After John left with Mr. Darcy, Ari cleaned up the breakfast dishes and put the leftovers away. She was about to grab her journal to make notes about everything that happened yesterday, when her cell phone rang, from the ringtone she knew it was Shira before she saw the screen. Wait till she told her all that had happened since they’d seen each other yesterday.

“Hey girlfriend, I was going to call you as soon as my phone was charged up.”

“Hello, Ms. Nelson. You’re not an easy person to get a hold of. You should answer your phone more.”

“Who is this? Why do you have Shira’s phone?”

“Calm down. Nothing will happen to your friend if you follow my instructions.” Ari’s mind raced, was this a voice she recognized? She didn’t think so. He had a thick Chinese accent, but she didn’t have trouble understanding him.

“I want to talk to Shira before I do anything. I need to know she’s alive and okay.” She was greeted by silence, he must have muted the phone, and waiting for an answer was taking way too long.

“Ari?

“Thank God. Shira, are you okay?”

“I think so. They have me…”

“That’s enough. Now you know your friend is alive. If you want her to stay that way, you need to bring me the micro SD card Chen gave you.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Don’t try that bullshit. We know he gave it to you. Find it and I’ll call you back in five minutes and tell you where to bring it.”

“But I…” It was too late the line was dead. Probably to ensure the call couldn’t be traced. She had a problem, Paul or whatever his real name was, hadn’t given her anything even remotely like a micro SD card, and they were so tiny he could have hidden it just about anywhere. No way would she find it in five minutes. It verified what Colin and John thought. They’d torn her place apart looking for something, but they hadn’t found it, and now they expected her to bring it to them.

Shit. Shit. Shit. The smart thing to do would be to tell John or Colin and let them handle it. Except that could get Shira killed. If anyone was going to die because of this mess it should be her. Not that she wanted to die, but she wasn’t going to have Shira’s life on her conscience.

The phone wasn’t even halfway charged yet, and she was afraid to walk away because she might miss the call. What could she do? Think, Ari. Focusing on the apartment she shared with Paul, she tried to remember everything he’d added. It wasn’t much and nothing that jumped out at her that would be used to hide anything. Why they thought he’d tell her he’d hidden anything was beyond her. Unless he’d been playing both sides and was double crossing his associates. After what she learned from Wolf and Tex, it wouldn’t surprise her. He was one slimy bastard.

Who knew five minutes was such a long time? Feeling every second tick by, she was so focused on the time, she jumped when the phone rang. “Hello?”

“Do you have it?” She had no choice but to lie and worry about the consequences later.

“Yes. I have it.”

“See that wasn’t so hard, was it?”

“Just don’t hurt my friend.”

“Do as I ask, and she’ll be fine.”

“She better.”

“Or what? You’ll have your SEAL take me out? You have no idea who you’re dealing with.” The urge to tell him off was so strong she had to literally bite her tongue. She didn’t give a crap who he was, and she knew as sure as she knew her name, that John would wipe the floor with him.

“Do you know where the old warehouse district is in San Diego?”

“Yes.”

“Come to the corner of Fourth Street and Market. Someone will be watching for you and they’ll bring you the rest of the way. Come alone and make sure you’re not followed. If we see anyone with you, your friend dies. If you tell anyone, your friend dies. Do you understand?”

“Yes. How long do I have to get there?”

“I’d suggest you hurry.” Again, the line went dead. Shit. What the hell was she going to do? She’d been lucky John and Mr. Darcy weren’t back yet, if he’d returned she’d never get out of there alone. She ran into the bedroom and grabbed the SD card out of her tablet. It would help her stall for time, hopefully long enough or John to find her.

Ari wasn’t going to tell him, but she’d make sure she had her phone. Tex would be able to locate her if the battery didn’t die. It was only twenty-five percent. She prayed it was enough.

She jotted a quick note to John and placed the charging cord on top of it, she he’d see it, then grabbed the phone, her purse, and the SD card. Then prayed the Marshall wasn’t standing guard. But he was. It was his job where else would he be. It turned out to be Shadow Two. She liked him more than Three or Four but not as much as One. At least he talked to her.

“Did you need something, Ms. Nelson?”

“No not exactly, I figured I’d catch up to John and Mr. Darcy, they haven’t returned from their walk.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“But really, what could happen? The other Marshall is downstairs watching, you’re here. I’m covered. And if I’m with John he won’t let anything happen to me.” It sounded plausible to her, but it depended on how strict their orders were. Luckily, she knew how to get out the back way if she could get that far without being caught. She hadn’t realized she’d been holding her breath until he nodded and let her go. Letting out a huge sigh she thanked him and headed down the hallway.

Instead of the elevator, where she might run into John and Mr. Darcy on the way up, she took the stairs and was glad she was only on the fourth floor. Adrenaline was a killer and the muscles in her legs were screaming by the time she got to the first floor. Instead of going left to the front, she turned right and went down the hallway to the maintenance exit. After double checking no one had seen her, she opened the door, ran through the back alley to the next street and grabbed a cab. An Uber would have been better, but she didn’t know if she had the time to wait.

The next sixteen minutes were the longest of her life. Every traffic light had become her enemy. They wouldn’t hurt Shira because she was taking too long to get there, would they? Finally, the cabbie pulled up in front of Market and Fourth. She paid him and stepped out of the cab and onto the corner.

Door-to-door had taken exactly twenty-six minutes because of the added time it had taken to get out of the apartment building and grab the cab. She’d put the phone on silent and shoved it against her side in her underwear so hopefully if they searched her they wouldn’t find it. John was going to kill her when he found her if she wasn’t already dead. She knew it might not be the smartest thing, and that she’d yell at heroines in her books for doing the same thing, but now she was in the situation it didn’t matter. Nothing would have stopped her.

