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“Making them believe I’m the one they’re looking for doesn’t seem like enough. There’s gotta be more for us to do.” He leaned against one of the trees and rested his head back. His looking powerless was such a foreign occurrence.
“For that, we’d need to get Danny and Mia into our little deceit. We can’t do more without them.”
“That defeats the whole purpose of what we’re doing. Maybe I should go away for a while, pull the cartel’s focus away from here.”
“We can’t let the guys get blindsided. It could be just as fatal.” I sat down on a tree stump. “Besides...I’m just as worried as you are. I’m pissed, and I hate that my own father is somehow behind this. But maybe we’re also being a little unfair. Mia can hold her own. She’s smart, she’s quick on her feet. I just left Izzie under her security. I’d never do that if I didn’t think Mia couldn’t handle it.”
“I know that. Damn, she’s been Gabe and Haley’s personal security for years now.” Zach took off his beanie to run one hand through his hair. “But she can be so reckless sometimes.”
“I don’t think that’s the right word. I’d say...fearless?”
“That’s just as bad,” he stressed.
“At the end of the day, she’s a protector. Much like we are.”
“Exactly. We know what we face, being the way we are and doing what we do. I can’t help thinking we’ve had our fair share of miracles every time we come home from a screwed-up assignment. Every time we do, instead of feeling relief, I feel we’re just overstaying our welcome with Lady Luck. And I can’t...” He rubbed the palms of his hands on his closed eyes. “I can’t get this image out of my head that there will come a day when one of us won’t come back home. I don’t think I could stand it if it were Mia.” I almost couldn’t hear his whispered words.
A new gust of wind struck us, its sound showing us Mother Nature was awake and displaying her strength. I couldn’t stop myself from thinking that felt like an omen. I never feared rain. But the odd one that was forming seemed to bring a warning.
“I think we should go back. We won’t accomplish anything here today. We can get one of those fake trees that smell like the real deal. I need something hot to drink, and we both need to enjoy our time off with family,” I suggested.
We headed back to our cars in silence. As we were getting closer, I heard both our phones ping repeatedly, having finally reached an area with service. I felt my stomach drop even before I read the many messages.
Text after text from Danny asking where we were and why Mia wasn’t answering her phone. Aaron letting us know someone from the cartel was seen again in our area. But what froze me in my tracks was seeing the message I’d never imagined I’d see.
The panic button at Bryants & Walker had been triggered, proving I was once again mistaken: they’d come for us.
And we weren’t ready.
I didn’t know how long I panicked over Mia. After they ambushed us, they locked the door we walked in from, tied us to a chair, and left us in the conference room, closing the other two that led to the storage.
Mia’s head was hanging low, but she still seemed to be breathing. I had no way of knowing how long she’d been out. They’d taken our cell phones, and there was no clock on the wall. After the nasty crash she endured, any one minute was too long.
It still wasn’t clear on what the men wanted. I thought for sure they’d just hurt us. But I could hear them shouting and walking around in the storage.
After what felt like forever, Mia started shifting and groaning. Much to my relief, she blinked, although she seemed dazed.
“Thank God. Mia? Are you okay?” With foggy eyes, she peered around until reality seemed to crash her. She tried to get up abruptly and stopped mid-motion, grunting with her eyes closed and fisting her hands. “Honey, stop. Take it easy.”
She frowned down at her arms, which were restrained with zip ties to the armrest, then peered at me for a few seconds before it dawned on her I was also there.
“Are you okay? Did they hurt you?”
“I’m worried about you. Michael hit your head, and your leg made a weird sound when the other one kicked you.”
“Did they hurt you?” she enunciated.
“No. They just left us here.” I lifted my chin in their direction. “They’re in the storage. I don’t know what they’re doing.”
She leaned her head back, her eyes closed against the clarity assaulting her injured head. “They must be looking for something.”
“How do you know?”
“If they were after us, they’d be in this room right now, and we wouldn’t be talking. We took them by surprise. They’re after something else.”
“Like what?”
She squeezed her eyes and opened them slowly. “Probably our archives with our ongoing investigation on them. What we collected over the years since Danny and I worked at the agency.”
