I knocked on the men’s room door, although I was sure he wouldn’t be there.
The man who was half of the couple we’d seen on the elevator after arriving yesterday came out of the bathroom and furrowed his brow. “Did you knock?
“Yes. Is there a groomsman in there? The man you saw with me yesterday?”
“No one else in there,” the man said. He hustled back toward the ballroom as if he couldn’t get away from me fast enough.
At the same time, Pasco was in my ear. “We have a lock on him, Kat. Meet Kessler and Li in our ops room.”
“On my way,” I said. “But to be clear, I’m off the Greenly task force and on Gage’s.”
“The rescue’s going to require climbing through air ducts,” Kessler said. “You’re in an evening gown.”
“A mermaid-cut evening gown,” I corrected her. “I came prepared for anything.”
CHAPTER 27
GAGE
Iwasn’t afraid, which seemed weird. I felt stupid for going off to the restroom by myself. When Kessler had said, “Do not be alone,” she’d meant at any time. Of course, I realized it now that I’d been grabbed by two goons while washing my hands. I was disappointed I might not get to hear Kessler’s story, which, if I did live to hear about it, I hoped would come with a big dose of advice. I was heartbroken at the prospect of not seeing Kat again.
But at the same time, I wasn’t afraid because I was so damn sure Iwouldsee her, and sooner rather than later. Kat was on my team, and she was coming for me. I imagined that’s what it was like for her when she was in dangerous situations, relying on her team to have her back. And despite practically accusing her of using sex to do her job, I’d seen for myself that she had her own mad skills. If I saw her again,whenI saw her again, I was going to make sure she knew I had the utmost faith in her spy craft.
I tried to remember the crash course Cynthia had given me. I took in my surroundings. I was in one of the hotel’s rooms, not a suite. It was quiet here, and things didn’t look fresh or well-cleaned. I knew some rooms were closed for renovations. It would make sense that we were in one of them. I was sitting on the sofa. The two thugs who’d grabbed me and put a black hood over my head before removing it when we were inside the room had stupidly given me my choice of seats. From this vantage point, I could see the large grill over the air duct high on the wall. The two men who sat across from me had their backs to it. I tried to give them the benefit of the doubt that they weren’t total idiots. They were probably just feeling cocky because they were the ones with the guns.
“You seem awfully calm for a man who’s just been kidnapped,” one of the men said.
I shrugged. “I’m just trying to figure out which one of my asshole friends put you up to this. Not that I have anything against a good prank, but it’s a wedding, for Christ’s sake.”
Following Kessler’s instructions, I couldn’t let on that I’d had any inkling I might be kidnapped. I would have preferred if the HEAT operation had gone to plan, but since I’d screwed that up, I was thankful Kessler had prepared me for this possibility.
“Your friends would actually do that to you? Seems kind of shitty.”
The man beside him shook his head. “Rich people are weird, dude.”
“Rich…” I furrowed my brow, pretending to ponder the situation. “Are you serious? Did you actually kidnap me? If so, I think you got the wrong guy. You must have been expecting one of the Buchanans or one of the dozen or so billionaire heirs at the wedding. I’m not your guy.”
“According to our orders, you are,” the second thug answered. “Don’t worry. We’re going to take you out of here in a helicopter, settle you in a nice, cushy place for a couple of days, and while you get a vacation, our boss will negotiate the details of your release.”
“Unless someone gets stupid,” guy number one chimed in, “we should have you home for Christmas.”
“Guys.” I shook my head. “I feel like you went to all this trouble for nothing. There’s nothing to negotiate. I make a nice living, but it’s not kidnapping-level money. And people are probably already looking for me. My girlfriend is definitely missing me by now.”
“Oh, man, I almost feel sorry for you,” the first thug said. “You seem like a decent kid, but your picker’s off, dude.”
The second guy grinned. “And by picker, he means pecker. I’m sure that tease promised you tonight would be the night, but dude, she was never going to do the horizontal mambo with you.”
I caught a glint from the vent cover. The signal that the HEAT team had found me. I didn’t know how they’d done it, but I did know each and every one of them was going to get a big smooch from me. Even that guy, Pasco, provided he didn’t have too much facial hair.
I shrugged. “To be fair, horizontal is overrated. I’m kind of an omnidirectional guy myself.”
That made them laugh.
“Poor dude,” thug number one said to guy number two. “How’d that old 90s song go?No, you’re never gonna get it,” he sang.
“My dudes.” I grinned. “I wouldn’t do it.”
“Wouldn’t do what?” thug one asked.
