Page 121 of Lion’s Den

Trey chuckled. “I have three, and they know how to behave. Too bad your man doesn’t do the same. He’d enjoy the benefits of having women follow orders and meet his every need.”

She grimaced. “Eww.”

The big man pushed Sedona through woods rife with underbrush, saplings, and fallen trees. By the time they reached the back of the target estate, cuts and scrapes covered Sedona’s arms and hands. If she lived through the next hour, she’d have to treat the injuries to prevent infection. She had some belief in her ability to do what Simpson demanded of her.

Simpson looked at another guard. “Chase, are you ready?”

“Yes, sir.” Chase produced a black gadget from his pocket. “One push of this red button, and the security grid goes down, and communication is blocked.” He presented the gadget to Simpson. “Would you like the honor, sir?”

The Collector looked pleased. He looked toward the estate mere feet in front of him and pushed the button.

Sedona didn’t know what she’d expected, but nothing changed.

Chase, however, didn’t seem to agree. He watched his smartphone screen, and seconds later, his mouth twitched. That was the closest thing to a smile that she’d seen on Chase’s face.

“Can you tell from that tiny screen if the button brought down their defenses?”

“What do you care? All you have to do is walk on a wooden beam. If my feet were smaller, I could do it.”

“Try it sometime when you’re one hundred feet in the air without a net beneath you, then tell me that again.”

Anger burned in his eyes. “Don’t push me, lady. We’ve already spent too much time on this plot. We need to finish it and move on.”

“You’re quite right,” Simpson said. “However, Miss Hart is correct. Since you didn’t have this gadget deploy fireworks, you’ll have to tell us if your new toy worked.”

Following another glare at Sedona, he nodded at Simpson. “It worked. See.” He turned his phone to show the electrical energy gauge was at zero. “Right about now, Lyons has figured out something is wrong with the security grids at the perimeter, but he doesn’t know that his is down in the tower, too, since the electricity inside his home is up and running. Everything appears normal.”

Lyons? Sedona stared at the beautiful estate. She should have recognized it on sight. Martin Lyons, the richest man in the southeastern United States, lived in a castle that he’d had designed based on an English castle.

Her heart sank. She couldn’t help Simpson hurt someone else, even someone with a sketchy reputation like Martin Lyons. “This is Lion’s Den, isn’t it? This is Martin Lyons’ home.”

“Very good.”

“Why are we doing this?”

“It doesn’t matter to you, does it? Trey, it’s time. Give the signal.”

The men, split into four teams of eight men each, surged toward the estate in a carefully coordinated plan of attack.

Gunfire shattered the silence of the peaceful night as Trey jerked Sedona behind the dubious safety of an old tree. He shoved her back against the bark. “Don’t move.” He palmed his gun and held the weapon by his thigh so it was ready for him to use.

Since Simpson was too far away to hear, Sedona glanced at Trey. “Why are we breaking into Lion’s Den? Doesn’t he know that Martin Lyons is very protective of his privacy? He must have backups to the key security system.”

Look at her, sounding almost like Cam. Her eyes stung at the thought of the man she loved. Would he arrive in time, or were they both destined to die tonight?

The guard stilled. “Can’t you guess?”

“The only thing I can think of is Lyons has something valuable that Simpson wants.” Yet that didn’t sound right, either. “Help a girl out, Trey. What does your boss want?”

“Are you sure you really want an answer to that question?”

Did she? Her conscience wouldn’t let her do otherwise. Sedona needed to know what was so important, so all-consuming that Simpson was driven to achieve his goal. “Tell me.”

“The boss wants Lyons dead.”

CHAPTER THIRTY

SEDONA’S BREATH STALLED in her lungs. “You can’t be serious. Trey, please tell me you’re joking.”