Page 182 of Her Defiant Warrior

“Was Dallas her final destination?” Jase asked.

Brax shook his head. “She flew into Virginia two days before Gideon’s house blew up.”

“So, she’s in charge of the Kraken,” Kostya said.

Mateo could give one good shit about Amanda.

“How do you know this, Braxton?” Kostya asked.

“I have a contact who works at Interpol,” Braxton explained. “They used their facial recognition software and provided her current passport information. She’s traveling under the name of Alice Law.”

“Do you know where she is now?”

Braxton shook his head. “She hasn’t used any planes since she flew into Norfolk. No credit cards under the name of Alice Law have been used, nor has a driver’s license been reported.”

“Gideon, is there any way that you can isolate the time that Ivan was using the Starbucks’ IP address and see other emails that were being used during that time period?” Mateo asked.

Gideon looked over at Jada. She shrugged. “It’s definitely worth a shot. It’ll take a while. We won’t have anything for at least twenty-four hours, but it’s a good thought.”

“I’ve got to go.” Mateo headed for the door.

“Mateo, we don’t have a plan. I don’t want you going off half-cocked.” Kostya said.

“You all will come up with a plan. I’m going to visit my girlfriend.”

He moved to the hallway, and Jase stood in his way.

“The lieutenant told you to stay.”

Mateo looked Jase in the eye. “If this were Bonnie, would you stay?”

Jase stared at him for six seconds, then stepped aside. Mateo was not surprised when Braxton followed him out the door.

“You better not be trying to talk me out of this,” Mateo said as he jogged to his truck.

“Fuck no. I’m here as your wingman.”

“Good.”

When she finally opened her eyes after being tased, she was in her dining room. The pretty light fixture that she was so happy to have found was smashed on the floor. Her dining room table had been shoved up against the wall, and her chairs were tossed in a pile in her living room. She was hanging from where her light fixture used to be, her hands duct taped together. Her mouth was duct taped shut.

The crazy florist was grinning up at her. There was a man at her kitchen island taking apples and oranges out of her fruit bowl and putting them into one of her pretty pillowcases.

Lainey looked around the room and saw no sign of Xena. Maybe she ran away and was hiding in her doggie bed.

Please God, let her be hiding.

“You stole our money,” the blonde woman said.

Lainey shook her head.

“Yes, you did. And we want it back. It’s really simple. Tell us where you’ve hidden it, tell us how to get it, and we might let you live. Do you understand?”

Lainey shook her head wildly, her hair flying around and stinging her face.

The woman looked over her shoulder at the man. “It’s a pity. We’re going to have to do this the hard way.”

“I like the hard way.” The man grinned. He tied a knot in the pillowcase where the fruit was bundled, then, with the rest of the free material, he swung it around. “I’m going to enjoy this.”