Water slammed into Tansy’s face, and she woke, choking to catch a breath.
Confusion and pain filled her.
She tried to wipe the water from her face, but her arms wouldn’t move.
Another blast of water had her spluttering. She wasn’t in the ocean being slammed by waves because there was no buoyancy.
Where was she?
Why couldn’t she move her arms or legs?
Panic raced through her, but she could hear Sam’s voice in her head, telling her to focus and to breathe. From the first, he’d been able to teach her to find her center, to help her focus, to get her to breathe through the panic.
Sam.
Where was Sam?
He’d been on the phone.
Tansy forced her eyes open but didn’t see Sam. Instead, she faced a bright spotlight shining right in her face.
She tried to move her hands and feet again, but she was still stuck. Why was she stuck?
The fog that filled her brain receded with each calming breath, with each echo of Sam’s voice leading her through the breathing and the routines.
She slowed her heart rate and drew in air.
There were no memories between doing Tai Chi on the dock and now.
Nothing. Only fog.
“You’re awake, Miss Cheveyo. Finally. It appears my associate overestimated your weight and body mass. My apologies.”
The disembodied voice floated around her. She turned her head but saw nothing but complete dark outside of the spotlight.
The voice was male. Smug. Pretentious. “I require your cooperation, and I’m afraid there is a bit of a time crunch.”
No other noises in the space. A small echo. Not a lot of soft surfaces where they were. Probably an empty room, maybe four hundred square feet. Steel or concrete walls.
Facts would keep the panic at bay.
She would figure out where she was. How to get free. How to escape.
Facts not fear.
Easier said than done.
Was Sam okay? He would have never let someone kidnap her without a fight.
Why couldn’t she remember?
Who was this man and what did he want?
Facts.
A strong cologne. Too much.
No accent in his voice. A deliberately rehearsed neutral?
A hand holding a switchblade entered her field of vision. The knife sliced into her thigh, then disappeared. Tansy couldn’t stop the yelp of pain and surprise. With her hands and feet bound, she couldn’t retaliate or move away.
She jerked at the chair, but it didn’t move at all. Bolted to the floor?
Sam had taught her how to break a wooden chair if she was in this situation. But in those scenarios, the chair had never been immobile.
Always keep your fingers and toes moving. It keeps the circulation flowing. You’ll have less pain and more mobility when you’re freed.
Tansy flexed and relaxed her muscles even as she tried to find her words.
Another cut on her leg had her yelping again.
“Who are you? What do you want?”
A small chuckle filled the room. Not from the same direction as the hand. And she hadn’t heard other movement.
Two men.
“I require you to share your research and your findings with me.”
Tansy closed her eyes against the bright light and against the dread. Was this the buyer James had talked about?
The arms dealer?
Bernard Howard?
An uncontrollable shudder ran through her, and the man chuckled again. He was thriving on her fear.
She had to control it.
Bernie. She’d think of him as Bernie. No one named Bernie could be terrifying.
She had to give Sam time to find her.
He and Joe would be on it. No matter what had happened, they would be searching for her.
If she gave them enough time, they’d find her.
She had to stay alive until then.
At least Bernie hadn’t shown his face. If she didn’t see him, he wouldn’t think she could identify him. He might let her go.
Doubtful, but possible.
This time, the knife jabbed deep into her muscle and twisted. The whimper escaped before she could stop it.
“Miss Cheveyo, you are reputed to be an intelligent woman. I would have expected you to be quicker to respond.”
Sadistic bastard.
“You haven’t told me what you wanted.” Her voice sounded weak to her own ears. She’d have to do better.
This time, something slammed into her shin, and she yelped again. Had he broken a bone?
“My colleague here can keep this up all day. I was told you have a new technique that would be quite useful for people hiding. I want it.”
“But…”
She didn’t get the word out when the knife stabbed in again. This time, it went deep and dragged down her calf muscle.
