Ronan
“I’ve got bad news,” Joanna said the second I answered her call.
“Damn.”
Joanna was unflappable, which meant that if she said something was bad, it really was.
I flashed the screen to Kade and Zeke, who’d joined me in my office, to show them who was on the line, then put it on speaker.
“What is it?” I half expected her to mention Tom, but what actually came out of her mouth was so much worse.
“Traffic cameras near Willow’s apartment building recorded her being dragged into a white van this morning.”
My heart ka-thunked painfully, and I tried to corral my thoughts enough to focus on the important details. “Was she conscious?”
“No, but she appeared unharmed. Potentially drugged.”
“Fuck.” I rubbed my eyelids as Kade and Zeke conferred in low voices. “Have you got a registration number for the van?”
“We do. I’m sending it to you now. I’ve put out a BOLO and we’ll see if we can follow the van using the traffic cams, but the area is notoriously patchy.”
“Do what you can, and I’ll get Zeke on it too.”
She sighed. “Just tell him to keep it legal.”
“I will.” But we both knew Zeke would do what it took. “Keep me posted. Got to go.”
I hung up, and my screen flashed with Joanna’s message containing the vehicle registration number. I forwarded it to Zeke.
“Find this van. I don’t care how.” All I cared about was Willow being recovered safely from whatever hellhole she’d been taken to. I pictured her locked in a warehouse, battering on the doors, unable to escape, and closed my eyes. I couldn’t afford to dwell on that or it would cripple me. “I also want locations and anything else you can find on Tom Lennox and Adrian Petrov.”
If Tom had anything to do with his sister’s disappearance, I’d make sure he saw the inside of a jail cell.
“Got it, boss.” Zeke leaped to his feet and left.
“What can I do?” Kade asked, scowling like he wanted to bust some heads.
“Get us prepared for a tactical operation. If Zeke finds Willow, I’m not waiting for the police. We’re going in.”
His expression was grim but purposeful. He clapped my shoulder. “Don’t worry. He’ll find her, and we’ll get her back. I may not always like Zeke, but he’s the best at what he does.”
“I know.”
I just hoped the best was good enough. Whoever abducted Willow had several hours of head start. By now, she could have been anywhere.
Kade left the office, and I started making calls. While I might not have been as skilled in combat as Kade or as technologically savvy as Zeke, I had a network that was the envy of half of Chicago, and plenty of people owed me favors.
It was time to call them in.
I was halfway through my contact list when my phone buzzed with a text. It was from Willow’s number.
I clicked on the message, and it opened, a photograph filling the screen.
My stomach dropped.
In the image, Willow sat tied to a chair, her head lolling back, unconscious.
Text popped up beneath it.
Willow: Sign over Lennox Securities to Adrian Petrov by midnight tonight or she’s dead.
I shot to my feet. “Zeke! Get in here!” Seconds later, my partner arrived at the door. I passed him the phone. “It’s Petrov. He’s got her.”
He scanned the message. “If it’s possible to get a location from the phone, I will.”
He left the room, and I immediately called Joanna, then Kade, and filled them in.
Joanna mentioned the van had been caught on camera earlier today, and I passed the information along to Zeke. Then, I called my lawyer and had him draw up papers for the transfer of the company. If that’s what it took to get Willow back, I’d do it, no questions asked, but we had a little time before midnight, so we might be able to find her first. Willow was smart. She was capable. I needed to trust that she could keep herself alive until we came for her.
Each minute seemed to last an eon.
Finally, Zeke barreled through the door. “King.”
I glanced up and stopped short. His complexion was waxy. “What is it?”
“Two things.” He thrust a laptop at me. “We got access to Petrov’s secure cloud server. There’s some messed-up shit there. I’m not sure he’ll actually let her go, even if you sign over the company.”
I scanned the screen and practically stopped breathing.
Petrov’s cloud database housed hundreds of photos of Willow, taken when she wasn’t looking. Going for a walk. Standing beside her brother at events. Arm in arm with Sage. Lying on her bed, blissfully unaware she was being spied on.
“He’s sick.” I raised my gaze from the screen. “You said two things. What’s the other?”
“I was able to trace the text to a city block near where the van was sighted. Petrov owns an apartment building there. My money says that’s where she is.”
I stared at him. “Why didn’t you lead with that news?” The cell phone buzzed in my hand, and the detective’s name appeared. I shoved it at Zeke. “Tell her about the apartment building. Pass on whatever she says. Kade and I need to go.”
He nodded, his jaw tight. “Kade already has the location. I sent it to him on the way here.”
“Good.” I rushed out, encountering Kade by the door.
“The truck is geared up and ready to go,” he reported. “I’ve got three men to accompany us—all fully armed.”
