Billionaire Decoded

by Nella Tyler

  Anyone who went to these lengths had to be unstable. The fact that Brecken had warned her that Alyson was jealous was one thing, but for her to be contemplating murder? Was she going to be driven somewhere, murdered, and then thrown into the harbor? The worst imaginings and thoughts raced through her mind. Her heart beat so fast the adrenaline surged through her veins to the point where she thought she would explode. How long could her heart race that fast without bursting? How long could her head throb with fear and pain before she succumbed?

  She knew she had to try and calm down, to think of a way to get out of her predicament, but she could think of nothing. What could she do when she was already blindfolded, gagged, and had her hands and feet tied? What in heaven's name could she do to save herself? She began to despair and fought back the tears. She wanted her mother, wanted to feel her arms around her. She wanted to be at home, lying safe and sound in her bed. She wanted to live.

  Was it possible that all this was happening because of Brecken? She kept coming back to that thought. Again, she regretted the moment she had gone in for that interview with him. If she had known then what she knew now… That was pointless. While she had been alarmed by her initial encounter with Alyson, she would never have thought the woman would go to such extremes.

  Was she going to become a statistic? Was she going to disappear, never to be found? She moaned at the horrible thought. What would her parents do? Would the police look for her?

  And all because of Brecken… Did Alyson have him, too? Was she going to torture them both? Make them both pay? She didn't know. All she knew was that she was terrified, and she didn't want to die.

  She didn't know how long she was in the car, but it couldn't have been terribly long. The tears on her cheeks had not yet dried when she felt the car slow, pull up into a driveway, and make its way down a gravel path. The tires crunched on loose gravel as they continued to slow, and then the car came to a complete stop. Her heart began pounding in renewed fear. Was this it? When they opened the trunk was she going to get shot? Stabbed? What were they going to do—

  She heard the car doors open, one at a time. Three of them. Slam. Slam. Slam. Then, footsteps were crunching on the gravel. They were moving to the rear of the car. She realized she was holding her breath and forced herself to breathe. It wasn’t over yet. She didn't want to faint. She wasn't going to give in to her overwhelming fear, not in front of that bitch, Alyson. She heard the key inserted into the lock in the trunk. It opened and she felt a burst of cold, damp air.

  "Get her out of there."

  Alyson seemed to be in complete control, in charge of everything. The problem was that she was out of control. Her men had killed Brecken’s two guards. The police were certainly on the scene now at her apartment. Would they know anything about Heather?

  Would the guards have any identification on them, any connection to Brecken's firm? She doubted it. Everything he had done was wreathed in secrecy. She had a feeling that the police would figure that a drug deal or a robbery gone bad had accounted for the dead men in the alley. There would be no connection leading back to her. Even if they did get back to her apartment, what would they find? Nothing. Only her cell phone would connect her to Brecken and his firm.

  Her heart sank. The only thing she could hope to do was to try and scratch one of them. Then, if her body wasn't thrown in the harbor, she could then hope and pray that some DNA could be found under her fingernails. But with their hands tied behind her back, there was little hope of her being able to scratch one of them. If they removed her gag she might be able to bite one of them, but the chances of that were slim, as well.

  She felt herself being roughly lifted out of the car and placed on her feet.

  "I'm going to cut the bindings on your feet," one of the men said, standing so close that she felt his breath against her ear. "If you try to kick, I swear I'm going to tie them back up and I'll throw you over my shoulder like a sack of potatoes. It makes no never mind to me. You understand?"

  Though her insides roiled with anger, fear, and nausea, she nodded. At least she was on her own two feet. She couldn't run, not blindfolded. She felt something slashing at what she assumed was duct tape around her ankles, and then it was pulled away.

  "Now walk."

  Alyson again. Where was Alyson taking her? She didn't hear the sound of water, so she doubted she'd be dropped off the end of the pier, at least, not yet. With the two men holding onto each of her arms, she could do little but follow.

