CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Rowan scrambled to Brent’s side and dropped to her knees on the cold ground. “Brent!” She rolled him to his back, desperate to see where he was injured. She’d heard the shot, knew that was the reason he’d flown back and hit the mausoleum wall.
“Brent.” Rowan patted his cheek, but he didn’t respond. She stomped on the panic exploding in her gut. Rowan couldn’t help if she had a meltdown.
Heavy feet raced toward her.
Assuming it was one of the Fortress operatives, maybe Jake Davenport, she didn’t bother turning to look. “Help me. Brent’s been shot.” She spread his jacket open to determine the location of his wound and apply pressure to the injury.
Hard hands grabbed Rowan and yanked her to her feet.
“Hey!” She slapped at the hands dragging her away. “No!” Rowan glanced up. A ski mask covered the face of the man. She gasped at the sight. Not Fortress. Crap. She renewed her efforts to escape, yelling for Jon and Eli.
“Shut up,” a deep voice hissed. The hands jerked her off the path and deep into the forest and shoved her up against a tree, a gun pressed to her head, bark scratching her scalp as she tried to escape the gun. “One more sound and I’ll kill you and give orders to make sure your boyfriend is dead. The third bullet will go into your niece. One phone call and her brains splatter all over the room where she’s being held. Choose. You come with me now or you, your boyfriend, and the brat are dead.”
Another man in a ski mask raced toward them. “Go, go, go! The boyfriend’s friends are swarming this area. They’re armed, man. Who are these guys?”
Hard Hand’s head whipped back to her. “You living or dying today, Ms. Scott?” he growled.
“Living.” Hopefully, Jon or Eli would reach her before these guys left with her. If not, Brent’s tracker would bring Fortress to the rescue before she and Alexa paid a high price.
Her heart skipped a beat at the thought of the man she loved lying on the cold ground, maybe bleeding out before he reached the hospital. Jake had to reach him in time. Brent was a fighter, she reminded herself as her captor threw her over his shoulder and ran.
The trees blurred. Rowan looked behind them. Far in the distance, several men raced to the rescue, Jon and Eli in the lead. The Fortress operatives gained on the kidnappers with every stride. Just when she thought her captors would be caught, the second man stopped, turned on his heel, and fired round after round of bullets at the operatives. “No, don’t!”
The Fortress employees dived this way and that, dodging bullets while the man carrying her didn’t break stride. A short while later, he pulled up short, yanked Rowan off his shoulder, and shoved her over a low rock wall into the waiting hands of yet another man dressed in black with a ski mask covering his face.
The third captor shoved her into the backseat of a waiting SUV with the engine running. He climbed in after her and pointed a gun at her chest. His two buddies dived into the front seats. Hard Hands put the vehicle in motion and raced from the cemetery.
“Where are you taking me?” Rowan demanded.
“Shut up. You’ll find out when we get there.” The man in the backseat with her waggled his gun. “Turn around, lady.”
“Why?”
“You think we’ll leave you free to attack the driver? I’m not dying today although you might if you don’t turn around.”
Rowan swallowed hard. He might shoot her if she didn’t comply. Rowan had to stay alive in order to protect Alexa.
She turned. Immediately, her hands were yanked behind her back and cinched with plastic. Zip ties? She wiggled her wrists experimentally. Gun Guy knew what he was doing. If Brent were here, he’d know how to escape the cuffs.
A moment later, Gun Guy dangled a strip of black cloth in front of her face.
“No!” Rowan lurched away from him. If the kidnappers blindfolded her, she wouldn’t know where they were taking her. She needed to be able to see to plot an escape route if Brent couldn’t find her in time to help.
Her breath choked off. If Brent was still alive to find her. He couldn’t be dead. Losing him would kill her. Brent and the others had great faith in Jake Davenport’s skills. That the medic was close at hand could only mean a better chance for Brent’s survival.
“Relax, lady,” the kidnapper said. “The boss wants to make sure you can’t tell nobody where he is.”
