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“Are you okay?” I asked. “Are you hurt?” I scanned her body for blood or bruises. Her jacket was missing.
“I’m fine.” Her body shook. “They got Crew. But I ran. I kept running.”
I rubbed my thumb against her cheek. “How did you get away? Who was it?” I tried to control the questions. She was shaken. “Where are your shoes?”
“I don’t know. I lost them somewhere.” She shook her head, staring at her bare feet. She was in as much disbelief as I was.
“It’s okay. It’s okay.” I brought her back to my chest. “You’re safe.” I wanted to hold her here forever and block out the darkness that had tried to take her from me.
I heard Kimble from a few feet away. Shit. I reached for the phone on the floor. “Never mind. I’ve got her.” I hung up and shoved the phone in my pocket before he could ask more questions. I’d text or call him later. “It was someone I called to help,” I explained quickly. “You’re here. I can’t believe it.” I pulled her to me again.
“I’m fine, but Crew. We have to get him back.”
I nodded. “Okay. Tell me what you can. What did you see? What do you remember?” I asked. I realized I was asking a lot of her in this moment. God, I hated being the one pressing for too much, too son.
“I was walking outside to the car to get him. I saw him from the lobby. He was on his phone. Before I could tell him, a black van pulled up, but I didn’t have a chance to react. It was—” She paused to breathe. “I couldn’t put it together fast enough before there was a bag over his head, and I froze.” She stopped for a second.
“It’s okay. Take your time.” I knew there wasn’t much I could do to soothe her.
“They threw him in the back of the van. I am sorry. I should have screamed out or something to warn him. Gone after them. Pulled him out of there.”
I took her face in my hands. “You don’t have to apologize. You and Crew were attacked. There is nothing to be sorry about. Going after them would have been suicide. I’m glad you didn’t.”
She dropped her head, searching for a breath, and probably for an answer. Why Crew? Why now?
“Someone grabbed me, but he only got one arm and more of my sleeve. I started to fight him. I was able to keep going. I guess that’s how I lost my jacket.”
“I didn’t see it on the sidewalk.” I had combed the area around the entire block. Someone must have circled back and collected it.
“How did I not see it coming?” she asked. Her voice cracked. “What did Kimble and my father always say to me a thousand times? Assess. Assess. Assess. I didn’t assess anything.” She stared at me as if I was going to scold her.
I shook my head. “Hey, this is not your fault.” I wanted her to believe it. She was the one who had been attacked, not the other way around.
She huffed. “On the way down to the street…in the elevator all I could think about was you. What we were going to do with the building. The offices. The merger. How we were going to save your sister. I had other things on my mind, more important things than my safety. And look what happened.”
“It’s not your fault.”
Her eyes blinked with a distant look as if something had gone cold inside her. “What happens to him is my responsibility. It is my fault. He works for me. I should have protected him.”
I disagreed. How did she expect to defend herself and Crew from an armed group, prepared for an attack? It was an illogical assumption. Not realistic on any level.
“I need to get you out of here.” It already felt dangerous that we were alone in the building. What if they came back for her? I didn’t have my security detail with me. We didn’t stand a chance against more than one armed man.
“What about Crew? We have to find him. We have to get him back. I need to look for him.”
“We will. But first, I need for you to be safe. I’m going to hide you.”
“Hide me?” she balked. “No.” She shoved off me and stood. It was as if she wanted to pretend she had never fallen into my arms.
“Someone tried to kidnap you. Again.” I stared at her. “They will come back. It’s not if they will. It’s when they will.”
Kennedy turned toward the windows. “I can’t believe this is happening. I can’t believe someone has Crew.”
“Let’s go somewhere safe and then we’ll figure it out.” The longer we debated, the more likely they would return. This wasn’t a safe place to stay.
Kennedy’s arms were crossed in defiance as she stared out on the city below. A city she had ruled and controlled for years.
“I won’t let them keep him,” she stated. There was something cold in her voice. Something I’d never heard before.
