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“The car is at the front gate,” one of the men said from outside the door.
I turned, sucked in a hard breath, and walked out of the office.
“Remember, keep your cool. We’re gonna be right behind you,” Logan urged behind me as I headed to the side door of the warehouse.
Laz opened the door and stopped, turning to me. “I’m going to be right behind you, okay?”
I swallowed and nodded, my pulse racing. “It’s going to be okay.” I wanted to believe that. “Whatever it takes to get her back.”
“Whatever it takes.” He leaned down and kissed me.
The sleek, black Audi was waiting at the gate. The driver standing outside the door, staring at Logan’s men as they eye-balled him. I broke away from Laz and made my way slowly. My mind was racing, replaying my daughter’s screams.
The gate opened as I neared. One glance over my shoulder and I left Laz behind, heading for the driver.
“Ms. VanHalen.” He nodded, motioning me to lift my arms as I neared.
“Watch your fucking hands,” Laz snapped as the driver neared.
But I had no choice but to comply, lifting my arms as I stopped at the passenger’s door. The pat down was fast and useless, finding nothing. I was sure it was just a display of strength, one my father demanded. The driver opened the rear door and I slipped inside. There was a tense second after he closed the door and walked around to slip behind the wheel, when he met Lazarus’s stare. I caught the movement of my husband’s lips and didn’t have to imagine what he’d be saying.
My stomach was hard and heavy when he climbed behind the wheel, started the engine and backed out of the driveway. I tried to slow my breaths and instead focused on where we drove. We headed not to the expensive residential Estates west of the city but to the city itself.
I wrung my fingers, fighting the need to look behind us to find the familiar dark Explorer. Towering buildings loomed in the distance as we headed for the Underground tunnel that would take us into the heart of the city. The driver accelerated hard, watching a rear-view mirror and a few minutes after we plunged into darkness, he hit the emergency lights and indicated pulling over hard.
“What are we doing?” Panic flared as I stared at the driver.
Cars flew passed us in a blur. I caught the hulking dark outline of the familiar four-wheel drive. Headlights blurred as the driver climbed out and then rounded at the front of the car to open my door. “Cell, Ms. VanHalen.”
Anger burned with the name. The first time it was annoying, now it just pissed me off. “At least call me by my proper name,” I snapped and handed it over.
But the moment I moved he grabbed me. Panic flared as I was spun and pushed against the side of the car. Headlights flared from the other motorists, watching this as they passed as the driver moved a device over my body until a piercing squeal came at the front of my bra.
“Off,” he commanded. “Now, or I’ll cut it off you.”
I clenched my grip, tightening my wedding band against my finger. Then slowly turned. “In the car at least.”
I jerked my gaze to him. His lips curled with a cruel snarl. For a second, I didn’t think he was going to allow me the decency until with a jerk of his head he motioned me inside.
I climbed in, my hands shaking as I worked the strap of my bra under my sleeves then reached around and hooked it at the back. I tugged the black lace garment free, handing it over as he stood in the open door. His gaze lingered a little too long at my breasts. I clenched my jaw, biting down on all the things I wanted to say.
My father wanted to play games, then I’d play. The driver held my stare as I climbed out, motioning to a car that pulled into the emergency bay in front of us. Of course, there was a diversion. I ground my jaw and stepped out, leaving him behind, but the new driver was even less of a gentleman. Nodding toward the side of the car. “Hands up.”
“We just did this,” I snapped, but still I lifted my hands.
He pulled a wand out of his pocket, sweeping it over my arms and down my body. I tensed as he neared my breasts.
“Cell, Ms. VanHalen,” the smarmy bastard muttered.
A nerve twitched in the corner of my eye as I handed it over. The back of my phone was open in an instant and my SIM card snapped in two before it was tossed to the ground. He reached out, handing me the cracked cell. I took one look at it and snarled. “Keep it.” I yanked open the rear door myself and slipped inside.
We took off, pulling out hard into the flow of traffic and exiting the underground tunnel at the first sign. For half an hour we drove through the city, taking turn after turn until even I was lost.
Until finally we found ourselves on the other side and leaving the city center behind. I tried to find a bead on our location as residential houses replaced buildings. I didn’t even have to try to search for Laz behind us; after all the driving, he’d be long gone. My only hope was the trackers embedded in my bra and behind my wedding ring.
We pulled into a quiet estate filled with the kinds of houses my father my would own. Expensive, distant, sitting back from the street. I couldn’t stop the shudders as we slowed at a black gate. A guard stood inside the fence line, with a leash in his hand and a savage looking German Shepherd at his side.
He watched us, then the street as the car pulled up and the driver wound down his window, punching in the code into the code pad and waiting for the gate to open. A towering concrete structure rose in the distance as we drove forward. Black tinted windows reflected the sun. It didn’t look like a house, but a bunker. A fort that looked impenetrable, locking him and my daughter inside forever. My stomach tightened at the thought. I tried to force the image of that back, but it clung to my mind.
