Chapter 17
She could hear sirens in the distance. She was sure help was coming. But it was obvious the driver had suddenly been aware of something going on, and she was likely responsible. The vehicle made several high-speed turns and corners. At one point she was afraid the boat would go sideways, sending her crashing to the ground. The truck came to a sudden stop, and the vehicle following behind them stopped too. Two men came out of it and held a pistol at her.
Slowly she raised her hands in the air. Had she done enough that the cops would find them, or had she just been stupid, putting herself in a worse situation? One of the men jumped into the back of the boat; the others got into the vehicle.
She sat next to her father. She crossed her arms and glared at the man holding a gun on her. The boat proceeded, once again back on track. But they only drove for another few minutes. Then suddenly she was inside some residential community with big fancy houses all around.
The vehicle drove into a garage with the boat remaining outside.
“Now I’ll take you inside that house. I’m totally okay just putting a bullet in you right now,” the man said. “But they seem to think you’re worth more alive than dead.”
She had no idea why he would think that because she was still a nobody. At the moment she was just one screwed, bankrupt inventor, who thought she could do better.
The gunman was talking again. “I’ll put you in a bedroom with your father. If you’re good, we’ll leave you together. If you’re not, well, … I want you to go very quietly. You’re not to attract any attention. The bullet doesn’t care whether it’s you or your father. As a matter of fact, it would be a hell of a lot easier to just kill him here.”
“No, I’ll be good. I’ll be good,” she said quickly. “Just don’t kill him.”
He shook his head at her. “From what the guys said, he’s crazy anyway. What the hell do you care?” He motioned her to go ahead of him.
As she got to the deck of the boat, to the back where the ladder was, she could see two men waiting for her. And really she had no choice or chance to escape. She slid down the ladder, and the first man grabbed her arm, moving her into the garage, then through the door into the house. She barely had a chance to look around. It had a big open layout with tile floors, which looked expensive as hell. Upstairs she was shoved into a room.
“Four men will be in this house. If you want, I can tie you up. But you seem to be able to get out of bindings, so there is not much point. However, if I see you out of this room, and I don’t give a shit what the reason is, even if you need the toilet, I’ll put a bullet in you. Might even start with your hands. If I see you outside this room for any reason,” he repeated for emphasis, “I’ll take out another body part next, probably a knee. See how you like spending the rest of your life as a cripple, and if you do somehow escape, your father is dead meat.”
She sat down hard on the bed and wrapped her arms around her chest. “I won’t go anywhere.”
Inside she was seething. As threats, they were damn effective. Her father … and the last thing she wanted was to lose her hands. She winced at the thought.
The gunman moved off to the side as another man brought her father’s frail body in. She stood, and he laid him down on the bed. He didn’t say a word to her, just turned and walked back out again.
As the door closed, she sat down and buried her face in her hands. What the hell would she do? No way could she give up. She’d been so close to success by getting free in the boat. In her mind she went over and over it again, wondering what she should have done differently. How was it that nobody got the cops to her in time to save her from this?
She shook her head. Was that what the world had come to? See somebody in distress … and do nothing? She wondered how many YouTube videos would show up of her screaming in the back of the boat when nobody came to her rescue.
At the same time, this type of thinking wasn’t helping. She was with her father, and if nothing else, she’d face death with him too. They’d been alone together all their lives. This was nothing new.
Her mind swept toward Devlin. On the cusp of finding somebody she really wanted to spend time with, it was all being snatched away. That was so not fair.
He’d walked into her life in Afghanistan and had made himself right at home. She didn’t want him to leave.
She wanted a promise that he was meant for her. She didn’t really know how he felt, but at the same time, she did realize he was attracted to her. Every time she turned around, he was at her side. The gentle gestures, the smiles, the startling little kisses. She wanted that, and so much more.
As she stared down at her father, she realized how alone she’d been for so long. She’d lost him mentally and emotionally, and it hurt in more ways than she’d really understood. But now that somebody was potentially in her life, it would make detaching from her father that much easier.
She’d been in a lot of pain for a long time. She was so ready for some joy. And these assholes were trying to take it away from her. What if she didn’t survive any of this? So much had been going wrong. Even if she came out of this with her life, she worried she wouldn’t with her business or house. Where would she put her father if that happened?
Instead of getting depressed, it made her mad. She’d worked so damn hard for this. Sure, she’d been an idiot. She shouldn’t have signed the stupid contract. Tesla had warned her about it. But she hadn’t seen any other way. Yet she knew in the back of her mind that she’d had a plan. But she hadn’t expected to get screwed on it. If she could just give them the fifty drones. That was what counted, what the contract stipulated. And now she had something far more advanced and fantastic.
But she had to get out of here, and she had to do it now.
Where the hell was Devlin?
She walked to the window and stared out. Another vehicle drove up, and two men ran into the house. She sat down on the bed beside her father, reached down to grip his hand and whispered, “If nothing else, we’ll be together.” She bowed her head, waiting for the men to join her upstairs.
Still there had to be something she could do. Surely there had to be a weapon, a method to escape.
*
The basement door was locked, but Devlin had it picked and open in seconds. He quickly sent a message to Easton and Ryder, saying he was in the basement; the door was unlocked, and they were to join him.
He did a quick sweep of everything around him and found it empty, except for the weightlifting area. Several aluminum weightlifting bars without the plates affixed were on the side. He picked one up, felt the heft of it and smiled. He could do a hell of a lot of damage with this.
