“What were you supposed to do after you killed me?”
“We weren’t supposed to kill you. We were supposed to capture you and make you break.”
“And if that didn’t work?”
He looked between Derek and I. He looked nervous, like he didn’t want to say what he was thinking, but then he smiled maniacally and I had a bad feeling about whatever he was going to say.
“We’ve been watching your girl. We knew that eventually we would get our chance.”
Oh fuck. I hoped to God he wasn’t going to tell me that he was going after Maggie. “Your chance for what?” I bit out. His gaze slid to the table where his gun and smokes were.
“Boom.”
I stared at him, expecting something to happen, but nothing did.
“That’s it? Boom?”
He looked confused for a second, but then an explosion rocked the building. I whipped my gaze toward the door and then the world went still as I looked at the pack of smokes he had been eyeing on the table.
“Irish, down!” I shouted just as an explosion ripped through the room, throwing Derek and I to the ground. A sharp, piercing noise rang through my ears as I looked around the room. Derek was getting to his feet and our hostage was laughing and choking on smoke at the same time. My eyes slid back to the table that was now in pieces on the ground. It wasn’t a huge explosion. It hadn’t taken us out and it wouldn’t have unless we were holding the damn pack. There would be no way for anyone to know if one of us was holding the package, so what the hell was the point?
Then it hit me. I looked back at the hostage and promptly walked up to him, putting a bullet in his head. He had been the so called suicide bomber. His mission was to get in here and place the bomb as a diversion. They were distracting us.
“Derek! Tell Becky to wipe everything ASAP!”
He nodded and quickly ran out of the room and down the hall. Another explosion hit the building, this one much bigger than the last. They were hoping we would be scrambling to figure out where they were, but that wasn’t going to happen. We had no idea how many there were and what kind of weapons they had.
“Chance!” I yelled as he appeared at the end of the hall with a gun in hand. “Everyone down to the panic room, now!”
“Cap, we can fight these guys.”
“No, we can’t. Our weapons are in the garage. They’re already making their way inside. If they get their hands on even one of us, we’re fucked. We need to regroup.”
He nodded and ran down the hall, shouting for people to make their way to the panic room. I ran into the conference room where Becky was set up, simultaneously wiping all information from our hard drives. I had back ups for everything, but it wasn’t stored here in the Reed Security building.
“How much more, Becky?”
“Almost done, Cap.”
“You’ve got thirty seconds and then we’re leaving.”
Her fingers flew across the keyboard as she gave out command after command.
“I sent what I could to the safe house. We should be able to set up shop there,” Becky said as she stood and grabbed her bag.
Becky, Derek, and I made our way to the elevators where Chance and his teammate Gabe were waiting. Chance put his hand to the scanner, gave his retinal scan, entered the code, and then pressed the button for the underground. We descended into the basement of the Reed Security building and went through all the scanning procedures to be allowed entry into the panic room. Jackson, the third man on Chance’s team, was already in the panic room with Lola, Rob, and Cazzo.
“What’s the plan, Cap?” Cazzo asked.
“You head home and run things as best you can from there. When we get to the safe house, Becky will make sure we’re linked. We have three vehicles, so Rob, you’ll go with Cazzo and get him set up with whatever he needs to run operations out of his house. Chance, you take Becky and your team and get the safe house set up. Derek, you and I will head to Maggie’s. If they have someone watching her, they’re probably going to make a move. Get on the phone with Hunter and tell him to be on standby. If he thinks there’s a threat, he needs to get out of there. We’ll meet up along the way.”
They all made sounds of agreement and headed toward the vehicles located in the hidden garage off the panic room. There was a tunnel that let out in the woods about a mile from the Reed Security building. No one would be waiting for us because no one knew about the tunnel. It was one of the first features I had added to the building when I bought the place. Call me paranoid, but I knew there would be a day when we needed it. That day was today.
I glanced back at the monitors that showed the camera footage throughout the building. There were dozens of men scattered throughout the building, searching through the computers that they wouldn’t get any information from and checking the rooms for anything useful. We didn’t keep anything important on paper, so I didn’t have to worry about that. They had someone in the elevator trying to access the basement level. If they did, we would be long gone, but it wasn’t likely. Becky had that elevator rigged with extra steps to access the basement.
“Cap, let’s beat feet!” Derek yelled from the idling truck outside the panic room. I ran over to the truck and hopped in.
“Did you call Hunter?”
“Yeah, he said all’s quiet right now, but he’s monitoring the cameras and sensors.”
I nodded, pulling my phone out as Derek followed the other vehicles down the tunnel.
“Sinner, we’ve got a situation. Meet us at Maggie’s house. Reed Security was attacked, so we need to grab Maggie and head to the safe house. Get Burg to meet us out there.”
I hung up, not giving him a chance to ask questions. We had a forty-five minute drive at best and that was an awful lot of time for shit to go wrong with only Hunter watching Maggie. I should have listened to my instincts and kept more people on her. I just prayed I wasn’t too late by the time I got there.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Maggie
I WOKE TO a roiling stomach and a massive headache. I had only been sleeping a few hours, but there was no way I could go back to sleep feeling like this. My phone call with Sebastian had just increased the anxiety swirling through me. I thought my biggest problem with him was figuring out what the hell was wrong with me. Now I had to worry about a baby that was currently telling me that if I didn’t get my ass out of bed, I was going to be puking everywhere.
