The faltering spark of hope that this whole thing is random fizzles out. I knew it was a longshot, but still… The idea that he knows where he is, who he’s dealing with, and he still doesn’t care? That makes meextremelynervous.
I mean, who voluntarily breaks into the headquarters of a security company that employs six former Green Berets and a Night Stalker? Well-trained employees who make no secret of their background? Itsays it right on the website, for Pete’s sake—The Blade and Arrow staff has over sixty years of shared Special Forces experience between them.
“What do you want?” Rylan asks. He’s paler than usual, and his features are pinched in pain. But his expression is fierce as he pins our captor with his glare. “You went through all this effort to get in here. Obviously, it wasn’t random. So, why are you here? And what do you want?”
By the time Rylan finishes speaking, his normally controlled tone is close to a shout. His fury is a visible thing, snapping fire in his eyes.
“Don’t worry about why I’m here,” Bad Breath Needs a Shave snaps. “Just…” He scowls. “Just be quiet and let methink.”
Just let himthink?
Shouldn’t he have, I don’t know, thought about this whole planbeforehe did it? Rather than halfway through?
I exchange a quick glance with Rylan, and it looks like he’s thinking the same thing as me.
“Listen,” Rylan says, now more pacifying than threatening. “If you have a problem with Blade and Arrow, then you should take it up with me. Not with the women. Just let them go, and we can discuss this, man to man.”
“Ry,”Charlie whispers. She turns a desperate gaze on her husband. “No. Ineedyou. So does Sam.”
“Sam needs you,” Rylan replies. “As long as you two are safe, that’s all?—”
“Isn’t this sweet?” our captor interrupts. He casts asneering look at Rylan. “Offering to sacrifice yourself for your girlfriend?—”
“My wife,” Ry bites out. “And I will do anything to protect her.Andmy son. It’s clear you’re here because of Blade and Arrow?—”
“You weren’t supposed to behere!” Bad Breath Needs a Shave shoots back. “You’re supposed to be out of town. I called to check. All booked up until after the holidays. That’s what the lady who answered the phone said. All booked up!”
Rylan blinks. “You called us?”
“Yes! How else could I know when this damn place was supposed to be empty?”
But HQ is never empty. We always have at least one team member on site, plus the women and kids. That’s why Rylan is here while Cole, Leo, and Zane are working a job in Boston, and Nora and Jackson are visiting his family in Albany.
“Empty?” Rylan asks. “What would make you think that?”
Our captor rounds the conference table and advances on him. “Because. I told you. I called to hire you. Not really, of course. I wouldn’t hire Blade and Arrow if you paid me. But I just said I wanted to hire the full team for a big security job. And the lady who answered said the team was already booked. Then I asked about hiring a couple of you instead. She said no, that she couldn’t get me on the schedule until after the New Year.”
“So you thought that meant the place would be empty?” I ask. His reasoning doesn’t make sense. “Howdid you know the team wasn’t working locally? They all could have been here tonight.”
“Because I watched the fancy company car leave,” he retorts. “Yesterday morning. And then another car with two more people in it. That should have been everyone. I didn’t know there was a fucking family reunion going on here.”
Okay. So this guy clearly isn’t a local. If he lived in Sleepy Hollow, he’d know HQ isn’t just for business, but houses all the families, too. From what he’s saying, it sounds like he thought he could break in while the place was empty, to do… what?
“Well,” Rylan grits out. “You counted wrong. BecauseI’mhere.”
“Just you wouldn’t be a problem!” Our captor aims his weapon at Rylan. “I already shot you once. I could easily have killed you then!”
“You wouldn’t have gotten a shot off if you weren’t threatening tokillher.”
“She shouldn’t have been here!”
“She lives here!” Rylan’s face flushes with anger. “You broke in, grabbed an innocent woman, hurt her, held a gun?—”
“I didn’t mean to hurt her! She was going to run!”
“You shoved a gun into my stomach,” Georgia interjects. Her voice is thick with tears. “You threatened tokillme.”
The tension in the room is escalating quickly. Rylan looks furious. Bad Breath Needs a Shave appears to be on the verge of panic. Georgia and Charlie look absolutely terrified, and I’m not close behind.