Hearing a noise behind him, he stepped against the wall and waited. Recognizing both Easton and Ryder, he motioned to the stairs and said, “I only see one way up.”
They nodded and came behind him.
With his ear to the door at the top of the stairs, he listened. No sounds heard. Hoping for the best, he turned the knob and let the door disengage from the frame. Still nothing. He pushed it open. Then they were inside a small hallway.
With the three of them on the main floor they fanned out. And again found nobody.
Only the upstairs was left. Hopefully Bristol and her father were there.
Devlin glanced at the stairs. They were always tricky. One would creak, no matter how careful they were.
Ryder had a completely different tack. He grabbed a handrail and walked up the molding on the side. He hit the first landing, repeated the process and was up the second half in three strides. Easton followed. Devlin picked up the rear.
At the top of the stairs were four doors. All closed.
That’s when he realized this was completely wrong.
No matter how many people were up here, no way the doors should be shut and not a sound heard.
And that meant the kidnappers were expecting trouble.
The three men exchanged glances, each pointed to a door they would take, and moved to the side of theirs. That they would be up against armed men was a given. Only Devlin had picked up a weight bar. But then he knew Ryder and Easton had hand-to-hand combat that was like no other. Devlin was damn good too. Plus, Ryder was a tank. Even if he took three bullets, chances were he’d take out his man before he dropped.
Easton was slimmer and damn fast. But then he had kickboxing skills too. As long as he could see the weapon before they fired it, chances were good he would take it out before it hit its target.
Ryder held up three fingers. Then on cue, each of them burst into a room. Devlin’s room was completely empty. He did a quick search of the closet and came back out in the hallway. Ryder did at that time too and motioned him to the other door. Easton hadn’t come out of his room.
The door was ajar. Ryder nudged it wider with his foot, and they found Easton sitting on the ground, glaring up at somebody, his hands on his head. From behind Ryder’s broad shoulders, Devlin could see Bristol. Behind her lay her father on the floor.
She held a long metal pipe. The pole from the closet. Nice. And she’d brained Easton with it. Bristol took one look at Devlin, dropped the pipe and threw herself into his arms.
He hugged her close. Against her ear he asked, “Where are the others?”
She pulled her head back and shook it. “I have no idea. I’ve been in this room with my father since we first arrived. I heard men come in the front door.”
The three men looked at each other, and Devlin said, “There should be two from the ambulance and the two who came in after you. Have you checked any of the other rooms?”
She shook her head and whispered, “No. I’m not sure where anybody is.”
“We’ve already searched the downstairs and have only one more room.”
“And it’s empty,” Ryder said from behind him.
Devlin shook his head. “How is that possible? We came in through the basement and searched the whole house. “It’s only possible if they went out the French doors as we came in.” Easton growled as he hopped to his feet. “And that would mean they got away.”
“But why would they go out the back?” Bristol protested. “Unless they parked out there?”
The men shook their heads.
“The truck is in the garage, and the black car is in the driveway.”
They turned to look at Easton. “You must have been spotted.”
He nodded. “It’s the only explanation. If they were going to kill Bristol and her father, why take them here? And why leave their captives behind?”
“Cutting their losses.”
Everyone turned to look at Bristol.
“It’s the only thing that makes sense. If they were sabotaging me, in a way this may be enough from their point of view.” She glanced at Easton. “I’m so sorry for hitting you.”
He shrugged. “My fault for taking the hit.” He gave her a sideways grin of apology.
The men nodded, and Devlin said, “Whatever the reason, we have to get the hell out here.” He glanced back at Bristol’s father. “What would you like us to do with him?”
“He needs a doctor to check him over,” she said quietly. “I need to get home and finish my work.” She glanced around. “Thank you very much for finding us.”
“Let’s not take anything for granted. We need an ambulance here for your father, and get you home again.”
“I don’t have time for the police,” she muttered. She glanced at her father. “Maybe we can just take him home. Have a family physician come check on him?”
The men glanced at each other and back at her.
She flushed. “Does that make me sound cruel? I don’t mean to be. I’m caught between a time warp and a deadline. He requires help, but he doesn’t need any more run-ins with the bad guys. At my place, I’m presuming you can protect us, and we can finish the drones …”
Ryder bent down and gently lifted the frail old man in his arms. “I’ll be a whole lot gentler than anybody’s been with him so far. Let’s get you home.”
Devlin pulled out his phone. “I’m calling the police. They can come and deal with the house and boat.” He looked around at the others. “Remember, there’s been a hell of a lot of news media coverage over this boat already and the crazy woman in the back with the sheet. There could be case files and a lot of man hours wasted. I’ll just tell them we’re taking the old man to the hospital and you home. If they want to talk, that’s where they can find you.”
She relented. “You do that.” She marched ahead of them, down the stairs and out the front door. When she saw the boat, she froze. Then shook her head. “I was so damn close to getting out of that thing.”
“You probably could’ve just jumped from the back on a corner when they slowed.”
She turned to look at Ryder and nodded. “I could’ve, but I was afraid to leave my father.”
“Then don’t feel guilty about it,” he said. “We all make decisions. Our unit has to time and time again. But we trust each other to handle what needs to be done so we can move forward with the plan.”
“I didn’t move forward,” she said. “I just got nowhere.”
“Wait until you see the news coverage.” He laughed. “You’ll see that your efforts weren’t in vain.”
“I can just imagine.”