Jake had notions of aiming his rifle at the men in front of him, but they were quicker than he was. The fair-skinned man lifted a pistol almost casually as Jake stepped between him and his grandma.
“I don’t think that would be a wise decision. You don’t want anyone to get hurt, do you?”
“Lower the gun,” the other man said, a gun in his hand as well.
The sense of violation hung heavily with these armed criminals standing in his living room. Outnumbered and outgunned, Jake lowered his rifle and leaned it against the wall. As soon as his hand left the weapon, the Asian man across from him motioned him farther into the room and away from the gun.
“You lied to me,” the redhaired man said with steel in his voice. “Where is she?”
“I don’t know.”
His face contorted with fury. “Don’t lie to me!”
Jake measured his words, cautiously giving the truth without revealing any information worth having. “She’s out there somewhere. Looking for you.”
“Oh, she’s looking for us, is she?”
Jake swallowed nervously before responding. “She was afraid you would come back here, so she told us we should all leave for a few days.”
The Asian man glanced down at his watch. “How long ago did she leave?”
“I’m not sure. I was packing the car and tending to horses. It wasn’t long ago though.”
“Grandma here said something about your wife.”
“I’m not married. She’s confused.”
“Even old people don’t get confused about stuff like that. Where’s the wife?”
Hannah’s voice held an eerie sense of calm. “I think she’s referring to me.”
Jake turned to see Hannah standing across the room, near the garage entrance, a pistol in her hand.
Satisfaction combined with pure evil on the redhead’s face. “Well, well, well. It’s about time you showed up.”
Hannah ignored him, speaking instead to Abigail. “Miss Abigail, why don’t you go over by Jake while I talk to these men?”
So accustomed to responding to Hannah’s direction, Abigail started moving even as the redhead opened his mouth to protest.
“Wait just a minute . . .”
“Put the guns down and let them go,” Hannah said.
“Now, why would I do that?”
“Because if you do, I’ll give you what you want.”
“You’ll give me what I want anyway.”
“Are you sure?” Her chin lifted slightly. “My father didn’t.”
“Then I’ll have to kill you too and go find the next name on the list of ghosts.”
“The next person on the list can’t help you,” she said evenly. “I’m the only person who can open the database. You kill me, and you’ll never gain access.”
For the first time since arriving, Jake saw the men hesitate. Unfortunately, it only lasted a second.
“I may need you alive,” he said, lifting his gun a little higher, now aiming it at Jake’s heart, “but these two are expendable.”
* * *
Charlotte’s heartbeat immediately picked up speed, her whole world now at risk. She and Ace had been so sure she would be safe here, but, somehow, these men had found her. How?
Hoping to stall, she decided now was the perfect time to ask that particular question. She lowered her gun, holding it at her side. “How did you find me?”
“One of your boyfriend’s friends posted a picture of you online,” Owen said smugly. “Or is he your husband now?”
“He’s a friend,” Charlotte said, refusing to be baited. She fought the urge to look at the grandfather clock across the room. The simple gesture might very well alert these men to the fact that she needed to stall them until help arrived. But her help was still at least an hour away.
Part of her wanted to offer access to the fake database right away, hoping these men would be fooled and leave them alone. Knowing that giving in too easily might leave them all dead made her reconsider that plan.
Hoping to steer the conversation away from her relationship with Jake, she focused her attention on Owen. “What I don’t understand is why you’re doing this.”
“Money.”
“You’re willing to sell out all of my father’s hard work—all of your father’s hard work—for money?”
His voice was low and even. “You don’t know a thing about my father.”
“I know he was instrumental in creating the database.”
“Yeah, and what did he have to show for it? Nothing.” His expression went hard. “He ended up getting himself killed and left his family in poverty.”
Charlotte let surprise register on her face even though Ace had mentioned his suspicions of foul play. “Killed? I understood he died in a car accident.”
“It wasn’t an accident. He was murdered.”
“I don’t understand.” Charlotte’s eyes narrowed. “What makes you say that?”
“I’ve read my father’s journals. He knew someone was out to get him. He wrote about it only a few days before he died.”
“Did he say who was after him or why?” Charlotte asked.
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Of course it matters,” Charlotte persisted.
“Not anymore. All that matters now is opening the database and collecting my paycheck. I’m done with all of these spy games.” Owen motioned to Cheng. “Go get the equipment out of the car. We’ll set up in here.”
Cheng didn’t move, instead motioning to Jake. “He just said they were leaving here because they thought we might come back. How do we know they didn’t call in reinforcements?”
“Good point.” Owen waved his gun toward Charlotte. “It looks like we’re going for a little ride.”
* * *
Jake couldn’t believe it. By trying to protect Hannah earlier, he had said too much. What little hope they had for someone to show up and help them was extinguished, and he now had visions of all of them left dead in some ditch as soon as these men got what they wanted.
“I can’t access the database away from here,” Hannah said, her posture rigid.
Owen sneered. “I’m not falling for your stall tactics.”
“It’s not a stall tactic. Once the failsafe protocols were activated, the equipment requirements changed. It won’t work without another piece.”
“Why would you volunteer this information?”
“Because I want you to let them go.”
Jake stared, speechless. Hannah didn’t look at him when she waved a hand in his direction, but he could see a slight tremble work its way through her body.
Even though she was clearly terrified, she was trying to sacrifice herself for them.
He didn’t know how it was possible, but she seemed to stand a little straighter when she added, “Like I already said, I’m the one you need.”
Owen didn’t take long to decide. “First, hand over the gun.”
Hannah looked down at her weapon like she had forgotten she was holding it. She seemed to debate the request, acting like it would be the end of the world if she complied, even though Jake knew she had a second weapon strapped to her ankle. It took him a moment to realize Hannah wanted these men to think she was holding her only weapon.
Several seconds passed, the tension in the room increasing with each audible tick of the grandfather clock in the hall. Finally, she shifted the gun sideways and handed it to Owen, taking care that it wasn’t pointing at anyone when she did so.
“That’s more like it.” Owen took the gun from her and released the clip of bullets from the chamber. Then he looked at her once more. “The old lady can stay, but he’s coming with us. Insurance.”
“She can’t stay by herself,” Jake protested.
Before he could continue, Hannah cut him off. “I just told you, I can’t access the database anywhere except from here.”
“And we both know you’re lying,” Owen said evenly. “Anything you need, we can take with us.”
“We can’t leave Abigail by herself. She gets confused. As soon as we leave, she’ll likely burn the house down, and I don’t think you want that kind of attention.” She hesitated before adding, “And you don’t want to take the chance that there’s something here you might need later.”
“Lock her in a closet or something,” Owen told Cheng.
Jake shifted behind his grandma and put his hands on her shoulders to keep her close. “If you’re going to leave her here, at least let me lock her in her bedroom.”
“That’ll take too long.”
“It’ll be faster than locking her in a closet,” Jake insisted. He motioned toward the front door. “The locks here are a hundred fifty years old. Once it’s locked, you have to use a key to open it regardless of which side of the door you’re on.”
“Fine.” Owen huffed out the word impatiently. “But we’re all staying together. No tricks.”
“No tricks,” Jake repeated, praying Hannah had an idea for how to help him break his word.