“Boss, he’s going to go after the weakest link,” Hunter said.
“You’re right, which is why Becky and Maggie will be split up.”
“Hey,” Maggie said indignantly.
“There’s no point in denying it Freckles.” I shot her a look that said I was right and she needed to just shut up about it.
“Cap, we didn’t find the mics until after we had been here for a while. He knows,” Hunter said cryptically.
I nodded, hoping it would be left at that, but the others didn’t let it go. Half the people in the room already knew, but the other half were ignorant to the extent of the danger.
“What does he know?” Jackson asked.
“Maggie’s pregnant.” I looked at Maggie who looked confused, but everyone else in the room seemed to understand the significance of what wasn’t said.
“What does that have to do with anything?” she asked as she stood, crossing her arms over her chest, looking pissed.
“Maggie, you’re the most valuable asset. He’ll come after you before anyone else. He’ll use you to get to me and every other person in this room. He knows that you can only fight back so much and if he can get you, the chances of you running are fewer. He’s betting you won’t do anything to hurt the baby and we won’t do anything that could potentially endanger you. All he has to do is get to you and then the rest is all downhill.”
Every person in the room was quiet as they thought about the significance of that. Maggie just stared at me, almost like she was pissed that the baby was a factor in this.
“Then let’s use that to get him.”
“Freckles, that’s not going to happen,” I said in irritation.
“And why the hell not? Because I’m pregnant? You said yourself that he wants me as a hostage.”
“That doesn’t mean that he wouldn’t hurt you if it came down to it. If he got you away from here, he would use you to get information and then he would hurt you when we couldn’t give him what he wanted. Is that what you want?” I yelled.
“You know what he wants, so use it to catch him. Be smarter than him and make him think he’s won.”
“Cap, she’s right,” Derek said. I shot a glare at him, but he didn’t stop. “You and I both know what lengths he’ll go to. Let’s make him think he’s getting what he wants.”
“You’re asking me to willingly put my child and my..Maggie in his hands. You know what he’ll do.”
“I swear, we won’t let anything happen to her. We’ll plan this out and be smart about it.”
I looked to Sinner for help, but he just shook his head. “I’m with Irish, Cap. If we don’t get ahead of him, he’ll take her anyway.”
The rest of the guys weren’t saying much, but judging by the looks on their faces, they were all in agreement. I took a step back and ran my hands over the back of my head.
“Derek, come up with a plan. The rest of you, see Hunter about getting your implants and then get into groups of three and fan out around the house. Maggie, a word.”
I walked toward the bedroom and heard her walking quickly behind me to catch up. We were about to have it out and one way or another, we would know exactly where we stood in the end.
CHAPTER TEN
Maggie
HE SLAMMED THE door as soon as I entered the bedroom. Pissed wasn’t even a good enough word to describe his current demeanor.
“I can’t believe you just pulled that shit.” Yep, not even five seconds in the room and he was yelling at me. He paced the room like a caged lion ready to pounce.
“Sebastian, it makes sense. You said it yourself, he’s going to come after me anyway. We need this. If it’s done right, then you don’t have to worry about anything.”
He stopped suddenly in front of me and gripped my arms. “I don’t have to worry about anything?” He bit out, spit flying in my face. “What if it doesn’t go the way we want? What if I can’t turn him? You think he’ll just walk away because you’re pregnant?”
“I don’t even know if I’ll keep it,” I said before I could think better of it. Judging by the scarlet hue of his face, I should have thought about it first. “I just mean..we shouldn’t worry so much.”
“Let me tell you something, that is my kid that you’re carrying and I’ll be damned if you’re going to get rid of it because it doesn’t work with your plans.”
“You can’t seriously expect me to keep a child I never wanted because it’s yours.”
“Because it’s mine, I have a say in what happens to it. It’s my fucking kid! You don’t get to just run off and decide that you don’t want it.”
“I’m the one that has to carry it for nine months. You don’t have to deal with body changes and a human growing inside you. You get to carry on as if nothing’s changed.”
He scoffed at me. “Is that what you’re worried about? Body changes? We’re talking about a human life here. Your child. Do you really not care at all?”
“I think that I just found out yesterday and I shouldn’t have to decide in forty-eight hours if I’m going to keep it or not.”
“You’re acting like it’s already a done deal. You’re not asking me to talk about pros and cons or asking me what we should do. You’re deciding what’s best for you.”
“And if I want to keep my career going, I can’t have a child right now. I’m starting over after two years of being out of the game. I would never get a full time job once I disclose I’m pregnant. What am I supposed to do? Move in with you?”
“It’s something we could talk about. We could make these decisions together. You’re not even including me in this.”
“Because I don’t want this baby!” I shouted.
His eyes turned deadly as his chest heaved up and down.
“Then you’d better pray that you have a miscarriage because there is no way I’m letting you terminate the pregnancy.”
My mouth dropped open in disbelief. I couldn’t believe what he was saying. I wasn’t even sure how long I had to make a decision. I was about two months late on my period, which meant I was about three months along.