“Do it, Ms. Scott,” Hard Hands said. “Your only other choice is for us to drug you.”
“No drugs,” she snapped. Praying she wasn’t making a fatal mistake, Rowan turned to face the window. The kidnapper tied the black cloth over her eyes and, after making sure she couldn’t see, shoved her flat on the seat.
Rowan had no idea how much time had passed since she’d been taken from Brent’s side when the SUV came to a stop. The driver’s side door opened, then the door nearest her.
Hard Hands gripped her arm and pulled her from the vehicle. A moment later, a second man grasped her other arm. The two of them escorted her over rough terrain and up a few stairs.
Somewhere ahead, she heard a door open and Rowan was rushed inside a building. As soon as the door closed behind her, the blindfold was removed.
She blinked, trying to adjust to the sudden infusion of light. Rowan glanced around. She was surrounded by five men, all dressed in black. The three who had taken her from the cemetery removed their ski masks. The other two hadn’t covered their faces.
Couldn’t be good, she decided. No way she’d forget what these five looked like. Maybe they weren’t worried about her identifying them. That convinced her that Brent was right. The kidnappers didn’t plan to let her or Alexa go. Once they got what they wanted, Rowan and her niece would disappear, permanently.
“Where are the records that idiot, Maxwell, kept?” ground out the tall, broad-shouldered man with black hair and steel-gray eyes, his gaze cold and filled with anger and impatience.
“Who are you?”
“Doesn’t matter.”
“I have the right to know who’s holding me against my will. What is your name?”
He scowled. “You’re a curious woman, aren’t you? Curious people don’t survive long. I want those records, Ms. Scott.”
“Let me guess. Invisible Man?” Had Brent been right? Was this Keith Phillips? She didn’t really care what his name was. “I want my niece.”
A calculating look filled his gaze. “Very well.” He tipped his chin to Hard Hands. “Get the brat.”
No one said a word while Hard Hands was gone. Within minutes, heavy footsteps heralded his return. Accompanying his steps were light ones running to keep up with him.
Rowan spun toward the hall. Hard Hands appeared, yanking Alexa along behind him. “Alexa!”
“Aunt Rowan!” The girl broke away from the man and raced into Rowan’s arms. “You came.”
“I told you I would.” She wrapped her arms around her niece and held her close. “Are you okay, Lex?”
The girl nodded even as she glared at the men surrounding them. “They didn’t hurt me. I want to go home now. I miss Mommy.”
Oh, man. Rowan didn’t want to have this conversation with an audience. “I know. Soon, okay?”
The boss man said, “All right. You got what you wanted. Now, I want those records, Ms. Scott.”
“You’re out of luck, buddy.”
He stilled. “You don’t have them? I told you what would happen to the brat if you didn’t bring them.”
Rowan tightened her grip on Alexa. “Talk to your goons. They took me before I could tell them my boyfriend has the records. The plan was for him to come with me and give you the records in exchange for Alexa. Your boys screwed everything up.”
“What do we do, boss?” Hard Hands asked.
The boss turned back to Rowan. “Your boyfriend got a name, Ms. Scott?”
“Brent Maddox.”
Hard Hands groaned. “Oh, man.”
“You know him?” Invisible Man asked.
“By reputation only and that’s bad enough.”
“Who is he?”
“The founder of Fortress Security.”
Invisible Man scowled and a vile curse spilled from his mouth. “Marshall, get the plane ready.”
“Yes, sir.” He left in a hurry.
Plane? Rowan eyed the boss who turned toward her. What did that mean for her and Alexa?
“Looks like you and your family are causing me no end of trouble, Ms. Scott.”
“Let us go. I can’t tell anyone who you are or where your hideout is because I don’t know either of those things.”
Invisible Man gave a mirthless laugh. “Doesn’t matter now. Fortress has a reputation of being relentless. I don’t have enough people and fire power to handle them.”
“So what does that mean for us?”
His lips curved. “I’m taking you to someone who can handle Fortress. You and your bratty niece will be the bait.”