Page 21 of Bonded By Blood (Sweetblood #1)

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

M artin was putting away the last of the art supplies when the front door buzzer sounded from downstairs. One of the kids must’ve left something. A quick examination of the art room didn’t reveal a stray backpack or anything else that looked out of place. Mackenzie ran a tight ship; the place was immaculate.

He glanced at the clock. Nine-thirty. Dinner reservations weren’t for another half hour. Maybe Paul had decided to pick him up here, but surely, he’d have called first. It was probably just the night janitor.

He rummaged around in a few cabinets looking for the cleaning spray and rag. All he had left to do was wipe down the tables and lock up. The classroom door clicked open, but his head was buried in a lower cabinet so he didn’t get up.

“Did you leave something?” he called out.

“Where is she?”

The man’s raspy I’ve-just-smoked-two-packs-of-cigarettes voice startled Martin. He bumped his head and turned around to see two men saunter into the room, their arms and legs moving in unison. With long black trench coats, combat boots and sunglasses, they looked like they’d just stepped out of The Matrix.

“Pardon me? Can I help you?” There was something familiar about them, although he couldn’t place their faces. Sweat broke out on his upper lip.

The shorter one yanked open a closet door. “Pardon me. Can I help you?” he mimicked in a high-pitched voice.

Normally such mockery would’ve angered him. No one spoke to him like this.

“The woman. Mackenzie Shaw.” The other one took off his sunglasses and even from across the room, Martin could tell something was terribly wrong.

His heart beat like a bass drum behind his eardrums as he saw that the whites of the man’s eyes were actually gray.

“I...I don’t know who you’re talking about.”

“Don’t fuck with us. We can smell her all over this place. Where is she?”

Smell? What the hell?

“There is no Mackenzie Shaw here.” What did they want with her? Although they weren’t the same two men who showed up at the University the other day, their odd mannerisms were identical.

“I didn’t ask if she was here. I asked where she was. Big difference.”

Martin glanced around the room. The one doing most of the talking was blocking the door to the hallway. The other one stood on the far side of the room. With the student tables between them, if he ran, he might be able to reach the door behind him that led to the adjoining classroom. Could he make it if they came after him?

“Either you tell us where she is and we’ll show you mercy, or you keep quiet and we won’t. It’s really that simple.” The boss reached out his clasped hands and cracked his knuckles. “Now, I’m going to ask you again. Where the fuck is Mackenzie Shaw?”

“Okay.” Martin took a step forward as if he were going to cooperate, then in a flash, he jumped backward and ran through the adjoining door into the other classroom. He could hear tables crashing as the men gave chase. He made it to the exit and yanked it open.

As he ran down the stairs two at a time, he pulled his cell phone from his pocket and hit her number. Damn. Straight to voice mail. They were at the top of the stairs now, barreling down.

“Two men. After you.” He could hardly get the words out. They were right behind him. The short one was laughing again as if he were enjoying himself.

Something heavy hit him square in the back. He fell forward on the last stair and slid across the tile floor of the lobby, his chin acting as a rudder. The phone flew from his hand and shattered against the receptionist’s table.

Strong hands grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and flung him through the air. He heard a high-pitched screeching again and thought at first it was the short man until he realized the sound had come from his own lips. It was his own screams he heard as his body smashed against the far wall of the lobby, and he fell to the ground like a rag doll.