  She stumbled several times, but the men held her upright. Her head throbbed, waves of dizziness surged through her, and it was all she could do not to succumb to her nausea. If she threw up with the gag on her mouth, she would probably choke on it. She didn't want to die that way. That was for sure.

  "Wait here."

  Again, Alyson's voice. Her heart pounding loudly in her ears, Heather stood between the two men holding onto her as she heard a heavy metal door open. It creaked loudly and then slammed shut. What the hell? If Alyson wanted to kill her, why didn't she just get it over with? Why take her all this way? It was then that she realized that something else was probably going on.

  Within minutes, the door creaked open.

  "Bring her inside," Alyson said. "I can't wait to see the look on his face. I want her to see the look on his face, too. Take off the blindfold and the gag." She chuckled softly. "This is going to be good."

  One of the men pulled the blindfold off of her face while the other one untied the gag. She spat at bits of string left in her mouth. It was dark in here, wherever here was. They were in a dark room, but at the far end she saw a door with a glass window. Through the window a dull light glowed. Once again, her heart began to thud in terror. She turned to Alyson.

  "You're not going to get away with this," she said.

  Alyson responded by slapping her, hard. She bit her lip and in the next instant tasted blood.

  "Shut up, bitch, or I’m going to put the gag back on."

  Heather blinked back the tears that threatened due to the sudden pain in her now throbbing lip. She wasn't a violent person, never had been, but if she could get her hands on Alyson at this moment, she would hurt her. None of this stupid slapping crap, either. She would punch her right in the nose; break it. Smash it. She'd smash in her teeth and wipe that insipid grin off her face.

  Alyson saw her fury and laughed. "What are you going to do about it, bitch? As you can see, I'm the one in control here. Brecken is going to find out what happens when someone turns on me."

  Despite the pain throbbing in her head, and her fear, Heather couldn't help but reply. "You’re doing this because of Brecken? I feel sorry for any woman who allows a man to guide her actions. You're pathetic, Alyson, and all the money in the world can’t change that-"

  Another slap. Heather's head snapped back. Instinctively, she ducked her head and tried to lash out with her feet. The men pulled her backward, away from Alyson.

  "Enough of this foolishness," Alyson snarled. "Let's get this over with. The party’s waiting."

  Heather watched as Alyson moved in front of them and pulled open the door. The two men holding onto her arms stepped through, and then Heather found herself staring at a number of men, all of them clustered together in one of the corners of the room. A Hispanic-looking man wearing olive drab fatigues sat in a chair nearby, calmly giving himself a manicure. She glanced back to the group of men and then felt her heart drop into the pit of her stomach. Brecken was there in the middle of them, smiling and nodding.

  When the group heard the door open, they all turned. Heather's eyes were riveted to Brecken. She saw his eyes widened with surprise, but then he schooled his features, until he caught sight of Alyson. His face darkened. He glanced from Alyson to Heather, then back again, and then to the two goons holding onto her.

  "Untie her," he ordered.

  Alyson laughed. "Since when do you think you're in charge, Brecken?" She glared at him and then at Heather. She grabbed a handful of Heather's
hair and once again tugged sharply, as if to show him that she was the one giving orders here.

  Infuriated, Heather spat in her face. Alyson screeched and attacked Heather, defenseless to protect herself. The two men holding onto her let go beneath Alyson’s onslaught. She felt herself falling backwards, beneath Alyson's weight. They both toppled to the floor. Heather tried to roll away from Alyson's scratching fingernails, trying to kick and shake the crazy woman off of her.

  "Enough!"

  The shout came from a man who separated himself from the group of men standing in the corner. He strode quickly over, grabbed Alyson's arms, and yanked her away from Heather. Heather saw Brecken hurrying toward her, reaching down to help her off of the floor.

