Dani
I would be lying if I tried to convince myself I wasn’t afraid.
But while I was trying not to flinch under Becker’s intense scrutiny, I did have the security of knowing that Marcus was outside, waiting for a signal if I should get in trouble.
I was determined that this man I’d been tailing for weeks wasn’t going to slip away from prosecution. He was a traitor to my country, and pure evil in every other respect.
I tried not to show my aversion to him as he roughly stroked my cheek. “I’ve been waiting for this night, Dani.”
I’m sure he had been. The night that he’d left me black and blue was still fresh in my mind every time I looked at him. Women were nothing more than disposable trash to him.
“Me, too,” I murmured, not being totally untruthful. I was, in fact, waiting for him to get his ass nailed against the wall.
I was grateful for the tools Marcus had given me since Becker had taken my keys and my handbag the minute I walked through the door and stashed them somewhere unknown. He was paranoid, but it had been a move I wasn’t expecting.
“I need to go freshen up,” I told him as I rose from my place beside him on the couch. I had to find my way around his home, and just being so close to the man who had cuffed me so hard I still had a faint outline of black-and-blue marks on my face made me slightly nauseous.
“Hurry up,” he insisted in an annoyed tone. He stood up and took off his suit jacket as he added, “I’ve got plans for you.”
I smiled weakly as I shuddered, not even wanting to know what his plans might be.
“Be right back,” I answered sunnily.
He jerked his head to the left. “The bathroom is at the end of the hall. Stay out of the other rooms.”
“Okay,” I answered meekly as I turned away and scurried down the hallway.
I closed the door to the toilet loud enough so he could hear it, and then leaned back against it.
Damn! How was I going to get anywhere when he was watching me like a hawk?
“I can do this. I can do this,” I whispered over and over like it was my mantra.
Problem was, I’d seen the ugly, violent side of Gregory Becker, and it had scared the hell out of me. I’d seen the same expressions when I’d been brutalized by my kidnappers.
Lifeless.
Dead.
Emotionless.
Where there was no conscience, there was no hesitancy to hurt, maim, or kill.
I had no doubt that just like my jailers in the Middle East, Becker enjoyed causing people pain and misery. In fact, I was pretty sure he excelled at it.
I pushed myself off the bathroom door, catching my reflection in the mirror as I moved. My white blouse was nearly transparent, but I was wearing a white sports bra underneath. I looked like a hooker trying to attract a man with layers of makeup and bright-red lipstick. The frightened expression in my eyes just wouldn’t do. No matter what, I wasn’t cowering down to Becker. I was playing a role that would get me what I wanted.
I turned my back on the mirror, my mind racing. I thought I’d seen what looked like a home office on my way to the bathroom. It made sense that it was located on the ground floor.
The home was beyond pretentious, the décor opulent but decorated with gold, a fact that told me that he felt like he had something to prove. Everything I’d seen so far was downright gaudy and over-the-top.
I flushed the toilet to make it sound like I’d actually used it, and to drown out noise as I gently twisted the doorknob and opened the bathroom door enough for me to escape.
I didn’t hear anything from the living room as I slipped into the open door I’d seen on my way to the bathroom. Moonlight bathed the room in dim light.
I rushed to the desk and flipped on the small desk lamp, listening for any trace of footsteps coming down the hallway.
Quietly, I opened all the desk drawers, looking for any sign of paperwork.
Dammit! Nothing!
I was ready to give up when I spotted a bookshelf next to the desk. My heart was pounding as I saw a large ledger that seemed out of place right next to some of the classics.
I pulled out the large, untitled book, and then opened it on the desk.
Bingo!
It was a book of transactions, illegal money being sent through various shell companies and offshore accounts to hide the income from his darker businesses. I didn’t think; I just started using the tiny cameo Marcus had given me to get records and names of the companies.
I moved as quickly as possible, snapping as much information as I could in a short period of time. The amounts and dates weren’t as important as capturing the names of the companies and the accounts.
I was amazed by the fact that Becker hadn’t even bothered to try to hide exactly where the money was coming from. It listed the human trafficking, prostitution, and drug deals right in the ledger.
Maybe he was too arrogant about covering his tracks. He’s obviously done it for years. Nobody has even dug deep enough to follow the money.
I was just replacing the large book when I heard footsteps.
“What in the fuck are you doing in here?” Becker said, his tone furious.
I moved my hand slowly. “I was just admiring your book collection. You have some great classics,” I lied, thinking quickly about how to cover myself.
Dammit! I’d almost made it out before he came after me.
“I told you not to go anywhere except the can,” he said in a surly tone.
I cringed as he moved to my side, the fury in his expression terrifying.
