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The detective’s mobile rang. Johnson fished it out of his pocket and looked at the screen. “There goes my morning,” he mumbled. He shot a glare at Ryder as he held the phone to his ear. “Assistant Director Caldwell, what can I do for you?”
Brilliant. Lachlan had come through.
“He called in an assault. I need to—” The detective’s face mottled. “If that’s the case, then—” He let out a long-suffering sigh. “Fine. But once this client’s been located, I expect a full report.” Johnson hung up and mumbled, “That guy is a pain in my ass.”
His face puckered as he delivered the news Ryder hoped for. “AD Caldwell says you’re assisting an active FBI investigation on this missing client of yours and to not get in your way.” He pointed a stubby finger at Ryder. “I expect a detailed statement from you when this is over.”
“Thank you, Detective. There’s a black Ford Explorer on the far side of this complex that the kidnapper used. You might want your forensic team to go over it.” Ryder raced to the passenger side of the Suburban.
“Let’s go,” he ordered Caleb.
Caleb whipped the vehicle back around to where Danny waited next to the Explorer in question. Ryder lowered the window and tossed Danny the key fob to Nathalie’s car. “Find anything?”
Danny shook his head. “Nothing. Not even a stray hair. I got the rental company information from the glove compartment, though. We can call the agency and see if we can get more information on this guy.”
“Do it. Then meet us at Dìleas.”
As Caleb drove them toward Dìleas headquarters, Ryder stared out the window, seeing everything but nothing. Everyone would be there. Lachlan. Sophia. Nathan. Doing whatever it took to find Nathalie and bring her back safely.
Hang on, darling.
She’d told him she loved him.
He hadn’t said it back to her.
She wanted a second chance.
Now they might never get the opportunity.
“We’ll find her,” Caleb said.
Ryder bloody well would. He hadn’t let Nathalie back into his heart only to lose her again.
Over the years they’d been apart, he’d developed skills as a member of the SAS he never would have dreamed of as an aristocrat at Oxford. That boy had loved Nathalie, but never would have been able to save her.
The man who loved her now would.
If Hadley so much as harmed a hair on Nathalie’s head?
He was a dead man.
Chapter Twenty-One
Nathalieopenedthelaptoplid and connected the portable hard drive containing her stolen software design.
All she had to do was provide the missing source code. Then her father’s dreams—and her life’s work—would belong to someone else.
Why hadn’t she bothered to learn more about creating malware? She could’ve inserted code for a simple but effective virus that would lie dormant long enough for her to show Robert the program was complete, but then destroy the source code the next time the program booted up and render it useless.
Too late now. Her other option—her only option, really—was to bluff. Buy time for Ryder to find her.
She met her captor’s gaze, praying she looked like she was telling the truth. “I don’t have the missing section of source code memorized. It’s in the safe in my home office.”
Robert brought his pistol up and pressed the cold, hard barrel into the center of her forehead.
Her lungs iced.
“Put in the missing code or I’ll blow your pretty brains out and leave your body where Montague can find it.” His smile turned cruel. “It will be good for him to fail for once.”