Page 80 of No Going Back

“He told me he was taking them to a theme park today. For him to be here, they must have been to his home.”

Guy swore under his breath. The look in Maddie’s eyes told him she’d reached the same conclusion as he had. To ensure the manager’s cooperation, the chances were his wife and children were being held somewhere, at the wrong end of a deadly weapon.

Maddie shook her hair free and fastened it in a tight pony tail. “I can’t let them hurt Tim or his family. I have to go.”

“No.” Guy wrapped his arms around her and stopped her in her tracks, tightening his hold on her as she tried to free herself.

“Let me go!”

The hoarse words shot a spear of pure fear through his heart. “Madeleine, surrendering to them isn’t the solution, and you know it. Come with me.”

He all but dragged her down the corridor and away from the frenzy in the lobby. When they reached an alcove far enough away not to be heard, he was sorely tempted to teach her to obey him the hard way.

“They’ve brought him in to draw you out, but they have no idea where you are. They’ll need to get him to call you, so if they are jamming signals, they’ll have to deactivate whatever they’re using to do it. That could be our chance. Have you got your phone?”

Maddie pulled the handset out of her pocket and set the ring tone to silent. Not a moment too soon. Seconds later, the screen lit up with a picture of the general manager. Maddie looked to Guy for confirmation that she should answer. When he nodded, she took a second or two to collect herself, then swiped to accept the call.

At the same time, he used his own phone to contact the emergency services and summon assistance, while keeping track of what Maddie was saying. He had to hand it to her—she could act breezy and unconcerned in a way that would put an Oscar winner to shame.

“Hi, Tim. How’s it going? Shouldn’t you be on your way to the park by now? Yeah, it’s my day off. I’m with a friend. Is something wrong? What sort of emergency?”

Again, Maddie looked to him for direction. Almost without thinking, he used a hand signal from the old days, indicating that she should play for time, and was impressed by her immediate, accurate reaction. She hadn’t forgotten her training after all.

The call ended. Guy’s mind raced, considering the implications of the concession they’d hopefully just won. The odds might just have edged in their favour. They had twenty minutes, and he hoped to God they wouldn’t have to fake Maddie’s return to the hotel at the end of it.

And, by some miracle, while the jammer had been deactivated, he’d received a message from Alex to confirm help was already on its way, and he was leading his group to the village.

“So what do we do now?” Maddie asked when he gave her the good news.

Before he could answer, a single gunshot rang out followed by terrified screams. A look of utter horror crossed Maddie’s face, matching the surge of sickening dread that almost choked him. She started towards the corner, no doubt intending to get a look at what was going on. He made a grab for her arm to hold her back, and signalled to her to let him check instead.

A fresh body lay on the floor—not the general manager, who was a sobbing wreck, but one of the other hostages. By his clothing, it looked as if they’d executed another member of the hotel’s staff. A soft gasp to his right told him Maddie had ignored him and was peering around him. When they got out of this, she was going over his knee every day for a bloody month.

“I can’t let them do this, Guy,” she whispered. “I have to go—”

“No, you don’t. Help’s coming. We sit tight. Think about it. None of them are masked. How many survivors do you think they’re planning to leave?” The thought sickened him.

“I knew him.”

Guy hardened his heart. He couldn’t afford the grief in her voice to be their undoing. “You still do—look at his hand, the outstretched one.”

He’d only just caught the movement of the man’s fingers—he was still alive, at least for now, although heaven help him if he was bleeding out.

“What just happened?”

The new voice belonged to Ryan Quinn, who’d appeared at their side, armed with a mini Uzi machine pistol he’d liberated from a fallen attacker. Extra clips were tucked into the top of his jeans.

“They shot one of the hostages.”

Ryan frowned. “Why?”

Guy shook his head. “That’s the bad news. I can only guess they weren’t happy with the prospect of having to wait another twenty minutes for Maddie to get back to the hotel.”

“Logic doesn’t often come into the actions they take in situations like this. I remember,” Maddie added, her expression grave.

“Do we have any good news?” Ryan sounded hopeful but not convinced.

“Alex made contact. Help’s on the way, but a lot could happen before it arrives. Look.”