  "Don't touch me," she snapped. She managed to get her feet under her and stood on her own. She felt the blood from her split lip trickling down her chin. Her head pounded and the room spun crazily for several seconds before she regained her balance. She glared at Brecken as he reached for her arm. He clasped his hand around her upper arm in an iron grip that startled her. She looked up into his face, saw the curious expression on it, but she was so infuriated her mind couldn't accept the look she thought she saw in his eyes. Regret? Apology?

  He mouthed something and muttered under his breath. What? Had he really said that? Trust him? She shook her head. She was done listening. "I wish I had never met you, Brecken, you and your crazy bitch of a fiancée. She's a piece of work, you know?"

  "Shut up!" Alyson screeched.

  The man holding her told her to knock it off. Heather glanced at him, and then at Brecken. Then her eyes traveled to the group of men standing in the corner. While she certainly wasn't an expert, they all looked military. She glanced up at Brecken. "Friends of yours?"

  She tried not to cry, tried not to let her fear, her disappointment, and her disillusionment show. She was in trouble. She didn't know what the hell Brecken was doing with these people or what Alyson was doing. All she knew was that she was an innocent pawn in whatever game they were playing. It was so stupid.

  "Heather-"

  "I don’t want to hear anything you have to say,” she hissed. “I wish I had never met you! I know about the baby, so you and Alyson can just go back to playing house together. I don't want to have anything to do with you." Her anger boiled. "As a matter of fact, I regret the day that I ever came to work for you!"

  Alyson began to laugh.

  "Shut up Alyson," Brecken snarled. "What the hell do you think you're doing, bringing her into this?" He shook his head and strode toward his ex-fiancée. "This is between you and me. She had nothing to do with this."

  He stopped suddenly and looked back at Heather, who glared back at him. Then he turned to Alyson, his eyes narrowed with suspicion. "Where are Jerry and Samuel?"

  Alyson smirked. "Let's just say that my bodyguards took care of yours."

  Heather saw the look of shock pass over Brecken's expression. So, he hadn't been directly involved in her kidnapping, but he still didn't seem too surprised to see her here. What the hell was going on, and what did she have to do with any of it?

  "You killed my security guards?" he asked in dismay. His hands were balled into fists at his side.

  From where Heather stood, she could see that Brecken strove to maintain a sense of self-control. He looked like he wanted to kill Alyson. Good. She wished he would. All she wanted was to get out of here, in one piece, and alive. She didn't care what was going on between Alyson and Brecken. Two people had already died because of the crazy woman’s twisted sense of vengeance and betrayal. While Heather hadn't really liked those guys, they didn't deserve to die the way they had.

  She didn't deserve this, either.

  "Brecken, would you mind telling me what the hell is going on, and what I have to do with any of this?" she demanded. Though her heart was pounding with fear, she stood her ground, staring at him as his shoulders sagged slightly. He turned to face her. She didn't like that look, not one bit. The man she thought she knew, albeit for only a short time, was not the man who stared at her now.

  Chapter 10

  Brecken had to hide his true motions though his insides roiled. He could see the look of shock on Heather's face. He wanted to wrap his arms around her, to protect her, and at the same time he wanted to literally throttle Alyson. How was she involved in all this? Was she behind it all? Had she really turned on him to this degree? Out of jealousy? A sense of possession?

  She had murdered his men? She had kidnapped Heather? Heather’s lip was bleeding. The side of her head was bleeding. She had been manhandled. The thought sent a fresh flash of fury surging through Brecken, but he couldn't reveal any of it. Not now. He had to rein in his emotions; to force himself not to react to Heather's words. They were in a life or death situation and he was committed to do his best to make sure that she came out of it alive. That he would come out of it alive.

  Enough of this," Williams snapped, directing Alyson to go sit in a chair near the group of men. He looked at Heather and smiled. "Shaw, are you going to introduce me to this lovely young woman?"

  Brecken sighed. "Heather is a new employee working in my accounts department, Williams. She has nothing to do with any of this."

