Chapter 27
Skylar sat on the cold, hard floor of the van, her heart pounding as she grappled with the quicksilver turn of events.
While immersed in her work next to Natalie at the bank of computers inside the van, she barely paid attention to Marty Tidwell, the FBI agent assigned to drive the bureau’s van and accompany them as she and Natalie worked. With his youthful appearance and overeagerness, she often ignored him, preferring to focus on work. The hum of computers and the subtle clicks of keystrokes were all she heard between the radio messages from the agents and Keepers.
She barely registered that he noted another agent was approaching. The sudden opening of the back van door had been a jarring intrusion into their cocoon of concentration. The response from the agent sitting close to her caused her hands to halt over the keyboard.
“Who the fuck are you?” the agent called out.
It was at that second that her and Natalie’s heads swung around in unison to see the newcomer. A man, clad in an FBI jacket, had entered holding a gun in his hand. The moment stretched before erupting into violence. Their agent assigned lunged forward, but the intruder fired. The gunshot cracked in the confined space and sent the agent reeling back as blood blossomed over his chest.
Skylar’s raw scream filled the van, and her hands flew up instinctively as she ducked. Natalie leaped from her chair, but the intruder was prepared and swung his gun hand around, hitting her on the side of the head. The impact sent Natalie crashing to the floor, a trickle of blood already running down the side of her face.
With their agent shot and Natalie unconscious on the floor, Skylar was paralyzed by fear. She stared at the interloper, her eyes wide as her heart galloped in her chest. Her breaths were pants as she struggled to suck in air. Her mind screamed for her to move, but her body refused to obey. Frozen, she stared, not daring to move.
Moving in a blur, the man grabbed her arm and twisted it behind her back. Her struggles were feeble against his strength. He secured her wrists behind her with zip ties, then shoved her to the floor of the van, doing the same with her ankles, securing them quickly even though she continued to fight.
Turning his attention to Natalie, who was still lying on the van floor, he secured her in the same way. Skylar’s mind raced with panic and disbelief swirling together. She watched in horror as he walked to the back of the van, opened the door, and dragged the wounded agent out the back. Then he stomped back through the van and settled into the driver”s seat. The van began bouncing over the rough ground of the plains before making its way onto a road.
Skylar glanced at the clock on the nearest computer and noted with incredulity their lives had changed in only three minutes. Terrified the agent was dead, she closed her eyes, wishing she’d paid more attention to him.
Desperate to check on Natalie, she scooted closer, her movements hindered by her bindings. Natalie’s face was ghostly pale, and a knot was forming on the side of her head. She reached over as close as she could so that her words would be next to Natalie’s ear. “Natalie, Natalie. Can you hear me? Please, wake up.”
Skylar was uncertain how badly Natalie was hurt but feared the longer she was knocked out, the harder it would be for her to regain consciousness. Skylar nudged Natalie several times, but the bumping of the van was already rocking both of their bodies, and Skylar thought that the physical toll on both of them was enough stimulation to wake Natalie if she was going to. Her heartbeat raced as more panic set in.
Her mind whirred with frantic thoughts. She glanced up at the computer table height and wondered how she could get a message off to Jeb. For that matter, how to get a message off to anyone without the driver noticing. With her hands bound, she couldn’t type. When Natalie was hit, her headset was knocked from her head, and when he zip-tied Skylar, he grabbed the headset from her and tossed it to the side. Along with a few strands of my hair!
She cursed the kidnapper for his thoroughness even as she lamented her own shock-induced inattention to the route he was driving. Now, she had no idea where they were in relation to the maps and geography that Natalie had been keeping track of.
Feeling a crushing sense of helplessness, she grappled with the enormity of the situation. This was no random attack. It was a calculated abduction executed with chilling precision. Their captor or whoever sent him had inside knowledge of where the FBI van was located and who was inside. Alistair Montague’s influence filled her mind, sending a shiver down her spine.
She trusted the Keepers explicitly, and they trusted Landon. However, for a mission this extensive, numerous FBI agents of all ranks and levels were privy to the takedown of the black market scheme. Knowing the reach of Alistair Montague, she had no doubt that anyone along the line could’ve infiltrated the mission.
Is the kidnapping part of a larger scheme? A diversion to facilitate getting the tank hulls to the black market buyer? Or a targeted strike against the Keepers?
Her attention was suddenly drawn back to Natalie as she began to rouse and moan softly, blinking her eyes open.
Leaning down again, she whispered, “Natalie, Natalie. Come on, keep your eyes open. It’s me, Skylar.” Much to Skylar’s relief, Natalie’s eyes stayed open.