“Now, my colleague is going to release your wrists. If you attempt to retaliate, he will render your foot useless. I don’t require you to have feet in order to give me the data I wish to have.”
Tansy’s breath sawed in and out in harsh gasps.
This guy was a James Bond villain in real life. Fake veneer and full of evil.
Bernie was probably wearing a tuxedo beyond the bright light.
Tansy’s arms sagged when the ties were cut. She waited until the thug was done before she pulled her hands forward and rubbed the wrists where the ties had dug deep enough to cut.
Again, she channelled Sam’s voice to manage the pain. Their martial arts training sessions had always been about controlling her stress and enjoying the moves. Now they were going to help her cope.
And help her find a way out of the mess.
A squeak had Tansy flinching, but the noise was simply a preamble to a small desk being rolled in front of her. A laptop sat open. The beefy hand belonging to the thug turned it on and he disappeared.
While she waited for the computer to boot up, she catalogued what she knew of the thug.
Thick, muscular arms and legs. Old dark-blue jeans. Worn work boots. Light skin, dark curling hair on forearms and the back of his hands. Scar along the back of his right hand from ring finger to thumb. Tattoo on left inner wrist. A circle with three intersecting triangles. A gang symbol?
When the computer screen cleared, there were only two icons. A word document program and a spreadsheet.
No internet connection and no online programs.
If she was left alone, she’d be able to access the programming and maybe alert someone, but she doubted Bernie was going to be that stupid.
Stretching her fingers, Tansy reached out and clicked open the word document.
She needed to be as slow as possible without incurring more damage to herself. How much science did Bernie know? Would he understand when she included false or misleading information? Or if she skipped vital steps.
That might be smarter to do.
Tansy took a deep breath and started to type.
Sam paced the main room at the lodge and tried not to beat the shit out of the furniture.
She’d been taken right in front of him.
Less than a hundred yards away.
And he’d been powerless to do a damn thing about it.
Instead of making love to her in the fort, he’d answered the phone and watched her do Tai Chi. Watching her fluid body move through the steps was one of his favorite things.
If he’d ignored the phone call, Tansy would have been safe.
If he’d been faster, Tansy would be safe.
If he’s been smarter, Tansy would be safe.
A water attack. He’d thought of it but dismissed the idea. The water was frigid and the logistics of getting to and from the water were complex. Tansy rarely used the dock alone. How many days had they been waiting beneath the dock for her to be vulnerable?
He’d assumed if an attack came, it would be on land.
He’d assumed. They all knew what they said about people who assumed. What kind of fool was he to think he could train others in protective services when the woman he loved had been snatched in front of him?
Nico was flying in but wouldn’t be there for hours yet. Marcus, Troy, Graham, and Joe were with Sam. Ready to go. Once they found a place to go.
He stopped as a thought hit him. “She was wearing that tracking device on her skin. She said it would only last about twenty-four hours, but what if it’s still active?”
He grabbed Tansy’s tablet and was pulling up the app before he stopped speaking.
Joe stood at his shoulder, watching.
The app Tansy had made to go with the tracker loaded and he clicked on the location map.
Yes. “It’s showing Keene, across the New Hampshire border.” Where she’d met with Stephens.
“Let’s go.” Joe was moving with him.
Graham stood up as well. “What if it’s only showing her last location? Does it say?”
Sam didn’t know the app that well. He hadn’t needed to use it. “It says Current Location. I’m heading out.”
“I’m with you.” Joe, of course.
They all walked out as Graham asked. “Should someone stay here in case it’s wrong and showing old data?”
Sam couldn’t stay. Wouldn’t. Not when the app showed current location. He would trust Tansy’s tech over everything else.
Marcus slapped Sam on the shoulder. “You all go. I need to go over the scene for evidence and I’ll make some calls to get you help down in Keene.”
They cursed the two-mile run as they raced to the cars down at the sawmill. But all four men were in shape and no one lagged behind.
