Abigail stared at the wall while Bea worked on her cuffs. It had been hours since her father had been down here. Which either meant he was busy with another of the team, or he just didn’t feel the need to visit her anymore. God, she so hoped he didn’t have Chris.
There was no way out. No way to get free.
Bea eyed her carefully. “Are you shutting down on me, girl?”
Abigail shook her head. “I don’t know what that means.”
“It means don’t give up,” she said. “We’ll get out.”
Abigail scoffed. “He’s going to kill us. We’ll just disappear.”
Bea laughed as she fiddled with the cuffs behind her. “I’ve been dead before. It didn’t stick.” She groaned and looked down at her hip. “What is that? Can you lift my shirt for a minute?”
Abigail crawled over to her and lifted her shift slightly, revealing the bandage she’d seen earlier.
“Fuck, they found the tracker.” Bea’s face turned sour.
“Tracker?”
“He had to have told them where it was. That son of a bitch.” Bea fell back on her haunches.
“Who?”
“Scott. He’s the only one who could have done it.” Bea pressed her lips together. “I need to get these cuffs off and then we can worry about getting out of the room.” She looked at Abigail. “Why did they put yours in front?”
“They didn’t. I’m limber,” Abigail replied.
Bea’s dark eyebrow arched and a smile played at her full lips. “Damn, no wonder Hardy likes you.” She chuckled. “I don’t think I can contort myself enough to do that.”
Chris. Her lungs constricted painfully at the sound of his name. Bea’s face softened. “Hey, Abigail. Stick with me, girl.” Abigail didn’t reply. There was no way out. She was stuck in this place. “Hey! Maybe you can help me pick the lock.”
“What?” Abigail blinked, focusing back on Bea.
“You can see what you’re doing. Handcuffs are easy to pick as long as you can see what you’re doing.” Her eyes watched Abigail warily. “So, help a girl out?”
Abigail saw exactly what Bea was doing. She was trying to keep her from panicking by giving her something to do. The truth was she welcomed the distraction when the alternative was wondering if Chris was okay or not. Abigail blew out a breath. “Okay. Tell me what you need.”
“My boot. There are a couple bobby pins laced in the side.” She pushed out her foot. Abigail looked at the boot, noticing the intricate lacing along the side of the boot. The bobby pins were in plain sight, but if someone were just to glance at her, they’d never notice they were there.
She pulled one out and looked at Bea.
She nodded. “Okay. Bend the pin into a ninety-degree angle. Pull off the plastic tip on the straight side.” Abigail followed the instructions, using her teeth to pull off the plastic tip. “Now, insert the straight side into the upper portion of the lock, but only halfway. If you push it all the way in, you won’t be able to get the right bend.”
Abigail chuckled. “That’s what she said.”
Bea actually laughed. “Okay, girl, I deserved that one. How are we doing?”
“I got it. Now what?”
“Bend the pin to the left. It should create a ninety-degree bend. Insert the pin again halfway past the first bend and then bend to the left ninety degrees. It should make it kind of like an S shape.”
“Okay, I’m good,” Abigail said as she completed the next step.
“Okay, it’s a single lock, so it should be easy. Insert the pin into the upper cutout of the lock, pointed toward the handcuff’s housing. Then press the pick towards the housing.”
Abigail did as Bea said, and nearly cried when the cuff released. Bea winced as she stretched her shoulder out. “Nice job, Pippie.”
“Pippie?”
Bea grinned. “It’s Jack’s name for you. The hair, I guess.”
“Okay, so now what?”
“Now, we bide our time and figure out a moment to get out of here,” Bea said, looking around. She grabbed the chair Abigail had been in and braced her foot on it as she lifted up and tore off one of the chair legs. Then did it again with another leg. She spun the wood in her hands, like she was holding twin swords, the handcuff clinking from where it hung off her wrist. “Oh, that feels so much better. I fucking hate restraints.”
She glanced down at the broken chair. “We’re going to have to hide that.”
~*~*~
“Wait…” Chris put his hands up as he stood, stopping his pacing. “You’re telling me you want us to mount a rescue on a senator’s house, in Galveston, in the middle of the day, during a party?”
“Yes,” Nathan replied, leaning back in his chair. “That’s exactly it. Most of the staff will be out on the grounds, attending to the guests. Security on the girls will be minimal.”
Chris rubbed his face. Everything seemed to have fallen apart in a matter of hours, and Nathan had apparently snapped as a result.
“We don’t even know that they’re being held in the house.”
Nathan shrugged, completely calm and relaxed. “Where else would they be? Abigail was held in that house under pressure for over a year. It’s already set up for a prisoner.”
“Yes,” Jordan said. “But maybe not two.”
“Or someone who’s trained,” Chris said, following Jordan’s line of thinking.