  "She does now," Williams said. "And since you are not being polite, I'll introduce myself." He took a step closer to Heather. "My name is Williams. Shaw’s former SEAL unit commander. Over there are former members of his team." He smiled. “It took a while to convince Shaw that he should join us, but a little while ago, he realized it was the best decision he could make under the circumstances."

  Williams glanced at Alyson. "Alyson approached me a few months ago, informed me of some of Shaw's activities, under the guise of his computer programming business, of course." He turned to Brecken. "Alyson has done her part, now I expect you to do yours."

  Brecken refused to look at Heather, refused to acknowledge the look on her face. That look of disgust and disappointment was something that he would remember forever. But he couldn't tell her the truth. Not now. He turned toward the members of his former unit. "What do you want to know?"

  "Everything," Williams said. He gestured for Alyson's two bodyguards to take Heather to the opposite side of the room from where Alyson sat.

  Brecken tried to avoid staring at Heather. He could only imagine what she was thinking. Alyson sat in her chair, a self-satisfied smirk on her face. The fact that Alyson had had his security men killed filled him with a sense of loathing. He knew she was unbalanced, but to this degree? How had she found out about the Bolivian colonel? How had she managed to make contact with him without him finding out? These were all questions that couldn't be answered, not at the moment.

  "I've got dirt on just about every world leader and important government official, as well as a number of insurgent groups around the world," he began. He knew he had to keep talking, work them from the inside. He had to convince them that he didn't care about Alyson, Heather, or about his own sense of patriotism, duty, and honor.

  Then again, he hadn't exactly been living up to his own standards had he? He had to be convincing, but not overenthusiastic or they would know he was lying. He had thought he was doing a pretty good job of it, playing along with the charade, until the door had opened and those two goons following Alyson had dragged Heather in.

  He had been in an impossible situation. Heather's presence made it even worse. How the hell was he going to get out of this? How was he going to get Heather out of this? She was innocent. It was his entire fault. If he had just left her alone… But it was too late to go back now. Too late to focus on regrets. He had to do what he could to get them both out of this alive. He had no idea how he was going to go about that just yet, but for now, he would play along.

  He would tell his former SEAL members what they wanted to know, within reason. That reason would be that he didn't want to give them everything. If he gave them everything, he would have nothing to bargain with. He had implied that he would go along with them, that h
e was on board, even going so far as to demand a higher percentage than what they were receiving, but inside, he felt sick to his stomach with loathing. He didn’t know if they believed him.

  He couldn't believe his former SEAL team members would stoop to such a level. To work with the Bolivians and God knew who else? It was obvious they were involved with the Russian mafia and African and Middle Eastern human trafficking rings. What else were they dabbling in? How many lives had they already ruined?

  Brecken continued to relay information, refusing to look back at Heather. Half of the stuff he told him was an outright lie, but how were they to know any different? He threw in a few truths along the way, and saw Williams nodding. Some of the stuff that he had divulged had ended up in the newspapers. Scandals. Arrests. Deaths. In China, a couple of beheadings as punishment. Would he end up the same?

  Finally, he finished talking. Williams stepped forward, stood in front of Brecken, so close that he felt his breath on his face. Brecken wanted to lash out, punch his lights out, but he remained calm, acting as if he was anxious to hear what his former unit commander had to say.

  "Within two days, we'll all be back in Afghanistan."

  Brecken frowned. Afghanistan?

  "All of us, including your dear ex-fiancée and your current girlfriend-"

  "She's not my girlfriend," Brecken said. "She has nothing to do with this, Williams."

  "Are you denying you met her yesterday up in New Hampshire?" He glanced at Alyson and smiled. "We've got pictures you know, of you fucking her at that nice little bed and breakfast."

  "That's all there was to it," Brecken shrugged. He heard Heather’s gasp from behind him but didn't react. He gestured over his shoulder with his thumb. "Would you turn that down?"