Patrick

“Where are they?” I asked.

“Inside,” Declan said.

It had been two hours since I’d called James and not gotten an answer, then called the prepaid phone I’d given Nya and not gotten an answer.

Sean had gone to the resort and was waiting, and I was trying to keep it together. We couldn’t act until I knew exactly what I was dealing with, but the wait was driving me to the limit.

Even before I’d gone to Aengus’s, I’d decided it was time to put an end to this, so the shooters were going to be my next stop. That stop had more urgency now that I couldn’t reach Nya, knew that she was in Bronson Rockwell’s clutches. That was why I waited at an abandoned warehouse with Declan, each second ticking by feeling like a year.

Nya was going to be okay. I would see to it, but I was anxious, ready to act. If Declan hadn’t been here, I might have let that desire get the better of me, make a bigger mess of this than it already was.

The right thing to do was be patient, meticulous, but what I wanted to do was start hacking off pieces until they brought me Nya.

It might come to that, and I would have no problem if it did, but I’d try to handle this the right way.

I was convinced Aengus didn’t have a direct hand in this, but he would get his as well. He’d known more than he’d let on, and for that I held him responsible.

But first…

“Did they come without fuss?”

“No. One of ours took two in the shoulder, but that’s all,” he said.

“Okay. Let’s go.”

I walked into what used to be a furniture warehouse but now served an altogether different purpose.

When I reached the main warehouse I immediately saw the two men sitting there, hands behind their backs, feet tied as well.

They were sitting on the floor, but neither seemed particularly concerned.

Good.

They would die today, but I appreciated the professionalism.

I walked in, came to a stop in front of them.

“I need some information you have,” I said.

“What’s in it for us?” the man to my left and the one I’d pegged as the leader asked.

“A painless death,” I said.

The leader blanched but recovered quickly. “The information I have is worth more than that,” he said.

“That’s what I have to offer. And I’m working on a very tight timeline. So decide or I’ll get the cleaver.”

“We were just doing a job,” the leader said.

“One that you failed at. What’s your choice?” I replied.

They looked at each other, seemed to come to some agreement, and then looked back at me.

“I think you’ll change your mind once you hear what I have to say,” the leader said.

“Doubtful. Speak,” I said.

The leader frowned but pushed on. “Rockwell hired us to take you out.”

“And?”

“And we failed, so we tried again at your friend’s house.”

“And?” I said, keeping anger out of my voice.

“Failed again. Rockwell decided to take matters into his own hands.”

“Meaning?” I said.

“Meaning he wants something from you, and he plans to trade her for it. He’s got her locked up tight. You can’t get to her,” the leader said.

“But you can,” I said, seeing the look of triumph on the leader’s face.

“I can,” he replied.

“What will that cost me?” I said.

“Our lives,” he said.

I studied the man, looked at the other. They weren’t bullshitting me.

I reached forward and cut the zip ties off both of them. They staggered up, twisting their hands to get the blood flowing. When the leader stilled, I looked him in his eyes.

“Get her out alive and unharmed,” I said.

* * *

Nya

I kept telling myself not to freak out, and to my surprise I hadn’t yet.

The phone still didn’t work, and there was no way out of this room.

No one had come in yet, and it had been hours since I had made contact with anyone. Patrick would know something was wrong and would come for me. I knew that, clung to that fact and let it be the thing that kept me grounded.

Funny how my resolve that I could confront anything Patrick’s life had to offer was being tested so soon.

Even funnier that a few weeks ago I had been an account executive with daddy issues.

Now, I’d been shot at, had my home broken into, and was in the process of being kidnapped.

At least the daddy issues had been cleared up.

I laughed, knowing that I probably sounded insane, but then stopped, because I didn’t know who was listening to me.

I sat up straight, wiped the tear that ran down my cheek. I couldn’t forget that someone was seeing everything I did. I wouldn’t give them the satisfaction of falling apart, wouldn’t allow myself to be used like that. So I tried to channel my inner Patrick, keep my expression serene, though my thoughts were racing through my head at lightning speed.

I couldn’t really process what was happening, yet here I was. I’d just have to hold to the faith that Patrick would come for me.

* * *

Patrick

“No,” I said.

“It’s the only way,” the leader said.

“Come up with another way,” I said.

“It’s the only way,” he repeated.

I looked at the hotel off in the distance, thought of Nya in there, probably scared out of her mind, waiting for me. Then I looked at the leader, considered what he was asking.

He wanted me to trust the most precious thing in the world to him.

And I had no choice.

“If anything happens to her…”

“It won’t,” the leader said. He was all business now, and I saw potential in him. Too bad.

“We need weapons,” he said.

“You’re the only one going. And you’re not getting a gun,” I said.

He didn’t argue the point, but instead said, “Is she going to come with me?”

I hadn’t considered that, knowing Nya, she wouldn’t. “Tell her I’m a Murphy and a Murphy protects what’s his. She’ll come with you then.”

I hated sharing those words with him, hated the idea he would be the one to say them to her, but there was no other choice.

“You have twenty minutes. If you’re not back, he dies, and then I’m coming after you,” I said.

The leader nodded and then he got out of the car and walked to another, one that Sean had ensured was equipped with a tracker. He got in and drove off. I could do nothing but wait.