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Then hands grabbed my arms as a zip tie quickly secured my wrists. More hands grabbed my legs and zip tied my ankles. I didn’t even have time to scream, not that I could’ve, because a piece of duct tape was stuck over my mouth. My eyes widened in fear as a pillowcase was thrown over my head, and then I was tossed inside alimo.
Sitting in the dark and silence gave me time to think and feel sorry for myself. Why didn’t I listen? Why did I always think I was strong enough to handle anything? Clearly, I wasn’t. I’d proven that again and again. Only this time, my mistake might be fatal. There was no way for Blaise to find me. I struggled to remain calm. There was no way for me to know who had kidnapped me, where I was being taken, or if I was even alone in the limo. I bounced around for a little while. The vehicle finally came to a stop. I braced as I was yanked through the door and hefted over some man’s shoulder. Finally, after going through a series of doors, I was dropped into a hardback wooden chair, and the pillowcase was yanked off my head. I squinted as I grew accustomed to the flood of light, which spilled down from above. My vision was obscured by the figure looming over me who seemed to be securing me to the chair. Once I was strapped in to his satisfaction, the duct tape was ripped from my face, which had me wincing. As my surroundings came into focus, I realized I seemed to be in some kind of warehouse. Leaned against the table a few feet from me were Ira and a man I’d only seen in campaignads.
“Maggie Wallace,” Sterling Girard began, “it’s a pleasure to finally meetyou.”
With a scowl I responded, “I wish I could say thesame.”
13
Blaise
“Gentlemen,let me know when you’re ready to sign with Draco Security. I know we have the technology you need to protect your files and your clients.” I folded my hands on the table and leaned back confidently. The presentation hadn’t gone as smoothly as I’d hoped. Thanks to my phone, I’d been distracted. First Mishal sent me atext.
Mishal: See you soon,bro.
Knowinghe could possibly arrive at the house before I would had me on edge. Then Fredo sent me atext.
Fredo:Call as soon as possible,sir.
Apparently,waiting until I had finished speaking to the Brown Group wasn’t soon enough for him. Already, my phone was vibrating with notice of his phone call. “Please excuse me. I have to take this.” I nodded as I grabbed my cell and exited the conference room. My office was around the corner and I ducked into it, shutting the door behind me. “What’s going on, Fredo? What the hell couldn’twait?”
“Miss Maggie…” He inhaled deeply, but it sounded ragged and he was definitely out ofbreath.
For once in my life, I felt ice-cold. One hand gripped the side of the desk to help me stand. “What aboutMaggie?”
“She was kidnapped, sir.” Fredo coughed a few times in an effort to cover hisemotions.
“Calm down, Fredo. I don’t blame you. I’m sure she did something stupid and pig-headed.” I blew out a breath as I loaded my briefcase. Then I strode through my office door and shouted orders at my personal assistant as I flew past her. “Family emergency. Reschedule the conference call. I’ll be in touch as soon as possible.” I dashed down the hall and punched the button for the executive elevator. Even though I was holding the phone to my ear, I was so distracted, I mostly forgot Fredo was on the other end until I heard him sniffle. “Pull yourself together. I’m going to lose service for a few minutes. Let me exit the parking garage, then I’llcall.”
“Yes, sir.” Fredo sounded so distraught, I knew this had to be somethingterrible.
The elevator landed in the parking garage, and as soon as the doors opened, I raced to my car, fumbling with the key fob along the way. I yanked open my car door, dropped into my seat, and jammed the key fob into the dashboard. Once the engine roared to life, I squealed through the parking lot and out onto the street. When I stopped at the first light, I hit the button to call Fredo back. “What happened?” I asked before he even had a chance to greetme.
“There was a girl at the gate. Miss Maggie thought it was a school fundraiser. She went outside and opened the gate. They snatched her, threw her in a limo. I didn’t even get the plates.” I could hear his footsteps and knew he waspacing.
“Two questions. First, is Mishal there yet?” My heart raced as I tried to think reasonably. Though I was calm and confident when I was the one in charge and helping others, since Maggie was the one in trouble, I could barelythink.
“Not yet,sir.”
“Okay; when he arrives, I need to speak with him.” I inhaled deeply before asking the question that was most important to me. “Did you give her thenecklace?”
“I did, sir.” He whimpered. “She’s wearingit.”
“Thank God.” I rubbed the back of my neck. The tension was already making my muscles uncomfortably tight. “I’ll be home as soon as possible. Don’t leave the phone unattended for even asecond.”
“You think we’ll get a ransom request?” He coughedagain.
“We might. Does Malcolm know yet?” I winced, fearing I’d be dealing with some wildly emotional father while coping with my ownfears.
“I couldn’t tell him, sir.” He sniffled. “I rather hoped you’d reclaim her before we had to have thatdiscussion.”
“Good thinking. That’s what I’ll plan to do. See you in ten, Fredo.” Then I ended our call. This was normally a solid thirty-minute commute, but I was highly motivated to get home. While I sped down the highway, I worked to open the app. Unfortunately, it was having trouble hooking up to the satellite while the car was in motion. With this knowledge, I tossed the phone in the cup holder and focused on the road. The sooner I made it home, the sooner I could findMaggie.
The minute I slowed down and my mind quieted, I sensed a change in my flutter, how erratic it had become, slow one minute, fast and intense the next. This wasn’t helping me in the least. Finally, I turned onto the driveway, opened the gate, and started driving through when a motorcycle passed me and rushed into the courtyard. I swear Mishal did these things to annoy me. Usually, I’d emerge from the car cursing him out, but right now, I was so fucking grateful to see him. This time when I pulled in behind him, I stepped out of my vehicle and threw my arms around him before saying aword.
“Blaise?” Mishal, the perpetual joker, the bad boy, pulled out of my hug and eyed me curiously. “What’swrong?”
“You always were perceptive.” Ifrowned.
