this gallery herself.” He sighed as he looked back to Jordan. “Despite that, you have my word. You bring the serum and Miss Lawson will be fine.”
What the senator wasn’t so clearly saying was that Penny was in deep shit and it was his fault. He drew in a breath and forced himself to look away from the video feed.
“I want to talk to her,” Jordan said. He wasn’t sure why he demanded it. Like he needed to see her for himself, know that she was okay. Of course, she wasn’t okay. She was being held by a murdering piece of shit that would probably kill her if Jordan failed. But still… he needed to see her.
“You can do whatever you want. You could go down there and fuck her for the camera, for all I care. Just know, she stays where she is until I have my serum.” The senator leaned back in his chair. “You have forty-eight hours to bring me what I want. Don’t waste time she doesn’t have.”
~*~*~
Jordan would have dissolved down into a daze if he wasn’t sitting in the middle of the enemy’s house. Instead, Reilly’s men led him through the vault he’d broken into only a few weeks before. As they shut him in, the leader rubbed his chest and then put his palm on the far wall. As it parted wide open, Jordan stared at it in surprise. They’d come for that fucking network bullshit, and Scott said that he had what he needed. But there was a hidden door in the vault the whole time.
What was it that Scott had found in this room? What had he come here for? Had there been more to the mission than Bridget had told him? It wouldn’t be surprising.
They took him down the stairs and to a heavy metal door, barred from the outside. They removed the bar and unlocked the door with a small key. Kind of overkill for one girl.
The guy looked at him for a long moment, his hand idly running over his chest. “You have five minutes. Make it a good show.”
As he opened the door, light flooded the room, revealing Penny in the corner, hugging her knees. Instantly, he was transported back in time, when he’d assumed that exact same position. Marie Giroux had enjoyed taking out her pleasure on him, on hurting him. At first, she’d asked questions, to try to find his father. But when it became clear he didn’t know and was just as screwed over by his father as she was, she’d taken out her anger on him. It had only been hours for her, but it had been weeks for him.
He swallowed as he was shut in with Penny, pushing away the old memories to focus on her. Slowly, he lowered himself into a squat in front of her, hating as she curled up tighter. “Penny, love.”
Her eyes were red-rimmed and swollen when she met his. Dark circles surrounded the redness. Her shoulders drooped like she had the weight of the world on her shoulders. But even as she sat there, exhausted and hurt, there was a palpable anger and it was directed at him. Good. Maybe if she was angry with him, she’d fight harder.
“Are you okay? He didn’t hurt you?”
“Am I okay?” her voice was quiet, but sharp like a dagger. “You’re really asking me that? Do you fucking see where I am?”
“Penny, I know that you’re angry…”
“Angry doesn’t even begin to describe how pissed the fuck off I am.” Her dark eyes flashed. Without her glasses, they gleamed in the dim light. “You took my keycard.”
It wasn’t a question. She knew the truth. He nodded, hoping his voice didn’t break. “I made a copy. Put it back. The night of your birthday.”
“I really wanted it to not be true,” she said. “I really wanted you to be different.”
God… that soft tone cut him harder than he believed possible. “I’m sorry, Penny.” She looked smaller, dimmer as she shook her head and no words left her. The brightness, the shine that he loved so much from her wasn’t as brilliant as it was in Jubilee.
He’d destroyed her sunshine.
Like Penny needed any confirmation as Jordan’s big body froze. She wasn’t sure why he was here or how he was back here seeing her when they’d confirmed he was the thief, but she didn’t care. Her anger bolstered her. Her anger kept her aware. She’d poured out every last bit of her emotions the last few hours. She had nothing left inside her and that was long after she’d puked away her lunch.
“He told me you were dangerous. I didn’t believe him until he showed me that video. Then everything made sense.”
“Do you really think I’m dangerous?” Jordan asked in a low voice.
“I don’t think that I know you at all, Jordan.”
Jordan knelt down in front of her. “Penny, I’d never hurt you.”
“You lied to me. You lied, and you stole from me.”
“Yes, I did. I wish… well, it doesn’t matter what I wish.”
“I think you should go,” she said quietly. Sure, she was the one in the cell and she probably had no right to order him out, but it hurt to see him, to see those topical blues staring at her. His warmth was so near that she wanted to wrap herself in it forever. But he’d lied to her, betrayed her, and she was likely going to die because of him.
“I don’t want to leave you like this,” he whispered. He reached for her hand, but she pulled away. Rising from the floor, she put as much space between them as she could. Not that there was all that much room. “Penny, please.”
Jordan’s presence was bigger than his already large body. Having him in this room was suffocating her, especially since she’d begun to suspect the source of her fucking nausea. She didn’t want to think about it, but it had been coming on for a while. The fatigue, the nausea, the fucking cravings for ice cream all the goddamn time. How many times had they gone for ice cream in Jubilee?
“You have every right to despise me. But please… don’t make me leave you like this. With this anger.”
“All I have is my anger,” she whispered. “You tricked me. You destroyed me. My life, my career, all of it.”
Jordan gripped her hand tightly. “Penny, you have to believe me. If you believe nothing else is true about me, believe this at the very least. I’m going to get you out of here. You will be safe.”
“You’re insane,” Penny breathed, pulling her hand back. The man seemed more desperate than insane. Safe? She was be held against her will and he— “How can you promise that?”
He swallowed. “Because they need something from me. I’m going to get it and bring here and get you out.”
She stared at him. He had this determined look on his face. Like he was so sure. But she’d seen enough movies, read enough books to know the truth. She’d seen too much. She knew too much. She wasn’t going to leave this room.
&
nbsp; “Get out, Jordan,” she whispered. She couldn’t take his nearness. God, he was tall, towering over her, looming. And at the same time, his scent, his presence overwhelmed every one of her senses. Her heart skipped beats as she stared him down. Her insides turned to mush.
He cupped her face, gazing at her like she was the only thing in the world. But she wasn’t, was she? He’d tricked her, manipulated her, made her feel things she’d never thought she’d feel. Then his lips lowered to hers, desperate and powerful. God help her, her entire body responded. She clung to his arms for support, or she might have melted away. His hands roamed over her body, hitching slightly on her front pocket to pull her closer. As they separated, her world spun and blurred. How was it she had more tears? Hadn’t she run out of them yet?
“Penny…” he whispered. “I will come back for you.”
She closed her eyes, tears falling down. Then she opened them, meeting those clear blues and finally voiced the fear she’d been consumed with for the last few hours, “I think I’m pregnant, Jordan.”
He froze. His body tensed like it had just gotten electrocuted. He didn’t move from her, didn’t release her face or her from his embrace. “Pregnant? How’d you mean?”
“There’s only one thing that means, dumbass.” She put both her hands on his chest and pushed him away. Anger was a far more controllable emotion for her, and she clung to it. She swiped away the fallen tears.
Jordan’s eyes had turned wild. Good. She’d thrown the thief for a loop. He deserved it.
“That first night… we were both pretty drunk.” She heaved out a sigh. It actually felt good to tell him what she suspected. Maybe it was all the wrong time to do it—hell, it was the worst time—but what choice did she have? She could be dead in five minutes. Five hours. Who the hell knew? “My life as I know it is over. So, you know what? Fuck you. You didn’t just lie to me. You completely demolished every aspect of my life in a matter of days.”