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“They aren’t in the street,” Callum said.
The rest of the team fell silent for a minute.
“What about Belinda?” Lake turned to Belinda’s brother, Daniel. “Has she got any experience in the jungle, any survival or outdoor skills?”
Daniel had paled to the point of being unrecognisable as his action-hero persona. “She made a movie once where she lived in a cabin in the Canadian wilderness.”
“That’s a no, then,” Lake said.
“They are so stuffed,” Ryan whispered to Elle, who nodded.
“Looks like we have to get to them before they start hiking out of there,” Lake said. “Elle, can you narrow the search area down further?”
“Working on it.” Elle’s eyes didn’t leave her screen. “The satellite phone signal is easier to trace than I expected it to be. They obviously didn’t expect anyone to follow the call back to them,”
“Any word on the missing driver?” Lake said.
“He’s involved,” Elle whispered to Ryan, bringing him up to speed. “Witnesses saw him disable Beast and shove him in the car. Then the coward made a run for it.”
Ryan was furious. It was people like that who gave their whole business a bad name.
“Aye, I’ve heard something,” Callum growled in his thick Scottish brogue. “I got a text from Violet. I sent her and Noah to the airport, and they hit the jackpot. They found the bastard trying to make a run for it.” Callum’s eyes narrowed and he got that look his team liked to call Killer-Callum. It meant someone was about to get hurt. “They’re on their way back with him. Give me five minutes alone with the guy and I’ll get the information we need.”
Lake nodded and turned to Dimitri, yet another American on their London team. Ryan was beginning to feel outnumbered. “Belinda’s bodyguards?”
Dimitri shook his head. His wife and partner, Megan, stood beside him. The blonde Scot looked more like a Barbie wannabe than a security specialist, but Ryan knew exactly how deadly she could be—sometimes totally by accident. Megan had recently finished her trainee period and was now considered a full member of the team—something that made everyone nervous.
“Let me answer this one, babe,” she said. “The guys are morons. They’re drunk. They didn’t even see their charge leave the room. But they could rate the racks of every woman present. I’m an eight.” She frowned at Dimitri. “Told you they were bloody idiots. My boobs are a solid ten.”
“At least,” Dimitri said, making Megan beam at him before she turned back to Lake.
“They insist they had nothing to do with the kidnapping,” she said.
“Yeah, right,” Rachel said with a snort, her eyes on her phone rather than on the group.
“I’m with Rachel—” Harvard started.
“You wish,” Rachel muttered.
He grinned in her direction. “They’ve worked as a team for years. Seems suspicious that the night their driver decides to sell out their charge, they’re otherwise occupied.”
“They’re always like that,” Daniel said. “That’s why Julia wanted her to fire them and take on a Benson Security team instead.”
The kid’s face was ashen and his hands trembled. Ryan gave him credit for the fact he was still standing, but he was totally out of his depth.
“He doesn’t need to be here for this,” Ryan whispered to Elle.
“He’s the family representative. His mother was hysterical and his dad took her up to their room. They left him behind to keep them informed.”
Ryan’s eyes were drawn to movement behind the bar. The shadows seemed to solidify, and Grunt appeared. The man mountain was Joe’s best friend, best man at his wedding and the most taciturn guy Ryan had ever met. Grunt worked out of the Scottish office with Lake and was married to Megan’s twin sister, Claire. Claire didn’t have anything to do with security work. As far as Ryan could tell, her main function was to soothe her husband and make sure he didn’t go on a rampage.
Sure enough, as Grunt stalked further into the room, a small blonde trailed in his wake. She was heavily pregnant with baby number three, the first two being twins, and was eating her way through a plate piled high with sandwiches. Ryan’s stomach grumbled, and he checked his watch. It had been over an hour since he’d last had a snack.
“I’m calling Joe,” Grunt said.
“Not a good idea,” Lake said. “Wait until we have more information.”
“I think Julia should know about her sister,” Claire said around a mouthful of food. “She’ll be upset if she finds out her sister was in danger while they were on honeymoon. I know I would have been if Megan had been kidnapped during my honeymoon.”
