Chapter 15
Brooke bolted from the room and up the stairs, right behind Meg. Fresh air hit her face—freedom within reach. But the getaway didn’t go as smoothly as she’d hoped. Two men blocked the path.
Meg faltered. “Daniel…”
“Well…what do we have here?” Daniel said, taking in the situation. He gave Brooke a condescending look. “You think you can save her?”
Brooke froze, trying to think of a way to escape.
“It must be my lucky day.” Daniel grinned. “The only witness has surrendered—not very smart of you, Brooke. Although you wouldn’t have escaped us for long.”
Then Daniel’s gaze shifted to the scraper in Brooke’s right hand, and she glanced down to see blood dripping from the edge. As if on cue, the bleeding guard staggered out of the mausoleum with one hand pressed against a bloody rag around his neck. He appeared disoriented. With a wave of his hand, Daniel dismissed him. “You’re useless.”
The other guard shouted an angry tirade in Russian, and his injured accomplice began walking to the parking lot in disgrace. Brooke didn’t waste any brainpower wondering where he would go.
Daniel waved toward Brooke. “Take that weapon from her.”
Before Brooke could dodge him, the Russian gripped her other wrist with viselike strength. She twisted her arm to get free, and in the process the scraper clattered to the ground. In the struggle, the guard grabbed her other wrist. His rough treatment broke her tracker bracelet, and it fell on the grass by her feet.
Meg wasted no time snatching the bracelet from the ground. “Let her go.”
But the huge Russian tightened his grip around Brooke’s right arm. He pulled a gun from his waistband and pointed it at Meg. “Give that to me,” he said, his tone low and threatening.
Meg held up the bracelet. “You want this?” She stepped closer to the Russian. “Take it—but first, let her go .”
The air filled with tension as both stood frozen, waiting for the next move.
Daniel chuckled. “You think that you’re calling the shots? Just because you designed some fancy software?” He took a step closer to Meg, his demeanor predatory. “My Russian connection will demolish you without a thought, the instant we don’t need you anymore.”
“You’re only a coworker, Daniel,” she said confidently. “And you were never worth much. You have to steal because you can’t create anything of your own.” Daniel’s expression darkened, but Meg pressed on. “You’re a no-talent loser,” she said, pausing to let that sink in. “And everyone knows it.”
Rage twisted Daniel’s features as he lunged forward, seizing Meg by the arm. “You’ll find out in Russia just how much of a loser you really are,” he said, venom lacing his words. “Once you give us what we want, we’ll have no use for you.”
“You and your Russian criminal ring? You really think your boss won’t get rid of you just as easily?” Her voice dripped with sarcasm. Then she laughed in his face. It was a bold move—an arrow aimed at Daniel’s fragile ego.
“Keep laughing, woman.” He tightened his grip on Meg’s arm.
Without balking, she stared back at him. “You’re a fool, Daniel. Your connections will betray you just like you’ve betrayed everyone around you.”
Daniel glared at Meg, barely containing his fury. “We don’t have time for games.” He motioned for her to hand over the bracelet.
Reluctantly, Meg placed the tracker in his hand. Daniel smirked as he dropped it to the ground, grinding the bracelet under his shoe.
“Get her phone,” Daniel said, pointing at Brooke. The Russian guard moved quickly, searching Brooke’s pockets with rough hands. He extracted her phone and removed the SIM card before crushing it beneath his boot, then tossed the phone onto the lawn.
Daniel grunted his approval. “Get them in the van.”
The Russian raised the gun. “Walk,” he said, his tone flat and uncompromising.
Brooke walked beside Meg toward an uncertain future.
*****
Gabriel’s cell phone rang, jarring him from his focus on surveillance. He glanced at the screen to see that it was Amalie.
“Dad, where are you?”
“On surveillance,” Gabriel said. “Is Brooke with you?”
“She’s not here. Weston says she disappeared.”
Gabriel’s blood ran cold. “What?”
“You have to hurry. I got a text from Brooke—she’s rescuing Meg at the cemetery.”
“Christ!” Gabriel made a split-second decision. “You stay there. If Brooke contacts you again, tell her I’m on my way.”
He hung up and turned to Abe, who had just finished cuffing the Russian and was calling for backup.
