His Last Breath

by S. M. Butler

  “What?” Abigail blinked, focusing back on Bea.

  “You can see what you’re doing. Handcuffs are easy to pick as long as you can see what you’re doing.” Her eyes watched Abigail warily. “So, help a girl out?”

  Abigail saw exactly what Bea was doing. She was trying to keep her from panicking by giving her something to do. The truth was she welcomed the distraction when the alternative was wondering if Chris was okay or not. Abigail blew out a breath. “Okay. Tell me what you need.”

  “My boot. There are a couple bobby pins laced in the side.” She pushed out her foot. Abigail looked at the boot, noticing the intricate lacing along the side of the boot. The bobby pins were in plain sight, but if someone were just to glance at her, they’d never notice they were there.

  She pulled one out and looked at Bea.

  She nodded. “Okay. Bend the pin into a ninety-degree angle. Pull off the plastic tip on the straight side.” Abigail followed the instructions, using her teeth to pull off the plastic tip. “Now, insert the straight side into the upper portion of the lock, but only halfway. If you push it all the way in, you won’t be able to get the right bend.”

  Abigail chuckled. “That’s what she said.”

  Bea actually laughed. “Okay, girl, I deserved that one. How are we doing?”

  “I got it. Now what?”

  “Bend the pin to the left. It should create a ninety-degree bend. Insert the pin again halfway past the first bend and then bend to the left ninety degrees. It should make it kind of like an S shape.”

  “Okay, I’m good,” Abigail said as she completed the next step.

  “Okay, it’s a single lock, so it should be easy. Insert the pin into the upper cutout of the lock, pointed toward the handcuff’s housing. Then press the pick towards the housing.”

  Abigail did as Bea said, and nearly cried when the cuff released. Bea winced as she stretched her shoulder out. “Nice job, Pippie.”

  “Pippie?”

  Bea grinned. “It’s Jack’s name for you. The hair, I guess.”

  “Okay, so now what?”

  “Now, we bide our time and figure out a moment to get out of here,” Bea said, looking around. She grabbed the chair Abigail had been in and braced her foot on it as she lifted up and tore off one of the chair legs. Then did it again with another leg. She spun the wood in her hands, like she was holding twin swords, the handcuff clinking from where it hung off her wrist. “Oh, that feels so much better. I fucking hate restraints.”

  She glanced down at the broken chair. “We’re going to have to hide that.”

  ~*~*~

  “Wait…” Chris put his hands up as he stood, stopping his pacing. “You’re telling me you want us to mount a rescue on a senator’s house, in Galveston, in the middle of the day, during a party?”

  “Yes,” Nathan replied, leaning back in his chair. “That’s exactly it. Most of the staff will be out on the grounds, attending to the guests. Security on the girls will be minimal.”

  Chris rubbed his face. Everything seemed to have fallen apart in a matter of hours, and Nathan had apparently snapped as a result.

  “We don’t even know that they’re being held in the house.”

  Nathan shrugged, completely calm and relaxed. “Where else would they be? Abigail was held in that house under pressure for over a year. It’s already set up for a prisoner.”

  “Yes,” Jordan said. “But maybe not two.”

  “Or someone who’s trained,” Chris said, following Jordan’s line of thinking.

  “I have an invite. Apparently, Senator Lewis wants my money for his campaign.” Nathan’s lips turned up in an arrogant smirk. “Normally, I turn these events down, but I thought this one might be worth my attendance.” He sat up, leaning his elbows on the table. “Of course, I’ll need security, being the mysterious recluse that I am. I will take the both of you with me.”

  “Lewis knows our faces. Especially if Scott is working for him,” Jordan said. He didn’t look sold, and the very mention of Scott turned his expression murderous.

  “I’m counting on it,” Nathan replied.

  “He won’t let us in. He’s not dumb.”

  “No, but he’s arrogant and confident. And he knows by now, Abigail took pictures of all his files.”

  Chris’s blood iced over. “Scott would have told him.”

