Thorn
I still didn't like the idea of leaving Jess on her own in the national headquarters, but I couldn't really see any other way of doing this. And she was proving to be a smart girl; I shouldn't worry about her. She would figure out some way to get out of there; I had faith in that.
Rian was surprisingly easy to find. Easy enough to find, actually, that at first I thought there must be some sort of a trap.
“Come on,” I muttered to her under my breath, holding out my hand to help her to her feet. “Gabi sent me to help you.”
Rian's eyes got wide, and she followed me trustingly and without a word. “You're going to need a disguise,” I told her, pushing her sideways into one of the stock closets. I held out the backpack that Gabi had prepared for her. “Get dressed.” I turned my back on her, giving her some semblance of privacy.
She dressed quickly, and I saw that Gabi had arranged for her to dress up as a dude, of all things. But with the girl's short hair and athletic build, there was actually a lot that was hidden by a thick beanie and an oversized flannel shirt. I nodded approvingly at her and then led her back out into the maze of hallways.
We made it out of the compound easily. Again, it was so easy that I wondered just what I was missing. I paused before going through the last of the security measures, looking around to see if Jess might have beaten us down there. But she was still nowhere to be seen.
“Gabi is waiting for you out front,” I murmured, pushing Rian forwards with a hand at her lower back. “This is as far as I'm going with you. I have to wait for my partner; she was distracting Silas.”
Rian nodded at me. “Thank you,” she said, her voice hardly even a whisper.
I nodded at her and turned back towards where Jess should be coming from. I wondered for a moment if I should go looking for her, but that seemed like a recipe for disaster. The last thing I needed was to walk in on her and Silas engaged in… Well, I could only hope that things hadn't gone that far, but if they had and he had made a quick move on her, I didn't need to see that. I would probably end up picking a fight with the man if I did, and the last thing I needed was to be picking a fist fight with Katia Sin's right-hand man.
I waited and waited, glancing impatiently at my watch every couple minutes, but she still didn't materialize.
Suddenly, there was a commotion down at the end of the hall. “That's him there!” one of the men shouted, beginning to run down the hall towards me.
I swore under my breath. Clearly our mission had been compromised. I was torn between fighting them and trying to go after Jess and getting out of there and coming back for Jess. I doubted I could fight both these guys — especially since they probably had weapons on them — and still make it into the heart of the national headquarters to free Jess on my own. I no longer had the element of surprise on my side.
I swallowed hard and made the decision to run out the front door. I hopped on my bike, revving the engine just as the goons flew out the front door of the headquarters building. Sure enough, one of them had a gun, and I was glad I hadn't stuck around and tried to fight with them.
Instead, I peeled out of the parking lot, roaring down the street on the way back to the hotel. I could only hope that Gabi and Rian had at least made it out safely. I'd need their help to hatch a plan so that I could get Jess back. I only hoped I wouldn't be too late.
Back at the hotel, I was relieved to see Gabi's car in the parking lot. That, at least, appeared to have worked out. Sure enough, she and Rian were there in the car.
“Where's Jess?” Gabi asked, looking around a little as though Jess might somehow materialize beside me.
“She didn't make it back to the meeting point,” I growled. “I'll need to go back for her—but I'll need to wait until the element of surprise is on our side again.”
Gabi's eyebrows rose to her hairline. “Good luck,” she finally said.
“Oh no,” I said, shaking my head. I pointed at Rian. “I helped get your sister back. You're going to help me get Jess back.”
“I don't think so,” Gabi said, shaking her head. “I've got the two remaining packages, and I'm prepared to deliver them to Katia. But that's as far as my involvement in this is going to go. You're on your own for this one.”
I scowled at her. “Gabi—”
“Don't,” she said. “There's nothing that you can do to make me help you out. You don't have anything on me. Unless you want to go to the authorities and explain what your role is in all of this, but I'm sure you wouldn't be stupid enough to do that.”
I frowned at her, hating the fact that she was right. There was nothing I could do to force her to help me get Jess out. I slammed a palm down on the side of her car and then turned and stalked into the hotel, trying desperately to think of ways to get Jess back.
I wouldn't be able to just walk right into the national headquarters again. They had to have video surveillance in the building, and everyone would be on the high alert, looking for someone who fit my description. What's more, I knew Silas wouldn't let Jess out of his sight like he had Rian—not after this humiliation.
I was so caught up in my thoughts that it took me a moment to realize someone was reclining on the couch in the suite, clearly waiting for me. I blinked at the man as he moved, sitting up and leaning forwards to stare at me. “You are in some serious trouble, Thorn Riley,” the man told me, a dark look on his face.
I blinked in surprise at him, shaking my head a little. “What the hell are you doing here, Dorian?”