16. Zoey
16
ZOEY
“About time you wake up.” Cindy’s voice was like nails down a chalkboard.
“Sorry, some mad woman injected me with some shit.”
She didn’t have time brace herself before the hand hit her. Cindy dragged her fingernails across Zoey’s cheek, and Zoey could feel the blood trickle down her face.
“Leave her alone.” The voice was weak, but she recognized Nathan’s voice. Her head swung to the side. He was tied to a chair. His face was so black and blue, he was almost unrecognizable, and cuts covered his chest.
“What happened to you?” She wanted to rush to his side. He had been gone for months, and they had suspected he was helping Cindy.
Without answering, Nathan shook his head. Zoey looked around the room. Dark-red curtains covered the floor-to-ceiling windows, blocking the view of the outside. She was tied to a chair with gold arms. Who the hell kidnaps someone and ties them to a gold-plated chair? The other wall had a dark bookcase full of old books. She kept hearing the faint tick of a clock, almost like a countdown. She couldn’t tell where it was coming from until she looked down. Zoey was no expert, but she was ninety-nine percent sure a bomb was tied to her chest. She closed her eyes and hoped Cole would find her soon.
An older man sat on a couch next to her chair, smoking a cigar. She knew from seeing him on the news that it was Marcus Walker. He hadn’t said a word since she opened her eyes. With a gun in her hand, Cindy paced the room. She looked close to being unhinged.
Zoey waited for the crazed woman to tell her what her plan was. She didn’t want to aggravate her anymore. The cut on her cheek hurt. She looked at the clock on the wall—it was almost six o’clock. Whatever they had stuck her with had knocked her out for six and half hours. By now, Cole should know I’m missing. She hoped he would be able to find her soon.
“Oh, him. He’s trying to play the hero.” Cindy huffed. “You see, I almost got taken down by your guy’s little stunt, but I had someone on the inside that let me know what was going down. When I knew I would need an out, I used one of my cards. Nathan didn’t know he had a daughter. All I had to do was threaten the girl’s life—and bam! My youngest has me out of jail.”
“Then why is he tied up?”
“He wasn’t very cooperative with helping me take down his brothers. I had to teach him a lesson. I don’t know how he did it, but he hid the stupid little girl so I couldn’t use her as leverage. Like everything in life, though, he failed. She will be here soon, and maybe she can go boom like you two.”
“I’ll kill you if you hurt her.”
“Such a flair for the dramatic.”
Zoey let out a breath. She would rather go through hell than let Cindy put some little girl through it. She understood why Nathan had helped his mother, and she was no longer mad.
“Are we going to sit here all night, or are you going to call Cole?” Marcus asked from the couch.
Cindy stopped pacing and stood in front of Zoey. “See, this is the good part. I’m going to meet with my son, but he won’t make it to you in time.”
Nathan glared at her. “You won’t win.”
“I always win. How do you think our family got Walker Oil when you guys were just kids? You think your father was going to take that over with how much his dad hated him? No, it was my plan that took him out and made sure your father was in a position to take over. If I would’ve taken his parents out quicker, they wouldn’t have made that stupid will that gave you three most of the family money. That was our money, not yours.”
Zoey’s heart hurt for the people this woman killed and for what Cole and his brothers had to go through growing up. She didn’t know how this woman could have produced three good boys.
"We have an insurance policy out on you, so when you die along with Cole’s whore, we will collect even more money. Come on, dear. Time to go.” Cindy grabbed her purse off the desk and looked around the home. “I will miss this place, but sometimes, we have to sacrifice things for the greater good.” She turned and walked toward the door. Marcus followed, never looking Zoey in the eyes. “Nice knowing you son, and I’m going to enjoy watching my son fall apart at your funeral because the bomb will be going off soon.”
She left the room, and right before stepping out the door, Marcus pulled out a phone and slid it across the floor to Nathan. He quickly shut the door. A loud crash followed by the sound of metal sliding together echoed through the room.. She couldn’t worry about the crash yet. She was secured to a chair anyway. Nathan was also drifting in and out of consciousness.
“Nathan.”
His eyes popped open. “I’m not sure how much time we have, and they locked us in the panic room.”
“Wait, I thought you were almost dead.”
He let out a huff. “It would take a lot more than her lackeys to kill me. I notified Bryson you might be taken earlier—we need to stop them from meeting her.”
She looked around the room, trying to figure out how to get out of the chair. It barely moved as she threw her weight to the side. Damn rich people and good-quality furniture. If a poor person had kidnapped her and tied her to an Ikea chair, she could have easily broken it. At least if I’m going to die, it will be in style.