  “Yes,” Nathan replied evenly. “He will keep both Bea and Abigail safe until he knows how to get that information back in his hands. Which means, he will let the two of you in, hoping to corner you and find out what you know.”

  “It’s going to shine a big spotlight on you,” Chris said. “He might look into you a little closer.”

  “I’m aware. Let me handle that. Your job is to find and extract Miss Li and Miss Lewis.”

  This was perilously close to blowing Nathan’s cover, which would mean they’d be exposed just as much. Nathan was the cornerstone of the Company.

  “One more thing,” Chris said. “What do we do about Scott?”

  Nathan’s eyes darkened, filling to the brim with fury and violence. “Mr. Muldoon will be on site. He believes he will be coordinating from a surveillance van. He will not be. Let him believe he is, and I will handle Mr. Muldoon from there.”

  A shiver slithered down Chris’s spine. There were few things scarier than an angry Nathan Hawk, and no easier way to anger him than betray his trust.

  ~*~*~

  The door to their cage opened. Bea resumed her position on the floor, with her hands behind her with her new weapons. The idea was they’d sucker the guards in close before she made her move.

  But they didn’t even look at Bea. Two of the guards stayed by the door, their hands on their weapons while the third came for Abigail. He wrestled her to her feet. “Come on. Showtime.”

  “What?”

  “The senator wants you at the party.”

  “Party?” She glanced back at Bea, who was watching them all carefully.

  “Fundraiser,” the guard said. “Let’s go.”

  Bea blinked, nodding almost imperceptibly for her to go. She didn’t want to leave Bea there alone, but the woman was more than capable of taking care of herself. More so than she was.

  So she let the guard take her away, and up to her bedroom.

  A dress had already been laid out for her. She glanced back at the guard who stood at the door. He held out keys and she put out her cuffed hands. He unlocked her wrists and collected the handcuffs. “Change. Five minutes and I’m coming back in.”

  He shut the door. She blew out a breath, grateful for the brief moment of normalcy. She glanced outside. Her room had a view of the backyard, which was already in the process of getting set up for this party.

  No doubt this was another political nightmare she’d have to suffer through. This was her life now. Get prettied up, go dazzle her father’s supporters, and then spend her nights in a dark basement prison.

  She changed her clothes and looked at herself in the mirror. Her hair was a mess, half wavy, half curls, and all frizz. She ran a brush through her hair but it wasn’t helping much. She decided to pull it back into a low ponytail so she at least looked somewhat presentable. A little bit of eyeliner and mascara, and she felt almost like her old self again.

  The guard opened the door exactly at the five-minute mark and led her down to her father’s study. She swallowed hard as she walked into the room, remembering the last time she’d been in here. Her father sat behind the desk, not standing as she entered. The guard closed the door behind her.

  Silence filled the room. Like before, bookshelves lined the back wall behind her father. She knew exactly where the safe she’d been in was. Center bookshelf, fourth row up. Books lined up in front of it, obscuring it from view. A picture frame sat in front of the books, her father and a black man shaking hands. Both were in suits, but it was an older picture. Her father didn’t have as many gray hairs or wrinkles. A genuine smile crossed his face.

  Lewis set down h
is pen and folded his hands together. “I don’t have to remind you how to behave at social functions, do I, Abigail?”

  “I remember,” she replied.

  “Good, because your friend’s survival depends on your good behavior.”

  “Don’t lie to me,” Abigail said. “You’re going to kill her. Nothing I do or say will change that.”

  Lewis grinned but he didn’t move from the chair. “What you do can change your fate, though.”

  “Really.”

  “We can go back to our old arrangement. You play nice, you live comfortably. You don’t, and you rot in the basement.”

  “What is so important about me? It can’t be you just want to put a leash on some French criminal. That’s not enough.”

  “Why not?” The senator smiled.

  “It’s not worth the trouble of keeping me alive. He’ll kill you eventually. Not unless…” Abigail trailed off. “This is more than just a campaign play. There were an awful lot of bribes in those files I saw.”

