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“What are you doing here?” he said, voice strained.
There were tears in her eyes. “I came for you. I had to.”
Samuel shook his head. “Shouldn’t… Have…”
She turned and glared at Oliver. “Let him go now. That’s the deal.”
Oliver cringed. Or pretended to.
Fuck.
“See, the thing is, I don’t have final say, and the boss has a different proposition for ya…”
Footsteps thumped on concrete.
She glanced up at a tall man with wide-set shoulders and a full head of snowy white hair. For a man in his sixties, he was built like a brick wall.
Maxwell Edward.
Chapter Nineteen
Wednesday. London, UK.
This had to be a nightmare. Samuel had to be asleep. This could not be happening.
And yet, there was no doubt in his mind that Jessica would do something exactly like this. She was a woman who stood by her ethics. She would never hesitate to sacrifice herself.
Damn infuriating woman.
There was no way Edward was letting them just walk out of here. If he knew Samuel was FBI, this would have ended a long time ago. They would have never gotten to this point.
He got his feet under him finally. These assholes kept jerking him around, literally, and that last blow to his head had sure as hell rung his bell. Samuel stood with legs braced and took in the situation.
Edward was above them on the loading dock. Of course, he would want to be above them and lord his power. Oliver wasn’t a real threat. The man was as dangerous as a soggy sponge without a weapon. It was the goon still gripping Samuel’s arm that posed the greatest threat and Edward himself.
With one word Edward could summon more men with weapons into the courtyard. Getting out of this meant taking down Edward first. Before help came.
Could Samuel disarm the goon holding onto him and get a shot off before Edward signaled the alarm?
Samuel didn’t think so. He also couldn’t communicate with Jessica any form of a plan.
“We had a deal,” Jessica said as she stared up at Maxwell Edward.
Edward had his hands in his trouser pockets. “You didn’t make that deal with me.”
Samuel swayed on his feet, more by design than injury. He needed the guy holding on to him to get sloppy.
“So you’re not a man of your word?” Jessica snapped back.
Did she have a plan? Were the others with her? Or had Jessica come alone?
He feared he knew the answer to that, and he wasn’t going to like it.
“I am a man of business, and you have been very bad for it,” Edward said.
That was interesting.
Samuel hadn’t reviewed all of Jessica’s information, but he hadn’t realized it was that extensive. Or that her questions and digging might have had a real impact.