Chapter 43
Andrea tucked the drive in her back pocket and headed for the elevator. Each step was slow and careful as she balanced on her heels, trying not to roll her ankle. The ride down the elevator felt like it took an eternity when in fact it was less than a minute.
She walked through the lobby with her head held high, like she owned the place. Holly had always looked confident and in control every time she stepped into a room. Andrea tried to embody that now.
She stuffed her hands in her jacket pockets to hide the shaking as she sailed through the corridor to the conference room.
Her heartrate tripled when she saw four men inside.
One sat at one of the tables while the other three surrounded him.
The three standing had buzz-cut hair styles and wore black suits.
All that was missing were the sunglasses, and they would look like they could be extras in Men in Black.
The one sitting must be the buyer. He had a charcoal grey suit on with a thick bushy mustache.
“Holly,” the buyer purred her name more like a lover than a customer.
“Quite the entourage,” Andrea commented, trying to appear calm. “All this for me?”
“Where I go, they go. You know this.” So obviously, they knew each other. That didn’t bode well for her. “Do you have it?” The buyer had a thick middle eastern accent that Andrea couldn’t place.
“Do you have what I asked for?” she questioned instead of answering.
The buyer looked perturbed, probably not used to people talking back, but he snapped his fingers. One of the guards lifted a briefcase from behind the table right next to the buyer—lazy bastard—and opened it.
Andrea felt her eyes widen at the amount of money that was inside. She had no idea how much, but it looked like a lot.
“You strike a hard bargain.”
“It’s worth a lot of money.”
“And you knew I would pay it.” The buyer chuckled.
“If not, there are plenty of others.” Andrea hoped she sounded like Holly. She was sassy and confident, and so far, no one seemed to notice a difference. She hoped it stayed that way. She was sweating profusely and about to ruin her makeup.
“No need. Ten million as agreed. Now do you have what I asked for?” he queried, sounding impatient.
Andrea was still reeling from the amount, then realized it was her turn.
She pulled her left hand out of her jacket pocket and reached into her back.
The men stiffened and reached toward the inside of their jackets, probably for their guns.
She lifted the drive up between her index and middle finger.
The buyer’s eyes were glued on it, looking hungry. “Give it.”
“Give me the money, and I’ll give you the drive.”
“You don’t trust me?” The buyer raised a skeptical eyebrow.
“I don’t trust anyone.”
“You shouldn’t, but that isn’t how I do business. Now give me the drive, or you don’t leave.”
Andrea really didn’t want to hand over important information to this guy, but she knew Jack and his team wouldn’t let it leave the building.
Andrea tossed it to one of the guards, knowing if she walked forward, she might stumble. Distance was better too. She didn’t know if Holly had ever met the buyer face to face, but she didn’t want to get too close in case she had.
“We done here?” Holly wasn’t known for her patience. She started tapping her toe, appearing impatient when it wasn’t that much of an act. She was anxious to get out of here. She wanted to keep looking around for the guys. What if they weren’t here?
“What’s the rush?” The buyer cocked his head as if studying her. That wasn’t good.
“I have a flight to catch,” Andrea lied and stepped closer, reaching for the briefcase. Before she could close the lid, the buyer reached across the table and grabbed her wrist.
“What are you trying to pull?” he hissed as his grip tightened around her wrist. She wouldn’t be able to pull away even if she wanted to.
“Nothing. We had a deal, and now it’s concluded. I have to go. Now release me.”
“You aren’t Holly.”
Andrea’s heartrate accelerated. She could practically hear it thumping in her ears, threatening to drown out any other words. “Why do you say that?” she asked, trying to keep control of the situation.
“I know Holly, and you are not her.” He looked her over as if examining her. The gaze turned her stomach. He made her feel like a piece of meat on auction.
Andrea was about to counter him when the conference doors burst open. Everyone turned to see four men walking in with their guns drawn. Andrea didn’t recognize the middle man, but the other three she recognized from the bar. This must be Carlos.
How the hell had he found them?
“Not so fast,” Carlos hissed when the buyer’s men reached for their guns. “That drive is mine. As is the money.”
“You fucking bitch. You double-crossed me,” the buyer snarled and pulled her forward, dragging her up and over the table to his side and placing the gun against her temple.
“No, I didn’t,” Andrea denied, but no one seemed to be paying attention to her. There was a stand-off, and she was in the middle of it. She could use the guys’ help right about now.
“Just give me the drive and the money. Keep the lying bitch.”
Andrea was angry at being called that derogatory word, even though she knew it wasn’t directed at her but at Holly. If the woman wasn’t dead already, Andrea would give her sister a stern talking to for putting her in this position.
“All you’ll get from me is a quick death.”