Natalie breathed deeply several times, then her brow furrowed, and a wince crossed her face. “What the fuck?”
“I don’t know, but the man who shot Agent Tidwell and hit you is driving right now.”
Those words seemed to sink in as Natalie’s gaze jumped toward the front, and her body wiggled around slightly. “Help me sit up.”
The best that Skylar could do was to lean her back against one of the attached computer tables on the side of the van. Using her legs for leverage, she pushed against Natalie’s shoulder, helping to shove her into a seated position. It wasn’t pretty and probably caused Natalie pain, but it was effective. “Sorry,” she muttered.
“No worries,” Natalie replied.
“Stop moving around back there!” the driver yelled. He twisted his head, and seeing both women sitting up, he warned, “Don’t try anything. You may have some value, but my orders are to get the computer analyst. Nothing says you have to be in one piece.”
Natalie’s gaze jumped over to Skylar, who could only shrug and shake her head. “I have no idea what he’s talking about,” she whispered.
“I guess that someone wants you, and seeing me at a computer also must’ve made him think he was getting a two-for-one.”
“Or he didn’t know which of us was me,” Skylar surmised.
Natalie nodded. “You’re right.” Looking around, she asked, “Do you have any idea where we are or where we’re going?”
Skylar’s face heated as she shook her head. “It all happened so fast that I was just scared. Then when my brain started trying to figure out what happened, I realized I had no idea which way he’d driven.”
Barely whispering, Natalie said, “As soon as we’ve gone silent, Carson will be on this. He’ll have someone follow and track us.”
Suddenly, Skylar remembered what Jeb said about all the Keepers having a tracker in their tattoo and remembered the necklace that he had placed around her neck. “I have a necklace.”
“Yep,” Natalie mouthed.
The road had smoothed out, and with fewer bumps to jar them as they sat on the floor, she tried to imagine what highway they might be on. The van slowed as the driver flipped on the blinker. She pressed her legs against the table to give her leverage as the van turned onto another smooth road. Soon, they traveled through a well-lit parking lot, light shining through their windshield. Now, their faces were not just illuminated by the computer screen, and she was able to see Natalie’s head more clearly. Skylar breathed easier as she observed that the bleeding had stopped. After several more twists and turns, the van came to a halt. The driver left the vehicle, called out a greeting, and someone threw open the back door. Blinking at the bright lights now shining in, she could see they were in a metal building but had no idea where they were.
Looking to the side, Natalie cursed. “Oh fuck. This is the inside of an airplane hangar.”
A gasp slipped through Skylar’s lips. “They’re taking us somewhere by plane?”
Another man appeared and stared at the two women in the back of the van. He leaned forward, and with a rough hand on Skylar’s arm and leg, he pulled her forward and then hefted her out of the van. His hand gripped tightly as he stood her upright, her feet touching the ground.
Uncertain of what she should do and afraid to move too much, she stayed still as he repeated the movements on Natalie. Natalie, of course, managed to curse his intelligence, his lineage, and even his dick size. If Skylar hadn’t been so scared, she would have laughed aloud. As it was, she just pressed her lips together, terrified the man might hit Natalie. Or worse. Oh God, don’t let him kill her!
“Shut up, bitch.”
He walked away, and Skylar breathed easier. She wanted Natalie with her, not knocked out again.
“Not a plane. A bird,” Natalie said, having turned around and looked toward the open door of the hangar. Skylar twisted around at Natalie’s words and saw that just outside was a helicopter. Hop had piloted the only other helicopter she’d ever ridden in. He’d done everything he could to make the ride smooth, and she’d eventually relaxed so much that she fell asleep. Looking at the smaller aircraft and the man who appeared to be their pilot, she felt her comfort was the last thing he cared about.
“Will the Keepers still be able to track us?” she whispered. She had no idea how Jeb would find her and was sure he’d try. She just didn’t know if he would be able to.
Natalie nodded. “Yes. Believe me, my Leo will go to the ends of the earth for me. And I know that Jeb would do the same for you.”
She wanted to reach over and hug Natalie for her words of comfort, but with their hands behind their backs, all she could do was nod and offer a weak smile.
Another man came around from the side of the hangar, glanced at the girls, and looked over to the man who’d driven them there. “I thought there was just one I was taking.”
The kidnapper shrugged. “When I got there, two women were working the computers. I didn’t have time to figure out who was who and which one I needed. The one with attitude written all over her face got clipped when she didn’t like me shooting the agent with them. The other one hasn’t been a problem.”
