CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
JOSH
––––––––
I stand very still despite wanting to lose my fucking mind and run around waving my gun.
Someone has Cassy.
Not someone. I know exactly who it is. What I don’t know is how Isaac slipped past my men and took her.
We were all just fucking standing here.
Then the lights went off.
“Every fucking employee was screened,” Bobby, the manager of the Barrett Security teams, says.
The rest of my men are in high action mode. Aidan is standing as still as me, talking into his comms as his eyes roam the room.
“Deal with him,” I say to him, and he nods.
I spot Ryder, who runs back into the room. He spots me and shakes his head.
Fuck.
“Who’s pulling footage?” I ask Ryder.
“Ravi,” Ryder answers
“Here sir,” Ravi says. “Sixty more seconds.”
“Speed it up.”
He goes silent, but I know he’s doing what I’ve asked.
Scarlet runs over toward me, and my eyes shoot to Ryder, who intercepts her. I can see she’s screaming, but I’ve tuned everything out.
Slowed the world down.
It’s like I’m in a tunnel, only seeing what I need to. Hearing only that which I need to hear. Information that will get Cassy back.
My shoes plod on the carpet as I walk through the door and out into the hallway. He took her out here. I know that as I watched her head in this direction.
I try to ignore the thumping of my heart. Ignore the panic that is threatening to creep in. I promised I would protect her. I fucking promised her.
One, two, three, four...I count my breaths and focus.
Boom!
Fucking hell.
I drop to the ground, as does everyone around me, and glance toward the lobby where the explosion came from. I wait, counting beats this time, waiting to hear if there are any more.
I glance behind me where Ryder is climbing to his feet. He spots me but speaks into his comms. “I’m on it. You head the other way. It’s a fucking distraction.”
Yeah.
Just what I was thinking.
Or it’s not.
Something could have gone very wrong with his plans and Cassy set off the trigger.
Jesus, if Cassy is dead, and I didn’t tell her how I feel about her, then I’ll never forgive myself.
I will not go down like my brother did. I can’t.
I won’t.
Cassy, where are you?
How did this fucking happen? We were just having a ton of great sex. That was all. Those damn green eyes and her addictive curves and, who am I kidding, those damn pretty breasts...Jesus this is not the time Josh.
As I stand, I see two housekeeping staff rip their uniforms open and pull them off as they walk toward me. I let them pass but turn because something caught my eye. One of them is rapidly wiping his hands on his shirt and looks nervous.
“I know dude, but two hundy to turn the lights and toss that shit.” One of them says. “No one saw us.”
I follow a distance behind.
“Aidan, need you with me.” I mutter into my comms.
“On my way,” he replies.
“The guy’s a psycho, though. I don’t care how much money he has,” the other says.
“Behind you,” Aidan says.
I speed up and overtake the two young men, then turn abruptly, surprising them.
“Stay where you are,” Aidan says from behind them as I grin in what I assume looks fucking terrifying because they both pale before my eyes.
Despite Aidan’s warning, they scramble back and run right into his chest. He leaps back. “I’m fucking armed. Get on the ground before I accidentally shoot you.”
I almost laugh, but these men know where Isaac is.
Where my Cassy is.
They turn back to me as I stand with my legs spread and stretch my arm out, so my lowered weapon is visible.
“I won’t hesitate. Get the fuck on the floor now.” I growl darkly.
“We didn’t do anything. We just turned off some lights,” one of them cries.
“Down. Now!” I yell while lifting my gun.
It’s highly inappropriate, but I don’t have time. The clock is ticking, and Cassy could be removed from this building at any moment.
Aidan’s lips twitch as they both fall flat onto their stomachs and put their hands behind their heads.
Only criminals would do this.
I crouch beside one and grip a handful of hair, then tug.
“Where is the man who paid you the money?”
“I don’t know. He’s gone.” He cries, cringing at the pain I am no doubt causing his scalp.
“When did you last see him?” Aidan asks, crouching with his gun hanging between his legs.
I lift my eyes when one of my men steps into my line of sight. “Cops are three minutes away.”
I nod.
“You want to spend the night behind bars? Have that two hundred dollars confiscated?”
“No,” they both cry.
“He went that way,” the other guy by Aidan says. “By the kitchen.”
“What does he look like?” I stand.
Cassy, hang in there, sweetheart.
“Glasses. Um, he has a wig on. It's long and dark.”
“Is he in uniform?” Aidan asks, using his gun to tip the guy’s chin.
“Yes. With a trolley. Like housekeeping has,” he says.
“Fuck,” Ryder, who just arrived, says, and starts running. “This way.”
I don’t hesitate.
With Aidan on my tail, we turn and run.