by S. M. Butler
Scott didn’t answer. Jordan didn’t really expect him to answer anyway. He wasn’t wrong. He’d gone through all that for nothing. He’d destroyed Penny for nothing.
“We live to serve,” Jordan muttered as he pocketed the USB stick. He turned back to face Scott. “We good to go?”
Scott nodded. “Car’s outside. You’ll go straight into the city from here.”
“You’re not coming?”
Scott shook his head. “Nathan is bringing in the Reapers for backup. It’s better if I’m not around when he does.”
And what had Nathan told the team? As if on cue, his phone rang. He glanced at it, saw Bea’s name and sighed. He wasn’t ready for that conversation.
He swallowed hard and shoved the thing back into his pocket. Then without another word, he strode out of the room.
It was time to get Penny back.
27
Fifteen hours left. That’s all Jordan had. It had taken way too long in Rose City, and the car ride had been hours of time wasted after flying back to his car at the airfield. Now he was alone in his car, with nothing but his own thoughts to dwell on, even with the conference call currently floating over his speakers.
“The tag isn’t moving anymore,” Bea said over the speakers. It was a last-minute ditch effort that he’d stuck that thing in her pocket. He didn’t trust them to move her out of the gallery. They hadn’t, but there had been some chaotic movement for a while… and then… she was still again.
His heart seized up into his throat, choking him. What if that meant they’d hurt her? What if they’d killed her and all of this was for nothing? What if he was too late?
“The signal is weak, though. I’m assuming she’s underground at this point,” Bea continued.
“The program on the drive will activate in three minutes. That’s how long it needs for me to be able to see the code and make sure it integrates into their systems,” Scott added. “After that, Levi will need to stall another six minutes before I can get the security down and the vault open remotely without triggering the Titanium’s failsafe. The groundwork I laid the first time we went in should still be waiting.”
“The testing on the sample he has should take at least ten before they realize they’ve got a fake,” Nathan said. “There isn’t a way to shorten the process on the test, so assume they will keep you at least that long to verify the sample.”
“Shit,” Jordan cursed. “This is getting too complicated. I’m just going to grab her and run.” And hope he was the only one shot in the process.
“Stick to the plan, Mr. Levi,” Nathan admonished. “It’s not like you’ve got a gun to blast your way back out.”
That much was true. He didn’t carry guns. Not that Reilly would let him in there with a weapon anyway. They were going to search him and they’d find any weapon he had.
“I’m five minutes out,” Jordan said. “Tell me this is going to work.”
There was a brief silence over the line that stretched out so long he wasn’t sure anyone was going to answer—and then Nathan’s voice: “It will work.”
Funny, it didn’t make him feel any better.
He ended the call and squeezed the steering wheel as he drove down the highway. This had to work. There was no other way he could fathom it going.
His phone rang again.
He pressed the button on the steering wheel. “Yeah.”
“I’m going to get her out, Jordan,” Bea’s voice filtered over the speakers. “It’s going to work.”
“You better,” he replied. “I need… fuck.” He couldn’t say it. He couldn’t even think of a world without Penny Lawson in it. He was just fine with ending his own stupid life, but her? She deserved a full, long life and fucking hell, he’d give her that if he could.
“I never figured you for the settling down type,” she added.
“You neither. Figured you’d probably castrate the man who tried.”
She laughed, which in itself was a strange sound. Until a few months ago, Bea never laughed. Hardly ever smiled. She was five feet two of pure anger. Axel had changed her and until now, he’d never understood it. Now… even though after this, Penny would never want to see him again… he was forever changed. “I’ll castrate you if you don’t make it out.”
“No worries about me, love. I’m good to go,” he replied. He could almost see her eyes narrowing at him in the silence that followed. Did she understand what he meant by that?
“Don’t do anything stupid,” she said, finally.
He laughed this time. “Do I ever?”
“You want me to answer honestly?”
“No, probably not. I’ll be careful.”
“I don’t handle crying women well,” she said. “Be fast, too.”
The line went dead as he pulled into the gallery parking lot. He supposed being in the middle of the day, the gallery was open, but Penny wouldn’t be in there like she had been the couple of days that he’d surveilled her. She was somewhere below it, stuck in a room alone.
He gripped the steering wheel tighter, trying to hold back the rage inside. He wanted nothing more than to be the one who rescued Penny, but that wasn’t to be. Bea was the next best thing. Unlike him, she had no problem dropping bodies to achieve her goals. At least, she used to. He hoped Axel bringing out her softer side hadn’t ruined her for field work.
Fuck. What the hell was he saying?
He growled, swiping the hard drive off the seat and shoved the thing in his shoe. He got out of the car, slammed the door shut, and walked toward the entrance. They had to have been watching for him, because two of Reilly’s men met him out front and maneuvered him around the side. Had to avoid the people in the gallery, right?
The side door was narrow, as were the stairs it opened into. He frowned. He didn’t remember stairs the last time he was here. Well, not these stairs. They weren’t taking him in the same way he’d been before. They led him onto what looked like a warehouse, with rows and rows of containers, a lot like the ones that Bridget and Nathan had been tracking.
In the center of the big room, they forced him to his knees.