As they neared the mill, Graham called out. “I’ll drive. Red is ready to go, and she’s got more speed than anything else here.”
No one argued as Sam claimed the passenger seat of the Charger. Troy opened and locked the gate behind them and then jumped in the back with Joe.
Joe put in another call to the FBI office in Bedford, which wasn’t all that far away. Troy also made a call to someone, describing their car and direction. The fact that he could say the license plate number without checking with Graham confirmed Sam’s belief that this man would be a good one to have at his back.
The drive was mostly silent, but as they neared the city, the location on the map app closed in. “It doesn’t show the park. It’s got to be a current location.”
“Which part of the city?” Graham kept his eyes on the road as he moved smoothly through traffic.
“West.”
Joe called Nico and left a message. His plane would touch down in Manchester soon and he wouldn’t be far, either.
Troy leaned over the seat to have a look at the map.
“Looks like it’s in a business area. Take the next exit. It’s faster.”
They raced through unfamiliar territory, with Graham totally in control of the vehicle and Troy giving directions.
Sam watched the app, hoping for more detail. Instead, the blip disappeared.
“What happened?” Joe’s shout filled the car.
“It’s stopped working. Her circle disappeared.” Because it had to be the app that had stopped. He wouldn’t allow any other possibility.
Joe turned to Troy. “Could you tell location from the last position?”
Troy swore. “General location, but nothing specific.”
“It’s back.” And relief swamped through Sam, making his words shaky.
Troy leaned in closer as the map shifted again, showing more detail.
“Head down to Highway 9. There are a lot of businesses in that area.”
“Warehouses? Storage units?” Sam knew those were good hideouts.
Troy nodded. “Both.”
“I’m sending that info out to everyone we’ve contacted. Apparently Bernard Howard doesn’t own any property in Keene, though.” Joe had to be as stressed as Sam, but he was functioning as an agent. Sam was pretty much praying to a dot and begging.
We’ll find you, Tansy, hang on.
Traffic picked up, but Graham kept them moving steadily ahead.
His skills would definitely be an asset for Midnight Security.
Too bad Sam was no longer confident of his own. “If this goes into negotiation, Joe needs to take the lead. Hopefully, we’ll be able to get her out of there without that.”
“Is Keene PD assisting?” Troy wanted to know.
Joe nodded. “I’ve got a pal at Bedford FBI coordinating, so we can concentrate on getting her out and taking Howard down.”
The map shifted again, closed in to show more detail. Troy nearly leapt over the seat, trying to see. “Three more intersections, then hang a left. We’re almost there.”
The circle disappeared again, making Sam’s heart stop.
They waited in silence until it showed back up.
“Hurry, Graham. The signal is giving out. Hurry.” Sam’s voice shook, but he didn’t care.
They needed to be closer. They didn’t have a building yet.
Troy jabbed his finger at the screen. “There’s a storage facility on that block. It has to be that.”
The circle flickered on again a few times as Graham took a few more turns.
Joe sent out texts, telling everyone to head to the storage unit, and then he shut down the volume on his phone. “Everyone on silent mode. And that’s not just to avoid the calls telling us to wait for backup.”
Sam pulled out his phone and made it silent as well. “We’re not waiting.”
Troy pointed out the front window. “Blue and Green sign on the right.”
Graham decelerated and pulled into the lot as if they weren’t on a mission. The units were surrounded by a locked gate. Joe and Sam jumped out.
Joe went to the manager’s office at the gate and Sam moved along the fence until he was out of sight of the road.
He’d scaled a few similar fences in his time and he knew how to work around the measures designed to keep people out.
No one was keeping him out.
Once he was over the fence, Sam dropped to the pavement and pulled out his gun. It would take Joe more than a minute to talk the guy into opening the gate, and Sam need to find the unit by then.
And if his team didn’t hurry the hell up, he was going in anyway.