“I can’t believe you’re doing this to me,” I whispered.
“You’re not leaving me much of a choice.”
I couldn’t believe it had come to this, that we had come to this. There was a time that I loved him so much that I would have done anything to be with him. Now all I saw was hate. The man that used to look at me like I was his world was nowhere in this room. A few tears slid down my cheeks as the reality of our situation sunk in. This was the beginning of the end for us. I would never forgive him if he didn’t let me make this decision for myself and he would never forgive me if I had an abortion.
I walked over to the bed and sat down, feeling like the weight of the world was on my shoulders. I couldn’t take any more of this tonight. I needed space to clear my head and figure out what I was going to do when this mess was over. I needed to be away from this man that despised me so much right now. I laid down and turned toward the window with my back to Sebastian. I heard him walk to the door and call for someone and then the door opened wider and Sinner came inside and sat down on the bed next to me.
“Is he gone?” I asked quietly.
“Yeah. He went for a walk. So, got yourself in a bit of a pickle, did ya.”
“I didn’t get myself into this. As I recall, this is about someone else and I’m an innocent bystander.”
“Really? I seem to recall you breaking into a building and putting a target on your own back.”
“I wouldn’t have had to if you would have gone along with my plan.”
“Freckles, your plans are always crazy and reckless.”
“You know, you guys have some nerve saying shit like that to me. All of you are the most reckless men I’ve ever met. You charge into the face of danger like you’re on some black steed that’s going to carry you into the castle to save the princess.”
“Hey, as long as we get to kiss the princess in the end.”
I shook my head in exasperation. “I would say you all have short man syndrome, except there’s not a single short man among you. You’re all freakishly tall.”
“What the hell is short man syndrome?”
“You know, when a man is a total asshole to make up for what he lacks in height.”
“That’s not a real thing.”
“Do you have your phone on you?”
He pulled it out and typed in short man syndrome.
“Napoleon complex is a theorized condition occurring in people of short stature. It is characterized by overly-aggressive or domineering social behavior, and carries the implication that such behavior is compensatory for the subject’s nature,” he read from Wikipedia. “Huh. I guess since I’m not short, you can assume my domineering social behavior is because I really am that awesome.”
“Your domineering social behavior is a condition that all of you seem to be afflicted with. It’s like you entered the military and your muscles took over for your brain.”
I stood up to head downstairs. I hadn’t eaten in a while and if I didn’t soon, I would end up with my head in the toilet again.
“Where are you going?”
“To get some food.”
“I’ll ask one of the guys to get you something.”
“I can get my own food. I’m sure you guys have something more important to do than feed me, like cleaning your guns or sharpening your knives.”
“You make it hard for us to show our chivalrous side.”
“Because I won’t let you get my food?”
I looked over at his serious expression in confusion.
“Because you don’t ever let any of us help you, which is fine for the rest of us, but a killer for Sebastian.” He puffed out his chest and banged on it like a caveman. “Man hunt, woman gather.”
“Okay, fine. I get it. He needs to help me to feel manly.”
“No, he needs to help you so that he feels like he’s protecting you. Men are pretty basic creatures. We want women to tell us exactly what they need so we can provide it. We don’t like guessing at what you’re feeling and we don’t want to feel like we’re not needed. If you insist on always doing everything alone, you’re going to end up alone.”
I nodded and followed Mark down to the kitchen. I put the tea kettle on the stove and got myself a mug for tea. Mark was checking the bank of cameras in the kitchen, scrolling through the images, looking for anything that looked suspicious.
“Uh, I need to eat something soon or I’m going to be sick.”
“Let me finish looking at this and then I’ll make you something.”
I waited by the stove for my water to boil, pulling the tea bag out of the packet and putting it in the mug.
“Don’t say a word or I’ll slit your throat,” a deep voice whispered in my ear. I froze as I felt the cold of the blade against my neck. My pulse pounded against the metal and I felt a something jam into my side. I couldn’t see what it was, but I would bet it was a gun. He slowly started backing up, pulling me with him. I watched Mark from where I was, hoping that he would look up and see that I was in trouble.
“So, what do you want to eat, Freckles?”
“Shh,” he whispered and took another step back. We were almost to the door and once we were outside, there would be nothing protecting me from whatever he had in store. I had been feeling nauseous when we came down, but now fear was swirling in my stomach, making it very possible that I would throw up much sooner.
“Freckles-” Mark looked up and his face transformed into a look of hard steel. He held out his hands in surrender, but his eyes flicked to the living room. The guys could be heard talking in there with no idea what was going on in here.
We took another step back and he slowly turned the handle on the door, not making a sound. We took another step back and were halfway out the door. Sinner took a step toward us, but the man pressed the knife into my throat, drawing a small amount of blood. I hissed and then the pressure eased slightly. We stopped suddenly and I looked at Sinner in question, but he was just grinning like a fool.
“Going somewhere?”
Sebastian. He was behind us.
“I would point that gun somewhere else if you want your girl to live.”