“What else were you doing? Bitch, are you spying on me?”
“Of course not,” I answered in an innocent tone. “I just like books.”
“So you just happened to stumble in here?”
“Yes.”
“Bullshit,” he exploded. “I hate liars, and you’re not telling me the truth.”
“I am. I swear I am,” I answered in a pleading tone. “Why else would I be here?”
“I don’t know. Why don’t you tell me?” he demanded.
I startled as he grabbed a large hunk of my hair, yanked my head back, and I felt cold metal against my face. Out of the corner of my eye, I verified what I already knew. He was holding a gun to the side of my head.
“Tell me!” he bellowed. “What in the hell were you looking for?”
“Nothing. I just stopped in here because I could see the bookshelf.”
I swallowed hard, trying not to think about the weapon aimed at my head.
Keeping his grip on my hair and the gun close to his target, he pushed me in front of him. “Move,” he said in a menacing voice, pushing me to set my body in motion.
“Where?” I asked, trying not to let my fear take over.
“We’re going to take a fucking ride. I don’t trust you here.”
My heart was racing as I stumbled over my high heels in front of him, his grip on my hair feeling like he was tearing it from my scalp.
Marcus! Signal for Marcus.
There was no way I was getting away from Becker’s death grip. If I released the pepper spray, there was no guarantee he wouldn’t shoot me on the spot.
The only way to get help was to bring Marcus into the mess I’d just created. But I was terrified he’d get wounded or end up dead. There was no way for me to warn him that Greg had a gun.
I hesitated as Becker pushed me outside and toward his vehicle in the driveway, trying to think about how I could pull myself out of the situation without getting Marcus hurt.
As ordered, I climbed into the passenger seat from the driver’s side, his weapon trained on me the entire time.
“You’ll pay for your betrayal, bitch. Nobody snoops around me and lives to tell about it,” he bragged as he got into the driver’s seat.
“Greg, I wasn’t snooping. I was just looking at your office,” I said, trying to reason with a madman.
“I told you what to do, and you had to go digging around. I said to stay out of the other rooms. You brought this on yourself.”
Sweet Jesus! He was so paranoid that I wasn’t going to be able to reason with him.
He pushed the button to start the vehicle, and I started to contemplate whether or not I should push the panic button for Marcus’s backup.
By now, he’d probably seen us. The house was sheltered, but if he was on the street, he might already know what was happening. If he came into the situation knowing Becker had a weapon, he might be more careful.
My thoughts instantly dissipated as the lights in the car came back on, and Becker was temporarily diverted by a man standing next to the open driver’s side door. The gun that he had trained on me wavered for a moment, and it only took me seconds to figure out why.
“I’m taking this vehicle, asshole. Get out or I’ll blow your head off,” Marcus growled in a low, agitated tone.
Like Becker, Marcus had a gun, and it was leveled at Becker’s head.
Like I was watching in slow motion, the weapon moved from being aimed at me and started toward Marcus.
With a twist of a stone, I hit my mark with the pepper spray in my bracelet. A wounded howl escaped from Becker’s mouth as I grabbed for his gun.
Marcus moved faster than me, grabbing Becker’s shirt and hauling him out of the vehicle, and then slamming him to the ground as he intercepted Becker’s gun in the process.
He hopped into the driver’s seat and sped away, making sure he had the keys in the vehicle before he left Becker’s bellowing figure on the ground.
I fumbled for the control for the windows, opening the one on my side as fast as possible because of the discharged pepper spray.
I panted for breath, my heart galloping as I realized that I’d escaped with Marcus.
“What are you doing? Where are we going?” I asked in a panicked tone.
“Not far,” he answered in a clipped tone.
We stopped a few blocks away from Becker’s house. “Are we getting out?”
“Get into my sedan. Go!” he said in an urgent tone.
I stumbled out of the luxury sports car and to the vehicle I’d seen Marcus driving earlier in the day. I’d barely closed the door when he stepped on the gas and sped away from the abandoned vehicle.
I didn’t speak as Marcus drove. My body was still shaking, and I was still trying to figure out what the hell had just happened.
Marcus had appeared out of nowhere, and I’d definitely been looking for any sign of him when Becker had brought me outside. Everything had happened so fast. All I’d been able to process was the fact that Becker was trying to shoot Marcus. I’d acted completely on instinct when I’d released the pepper spray.
Finally, I said in a husky whisper, “You’re safe. We’re both safe.”
“I could have used some help before you used the chemicals,” Marcus said tightly. “If you were in trouble, why didn’t you signal for me?”
It was a reasonable question. I just wasn’t sure how to answer.