“Yeah, it’s great that every asshole with a twelve gauge will be on the lookout for us. Once they find out Hollister is dead and the money is gone, they’ll be gunning for us.”
Callie had known that these men intended to kill Zane if they got their hands on him, but her heart skipped a couple of beats at the verbal acknowledgment of their plan. She couldn’t wrap her head around the idea that Zane might die. A vision of his big, beautiful body lying still on the ground swamped her senses, and she couldn’t stop the small sob that choked out of her throat. The men in the front seat didn’t seem to notice her distress.
“We’ll be on a plane to Shanghai before anyone knows what happened. No one even knows Sonny is dead yet. The last I heard, Ellis thinks he’s the turncoat. He put out a hit on him. Ellis thinks his own right-hand man turned on him and is planning this heist.”
Leander’s hand came out, and they shared an obnoxious high five. “Damn straight he thinks that. It’s what we told him. We didn’t mention that we killed the asshole ourselves, but only after he gave up the password. It’s too bad Ellis is such a paranoid bastard. If he’d just given Sonny the account number, we’d be free and clear by now, but no, he has to hide the account number in a tat. Who thinks to do that?”
Worthington shrugged. “Hey, it worked for the dude. He hid twenty million dollars right under the nose of the DEA. Our own agent walked around with the evidence on his chest for years. I kind of admire the guy.”
There was a long sigh. Leander’s head shook. “Why fucking China? Couldn’t we go to a country where they speak English?”
Callie knew the answer to that one. “China doesn’t extradite jerks like you back to the U.S.”
Worthington turned and winked at her. “The bitch is right. Just follow my lead, and we’ll be fine.” His hand moved down below the seat. He shifted as though he was shoving something into his pants. The gun. He nodded. “Turn here. The place Wright talked about in his report is just up the road.”
Callie’s mind raced. There were only three places Nate might have mentioned in a report about the attempts on Zane’s life. There was the biker bar, their cabin, and the campsite Mel had discovered. She’d typed up the report for Nate. He’d taken careful note of the longitude and latitude of the campsite. It had to be where they were going.
Callie closed her eyes as the car turned. She visualized the land around Mel’s cabin. It was thick with aspens and firs, but there were several places that were clear. The campsite was one of the places with a bit of clear land. It was why Mel had designated it a potential landing zone. If it was a normal night, Mel would be on patrol. All she would have to do was find a way to let him know where she was, and Mel would take care of things. Despite his status as the town kook, Mel had spent time in the military, and he was beyond competent with a gun in his hands. Callie would pit Mel against these two any day of the week.
Unfortunately, Mel had been at the town hall. She was on her own until Nate and Zane showed up and walked straight into an ambush. She was sure the treasonous agents had promised to exchange her for Zane, but she was also sure they didn’t intend to leave any witnesses. Worthington and Leander would kill them all. It was up to her to stop that from happening.
The car stopped. The full moon lit the night. In the distance, Callie could see a set of caves Mel used to store some stuff she hoped Nate never found out about. She had to find a way to get to those caves.
She breathed deeply. Her hands shook behind her back as the agents opened the doors and slammed the front doors shut. She turned quickly when she realized the door to her left was opening.
“All right, sweetheart, let’s get this over with,” Worthington said.
As hard as she could, Callie kicked the door open. It hit Worthington squarely in the gut, and he went down with a shout. Callie scrambled out of the car and ran for the tree line. She heard a shout behind her and a loud pop. She stumbled as something hit her shoulder. It felt like her skin was on fire. Through her tears, she got to her feet.
“Damn it, we need her alive for now.”
Callie made it to the trees and was enveloped by the forest.
Zane watched as Nate opened the locker containing the Bliss County Sheriff’s Department’s armory. He already had a Sig Sauer in a holster at the small of his back. Nate handed him a rifle and another handgun, this one a Glock. Zane checked each weapon carefully and forced himself to go slow, to be precise. What he wanted to do was grab whatever was handy and run as fast he could to bash in two fuckers’ brains and save his wife.
God, they had Callie. What had they already done to her? Was she scared? Of course, she was scared. She was probably terrified. Did she understand they would do anything to save her? Panic threatened to swamp him, overcoming every possible good decision he could make.
“Calm down, Zane. It’s going to be all right.” Nate’s voice was even and sure as he passed Stefan Talbot a rifle.
Nate’s eyes were as steady as his hands. His presence calmed Zane considerably. He’d never known anyone as calm under pressure as Nathan Wright. Despite Nate’s former ambitions to move up at the DEA, Zane had always known Nate’s true calling. He had been born to protect, to stand as a bulwark against violence. It was in Nate’s blood, and nothing could change that.
The small Sheriff’s Department was full of concerned townsfolk. The gleeful chaos that seemed to follow the citizens of Bliss had been replaced with a somber force of will. Zane looked around the room. The Harper twins were busy checking the rifles they had selected. Teeny was dividing her attention between Marie and Logan, both of whom seemed to be preparing for some form of warfare.
Rachel Harper walked up to Nate with Jen Waters in tow.
“I can use a shotgun or a rifle.” Rachel had pulled her strawberry blonde hair into a tight ponytail.
“I can learn really fast.” Mascara tracked down Jen’s face. She’d been crying from the moment she realized her friend was missing.
Zane saw Stef’s eyes widen at the statement. Zane quickly stepped between them. The last thing he needed was Stef to start yelling at Callie’s friend. Zane wasn’t sure what was going on between those two, but it was intense. It also had no place here. “Jen, why don’t you stay here and monitor the phone? We need someone to coordinate from here.”
She shook her head. “No, she’s my closest friend. Stella can answer the phone.”
“Not a chance, pet.” Stefan’s voice was a silky threat. “If you think for one minute that I will allow you to walk into an ambush, you don’t know me at all.”
She turned to face him. “You don’t own me, Stef. Hell, you don’t even like me. I don’t have to listen to a word you say. You want me to leave you alone? Well, I promise I won’t make a fool of myself over Stefan Talbot ever again. And you can’t tell me what to do.”
“No, but I can.” Nate stepped up. He nodded at the Harper twins. Max moved behind his wife while Rye strode to the single holding cell. He opened it and held the door wide. “Stef, if you would like to join Max and Rye, I believe there is plenty of room.”
Rachel Harper screamed as her husband picked her up and started carrying her across the room toward the cell.
“No way you’re going with us, baby. You can yell all you like and call me every kind of name, but I’m keeping you safe. And I won’t even try to blame the baby. I wouldn’t let you do this whether or not you were pregnant,” Max said as Rachel squirmed in his arms.
“Damn you, Max.” She turned her head to take in Rye. “And you, too. Fine. I’ll stay here. You don’t have to lock me up.”
“Yeah, I believe that one, Rach.” Rye’s voice was dripping with sarcasm. “You would form your own little group and cause all kinds of trouble. In you go.”