“I have an invite. Apparently, Senator Lewis wants my money for his campaign.” Nathan’s lips turned up in an arrogant smirk. “Normally, I turn these events down, but I thought this one might be worth my attendance.” He sat up, leaning his elbows on the table. “Of course, I’ll need security, being the mysterious recluse that I am. I will take the both of you with me.”
“Lewis knows our faces. Especially if Scott is working for him,” Jordan said. He didn’t look sold, and the very mention of Scott turned his expression murderous.
“I’m counting on it,” Nathan replied.
“He won’t let us in. He’s not dumb.”
“No, but he’s arrogant and confident. And he knows by now, Abigail took pictures of all his files.”
Chris’s blood iced over. “Scott would have told him.”
“Yes,” Nathan replied evenly. “He will keep both Bea and Abigail safe until he knows how to get that information back in his hands. Which means, he will let the two of you in, hoping to corner you and find out what you know.”
“It’s going to shine a big spotlight on you,” Chris said. “He might look into you a little closer.”
“I’m aware. Let me handle that. Your job is to find and extract Miss Li and Miss Lewis.”
This was perilously close to blowing Nathan’s cover, which would mean they’d be exposed just as much. Nathan was the cornerstone of the Company.
“One more thing,” Chris said. “What do we do about Scott?”
Nathan’s eyes darkened, filling to the brim with fury and violence. “Mr. Muldoon will be on site. He believes he will be coordinating from a surveillance van. He will not be. Let him believe he is, and I will handle Mr. Muldoon from there.”
A shiver slithered down Chris’s spine. There were few things scarier than an angry Nathan Hawk, and no easier way to anger him than betray his trust.
~*~*~
The door to their cage opened. Bea resumed her position on the floor, with her hands behind her with her new weapons. The idea was they’d sucker the guards in close before she made her move.
But they didn’t even look at Bea. Two of the guards stayed by the door, their hands on their weapons while the third came for Abigail. He wrestled her to her feet. “Come on. Showtime.”
“What?”
“The senator wants you at the party.”
“Party?” She glanced back at Bea, who was watching them all carefully.
“Fundraiser,” the guard said. “Let’s go.”
Bea blinked, nodding almost imperceptibly for her to go. She didn’t want to leave Bea there alone, but the woman was more than capable of taking care of herself. More so than she was.
So she let the guard take her away, and up to her bedroom.
A dress had already been laid out for her. She glanced back at the guard who stood at the door. He held out keys and she put out her cuffed hands. He unlocked her wrists and collected the handcuffs. “Change. Five minutes and I’m coming back in.”
He shut the door. She blew out a breath, grateful for the brief moment of normalcy. She glanced outside. Her room had a view of the backyard, which was already in the process of getting set up for this party.
No doubt this was another political nightmare she’d have to suffer through. This was her life now. Get prettied up, go dazzle her father’s supporters, and then spend her nights in a dark basement prison.
She changed her clothes and looked at herself in the mirror. Her hair was a mess, half wavy, half curls, and all frizz. She ran a brush through her hair but it wasn’t helping much. She decided to pull it back into a low ponytail so she at least looked somewhat presentable. A little bit of eyeliner and mascara, and she felt almost like her old self again.
The guard opened the door exactly at the five-minute mark and led her down to her father’s study. She swallowed hard as she walked into the room, remembering the last time she’d been in here. Her father sat behind the desk, not standing as she entered. The guard closed the door behind her.
Silence filled the room. Like before, bookshelves lined the back wall behind her father. She knew exactly where the safe she’d been in was. Center bookshelf, fourth row up. Books lined up in front of it, obscuring it from view. A picture frame sat in front of the books, her father and a black man shaking hands. Both were in suits, but it was an older picture. Her father didn’t have as many gray hairs or wrinkles. A genuine smile crossed his face.
Lewis set down his pen and folded his hands together. “I don’t have to remind you how to behave at social functions, do I, Abigail?”
“I remember,” she replied.
“Good, because your friend’s survival depends on your good behavior.”
“Don’t lie to me,” Abigail said. “You’re going to kill her. Nothing I do or say will change that.”
Lewis grinned but he didn’t move from the chair. “What you do can change your fate, though.”
“Really.”
“We can go back to our old arrangement. You play nice, you live comfortably. You don’t, and you rot in the basement.”
“What is so important about me? It can’t be you just want to put a leash on some French criminal. That’s not enough.”
“Why not?” The senator smiled.
“It’s not worth the trouble of keeping me alive. He’ll kill you eventually. Not unless…” Abigail trailed off. “This is more than just a campaign play. There were an awful lot of bribes in those files I saw.”
“Don’t you worry your pretty little head about it. Just play nice at the party and we can rethink your current accommodations.”
Abigail glared at him. He was blowing her off. He didn’t want to talk about his little deals on the side. That was okay with her. He’d have to talk about them when everything became public. And one way or another, those files would make it before Congress. She’d make sure of it. But for now, she’d play his stupid game. “Fine. Let’s get this over with.”