“I’ll blow your head off before you can flick your wrist.”
“You would have done it already.”
“And if you wanted her dead, you would have sliced her throat as soon as you walked in here.”
“Well, it seems we’re at a bit of a standoff here.”
“You don’t know what the hell you’ve gotten yourself into,” Sebastian said behind us. “You were deceived and now you’re in the middle of a shit storm.”
I took as deep a breath as I dared, not wanting the knife to jab into my throat. Please don’t throw up right now, I chanted in my head.
“I did my research. Which is why I know that there is no way you’ll let anything happen to your girl. Just give me the information I need and I’ll be on my way.”
“Not a chance in hell,” Sebastian growled.
Sinner looked off to the side and then Hunter and Burg were standing in the kitchen with their weapons drawn.
“Put it down, Knight. You’re outnumbered,” Burg commanded.
“I think I’ll take my chances with this one,” Knight replied. I could hear the smirk in his voice. He had something else planned and was just waiting for the perfect moment.
Hunter started to lower his weapon and squinted at the man behind me. “Hud?”
Knight shifted slightly. “Pappy? What the hell are you doing here?”
“I work at Reed Security. Hud, whatever you think is going on, you’re way off basis here.”
“I think that someone stole fifteen million dollars and I’m here to find the daughter so my client can get it back.”
Hunter’s gaze locked on mine. “You okay, Freckles?”
“Other than the fact that I need to throw up but I can’t because a psycho has a knife pressed to my throat, I’m fantastic. No offense, by the way.”
“None taken,” Knight murmured.
Hunter put his gun on the counter and took a step toward us. “Hud, you know me, man. I would never work for someone who wasn’t on the up and up. The girl you’re holding? That’s Cap’s girl and I am telling you that he will put a bullet in your head if you don’t let her go.”
“Hunter, how the hell do you know Knight?” Sebastian asked from behind us.
“I served with him for four years. I had no idea this was Knight. He always went by Hudson McGuire.”
I felt Knight shrug. “Had to change my name when I went on the run.”
With every pound of my heart, I felt the bile rise higher and higher. My stomach convulsed, but I held it back. Closing my eyes, I willed myself to hold out just a little longer.
“Hud, I’m telling you, Reiner lost that money in a bad stock deal. It wasn’t stolen from him. He’s trying to use Vanessa to make an example of her father. She’s innocent, just like Maggie.”
It was quiet for a minute. I wished I could see what the hell was going on. I could usually read what someone was thinking by watching their eyes and facial expressions, but I was at a loss right now.
“Hud, please. I’m asking you to trust me on this. You know me. You served in some of the shittiest places in the world with me. Please. Just listen to us and hear us out.”
The pressure on my throat slowly eased and I saw him move his knife to the counter, then reach back toward his pocket. The gun was still pressed to my side.
“Hud? I would really love to not throw up on you right now,” I said, hoping that he would release me so I could run to the sink.
“Shut up,” he bit out. He pulled a phone out and pressed a button, then moved the phone to his ear. I could hear the man on the other end as he spoke loudly into the phone.
“Reiner.”
“I have Ms. Curtis. How do you want to do this?”
�
�Kill her. We need to send a message to Reed Security that we aren’t fucking around.”
My eyes went wide as the gun dug harder into my side. Never mind throwing up. I would be dead in a few seconds. I saw Knight lift his gun and then he fired. My eyes clenched shut, but nothing happened.
“It’s done.”
“Good. Let’s give them a few days to think about their decision.”
Knight hung up and then shoved me away from him. My stomach heaved and I made it just in time to the sink. The sound of me retching filled the silence. I had no idea what was going on behind me and at this point I didn’t care. I felt absolutely miserable. I rinsed the sink and then patted my face down with a paper towel. When I turned around, everyone was gone but Sinner.
“Feel better?”
“Ugh. He’s lucky he let me go when he did or he’d have puke all over him.”
Sinner grabbed onto my arm. “Come sit down.”
“Aren’t you going to find out what’s going on?”
Sinner wrapped an arm around me and pulled me into a hug. “I’m sorry about that. I should have been-”
“You should have been what? Standing right next to me in a house every minute of the day? I was at the other end of the kitchen. How could you have known something would happen?”
He shook his head. “I should have known. We knew he was good. I never suspected he would get that close to you with me in the room.”
“Well, I’m fine, so stop beating yourself up about it.”
“Freckles, he had a knife to your throat and a gun pressed in your side. He could have killed you and the baby.”
I was about to tell him to stop, but then I thought about what he said. The baby. I hadn’t once thought about the baby. Even when I was nauseous, I wasn’t thinking about the fact that if I died, so would the baby. I groaned and rested my head on the table.
“Mark, I am such a bad person.”
“Why would you say that?”
“That whole time, I didn’t once think about the baby. I wasn’t worried about not seeing it or what it would do to Sebastian if it died.” I shook my head in disgust. “This is why I don’t want a baby. I’m not the maternal type and this baby would be better off without me.”
Cap_A Reed Security Romance Page 13