MIA RAKED HER fingers over the door, trying to find a lever or latch to open it from the inside, but she found only the hole where it had been removed. The van lurched forward and sped down the street, toppling her off balance and making her fall to her knees and reach back to steady herself with one hand. A gun flashed in her peripheral vision as the guy who’d coldcocked Caden leveled the weapon on her, aimed directly at her head.
“I suggest you sit down before you get hurt.”
The guy she’d hit drove with one hand and held a wad of takeout napkins against his bloody nose with the other. He glared over his shoulder at her. “Shoot that bitch,” he ordered, his words muffled by the blood running down his throat, the lack of air he sucked in around his groans of pain, and the pressure he applied to his broken nose.
She hoped it hurt like hell. “What the hell do you want with me?”
“Leverage,” the gun-wielding asshole spat out, glancing over at Caden to be sure he was still unconscious and not a threat.
Idiot didn’t recognize the one in front of him. She may not look like much, but she wasn’t going down without a fight.
“He fucked up my life,” the guy grumbled.
“I’m pretty sure you did that on your own.” She said it under her breath, but the guy heard her and squeezed the trigger ever so slightly. Her heart jackhammered in her chest. Adrenaline infused the blood in her veins. She had the overwhelming desire to punch the man right in the face, but she didn’t dare make a move. Not when the odds were stacked against her. She’d wait for Caden to wake up. The two of them could take the two men in the front seat. She hoped.
“He has information I need. He knows the man who killed my fiancée. I want that man’s name and how to find him. He will give it to me. You will suffer until he does.”
Those ominous words stopped her heart and turned her stomach.
She needed to do something, but with the gun pointed straight at her, she had few options. For now, she’d take care of Caden and bide her time.
She sat on the floor at his head and gently lifted it, setting it on her lap. She kept her back pressed to the metal wall and the guy with the gun in her peripheral vision.
“Good girl.” He set the gun on his lap and turned toward the front, though she knew if she made a move he’d shoot her.
Her mind swirled with thoughts she couldn’t hold for long. She brushed her fingers through Caden’s soft dark hair again and again, hoping to soothe him and wake him up. He didn’t move. His stillness frightened her.
She barely knew him, but her heart ached, and she hoped he’d be okay. She didn’t want him to be hurt. If she could take it away, she would. The deep connection and emotions she felt for him surprised her. It started the second he smiled at her when they met in the restaurant and built as they got to know each other over dinner, both of them opening up and enjoying each other’s company with an ease she’d never found with anyone else.
The kiss. Wow. That kiss solidified the thoughts in her mind that Caden was a man worth getting to know better. A man she found herself thinking about as a boyfriend and maybe more.
She rubbed her hand over his arm, grabbed hold of his huge bicep, and gave him a soft shake. Nothing. Not even a little moan or sigh to let her know he was okay. She smoothed her hand down over his chest to his heart. It thumped against her palm. Steady. True. Relieved, she kept touching him, hoping to comfort and needing the contact to calm her own racing heart. Her hand hit on something in his suit jacket. The realization of what it was dawned on her. She held back her instinctual gasp and slid her hand inside his jacket and pulled out his cell phone. She used his big body and her legs to hide it from view and swiped her finger across the screen. Locked. It required her to swipe her finger in a pattern over the nine dots that formed a square. It could be anything. She didn’t want to think of the thousands of combinations. Disheartened, she didn’t give up but tried one swipe after the next, connecting the dots in different patterns, hoping that she found the right one before the phone locked for good, or she got caught.
Frustrated, she pushed the phone back under Caden’s jacket, leaned her head back against the van’s side, and sighed. It took her a minute to notice that Caden’s breathing had changed and that he pressed down on her thigh with his head. She looked down at him, but he didn’t open his eyes. She leaned forward again and brushed her fingers through his hair. The pressure he used to push on her leg ceased. Mia slipped her hand down his chest to the phone again and pulled it out and set it on the floor beside his bowed body, still hidden by her legs.
“Where the fuck are you going? It’s west on 90, not east.”
The driver made an abrupt turn, sending Mia falling forward, then back against the side of the van again. She held on to Caden, and he rolled with her. The distraction allowed Caden to grab the phone and swipe his finger left to right across the top and down one dot, unlocking the phone. He pressed it to her hand and went limp, pretending to be unconscious again. Good thing, because the guy with the gun turned to check on them for the tenth time. She needed to be careful or they’d lose their chance to call for help.