The air thickened with tension. A pin drop could have been heard until suddenly all hell broke loose.
Andrea didn’t know who shot first, but once the first shot was fired, several more went off.
Andrea stomped her heel on the buyer’s instep.
As soon as he released her, she dropped to the ground and hid under the table.
One of the buyer’s guards collapsed next to her. She could see the drive clenched in one fist. She crawled to the edge of the table and reached for it.
As soon as she had her fingers wrapped around it, someone grabbed the hair at the back of her head and dragged her up to her knees. It was Carlos.
His face was covered in blood. It didn’t appear to be his but someone else’s. “You fucking bitch,” he spat in her face, then his eyes widened. “You’re not Holly.”
Shit.
He lifted his gun toward her head. “You die anyway.” Andrea felt paralyzed with fear even though she knew she should be doing something.
Anything to get away, but she couldn’t move.
She just stood there like a deer caught in the headlights.
She wished Jack were here so she could at least see him one last time and tell him how she felt.
Now she was going to die, and he thought she didn’t love him.
She did. She realized that now, too little too late.
A gun fired, and Andrea jumped when Carlos’s body jerked and a bloom of red spread across his chest. He looked down in confusion before dropping to his knees.
“Andrea,” she heard her name being called. There was a franticness to the voice, almost like fear.
Andrea turned to see who had called her but froze again when she came face to face with the buyer, his gun aimed right at her chest. He was also covered in blood, but some of it looked like his. “Where is the drive?”
Before Andrea could reply, someone tackled the buyer from the side just as a shot rang out.
Andrea jumped and felt over her body to see if she was injured but couldn’t find anything.
She felt someone touch her shoulder. She spun ready to punch, the paralyzing fear finally leaving her.
She was getting tired of people putting guns in her face.
“Easy,” Luke said as he held a hand up in surrender.
Andrea’s legs threatened to buckle. Someone not trying to kill her. “Where’s Jack?” She looked around for him. The fight was dwindling down. Carlos’s men were dead or subdued as were the buyers’.
Luke didn’t say but pointed to two men wrestling around on the ground. Andrea watched transfixed as Jack moved fluidly like water, punching and evading hits from the buyer.
“Jack, wrap it up,” Luke called out.
With one punch, Jack knocked the buyer out and then restrained him.
“Building secure,” Luke announced. Andrea didn’t know who he was talking to until she noticed his earpiece. Before she could ask about it, she was wrapped up into warm strong arms she’d know anywhere.
“Let me look at you.” Jack’s hands moved over her body in a clinical manner.
“I’m not hurt. Scared but not hurt,” she assured him.
“Thank fuck for that,” Jack replied before pulling her in for a toe-curling kiss. She eagerly responded until there was a clearing of a throat.
“Sorry to break this up, but PD is on the way. Two minutes out.”
“So not as quiet as we hoped,” Jack commented, looking around. Andrea did too and couldn’t hide her grimace at the damage they’d caused. She wondered who was going to pay for that.
“I’ll run interference. Start extracting to the vehicles. Use the emergency exit. Has the drive been recovered?”
Andrea held it up.
“Thank you for everything.” Luke smiled warmly at her, and Andrea felt proud of what she had done though it hadn’t been much.
He took the drive and stepped away before he started issuing more orders, but Andrea’s focus was on Jack who just stared at her.
Love radiated in his eyes so loud it was a wonder she hadn’t seen it before.
“I love you,” she blurted out and winced. So not how she’d planned on telling him.
Jack’s eyes widened. “Andrea,” he said her name as if in pain.
“I know you think I’m saying it because you did or because of the adrenaline.
I realized it when so many guns were aimed at me.
I love you. I don’t want to just keep going through life.
Going through the motions. I want to live and have adventures, and I want it all with you.
” She rushed the words out, hoping he hadn’t changed his mind.
“You have terrible timing, sweetheart.” He indicated the cleanup in progress.
“We have the rest of our lives. If you’ll have me.”
Jack kissed the tip of her nose. “You won’t be able to get rid of me now.”
Their moment ended when the police rushed into the room. Jack pushed her behind him to keep her safe while Luke spoke to the men in charge. Whatever he said made them relax, and they spread out to help.
Jack turned around to face her. “They are going to want to question you. Remember, you can’t mention anything about us and our group.”
“I think the cat’s out of the bag.” It wasn’t like they could erase people’s memories.
“We have a cover story; we’re FBI on a raid that went bad. You were an innocent victim.”
“Okay.” Andrea nodded before she was whisked away. She kept glancing over at Jack, not wanting him out of her sight. She wanted this to be over so they could talk privately. They had a lot to discuss.
“Ma’am, I have some questions for you,” an officer stated, holding up a notepad in readiness to take her statement.