  “Don’t you worry your pretty little head about it. Just play nice at the party and we can rethink your current accommodations.”

  Abigail glared at him. He was blowing her off. He didn’t want to talk about his little deals on the side. That was okay with her. He’d have to talk about them when everything became public. And one way or another, those files would make it before Congress. She’d make sure of it. But for now, she’d play his stupid game. “Fine. Let’s get this over with.”

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  All guests were being diverted to the back of the house. A walkway had been set up along the side of the house to a checkpoint near the back. Chris watched everything as he and Jordan followed Nathan, looking for something to go wrong. He didn’t see any evidence of snipers. He didn’t see an overload of security. It was almost normal, except for the tension rolling down his spine.

  Two of the private security stopped them at the checkpoint. Jordan stiffened, his body ready to react. Nathan was the only one of them that didn’t seem to coil up with tension when they stopped. He remained loose and relaxed.

  “I’m sorry, Mr. Hawk, but private security is not allowed at this function.”

  “They go where I go,” Nathan said. “You may clear it with the senator if you wish. I’ll wait.”

  A line formed behind them as the nervous guard passed a glance between the three of them. Jordan leaned over as they talked into their earpieces. “We’re going to have to blast out if they don’t let us through.”

  “It’ll be fine, Mr. Levi,” Nathan replied.

  A few minutes past before the guards came back to them. “No weapons, please.”

  Nathan grinned at the men. Chris thought he saw a tint of fear in the guard’s eyes and nearly laughed. “My security doesn’t require weapons to be effective.”

  The other guard came back to them and gestured them through. “The senator says Mr. Hawk and his security are fine.”

  As they waved them through, Jordan shifted uneasily. “Why do I feel like we’re walking into the lion’s den?”

  “It’s more like alligator infested waters,” Chris muttered.

  “Relax. Have something to eat. Jack is already in position. He’s all the firepower we will need.” Nathan replied before he launched into greetings with other guests.

  Chris’s neck hairs quivered as he followed the man. He’d half expected Lewis’s men to swarm them as soon as they were inside the entrance. But they walked across the green lawn without issue.

  Nathan was a born politician, shaking the hands of people Chris knew he’d rather punch in the face. He was glad it was Nathan and not him. He wasn’t sure he could have stayed so collected in this place.

  Then he saw Abigail. Across the lawn, speaking with some guy he thought might be a senator, but he wasn’t sure. She hadn’t seen him yet, so he watched her. At first glance, she was calm and collected, completely at ease. She laughed at someone’s joke, but he saw the tightness in the action, the wearied look in her eyes.

  She wore bracelets that covered red marks he knew were from handcuffs. He’d seen them enough to know what they were when he saw him. But still, she held herself high. Maybe it was something she learned from Lewis, but she was actually really good at talking to people. The way she glided between conversations, the way she touched each person with a personal smile like they were the world she gazed upon.

  She was a princess. America’s Princess. His princess. He’d do anything to keep her safe and happy. He’d have scaled any wall, sat in any trench, or killed anything that threatened her to keep her safe. She was royalty and he was a soldier that would never be good enough for her.

  “Hardy,” Jordan’s voice was warning him. Chris jolted back to what he was supposed to be doing. “Down, boy. You’re not going to help her by calling attention to us.”

  Chris realized every muscle in his body had tensed. He blew out a slow, agonizing breath and nodded. “I’m good.”

  Jordan looked wary.

  “Seriously, it’s fine. We need to distract the guards. They’re on her like leeches,” Chris said. “Doesn’t seem like the senator is taking any chances.”

  “No worries. Our distraction comes in fifteen minutes when Miss Li makes her move. I’m going to mingle a little. Make yourselves invisible,” Nathan said. “Miss Lewis is going to need backup. They’ll move her to a safer location as soon as that distraction starts. You need to get to her before they arrive at their destination.”