Zoey felt a hand on her arm and screamed.
“Damn, not so loud,” Nathan complained.
“How did you get out?”
“Do you want a lesson, or do you want out of here?”
“Where is the bomb?”
Nathan gave her a sad smile before looking at her chest. “It’s still around your chest.”
He untied her quickly, and they ran to the door. It was locked. She looked around the room. When she pulled the curtain back, metal bars covered the window. They were in a panic room with no way out and no clue how to disarm the bomb attached to her chest.
Cole
At six thirty, they were still no closer to finding Zoey. He’d never felt time move so fast, and they hadn’t seen any information on where his mom had taken Zoey. Brock was working on a mission that had gone south, but he’d promised to look for Zoey.
Bella handed everyone sodas.
Cole wanted something harder but knew he shouldn’t when he was going to need all of his senses. “Why hasn’t Brock called us back? I need something, anything.”
Bryson placed a hand on his shoulder. “Give it time. I know it’s hard.”
Cole took his drink and threw it across the room. It did nothing to cool his mind and only annoyed him that he’d made a mess in the kitchen. Bella had jumped, and he felt terrible for making her scared. “Sorry,” he mumbled.
Ian walked over to Bella and wrapped her in a hug, glaring at Cole. He would get an earful later, after they found Zoey. Fuck— if we find Zoey. His crazy mother wanted his money, which he didn’t even know about. One billion dollars. Who the hell needs that much money?
Cole’s phone vibrated on the kitchen counter. Everyone stopped and looked as Cole reached for the phone. An unknown number flashed across the screen.
“Brock?”
“Hello, son.” His mother’s voice echoed in the room, and Cole’s fingers tightened around it. He worried for a second that he might break his own phone in half.
“Where is she?” Cole gritted out.
She cleared her throat. “See here, son.”
“I’m not your son.”
“So dramatic. I always had high hopes for you, all of you. Not one of you did anything to make me proud.”
Cole suddenly worried that Nathan might be in trouble. “Where is Zoey?”
“Meet me at the Walker country club in an hour, and we can talk about your precious Zoey.”
“I can’t make it there in an hour. The club is at least a couple-hour drive.”
He could hear her tap her fingers on the phone. “I’m assuming my first failure of a kid is in the room. If so, get a helicopter or something. He has enough of my money to get you there.”
Bryson was already on his phone in the other room when she gave the location.
“Bye for now, son.” She hung up.
His phone vibrated a second time, and it was Brock. “We have a location. Hold on a second.” Cole put the phone on speaker and placed it in the middle of the table. “I’m putting you on speaker.”
Brock’s deep Southern twang rang through the phone. “I ran the number you gave me earlier. The location keeps going in and out. It’s hard to get a good read, but if I had to guess—and that’s what it’s coming down to—it seems to be coming from your parents’ house south of Dallas.”
“Makes sense,” Bryson interjected.
The location of the tip was different from where his mom wanted to meet. Did they plan to move Zoey or was it a trap? “Were you able to pull up any footage of the house?”
“Yes, your parents were there but left about a half-hour ago. I’ve tried the phone, but I think it’s getting bad reception.”
“Panic room.” Everyone turned toward Bryson, waiting for him to continue. “They turned the study into a panic room a few years back. Ever since then, the reception sucked. Fuck, why didn’t I think of that sooner?”
Cole was excited—they had a lead. “So now what? Do we go to the house or the meet location?” he asked the room.
“Both.” Ian shrugged.
“I have to agree with Ian—you and Ian go to the house. No way Mom would take Zoey to the drop. There’s a chance you won’t give her what she needs.” Bryson paused for a second. “I will go after Dear Old Mom and Dad, but this time, I’m taking care of them.”
“There has to be another way. I don’t want you going alone,” Cole told his brother, but he knew from the look in his eye, there was no holding him back.
“Let’s call the cops this time,” Ian added.
“I agree with Ian. I know some people on the force up there, and they won’t make the arrest until I make the call,” Brock said. “You don’t know what you are walking into at that house, either.”
“Fine,” Bryson grumbled.
Cole could faintly hear the thud of a helicopter. Their ride had almost arrived. Cole grabbed his gun, and Bryson handed him and Ian an extra. They were heading in armed to the teeth. Bella was staying at the house and locking all the doors. Cole told her how to access the panic room if she felt like she was in danger.
The team of three jumped into the helicopter. Cole slid on a pair of headphones and was shocked for a second when he heard Brock’s voice. He didn’t know how the man hacked the helicopter headphones, but he hoped he could give them information on the way to the house. Because he was going for Zoey, and his mother wouldn’t stand in his way.