Bradley’s head thumped, his forehead pressed against the floor. He could hear the man who’d left down the hall now. Talking. With Alexis and Rachel? No gunshots—so far—meant they were still alive. He hoped.
His whole body hurt. The two men had kicked him in the stomach, the back, the ribs, the legs. Like it would take that much persuasion to get him to sign the paper saying Rachel could have his money. He’d played along, though, pretending he was being coerced. Like that money meant anything to him.
The girls’ safety aside, the pop in his knee was what worried him. They hadn’t known about his injury. And right now, Bradley couldn’t say if he would be able to walk on it. That was going to be a problem. Just not one that would stop him from doing something.
The gunman still with him had a phone in his jeans pocket. The guy glanced back toward the door and the hall where the conversation was taking place. Bad move, allowing himself to be distracted. Loss of focus in a situation like this got you hurt. Or killed. Bradley kicked with his good leg and swiped the back of the man’s knees. His legs buckled and he fell.
Bradley scrambled forward, praying the second man didn’t come in, gun firing, having heard the sound of his friend go down. He didn’t want to get shot for trying this. With the man momentarily fighting off surprise, Bradley punched him in the head and then grabbed the gun. The silencer muffled the shot to a pop. One the second gunman likely heard. Still, that couldn’t be helped.
“Let’s go.” The gunman in the hall yelled.
“No. She isn’t going with you!” Rachel’s voice washed over him. But there was no time to absorb the relief. Not when he could have only seconds before the guy came back to check on his friend. He might simply leave and never even step in here, but Bradley couldn’t take that chance. He had to do this.
The phone was locked, but he used the dead man’s index finger to get into it. 9-1-1 was probably the fastest option to get someone here. He didn’t dial emergency services though. He didn’t need first responders walking into an unknown situation. Too much risk for one of them, or one of Bradley’s family, to be hurt or killed. He didn’t have time to explain what was happening here enough to get the right kind of help—SWAT. The gunman would simply open fire on them all, and kill the responding officers.
Not to mention the worst case scenario rippling around in Bradley’s head. If this had been going on for years, it meant whoever was behind it could have someone in law enforcement. His call could get squashed, and then no one would come. The reality was, he didn’t know who he could trust. So Bradley called the one person qualified to help that he had no doubt he could rely on.
He dialed the number for Steve’s office, and then set the phone down on the floor. Whatever the receptionist heard—even if it were nothing on the other end—he prayed she’d know it wasn’t just a mistaken call. That she would pass it on, and Steve would follow up. That he would call Walker. Please, Lord.
“It’s fine!” Alexis used that everyone calm down voice of hers. But she was scared, too. He hated that she was scared. “I’m coming with you. Okay?”
Bradley scooted to the hall, and peered out. The gunman stepped back into view, pulling Alexis with him. Where was he taking her? Bradley could get a real call out if this guy left, but what was the use in getting help here for him and Rachel if Alexis was gone? And he couldn’t be sure the man wouldn’t get the word they were free somehow, and then kill her.
When the man turned his direction, Bradley ducked back in the room and held the gun ready. If the guy came in here, he’d have to shoot him. It was a risk to Alexis’s life, but he’d be found out. The second man was dead.
And yet, the alternative was that Alexis be taken. Who knew where, with that man.
They passed the doorway and the gunman called out, “I’ll be back.”
Bradley shifted his good leg and then cried out. Pushed all the pain he felt into his voice and made it sound like the dead man was torturing him. It sounded horrible even to his own ears, and he heard Alexis try to come and help him.
The gunman chuckled. “Be glad I’m nicer than him.”
“You aren’t.”
“Then I’m just more task oriented. Which means when you’re done helping me, you’ll be dead quicker. Happy now?”
Bradley scooted to look out the door again. Down the hall, Alexis was being pulled along by that man. She was out of her league, and it was going to get her killed. He lifted the gun and aimed. Put pressure on the trigger.
The gunman shifted Alexis closer to him and whispered something that made her whole body tense, the gun pressed to her ribs.