Checking the time on her Fitbit, she wondered how long they’d make her wait. Before she’d finished the thought, a cloth was placed over her mouth and nose. She tried to struggle but everything went dark.

***

“Just how stupid are you?” John would have ripped the Marshall’s head off if he thought it would help anything. When he’d gotten back with Mr. Darcy and couldn’t find her, he was pissed and thought maybe she’d gone to her apartment for something. But then he saw her note and he wanted to throw something. ‘If I don’t come back take care of Mr. Darcy for me.”’

“She said she was meeting you downstairs. The other Marshall was downstairs too. It seemed safe enough.”

“I’m going to have your badge if one hair on her head is harmed. Do you understand?”

“Who do you think you are?”

“You don’t want to know. Trust me. But you’d better get your boss on the phone. If you think I’m unhappy wait until you tell him.”

John stormed back into his apartment to find Mr. Darcy whimpering at the door. When he walked in the dog checked behind him for Ariana, and seeing she wasn’t there he started barking and whining at the same time, it was a horrible sound.

“It’s okay, boy. We’ll get her back. I promise.”

“Woof.”

Not sure what Colin would put into motion, John had no intention of waiting to find out. He called Wolf.

“What’s up, Riot?”

“They have Ariana.”

“What? How the hell did that happen?”

“Don’t get me fucking started. I don’t know how they contacted her, but she managed to sneak past two US Marshalls and get around me and her dog. If I wasn’t so pissed right now, I’d be proud of her. But she made sure I’d know she had her phone. Can Tex track her?”

Wolf whistled into the phone. He’d been through something similar with Caroline and he knew how torn up it would make Riot. When Caroline had been taken he thought he’d die. But they’d gotten her back, twice, and he’d make sure they’d do the same for Ari. “Hold on, I’ll conference him in.”

John paced while he held the phone so tightly his fingers were white. All he could imagine was Ariana being tortured or worse and he had no freakin’ clue where to start to locate her.

“Riot? I’ve got Tex on the line.”

“Hey, thanks for all your help.”

“No problem. But Ari is missing?”

“Yup. I’m not sure how they got to her, but they did. I got back from walking her dog and she was gone, along with her phone and her purse. They had to be holding something or someone over her head.”

“Right. Okay, give me her number. If her phone is on we should be able to get a location.”

John repeated the number from his phone, and thanked God he’d had it saved in his contacts. Tex’s fingers flew over the keys as the sound of tapping came over the phone.

“It’s on, hopefully she still has it. There is the chance they would have taken it away from her or she tossed it.”

“We told her about you, she’s smart, she’d have found a way to hold on to it as long as possible.”

“Good. The signal isn’t moving. Looks like the phone is near Market and Fourth Street in San Diego. I’m sorry it’s not more specific. It’s harder to pinpoint signals in a city.”

“No, that’s great. It gives me something to work with. Thank you again.”

“I’ll keep digging to see what I can find on her ex. Maybe we’ll be able to figure out who he’s been working with.”

“Let me know. Wolf, do you think you and a couple of your guys could help me search for Ariana?”

“I was going to suggest it. I’ll give them a call and meet you there. Are you going to update the Marshalls?”

“I haven’t decided. I’m not sure someone in that group isn’t dirty. Something doesn’t feel right here.”

“I agree. She’s yours so we’ll follow your lead.” John liked the sound of that, she was his, in his mind and heart. Hopefully, they’d get to her in time and he’d be able to prove it to her.

"See you there.”

John changed clothes and put on his ankle and shoulder harness. He was prepared to take out anyone who was between him and Ariana. When he came out of the bedroom, Mr. Darcy was standing in front of the door with his leash in his mouth.

“You can’t come, boy. It’s not safe.” Instead of moving away, he got closer to the door. The only way John was going to get by him was to pick him up and move him. He could have but maybe bringing him wasn’t the worst idea. Except that if anything happened to the dog, Ariana would never forgive him.

“Okay, you can come, but you need to listen to me no matter what. Our girl would kill me if anything happened to you.” The wagging tail and loud woof was enough for John. He put the leash on and they headed to his car.

They arrived first, and Mr. Darcy sniffed for Ariana’s trail. Bringing him turned out to be a good idea. He hadn’t thought about the dog’s ability to track his mistress. He should have, he was slipping.

When Wolf and his team showed up, John and Mr. Darcy had Ariana’s location narrowed down to an old warehouse. The building was huge, run down, and had at least four entrances that John noted. Too many to easily do reconnaissance and not be seen. While they were plotting their entry, John’s phone buzzed.

“Colin?”

“Don’t go into that building.”

“What? How do you know where we are?” John exchanged a look with Wolf who shrugged his shoulders.

“We have her phone traced and tracked. They have her friend, we think the building is wired to blow. And we’re not even certain she’s there.”

“She’s here.”

“How do you know?”

“I have her dog. He knows.”

“Maybe she was there, but she’s been moved.”

“Colin, drop the bullshit. Unless you can give me a damn good reason not to, I’m going in and I have friends with me. And in case you were wondering, we won’t be taking any prisoners.

“John, listen to me. There’s a mole in the FBI, we’ve known about it for months, it’s part of why I tagged you to help watch her. If you go in you might blow the investigation.”

“I don’t give a fuck. That’s my woman in there. You may think she’s collateral damage, but I don’t.”

“Okay, then wait for me. I’m almost there.” John didn’t bother to answer. They might have been friends fifteen years ago, but Ariana was his future and he’d be damned if he was going to wait one more minute to save her.