After emptying my stomach, I brushed my teeth and made my way to the kitchen, where Hunter was sitting at the kitchen table, looking at the video feed from his laptop. I ground my teeth together in frustration at the fact that I was once again locked in a house while a man sat and watched video feed. Something about his demeanor had me pausing, though. He looked very intense at the moment.
“Is something wrong?”
“There’s tea on the counter for you and some toast.”
I turned and looked at him strangely. “You made me tea and toast?”
“Let’s not pretend that I don’t know you’re pregnant. I may not agree with you keeping it from Cap, but I’m not a total asshole. I heard you puking your guts out in there.”
“Don’t be nice to me because of who your boss is. You made it perfectly clear what you think of my decision.”
“Okay, the whole thing with handing you over to Reiner might have been a little dramatic, but I don’t like being in this position,” He said as he continued to stare at the screen and flip through different camera angles and enlarge the video here and there. “You’d better figure out your shit real fast because Cap’s on the way here. You’re not going to be able to hide this from him for very long.”
“Wait, why is he coming here?”
“Reed Security was attacked. Everyone got out, but now we’re setting up shop at the safe house.”
“But what about my job? I can’t just leave it all behind.”
“You have some seriously fucked up priorities. Reiner will come after you, especially now.”
> “Why especially now?”
“Because they were watching us. They know you went to the hospital and they’re going to want to know why. When they find out, you’ll become their number one target. Cap wouldn’t let anyone ever hurt you, but being pregnant?” He shook his head and blew out a breath. “That’s a pretty good bargaining chip. Imagine what Reiner could get from Cap if he had you in his clutches.”
I blanched and put my hand over my stomach, feeling a little queasy again. Hunter pushed a chair out for me and I gratefully took it. “How could he..how would he even know? My records are confidential.”
Hunter shot me a look. “Are you fucking serious? Was all that stuff that you got from the Mayor’s scandal public knowledge? No, it was confidential. We hacked into bank accounts to get that information. If we can do it, so can Reiner. As much as you think you need time to figure shit out, you don’t have it Freckles. When he gets here, you tell him or I will. This isn’t something you can keep from him anymore.”
I swallowed down the fear that was rolling through me. I wasn’t sure what I was more scared of, that I would have to tell Sebastian I was pregnant and face the repercussions, or the fact that someone would use my innocent child to get leverage over Sebastian.
“I could say I had a miscarriage. If they got me, I mean.”
“It wouldn’t matter. It makes the stakes higher, but Cap still wouldn’t stand by and do nothing if someone had you.”
“So, then let’s leave. Let’s get out of here before someone comes looking for us.”
“They already found us, Freckles. Come here,” he waved me over. “You see that truck sitting across the street? It’s been there for about five minutes now.”
“What are they doing?”
“Right now? Scouting and waiting.”
“For what?”
He looked up at me with deadly serious eyes. “Reinforcements.”
I swallowed hard. “Then why are we still sitting here? We should be gone already.”
“Well, gee Freckles, why didn’t I think of that? Oh, yeah. I was explaining the finer points of how you being pregnant would be Cap’s downfall.”
I let out a frustrated sound and slammed a hand down on the table. “Fine, you’re right and I’m wrong. Now what are we going to do?”
“You are going to go put on some shoes and grab a small bag of clothes. They’ll be watching through the windows, so don’t act rushed. You’re just walking around the house doing shit. Act natural. I’m going to get weapons ready and get what I can in your car. Normally, we’d take my truck, but since my truck is outside the garage, this is our only option.”
“My car’s a piece of shit. We’re more likely to die in that than by a bullet.”
“We don’t have a choice. Now, get your ass moving. We’re leaving in five.”
I nodded and tried my best not to run down the hall. I grabbed a bag from the closet and threw in as many clothes as possible, trying to look like I was doing laundry. I grabbed my toothbrush and toothpaste, not wanting to leave anything behind. Lastly, I went to my nightstand and grabbed my Sig Sauer out of the drawer, checked it, and put it in the waistband at the small of my back.
I made my way back to the kitchen where Hunter was waiting for me. He had a shoulder holster with two guns, one at the small of his back, an ankle holster, and from what I had seen over the past few weeks, a knife strapped to his other leg.
“And I only brought one gun,” I said shaking my head.
“Don’t worry, Freckles. I have more than enough fire power for the both of us. I stashed some more weapons in your car. We should be prepared for just about anything, but you’re going to have to do what I say, when I say it.”
“I can do that.”
“Can you? That’s not what I’ve heard about you.”
“I’ve been known on occasion to go my own way, but I know the stakes. I’ll do whatever you say.”
“Good. Let’s hit the road before the rest of them show up.”
“Won’t they just follow us?”
“That’s the plan. Cap is going to be waiting for us. As long as they don’t try to make a move before we reach our location, we’ll be fine.”
“And if they do try to make a move?”