Bradley exhaled and let the trigger go. He couldn’t shoot the man. Not when it meant the man might fire his own weapon on a reflex. Alexis would be killed, and he would never forgive himself if she was murdered because of something he did.
Right now what he needed to do was get the phone, get a real call out, and get to Rachel. She probably needed medical attention. He knew he did. His right knee was the size of a volleyball. Probably broken, and definitely not good for him to walk on.
He slid across the floor and saw a message on the phone’s screen.
Team en route.
Whether the kidnappers would’ve seen that or not, didn’t matter. Bradley had heard stories of Steve’s team and what they could do. Anyone on the receiving end of their arrival should be scared. He was just relieved though. He texted back.
All clear. Bring ambulance. Alexis gone.
The rest he could explain when Steve got there, if the man didn’t already have someone tasked to find Alexis after that.
“Rachel!” He crawled with his forearms, legs dragging behind him, out the door and down the hall. “Rachel, you there?”
“Bradley!”
They might not be okay, but that was the sweetest sound of freedom he’d ever heard. “I’m here! I’m coming in.”
She looked up when he pulled himself in the room. “What…”
“Busted my knee.” Her skirt was covered in dirt and dust, and her blouse was untucked. A bruise on her temple looked nasty, but was at least a day old. “You okay?”
“Alexis.”
“I know.” He knew everything.
And Rachel knew it. Tears filled her eyes, and she held up her hands. “Can you get me out of here?”
“I can get you free.” He pulled the penknife out of his boot the kidnappers hadn’t even checked for, and cut her wrists loose. Her feet. He helped rub some feeling back into her extremities. “If we’re going to get out of here you might have to carry me, though.” He smiled.
“She won’t be doing that.” Steve’s voice rang through the room.
Rachel sucked in a breath. She was scared? Maybe not of Steve, given they had some kind of history. Or at least an attraction. But after the last few days—and months—she had a right to be wary of someone she didn’t know that well.
Bradley shifted and got in her face, so she had to focus on him. “Look at me, Rach.” When her gaze lifted to him, he said, “Let’s get out of here. Together. Okay?”
She nodded. He put weight on his good leg, and they stood up. She slid her hand into his. “We have to help Alexis. He took her, and we have to get her back.”
Speaking of, Bradley waved the phone at Steve, who didn’t come and get it. “Maybe we can get the partner’s phone number from this. Get a location.”
Steve lifted one eyebrow. An arrogance Bradley figured could very well be justified if all those stories he’d heard were actually true. “Ambulance is outside.” He looked like he wanted to offer to help. He’d probably pick up Rachel like a true hero. But Bradley could guess she might not want that. Though, they could both use some help.
In the end they hobbled out on their own, albeit slowly. One of the EMTs was female, and Rachel let her help her walk to the bus while he stood with Steve.
“You should go too, get that knee looked at.”
The guy was probably right.
“And you can talk to her, see what she knows. We need all the intel we can get.”
“Now you sound like the FBI.” Bradley didn’t smile.
“Speaking of…”
Two SUVs pulled up. A familiar sight at this point. Walker strode over. “Looks like I’m late to the party again.”
“Rachel is good.”
“And you?”
Bradley was standing on one leg. What did the man think? “One dead kidnapper inside. The other one took Alexis.”
Rachel called out, “They’re going to the bank. He wants her to pretend to be me so she can get the money for him.”
Steve’s reaction was palpable. “Pretend?”
Walker said, “Like she did with the video.” When Steve said nothing, he added, “The video of Rachel, that they told everyone was Alexis.”
“Walker.” Bradley needed him to shut up, given the stricken look on Rachel’s face. “Enough.” He took a half step closer and looked between the two men. “Get Alexis back.”
He left them to hash it out. Steve could figure out all this stuff with Rachel himself. When he did, he was likely going to be extremely pissed about what had happened. And determined to get in on the FBI investigation to shut down the entire blackmailing operation.
Bradley limped to the ambulance. He figured the kidnappers were hired guns, like the FBI had told him. But he had no way to do what needed to be done. Right now what he had to do was take care of his sister while they found Alexis. They were the ones with the skills and resources to do it. When they did, he would be right there.