I hoped it wouldn’t come to a shootout, but I’d be glad for the backup if it did. “Let’s take this motherfucker down.”
Willow
When I woke again, I was still bound to the chair, but the face covering had been removed.
Petrov and I were alone. He stood several feet away, watching me.
I shook my head, hoping to clear it so I could think fast enough to outwit him. That was my best chance of getting out of here alive. I needed to play the game. Make him think he had me where he wanted me.
“I’m sorry,” I murmured, lowering my eyes submissively. It took every ounce of my self-control not to glare at him or betray my distaste some other way. Petrov wasn’t stupid, but hopefully he’d buy the act. “I shouldn’t have been so rude earlier.”
“No, you shouldn’t have,” he agreed gruffly. I wished I could see his face so I knew what he was thinking, but I didn’t dare risk it. “But you can make it up to me now.”
Icy fear licked up my spine. “How?”
“By opening your legs for me the same way you did for King.” I could hear the smirk in his voice. “I said I’d return you to him if he met my terms, but I never said what condition you’d be in.”
Oh, God.
My eyes flew to his.
“That’s more like it.” He smiled cruelly, obviously enjoying my terror.
He wrapped a fist in my hair and yanked my head back, exposing my neck. He cupped his other hand around my throat and squeezed. Spots danced in front of my eyes. I tried to shake him off, but without my arms and legs, there wasn’t much I could do.
After a moment, he let go, and I hauled in a breath. My throat burned, and my lungs ached as I refilled them.
Petrov drew his suit jacket open, revealing a gun holstered at his hip. “I’m going to cut your ropes because it’s more fun if you fight. If you try to run, I will shoot you. If you make it outside the apartment, my men are waiting. There is no escape. Do you understand?”
My mind whirled, sifting through ideas, trying to figure out how I could use this to my advantage.
I clearly couldn’t leave through the main door if he had men stationed there as he’d said, so I’d have to try something else.
I tried to look over my shoulder, but although the curtain was now open, I couldn’t turn well enough to look out and guess what time of day it was. Based on the natural light filtering into the room, it might have been mid- or late afternoon.
Surely someone had noticed I was missing by now. Perhaps they’d be looking for me. They might even have figured out who’d taken me. Whether or not escape was possible, I could buy them a little time. Maybe it would be enough to save myself.
“I understand,” I told him, holding myself rigid as he drew a Swiss Army knife from his pocket and freed one of my feet, then the other. I scarcely dared to breathe as he sliced through the ropes tying my wrists together. It seemed like a distinct possibility that he might cut me at any moment, simply because the urge arose.
“Get on your knees.”
I did as he said, all senses on high alert for any chink in his armor. I heard the click of each individual tooth of the zip as he unbuttoned his fly.
I recalled what Kade had said during our self-defense session about aiming for weak points.
Eyes, nose, throat, groin.
Perhaps I could debilitate him for a few minutes.
He started to slip his hand into his pants, and I lunged forward, ramming my fist into his testicles. He grunted in pain and doubled over, the knife dropping from his hand. I snatched it off the floor and thrust it up, catching him in the midsection. The metallic scent of blood hit my nostrils.
“Bitch,” Petrov hissed.
I stumbled to my feet.
He gripped the knife and yanked it from his body.
I took off, racing toward the hallway that led deeper into the apartment and flinging the door shut behind me. The place was as big as Ronan’s, with rooms everywhere, and the corridor never seemed to end. I raced into a storeroom, spying a window, but when I looked outside, there was no balcony, and we were a good twenty stories up. I wouldn’t survive the jump.
I spun around and raced deeper into the apartment.
At the end of the corridor, two rooms split off. One was a bedroom. The other an office.
I hurried into the bedroom and looked frantically for a place to hide or something I could use as a weapon. I wouldn’t fit under the bed, and there was a closet, but that was the first place he’d look.
I started to turn, thinking I’d try the office instead, but a bench beneath the window caught my eye. It was the sort of reading nook that came built into a room.
The type I’d had growing up.
A kernel of hope grew inside me. I ran to it, grabbed the cushion, and lifted. Sure enough, the bench was hollow. I climbed into the space within, drawing my knees to my chest so I fit, and softly closed it.
Darkness engulfed me.
I shut my eyes and fought to control my breathing. If I panted too heavily, he’d be able to follow the sound straight to my hiding place. It took a few moments, but I managed to slow my inhales and exhales into a quiet, regular rhythm.
I listened for the sound of men coming after me, but my blood pounded so loudly in my ears that it was impossible to hear anything else.
All I knew was that I was stuck, and unless someone noticed I was gone and somehow managed to track me down, I’d have to try to fight my way out.