  Chris looked at Nathan in surprise. “You knew about Scott before he sold us out. You used him to get Bea in position.”

  Nathan’s mouth twitched. “There is nothing your team does that I don’t know about, Mr. Hardy. Mr. Muldoon will find that out the hard way soon enough.” The promise of vengeance rooted deep into his eyes. Then he turned and walked away, leaving the two of them.

  “I’ll cover Bea when she makes her move. You get Abigail before the guards get to her.”

  “Response time is difficult. They’re covering her close. See the table? She’s got one almost right next to her, and another a few feet away. They know we’re here. They’ll stick close.”

  “We take them out quietly once Bea does her thing,” Jordan said. “I’ll take the right side. You take the left.”

  “You only took that side because there’s one less.”

  Jordan shrugged. “I’m not in love with the target.”

  Chris stopped. Love? He shook his head. “I’m not—”

  Jordan rolled his eyes. “Shut up, dickface. Taking the left gets you closer to her when the time comes, and I need to get Bea out.” He shook his head. “You really are a dumb shit.”

  Chris growled at him. “Go fuck yourself.”

  “Later, sweetheart,” Jordan said, his eyes laughing as he walked away, towards the right where he hovered near the food table.

  Chris headed toward Abigail. She hadn’t seen him yet, and he stayed out of her line of sight. He wasn’t sure how she’d react, but he didn’t want to tip his hand too early if she reacted. They already were watching them, so he concentrated on staying in sight of Nathan as if he really were his security.

  Abigail glanced over her shoulder, back toward the guard hovering close to her. The uncertainty was written all over her face, the fear in her eyes touching his heart. She was keeping herself together, but it was clear she wasn’t out here of her own accord. Well, it was clear to anyone who knew her as well as he did.

  When her gaze swung back to face to whom she was talking, her eyes lingered on him for just a second before she resumed her conversation. She’d seen him. But she showed no outward signs of it. Clever little princess. He made his way to the first guard he needed to take out, just as they all froze in place.

  It took him a second to realize they were listening to something. Then all of them except the two on Abigail moved off, quickly and quietly, like ghosts. He smiled and glanced around the party, but no one had noticed, and no one was looking at him. Tim
e to play.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Seeing Chris made Abigail falter, but no one seemed to notice her misstep. She tried her hardest not to look at him as she talked to some secretary of some government department. She’d always hated these functions.

  Her first clue that something was happening was when four of the party guards moved away, and her babysitters moved in closer. One touched her shoulder. “Miss Lewis, come with me, please.”

  She glanced at him. The man might have been cute if he wasn’t working for evil incarnate. Briefly, she wondered if they all knew about her, or if her father told them yet another lie. “Why?”

  “Precautionary measures, ma’am,” he replied. His grip tightened on her shoulder. “Now.”

  Whether they all knew or not, this one did. Vicious promise laid inside his blue irises, so she excused herself politely from the conversation and allowed him to pull her away. His hand stayed on her shoulder as he led her not toward the house, but toward the guest house on the other side of the property. She glanced back toward where she’d seen Chris, but he was gone.

  As soon as they were out of view of the party, her guard’s grip on her shoulder slipped to her arm, holding onto her tightly as he sped up the pace. She had to take double steps to keep up with him.

  “Where are we going?”

  “This way,” he replied, pulling her towards the guest house. Then suddenly he wasn’t there. A blur passed before her eyes and the man’s head snapped to the side as a fist connected with it. The guard whirled around, slamming a fast punch into Chris’s solar plexus. Chris gasped as the air left him and the man slammed another fist into the side of his face. Chris stumbled back, teetering like he would fall. A harsh crack filled the air and the man froze. Red blossomed across his chest.

  Abigail stood motionless, her hands covering her mouth as he collapsed into a heap in front of her. Adrenaline surged inside her, her body shaking as she took in the bleeding heap at her feet.

  Chris stumbled to her, grimacing as he took her hand. She stared at him. “Is it really you?”