First Alexis. Now Rachel. Soon, he’d be able to be with Alexis again. Then their lives could be where they were supposed to be.
He pulled himself into the ambulance.
“I’m fine.” Rachel waved away the stethoscope. “Just tired, dirty and hungry. It’s hardly serious. You should look at his knee.”
Bradley had his knife out again. He cut the hem of his jeans, and then tore the material all the way up to his thigh. She might think her injuries were minimal, but he didn’t discount the psychological impact of it. Not to mention that when they got to the hospital, he was going to have the doctor discretely ask her if she needed a rape kit done.
“Ye-ouch.”
He didn’t look up from the mess that was his knee. Not after he’d been thinking about her being hurt like that.
“You’re not kidding.” It was throbbing still. Was he going to need surgery to fix this? If he did, that meant weeks of recovery time. He’d already been thinking about life after the SEALs. Was this what God had planned to keep him here, available to the women? They’d been through so much—Alexis still—it wouldn’t hurt them to have someone here to watch their backs now.
“Bradley.”
She sounded so sad. He braced his good foot on the floor and lifted up to sit on the gurney beside her. Bradley gathered his sister in his arms.
She started to cry. “He took Alexis. He’s probably hurting her.”
He couldn’t help it. Maybe it was the adrenaline, the fatigue. The pain, messing with his head. His body begun to shake with laughter, instead of the tears that should have fallen. “Two peas in a pod.” He kept laughing.
The EMT looked at him like he was crazy.
“What?” Rachel leaned back and looked up at him.
“You and Alexis. Only worried about what the other one is suffering.”
“Well, that’s our biggest problem right now!”
“Two peas in a pod.” Mad at him because he’d said something dumb. Angry because for some reason they thought weakness wasn’t acceptable. Caring. So caring. They loved fiercely, and thrived because of it. He’d thrived because of it.
Steve wandered over, his gaze only on Rachel. “Hey.”
“Hey.” Her voice was soft.
“You okay?”
“I won’t be okay until Alexis is safe.”
Steve said, “Walker has men on the bank. The minute they show up, he’ll swoop in and snatch them up. Alexis will be okay.”
“But it won’t be over.”
Bradley said, “Because those men are just hired guns?”
Rachel sniffed. “Their boss isn’t going to leave this alone. He’s going to keep coming for us.” Her voice shook. “For me until I give him what he wants.”
“And what is that?” Steve’s question was cold.
“I should never have let everyone believe it was Alexis. Now he’s furious and on a rampage,” Rachel shot back. “The loss of money is only part of it.” She turned to Bradley. “We can’t let him take it out on Alexis. She’s already given him too much.”
“Because you guys lied to everyone.”
“I didn’t want her to take the blame, but she said it was for the best. I knew what it would do to her.”
Bradley’s frustration bubbled over. “Then why did you let her do it?”
“Dude.” Steve’s single spoken word was a reprimand.
Rachel’s face crumpled, but she didn’t look at Steve. “I just wanted it to be over, but it isn’t.”
He pulled her into his arms, fighting the frustration of not being able to fix this for her. “I know. We can put it right.”
“And it’ll always be part of me. My history. My future,” she said. “All of it. Stained with what he did to me. Even if you get her back and catch him. Whoever he is. It’s not going to make it go away.”
“I know.” Bradley laid his hand on hers. “We’ll get you some help.”
“I don’t want help. I want Alexis.”
“We agree on that at least.”
She huffed, a sound that might have been a laugh any other time.
Steve stood at the door of the ambulance in silence, his attention a hundred percent focused on Rachel.
Bradley said, “You heard the woman.”
Steve held out his hand. “The phone.”
Bradley handed over the kidnapper’s cell. Steve lifted his chin and left.
“I’ve always thought he was cute.”
Bradley said, “Personally I don’t see it.”
She shoved at his arm, a tiny smile curling her lips. “Will she really be okay?”
“She and I asked that question about you a hundred times, and here you are. So we do the same thing. We pray, and we work on getting her back.”