“Then, let’s hope you’re as good a shot as Sinner says you are.”
We walked out to the garage and got in the car. Hunter had to move the seat back and even then, the car was way too small for his large frame. His legs were bent awkwardly and I didn’t see how he was going to drive, but I didn’t say anything. Hunter quickly told me where he stashed the weapons and then started the car.
“You ready?” he asked. I nodded and he started the car. We pulled out and both pretended we were just on a normal drive, even though it was about nine o’clock at night. The car followed us and I tried my best not to look in the mirror.
“It’ll be fine. Just relax,” Hunter said as we cruised down the road.
“Where are we meeting them?”
“Remember the abandoned shipyard the Mayor used as a dumping ground?”
“Why are we meeting there?”
“One, it’s rundown and no one uses the property. Two, it’s big enough for his team to hide, and three, it’s by the water.”
“What does the water have to do with anything?”
“The fire department will have easy access to water.”
“Oh.”
I looked out the window at the passing buildings and wondered if this would be my life forever. I loved the thrill of the chase, but being pregnant put a different spin on things. I couldn’t live this life if I had a child. Sebastian took enough risks with his job and it wouldn’t be fair to have two parents that were risking their lives for work. This couldn’t be real. I was supposed to be finding myself, not debating whether or not to keep a child that I never wanted.
Hunter grabbed his phone as it rang. “Yo..Five minutes out..Yep, we picked up another tail..So far, they haven’t engaged. I don’t like it, Cap. If they were just tailing, we wouldn’t have two vehicles on us. This is an ambush..Gotcha Cap. We’ll be ready.”
He hung up and slouched back in his seat as if we weren’t being tailed by people that wanted to kill us.
“Well? Don’t just sit there. Tell me what the hell is going on? What’s the plan?”
“The plan is to keep your pretty little head in one piece.”
“Don’t patronize me, Hunter. I can deal with anything if I know what’s going on.”
“Sinner’s on his way to us. He’s going to run interference for us.”
“What?” I screeched. “You can’t send Mark in alone. He’ll get killed!”
Hunter shot me a look that said I was crazy. “It’s Sinner. He’s a fucking badass and he’s highly trained. Don’t worry about it.”
“But he’s alone. You know as well as I do that no one is invincible.”
“Freckles, you worry too much.” He gestured out the window toward a vehicle that was barreling toward us. “See? Here comes the cavalry now.”
As the truck passed us, I saw Sebastian’s angry face in the driver’s seat and Sinner grinning like an idiot in the passenger seat. Sinner got way too much enjoyment out of this.
“What are they going to do?”
“Say hello,” he grinned. I turned around to see Sebastian swing the truck around and speed up until he was driving right next to the second vehicle. The passenger window rolled down and Sinner shot out one of the windows on the car and then tossed something in. Sebastian slammed on the brakes and seconds later, the car exploded. Hunter slammed on the gas, pulling us further ahead of the car still behind us. As he swerved onto a side street, the car behind us sped up and continued straight.
“That’s it? It all feels a bit anti-”
I screamed as bullets hit the windshield. Hunter shoved me down to the floor, cursing as he tried to steer us out of the spray of bullets.
“If we weren’t driving in a match car, we could probab
ly ram the fuckers,” Hunter grumbled as he spun the wheel and went down another side road. I sat up and peered out the back window. The car that had fired at us had turned around and was gaining on us.
“Hunter, they’re coming up fast. Tell me you have something other than a gun in here, like a grenade launcher or something.”
“Sorry, Freckles. We’re going to have to do this the old fashioned way. Put your seatbelt on.” I scrambled into my seat as he spun the wheel and yanked on the parking brake, extending his arm out the window and firing at the car until his weapon was empty. He released the brake and corrected the wheel, riding off toward the highway before I could even see what damage was done. Behind us, smoke filled the air from where our tires had skidded across the pavement, but I didn’t see the car coming at us any more.
“That was-” Another vehicle hit the back end of our car just as we were coming off the side street onto the main road. The car spun and slammed into a light post, but at the speed we were going, most of the damage was to the back of the car. “Dammit. I can’t even finish one sentence before they’re back at it. Can’t they give us a fucking break?”
Hunter unbuckled my seatbelt and dragged me out the driver’s side door, shoving me to the ground as he fired at something. I tried to lift my head to see, but Hunter pushed my head back down. He shoved his phone into my hands.
“Call Sebastian and tell him to get over here now if he wants to see you alive.”
“Oh, yeah. That’s a great idea. Nothing like poking the bear.”
“Just dial the goddamn number,” he shouted. I pulled up his number and waited for him to answer. Several rings later, he picked up.
“Where the fuck are you, Hunter?”
“We’re on Seventh Street smashed up against a light post,” I yelled into the phone. Hunter was still firing at the other vehicle, which was on the other side of the road.
“Sit tight. We’re almost there.”
He hung up and came squealing off a side street a minute later. I thought he was going to slow down or pull up beside us, but instead, he pushed down on the gas and rammed the car across the street, smashing it against a brick building. I stood with wide eyes, unable to tear my gaze from the wreckage in front of me.
Cap_A Reed Security Romance Page 10