Chapter 14
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Gina had no clue how long she’d been locked in the room when a key sounded in the door, and it swung open. She didn’t know what to expect. But when Pete walked in, she realized she had expected him.
“You’re going to tell us where the thumb drive is.”
She had a few old thumb drives from her college days, but that wouldn’t be anything he was interested in.
He’d assumed that the woman, who she didn’t know at all, had passed something to her.
She hadn’t. The main issue was that no matter how much she denied having the information, he didn’t believe her.
“I’ve told you before, I don’t have it.”
“Liar!” Hot anger rolled off Pete in waves.
The anger he showed scared her, but she needed to be brave. He may hurt her, may try to break her, but she couldn’t succumb to the fear. Maybe she could talk her way out of all of this. Would Pete let her go if she really didn’t have the stuff he wanted?
“That woman didn’t give me anything.”
“You were in the taxi with her.” Pete’s words were said through clenched teeth, his anger making the vein on the side of his head pulse. Maybe he would have a heart attack and drop dead.
“Only for a short block. She made the driver stop, and I got out.”
He closed the distance between them and grabbed her shirt, pulling her close. “Stop lying.”
His stale breath was hot on her face as he held her tightly. She tried to move away, but the wall prevented her from stepping back. The man was unhinged, and she feared there wasn’t anything she could say to get out of this.
“I know you’re lying. You have the thumb drive.”
She shook her head, desperation spilling out. “I don’t.”
“My key is on that drive. I need it, or I lose everything.”
He sounded desperate. But what was he talking about? She had no clue what kind of key was with the drive.
“I don’t know what you mean. I don’t have whatever it is you’re looking for.”
He shoved her hard. The back of her head cracked against the wall. Pain shot through her, and her head fuzzed. She tried to raise her hand to her head, but he pinned her arms against her sides.
“You’re going to tell me everything.”
She shook her head, trying to regain clarity. “I don’t know anything.”
“Fuck. You’re going to regret this. It’s time to go.”
He shoved her again, slamming her head against the wall. She cried out, and that pissed him off more. The punch to the side of her head came out of nowhere. Her legs folded as her vision went black.
Wave sat in the back seat of the SUV, trying to keep it together. Wolf and Cookie were going in first. He would go in after they secured the building. If he went in while he was upset, he would do something dumb, and they didn’t need any dumb mistakes.
“We’re about two blocks from the place,” Cookie said.
Wave blew out a harsh breath. “Are we sure this is it?”
“Tex and Thario both confirmed the delivery truck was seen in this area. The other three locations are fairly far from here.”
Wolf nodded. “With both of them getting the location correct, I think this place is spot on.”
Wave trusted their intelligence. Both of the men knew what they were doing. His team had confirmed the possible location. This had to be the place.
The sun was starting to sink, turning the horizon purples and pinks. It would be better to go in under total darkness, but they didn’t have time. The longer Gina was held by this guy, the greater the chance she had of something awful happening.
“There is one car in the lot and a truck,” Cookie said.
Wave studied the vehicles in the lot and nodded. “That’s the truck that took her.”
“You sure?” Wolf said.
“Absolutely.”
“Thario sent plans for that building. There’s an entrance at the back,” Wolf said.
“They have cameras,” Cookie said.
Wave grunted. “I’ll turn on the cell jammer. We can use the coms.”
“Sure thing.”
“I’ll park down here. Wave, head back with the jammer. Just stay out of sight until we give the signal.”
“Got it.” It was painful to have to stay back, but he was upset. If he went in there and did something stupid, he would always regret it.
Wolf and Cookie checked their weapons before they took off around the back of the building.
Wave moved closer to the front of the building and turned on the jammer.
Hopefully, he was close enough that the cameras would shut down.
He didn’t want Wolf or Cookie to get shot because they were seen on the cameras.
He heard the pair talking over coms as they moved around the building. His heart rate sped up as he listened to Wolf tell Cookie to open the door.
Wave gripped the metal post beside him, forcing himself to stay in place. If he ran forward and entered the building, he would mess up everything.
Wolf yelled something, and Wave heard gunshots. He couldn’t stay back. He ran to the door and was about ten feet away when someone raced out. It took him a few seconds to see it was a guy pulling a woman behind him. Gina.
But Gina wasn’t doing great and dropped to her knees. Wave rushed the guy, punching him in the face. Two guys ran around the side of the building, and lucky for him, they were terrible shots.
He grabbed Gina and dragged her around the corner of the building, getting her to safety. More shots rang out as the men ran to the truck. They were going to get away, but he had Gina. That’s what mattered. They’d saved Gina, and she wasn’t badly injured.
After the truck took off, Wolf and Cookie stepped out of the building. Wave told them where he was, and they met up with him. Gina seemed out of it and needed to see a doctor.
“She doesn’t look great,” Wolf said.
“No. We should take her to the hospital. She needs to be treated.”
Cookie shook his head. “Damn, the guy was ready for us. He already had Gina by the door by the time we made it inside.”
“Or maybe they were planning to transport her somewhere else,” Wolf said.
“Where were they going to take her?” Cookie asked.
“Maybe her apartment,” Wave said.
Wolf gave a sharp nod. “After we drop you two by the hospital, we’ll swing by her place. Maybe they are looking for something there.”
Cookie moved to Gina’s other side and helped Wave get her to their vehicle. She was mumbling something, but he couldn’t understand her words. They would have to come up with a good story when the police got involved, but they were good at covering their bases.
Pete needed to go down. Wolf and Cookie would do a sweep of her place, but that’s as far as they could go.
They couldn’t hunt the guy down, not here on US soil.
They’d have to leave it to the police. Now he just needed to convince Gina she couldn’t stay here, not with Pete on the loose.
Pete had already hurt her. Next time, he might try to kill her.