Hasn’t been a problem.Those words resounded in Skylar’s head. She glanced at Natalie and wished she had the Keeper’s strength. I never learned to fight and barely learned to speak back to anyone. Not my parents. Not the kids at school. And not my supervisors, who kept moving me and then dumping me in shitty places. And now, kidnapped, she was still being accommodating. Angry but having no idea what to do, she once more stayed quiet and waited for direction from Natalie.
“Two or one—it doesn’t matter to me,” the man said. “Let’s get ’em on board.”
With their ankles zip-tied and their wrists behind their back, there was a little movement that Skylar could accomplish. She watched Natalie get manhandled, and it didn’t seem like there was much either of them could change about their situation. One of the men picked up Natalie and shoved her into one of the back seats in the helicopter while the driver maneuvered Skylar next to the aircraft. She witnessed Natalie’s glare flaming toward the man, but he just laughed.
“You keep being a bitch, and I’ll take out your little friend. I don’t know which of you is so important, or maybe he wants both of you. But you better check that attitude and not be a problem in this helicopter, or I swear to God, I’ll shoot your friend.”
Natalie quieted at the threat toward Skylar.
Skylar’s heart pounded with a mixture of fear and resignation as her captors hoisted her into the aircraft. Her shoulders screamed in protest, as the unnatural position of her hands bound behind her back sent sharp jolts of pain radiating through her body. The rush of blood returning to her numbed hands was like a thousand needles pecking her skin. She wiggled her fingers, wincing at the raw, stinging sensation where the ties had cut into her flesh.
Her momentary relief was short-lived. She gasped as the men swiftly restrained her again, this time securing her arms to the chair. The position was less torturous, but escape was impossible. Glancing toward Natalie, she noted they restrained her the same way. A sense of gratitude moved through her that Natalie would be more comfortable on the flight. They were right next to each other, their fingers able to touch.
Still wondering if the driver had been an actual FBI agent or just wearing one of their jackets, she looked out the helicopter window to see him leave the van with his agent jacket still on and climb into another vehicle before driving away.
The pilot settled into his seat, buckled in, then put on his headphones. He glanced behind him and grinned. “Hang on tight, girlies. I’ll get you where you’re supposed to be and then collect a fat paycheck for my trouble. Not a bad way to earn a living.” He chuckled as though he’d made the funniest joke, then turned back to the front.
She glanced to the side to see Natalie’s assessing gaze on her. It dawned on her that Natalie would naturally try to protect her, and while Skylar was thankful not to be alone, she didn’t want Natalie to worry. I’m strong. I’m tough. I can take care of myself. Or at least try. Skylar mouthed, “I’m okay.”
Natalie nodded, her lips quirking slightly. Soon, the blades began to whirl, the motor vibrated, and the helicopter lifted off. Once again, Skylar’s stomach felt left behind.
As the aircraft ascended, the world below vanished into the inky blackness of the night. Unable to tell which direction they were going, she realized her fate was now in the hands of someone who kidnapped and transported humans against their will. Her veins filled with ice. She twisted around to look at Natalie, who’d also been looking out the window but had now turned toward her.
Natalie mouthed, “The others will find us.”
Skylar nodded, praying that Natalie was right while terrified that she might be wrong.
Natalie then added, “Our men will find us.”
Our men. My man. The words were a lifeline, bringing Jeb’s face to her mind. Is he my man? Jeb had once meant everything to her, and now was a constant in her thoughts. Memories from the past week flooded her mind. The way she woke up each morning with his arms around hers, her cheek resting on his chest, and their legs tangled. They made love every night that she’d been in his house, in his bedroom, in his bed.
She’d had every intention of moving into his guest room when he made the offer that she could stay at his house. In the safety of his home, they had become reacquainted, bridging the gap of years spent apart. They reconnected in a way that felt both new and familiar.
Journeying down memory lane, they shared stories of their pasts and dreams for the future. He talked about his years in the Navy and his desire to be an asset to the Keepers. She opened up more about her childhood, sharing stories about life with her dysfunctional parents before she came to the Bakers. They sat out on his little deck, and the years and the distance fell away, and they were two souls continuing on the same path.
Each night, as she chose his bed over the guest room, she saw in his smile a reflection of her own growing feelings.
And every night, they made love, exploring each other’s bodies. She knew she was falling harder and harder every day. She had no idea what would make him her man, but she had an idea that he was just that.
She sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly, calming her frazzled nerves and steadying her racing heartbeat. Natalie was right. Jeb was her man. Her anchor. Her hope. And he would come for her.