“This is really going to ruin the knees on these pants,” he replied as they yanked his arms behind him and slipped a cable tie over his wrists. Amateurs. Like that would hold him.
As they searched him, they found the canister with the vial and pulled it out of his pocket. One spoke into a walkie-talkie in a low murmur Jordan couldn’t quite hear. A moment later, the door banged open and Reilly’s little stooge walked across the place. Alcott took the thing from his guard. He had a new wound on his forehead, which looked like it had been a bleeder at one point. A blood-stained piece of white gauze was taped over the spot.
“Someone popped you a right good one, didn’t they?” Jordan grinned as Alcott’s face dipped into a frown.
“This the right shit?” Alcott asked instead of answering Jordan’s jab.
“Yes,” Jordan replied. “Where’s Reilly?”
“Busy. I’m handling this,” the man shot back. He glanced at the men behind him. “Keep him here while we verify the contents. If he moves, shoot him.”
Guess they were done with the whole polite thing they’d had going before.
“What about the girl?” Jordan called out as Sam turned to leave. Stall. He needed to stall. He also needed to get to a computer to upload this fucking program. “Reilly said he’d release her.”
“Once the contents are verified, that will be considered.”
“Considered?” Jordan got to his feet, ignoring the stab of pain in his leg. One of the guards attempted to grab him, but he ducked and continued toward the man. “That was the deal. You get the serum. I get the girl.”
Another guard gripped him by the shoulders, pulling him back. The man walked back toward him, slow and easy. His dark eyes were black like onyx, casing over him as if he were an insect. He shoved the canister in his pocket. “You’re not in a position to demand anything.”
In that instant, he sa
w the truth of the man. He was blood-hungry son of a bitch. In those dark eyes, he saw the killing instinct. He’d seen it a hundred times. He’d seen the hunger for pain before too. Marie Giroux had that look in her eyes when she’d come to see him in that hole she kept him in. Sam Alcott was no different than that bitch of a woman. He wanted the pain of others, needed it.
Jordan pulled on the ties, feeling the stretch of the plastic. That was the problem with cable ties. A well-placed thumb and the simple flex of a fist that could get you out of them, but they were stupid strong to break either way.
He was almost free when the left hook came out of nowhere, slamming against his jaw with more force than Jordan ever remembered being hit with. The guy had a fist like a Mack truck. His vision swam, but he managed to stay on his feet.
“Is that all you’ve got?” Jordan mused even as the metallic taste of blood hit his mouth.
Another fist straight into his solar plexus, knocking the wind out of him. He fell to one knee, trying to catch his breath.
“That better for you?”
“Weak,” Jordan coughed out as he tried to catch his breath.
“Drop him in the cage with the girl for the time being. Let the lovebirds catch up.”
Jordan coughed, wheezed as the guys pulled him to his feet and half-dragged him across the floor. He was headed in the wrong direction. He had to get to a computer. Otherwise, there would be no way for Scott to bring the security system down long enough for Bea to infiltrate.
~*~*~
A few minutes later, they dropped him in the dark room he remembered Penny sitting in, but now it smelled like death. He groaned and tried to sit up, but the ties were strong little buggers, holding out far longer than he’d thought they would.
“Fuck me,” he grumbled. The man hit hard, like he had swung a brick at his face.
“Jordan?” That familiar voice struck him right in the heart.
“Penny?” It was dark so he couldn’t see her directly, but he heard the shift of her body.
“Is it really you?” Her voice was so small, like she’d had the world beaten out of her. He tried to shift around so he could see her, but she was still in that corner.
“Yes, love. It’s me,” he said, gently.
Something wet hit his hand. Finally, he got the damn ties to break and he glanced down at his hand. Red. Was he bleeding? Or was she?
“Come here, Penny,” he said flatly. He needed to see her, and he was sitting in the only real light. Even so, with his Reaper sight, he saw her shake her head. He swallowed. She was holding her head down, her arms resting on her knees.
Slowly, he crawled his way to her instead, every tremble of his heart reverberating all through his body. When he reached her, he saw the bloodstains first. Flecks of red and rusted brown coating her face and clothes. “Are you hurt?”
God help him, if she was, that fucker was going to pay with his own blood.
She shook her head again. “I-It’s not mine.”
Fuck when he saw the devastation on her face, his lungs lost all air. So much torture on that beautiful face of hers. She’d seen something that rocked her entire world. He wanted to go to her, to wrap her in his arms and tell her everything would be all right. But the truth was, he didn’t know if it would be. The clock was ticking.
“I’m sorry,” he said instead. “I’m so sorry.”
“I’m scared,” she whispered. “Sam is… he…” Her voice broke and she fell silent. He wanted to touch her, to reassure her. To calm her. But all this was his fault. He had no right to do that. “Oh, god, Jordan.” The next second, her arms wrapped around his neck, squeezing him tightly. His jaw pulsed with pain, but he was already lost in the scent of her.
Hesitantly, he brought his arms around her body, so he didn’t scare her any more than she had been. Panic sliced through his heart again. He had to get her out of here. “I’m so sorry, Penny, my love. I don’t…”
“Don’t,” she whispered fiercely. Her fingers closed around the back of his neck as she pulled back just enough to see his face. Her fingers were cold, almost freezing. He hated how cold they were. “I tried to run. I didn’t make it very far.”
