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She shook her head. “My memory’s not that good. Something about Florida? And ghosts. I can’t remember all of it.”
“Where’s your tablet now?”
Anna licked her lips. If she told him she’d left it in her purse, would he just go after it? “I…I left it with a friend. She was hurt at the explosion at work, and I thought she’d like something to read. She was going into rehab.”
Becks lifted his hand and hit her across the face. Crying out, she held her cheek as she stared at him. He shook his head. “You didn’t visit the hospital.”
“Hitting me isn’t going to get you anything,” she told him, rubbing her cheek. “You may have had someone following me, but haven’t you ever heard of messenger services? They go in and out of our offices all the time. All of us in the office today were run off our feet from the minute we walked in the door, getting things cleaned up and organized. I didn’t even have a chance to go out and buy lunch, much less visit the hospital in person, so I sent a care package instead. I can get you want you want—but only if we have a deal.”
He reached out, grabbed her by the front of her shirt, and pulled her to her feet. He smelled like antiseptic. “I’m getting tired of your games.”
Clutching at his wrist with one hand and holding her blanket with the other, Anna shook her head. “You hurt me, you get nothing. Nothing!”
He swept his gaze down her body. “We’re a lot alike, you and I. We’re both…damaged.”
She twisted out of his grip, hearing cloth tear. She backed up until she hit the wall. Just then, a shot echoed from somewhere deeper in the house, and Becks turned. She didn’t know what was going on, but this was her opportunity—she had to make the most of it. Grabbing her blanket, she threw it over his head. He fought at it, but Anna slipped past him and out the door he’d left open.
She ran looking for open doorways, for escape. Someone snagged her wrist, and she brought up a fist, but Gage pulled her to him. “Relax. I’ve got you.”
* * *
Gage held Anna as she sagged against him. “He’s back there,” she said, pointing down the hallway. The house his team had emerged in was a maze of rooms and halls. So far, they’d spotted one guard, who’d shot at them. Scotty had taken the guy down, but they’d fanned out after that point, and he had no idea where the others were. He wasn’t worried. His teammates were more than capable of taking care of themselves. His job now was simple: keep Anna safe.
He pulled her with him, but she braced herself. “No, you don’t understand, he’s back there.”
“Who is?”
“Becks. The guy who had me kidnapped. I heard him talking with Coran. They grabbed him two days ago, right before the attack on the office. He’s been here the whole time, and he’s in trouble. He had this file that Becks wanted—a file that he sent to my tablet, I guess to keep it safe. That’s what these men have been after all this time. But what will they do to him if I get away? They know he doesn’t have the file anymore—that I’m the only one who can give it to them. I’m worried they’ll kill him.”
Gage was tempted to say, “So what?” Coran Williams had gotten Anna into this. The old man was hardly on the side of the angels. But if Anna was putting on the brakes about getting out of here, it might be faster to help Coran than argue with her.
He put Anna behind him and put a finger to his lips. Slowly, he eased down the narrow hall. They passed three doors on the right, each of which he kicked open, but he found no one. Anna wouldn’t look into the third room—the one with the mattress and a pack of MREs in a box. Gage got the feeling that was where she’d been held. The windows were boarded over. Great place to lock someone up. Judging by this house, Becks’s family had all been weird.
Taking Anna with him, Gage poked into two more rooms—no Coran. But then he smelled smoke.
“That’s it. We’re getting out.” He threw Anna over his shoulder rather than try to negotiate. The smoke was starting to coil, gathering at the ceiling and thickening. Gage stumbled, half blind, choking on it. He knew he should get down on his knees, get below the smoke, and Anna’s pounding on his back finally convinced him to put her on her feet.
They both dropped and crawled toward fresh air.
They came out on a back porch, coughing. Gage stood and picked Anna up again to carry her a safe distance from the house. Flames weren licking out of a downstairs window. “Kyle! Scotty…Spence!” he shouted.
The guys stumbled out from all directions—Scotty emerging from an upstairs window and shinnying down a drainpipe that barely held his weight. Soot streaked his face. Gage glanced at Anna. “We can’t stay here. Can you walk?”
She nodded.
They took off for the woods as fast as they could—none of them were up to a run. From there, they watched the house burn to the ground.
Gage turned to Anna. Her shirt was torn, her hair a mess—but she was alive. Shivering, too. He noticed then that how cold it was. “It’s getting late,” he said.
Kyle pushed off from the tree he’d been leaning against. “We’d better move.”
They made their way back to where they’d left the car…only to find it gone. Kyle swore and kicked at a rock, and Spencer threw up his hands. “So much for evidence. Anna’s tablet was in there—along with her purse and the rest of our stuff.”
“It’s not all bad,” Scotty said. He held up Gage’s phone. “I copied a few files earlier. Let’s start the walk back to town. My bet is the car’s been ditched not too far from here.”
Gage glanced at Anna. She wasn’t looking at him. Even though he’d gotten her away from her captors, he couldn’t help feeling like he’d let her down. First, he’d let her get taken. Then he’d let her captors get their hands on her tablet, which was the one bargaining chip they’d had. Did she see him as a failure of a protector? Because that’s how he was starting to see himself.
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