She turned the phone over on the floor, hidden inside Caden’s open coat. She couldn’t make a call. The guys two feet away would hear.
Caden shifted on her lap. She stared down at him, and he mouthed Beck.
His brother. Okay, that could work. But why not someone at the DEA?
Caden tapped his head against her leg and mouthed Beck again.
She gave him a nod and selected the text message button. A string of texts between Caden and Beck came up first. She selected it and typed out her message.
CADEN: Kidnapped outside restaurant with Mia in white van heading west on 90
She hit Send. Caden nudged her with his head and mouthed Marco drug dealer.
Of course he was.
CADEN: Marco drug dealer and another man
The phone dinged with a text. Mia covered with a sneeze, ending with a high-pitched squeak. She squeaked and sneezed again, hoping the stupid sound threw off their kidnappers. Caden’s whole body tensed next to her. Thank God she and Caden had the same kind of phone. She quickly turned the phone to Silent and prayed she covered well enough.
“What the hell is wrong with you?”
“I’m allergic to dust and assholes.” For good measure, she sniffled, then let out another squeaky sneeze.
“One bullet will cure you,” Marco warned, glaring at her one last time, then turning forward again.
She didn’t know if she liked knowing the devil’s name.
Not wanting to draw any further attention, she sat, brushing her fingers through Caden’s hair as she had from the start of this mess. Caden relaxed below her. She slipped her free hand down his chest toward the floor again. Before she reached the phone, he clasped his hand over hers and squeezed.
She tried and failed to hold back the hiss of pain. Caden’s eyes flew open for the first time. She leaned over, letting her long hair hide his head and face.
Broken, he mouthed, brushing his thumb softly over the darkening bruise on the heel of her palm.
She shook her head no, then shrugged, maybe. It hurt like hell, but she didn’t have time to worry about how badly she’d injured herself. They needed to think of a way out of this mess.
Caden brought her hand to his mouth and kissed her palm, his lips warm against her skin. The simple touch calmed her from the inside out, allowing her to take a breath through the fear eating at her gut.
Feeling daring and needing to reassure herself and Caden that they’d get through this, she leaned down and kissed him on the forehead. “We’ve got this,” she whispered close to his ear.
He stared up at her with such intensity it stole her breath. She gave him a nod to let him know she was okay and she meant it. They’d find a way to get through this. First, she needed to get them help. She picked up the phone, unlocked it again, and checked Beck’s message.
BECK: Anyone hurt?
CADEN: We’re OK
Her throbbing hand wouldn’t hinder them, so no need to mention it to Beck.
The van darted to the right, taking an off-ramp far too fast.
“Slow down. You don’t want to draw any unwanted attention. Take the left on Grove.”
CADEN: Left on Grove after getting off 90
Caden shifted to his side and nudged her hand out of the way of the phone. Working fast, he typed out . . .
CADEN: GPS tracker find us now call in team
Caden fell back onto her lap like he’d never been fully awake, but he still held her hand in his. She pulled free, took the cell phone, and stuffed it down the front of her dress, into her bra strap, at her side under her armpit. She adjusted the front of her dress, realizing at the last second that Caden stared up at her as she held her hands over her breasts to smooth the dress into place. The heat in his eyes stunned her, but the tilt to his lips made her smile down at him.
With a shrug she silently communicated, It’s a good hiding place.
They took another sharp turn, nearly sending her and Caden across the van floor again and into the door on the opposite side. She planted her feet to keep them from toppling but noticed the wet stain on her dress under Caden’s head. She settled him against her again, wadded up her ruined dress, and pressed it to the bleeding lump she hadn’t noticed until now. His jaw locked and the muscle ticked. She hated to hurt him, but she needed to stop the bleeding. She pressed harder on the wound and placed her free hand on the side of his face in another silent but meaningful message of comfort. He leaned into her touch, and her heart tripped and melted even more.
If they made it out of this, she’d really like to explore the growing need inside her to get to know him better. The connection she felt to him might be the product of her needing him to help her get out of this dire situation, but her heart told her it went deeper. It had started at the restaurant, grew with every passing minute they shared a great meal and even better conversation, and turned into something that glowed in her chest and burned so bright it left its indelible mark on her.
Four hours together and everything in her life had changed. She’d resisted this date, thinking it would never work out because Caden wasn’t the kind of man she wanted, a man whose work dominated his life and left little room for a woman who wanted a real and deep relationship. Despite the turn in their night, she believed they had a chance—a chance she wanted with Caden.