CHAPTER ONE
Piper Reece threw open the back door of Wicks, the candle shop where she worked, and rushed into the alley. She pawed through her favorite pink purse for shop keys that had slipped to the bottom and disappeared. She had to hurry.
A heavy footstep sounded nearby. Piper froze, hand still buried in her bag. She glanced around the darkened alley, looking for the source of the noise. She frowned. The light over the shop’s door was burned out, leaving the area bathed in shadows and pools of deepest midnight. She had changed the bulb herself last week.
Later. She didn’t have time now. Gavin, a man she’d hadn’t spoken to for three years, had called and begged for help. Piper grimaced. Gavin wanted something from her. She almost refused to meet him. His voice, though, conveyed an emotion she never expected to hear from her former boyfriend. Bone-deep fear.
Another footstep, closer this time, caused goosebumps to surge across Piper’s skin. Otter Creek, Tennessee, wasn’t a major metropolitan city. It was safe. Not only did Otter Creek have great police officers, the town was also the home of Personal Security International, a training school for bodyguards. Bad things didn’t happen here.
Right. So why did she feel like someone stalked her in the darkness? Not for the first time, she wished Liam McCoy was here. Unfortunately, he was out of town with his teammates, return date and mission location unknown to her. Liam guarded information about the details of his work.
Piper wanted to know everything. The operative fascinated her. Building a lasting relationship with Liam was a challenge when he kept disappearing for weeks at a stretch because of his job. Good thing she enjoyed challenges.
Uneasiness grew in her gut. She needed to leave the alley and go to the lighted street. Next time she closed the shop alone, Piper promised herself to leave by the front door where the area was well lit. She usually did. Today, however, the parking spaces near the shop were full and she had parked further away. Leaving by the back door saved her a few steps. No more being lazy, though.
Piper’s fingers wrapped around her shop keys. She yanked them out, found the right key, and reached for the knob to close the door.
A hard hand clamped over her mouth and a rock-hard arm encircled her waist, plucking Piper off her feet. Her purse and keys fell to the ground.
She kicked and thrashed, desperate to free herself. Who was this creep?
“Stop fighting or I’ll hurt you,” the man growled. “Cooperate and you might live to see tomorrow.”
Piper didn’t believe that for a minute. She couldn’t let him take her away from the shop. Redoubling her efforts to escape, Piper dislodged Rock’s hand enough to scream.
The thug swore, slapped his hand over her mouth again, and raced toward the street.
Hope bloomed inside Piper. Maybe a passerby would help her. Rock reached the mouth of the alley with Piper still fighting him and ran to a black van idling on the street, side door open.
No! Piper gave a muffled scream. Rock’s hand pressed harder against her mouth, cutting the inside of her lip.
“Shut up!” He covered the remaining few feet to the vehicle in long-legged strides and threw Piper into the back of the van.
She righted herself and dived toward the opening. Houses were on the next block. One of Wicks’s Otter Creek neighbors would offer her sanctuary until the police arrived. Assistance was two minutes away.
With a furious curse, Rock backhanded Piper and shoved her back inside, this time climbing in after her and slamming the door. “Go!” he yelled at the driver.
Rock turned a glare her direction. “You’re more trouble than you’re worth, Ms. Reece.” He loomed over Piper. “You better hope we find you useful for a long time.”
Piper cradled her aching cheek with her palm. “What do you want?”
“We’re going on a treasure hunt.”
Treasure hunt? She stared. “I don’t understand.”
“You will retrieve information for us.”
What was he talking about? “And if I don’t?”
“I call my associate and your boyfriend dies.”
Blood drained from Piper’s cheeks. Rock and his friends had Liam? No way. Liam was with his teammates. She didn’t know what Bravo did on their mysterious missions, but she’d heard the members of a second black ops team assigned to PSI talk about them with great respect and that was saying something. The other team had served together in the military and were some kind of elite Special Forces unit. If Bravo was in the same league as Durango, Rock and his friends couldn’t defeat them and take Liam.
But what if they had? What if these men had ambushed Bravo and captured Liam? Her breath caught at the possibility that Liam could be hurt. These men might also be lying to her.
Her friend and boss, Delilah Rainer, shared minimal information about her husband, Matt, a teammate of Liam’s. Their work involved dangerous tasks and a great deal of secrecy. Saying the wrong thing now would endanger Liam and his team. “I don’t know what information you’re talking about.”
Rock wrapped his meaty hand around her throat and squeezed. “Rethink that, Ms. Reece, or you’ll be dead along with your boyfriend.”