Gabriel cursed himself for letting Brooke out of his sight. “I gotta go,” he said. “Brooke is at the cemetery, must be Lower Garden District—closest one to the office. That’s probably where they’re holding Meg captive.”
Abe’s eyes widened. “Shit, let’s move.”
Just then, another cop car pulled up. Abe quickly updated the officer on the situation. “Take this scumbag back to the station,” he said, shoving the cuffed Russian toward the car. “We’ve got an emergency at the cemetery.”
The officer nodded, bundling the thug into the back of his cruiser.
Abe motioned to Gabriel. “Hop in,” he said, already striding toward his police car.
Gabriel jumped into the passenger seat as Abe fired up the engine, sirens blaring to life. They peeled out, tearing through the streets at breakneck speed.
As they raced toward the cemetery, Abe grabbed his radio. “Hostage situation at the cemetery. Requesting immediate backup. And notify the FBI. I’ll call with more details once we’re on scene.”
He slammed the radio back into its cradle, his face grim. Gabriel imagined all the terrible things that could be happening to Brooke and Meg. To pinpoint the location, he opened the app on his phone to activate the tracking function, but Brooke’s tracker was offline.
The rest of the drive passed in tense silence.
*****
The Russian slammed the rear door, and the lock clicked into place. Then the van pulled out of the parking lot and sped away from the cemetery.
Brooke finally had a chance to talk to Meg, although the circumstances were less than desirable. “Are you okay?”
Meg nodded. “Physically, yes. They wanted to be sure I could help with any technical issues. The new software is worth a lot of money.” She raked her fingers through her hair. “But emotionally…”
Brooke tried to imagine the terror and isolation Meg had endured while held captive. She was grateful that her friend didn’t appear to be injured, although was clearly shaken.
Meg took a breath. “I heard conversations. Daniel was confident his plan would work and wasn’t careful about what he said in my vicinity.”
Brooke waited for her to share more.
Meg looked to the front of the van, as if to be sure their captors couldn’t hear their conversation. “Daniel has to get me on a plane with Petrov. When we arrive at their headquarters—wherever that is—the software will be tested. I’ll be there to fix any bugs in the system.”
Brooke shook her head. “We can’t let that happen.”
“Because I won’t do it. And if I defy them…”
Meg didn’t need to finish the sentence. It was no mystery what men like Daniel and Petrov were capable of.
And Brooke had much to fear. As the only witness to their crime, she was expendable.
Meg recounted her ordeal. “The night I was taken, Daniel had one of his thugs escort me from a party.”
“Yes, I know.” Brooke didn’t want to waste precious time on explanations that could wait. “I’ll tell you more later, but the police and Gabriel Durand, a local PI, have been helping me. I was desperate to find you.”
“How did you know…?”
“I’ll tell you everything later,” Brooke said.
Meg didn’t press for more right then. “I left the party that night because I didn’t want to make a scene and involve my friends in Daniel’s dirty dealings. I had no idea what he was really up to, but I never liked him. My gut told me that something was off. I assumed it was work related. I was often called in on off-hours to handle a request from Daniel, although it was extreme to usher me away from a party. I figured that it had to be important.”
Brooke listened intently.
“I was just about to ream Daniel out for all the aggravation…” Meg said, “when all of this went down.”
Brooke’s stomach churned. “It’s all so terrible. How long did they keep you tied up to the chair?”
“Not long,” Meg said. “There were armed guards, day and night. But this morning, as soon as the guards began to leave, I suspected I’d be transported. I managed to use that one guard’s phone when he wasn’t paying attention. That was just before he tied me to the chair then went out.”
“I guess he didn’t see you as a threat. And you coded your message to me, which was smart.”
Meg sighed. “I’m so sorry I got you involved in all of this.”
“It’s not your fault,” Brooke said, willing Meg to believe it. “There must be a way out of this. We are not getting on that plane!”
A glimmer of hope sparked in Meg’s eyes. “What do you have in mind?”
“Well, I swear to you that Gabriel will come for us,” Brooke said, emotion welling inside her.
Meg widened her eyes. “Is he more than just a protector?”
“I’ve fallen in love with him.” Brooke pushed aside thoughts of being with Gabriel; that would have to wait. “And he is a man we can count on. But…” She took a deep breath. “When we get to the airport, we need to stall, create a diversion, anything to slow them down.”
Meg nodded. “I’m in… Whatever it takes.”