She’d tried to free herself? That only made him feel worse.
“He did it as a lesson to me,” she said absently. “He killed his own guy.”
“He will pay,” he promised her. He turned his head, bumping against her nose in the dark, but found her lips. Even her lips were cool at first touch, but he deepened the kiss, stroking her tongue with his. Her body relaxed against his, but he still felt the tension in her touch as she pulled back and met his eyes.
“I still think you’re a lying jerk.”
“I am,” he said. “Nowhere near good enough for you. And I am a selfish bastard.”
“That I believe,” she said softly. She moved her body so she was cradled in his arms, her shoulder bumping against his chest, her head resting against his shoulder. “I also believe that you, Mr. Thief and Con Man, can get us out.”
He wasn’t as sure as she was. Yes, he’d had a plan coming in here. There was still a plan in motion. But they had what they wanted already and the two of them were still locked in this room. He pressed his lips to her forehead. “You sure know how to flatter a man, don’t you, love?”
~*~*~
Penny hadn’t realized in the dark room that she’d been freezing until she was surrounded by Jordan’s warm body. They’d taken that body out and all the pieces it had ended up being but hadn’t done the best job on the clean-up. The corner they were sitting in was far enough away that the pungent odor of dead body wasn’t right up her nose, reminding her of what Sam had done… what he had relished and enjoyed.
The warning he’d given had done the job. She’d stayed put. She hadn’t moved from that corner until they’d brought Jordan in and even then, she’d been afraid to move.
Slowly, Jordan’s hands started to move over her body, starting from her face where he visually inspected her, then to her neck and shoulders. He slid his fingers over each of her arms and prodded each of her fingers.
“What are you doing?”
“Checking for scratches,” he replied in a low, dangerous tone. As his hands slid down her chest and ribs, she bit back a moan. She had to be in shock. That was the only reason she could imagine that his inspection of her was turning her on. “I promised someone a world of hurt if there was even so much as a paper cut on you.”
He moved on to her hips, then her legs down to her toes. Then he looked at her, met her stare right in the eyes. His focus was intense. “You’re not hurt?”
She shook her head. “He wasn’t exactly nice about it when he dragged me back to this room. But no, I’m not hurt.” No, he’d dragged her by the hair most of the way here and probably took a chunk of the mess out in the process. But physically hurt? Nah. His actions had done what he’d intended. He’d scared her enough that she didn’t attempt to run again.
“Good. That’s good.” He leaned back against the wall, taking her with him. As he held her close to his body, she soaked in his warmth. As her body warmed, she let out a shiver that slithered all through her. He pulled her closer. “Cold?”
She shook her head. “Not anymore.”
Jordan’s fingers absently stroked her arm as he held her. She should have still been furious with him. She was in this position because of him, but she couldn’t manage the strength for anger. After seeing that man murdered in front of her, she’d been floating around like… she wasn’t even sure.
All she could see was the look on Alcott’s face. The pure joy and relief when he’d cut into that man. Was that her future? Was that Jordan’s future? She wouldn’t be able to watch him die like that. The very idea made her want to scream.
“Don’t worry,” he murmured. “I’ve got you.”
Did he, though? She wanted to believe him.
“It’s all going to come together,” he murmured into her hair. “I’ll get you out.”
/> “You really came back for me?” she asked. “After what I told you?”
“Of course, my love,” he said softly, kissing her forehead again. “I’d always come for you.”
“Because I might be pregnant?”
He tilted her chin up. She made out the faint outlines of his eyes, which seemed just as brilliant as ever in the dark, if that was possible. “Because I love you, you little dummy.”
If he’d told her that only hours ago, she wouldn’t have believed him. But sitting there, facing what might be their end, neither of them had anything to lose by telling the truth. She sat up in his arms and cupped his face. “If you do love me, then get me out of here.”
It was a manipulation, she knew. It was all she had. If she died here, Jordan would forever blame himself. And despite his lies that led into this, he was not responsible for the cruelty of others.
He brushed her messy hair from her face. “Challenge accepted, my love.”
My love. He’d been calling her that since he’d been there. She loved the sound of his voice when he said it too.
“I want to tell you everything,” he said, quietly. “Not here, but when we get out.”
When, not if. She liked his optimism, if anything.
“About?”
“Me. What I do. Who I am. I won’t lie to you anymore, Penny,” he said.
Strangely enough, she did believe that. And she wanted to know everything about him, if only to consider what a child of his might be like. “Then that’s something to look forward to. I want to hear it all.”
“Keep your head down,” he whispered as they both heard the sound of the bar moving away from the door. “And when I tell you to, you run. To the right, straight down. I’ll be right behind you.”
“Jordan—” Where the hell was she going to run? She’d tried that once and it hadn’t worked.
But she had no more time as the door banged against the wall, flooding the room with light. Alcott stood in the doorway. He gestured to them to stand. “Let’s go.”
“Where?” Jordan demanded.
“Down the hall,” was all the head of security said.