Page 30 of Edinburgh Escape (Brotherhood Protectors International #5)

Maggie chased Bryce all the way to the garage. For a sick kid, he moved fast, especially when his horse’s life depended on it.

A delivery van was pulling up to the garage at the same time as Alastair emerged. He glanced toward the van.

“Alastair!” Bryce called out. “Help. Montana is sick. You have to help him.” The boy raced up to Alastair and wrapped his arms around the man’s legs. “Please. Help Montana.”

Alastair patted the boy’s copper curls. “I will. I will. You and Ms. Maggie should head for the house and let your mama know to call the veterinarian. I’ll go now and check on Montana.

Don’t worry. I’ll take care of him.” He met Maggie’s gaze.

“The delivery driver might need a signature, could you tell them to wait before you head inside?”

Maggie nodded.

“Go,” Bryce begged. “Help Montana.”

“I’m going.” Alastair pried Bryce’s arms loose from his legs. After one last glance at the delivery van and Maggie, he took off toward the stable and disappeared around the side of the four-car garage.

The delivery van swung close to the garage in a one-hundred-and-eight-degree circle and came to a stop. The back doors opened, and two men in dark clothing jumped out wearing black jumpsuits and baseball caps pulled low on their foreheads.

Maggie frowned. They weren’t carrying any packages. Perhaps they were supposed to pick up something…? When they headed straight for her, her gut told her this wasn’t a delivery. She grabbed Bryce’s shoulders and spun him toward the manor. “Run!” she said. “Run, Bryce.”

The little boy took off. Maggie was right behind him.

Neither one of them got far before the two men in black caught up with them.

One man caught her from behind, trapping her arms at her sides. “Run, Bryce. Don’t look back!”

Her captor loosened one arm.

Maggie kicked and yelled, trying to remember all the self-defense training she’d taken back in Montana.

The man holding her slapped a rag over her mouth and nose.

His buddy snatched Bryce up in his arms. The kid gave it all he could, wiggling, kicking and biting.

Don’t give up, Bryce! she wanted to yell, but couldn’t.

Maggie held her breath and turned her head side to side, trying to shake free of the cloth. Her lungs ready to burst, she had to release the breath she’d been holding and inhale as the man carried her toward the back of the van. Within moments, her body went limp, and darkness closed around her.

How long she’d been out, Maggie had no idea.

Minutes, hours, days? She couldn’t tell.

When she opened her eyes, she could see nothing but darkness.

She was lying on her side on a hard metal surface.

She tried to move her arms and couldn’t.

Her wrists had been secured behind her by what felt like a hard plastic zip tie. Her ankles were bound as well.

The last thing she remembered was being carried toward the delivery van. She was probably still in it. But it wasn’t moving and, if the silence was any indication, the men who’d captured her weren’t in the van at that moment.

A slight movement in front of her made her freeze.

A soft, high-pitched moan pierced the darkness and almost broke her heart. The men who’d captured her had taken the boy as well. She fought back a sob, angered by the cruelty. No child should have to be so terrorized. “Bryce?” she whispered.

“Mmm,” he murmured, probably still under the effects of whatever they’d used on the rags they’d held over their mouths.

“Hey, sweetie, are you awake?” she asked softly.

“Mummy?” his small voice said into the dark void.

“No, sweetie, it’s me, Maggie.”

“I can’t move my hands,” he said.

“Me either,” she said, trying to manage a calm, soothing tone when her heart was racing. “The bad men tied us up. Can you move your legs?”

“I can move them.”

“Good. Now all we have to do is figure out how to get free.” A slightly hysterical laugh slipped free. She clamped her lips shut and reminded herself she had to be strong for Bryce.

“I want my mum.” Bryce’s voice wobbled. “I’m scared.”

“Honey, I’m scared, too. But you’ll be back with your mother before you know it. First, we have to find a way out of here.”

“Where are we?” he asked.

“I’m not exactly sure,” she said.

“Why is it so dark?”

“I think we’re in the back of that delivery van.” Where the van sat was an entirely different question, along with how anyone would find them.

“Where are the bad men?” he whispered.

“I don’t know, but while they’re not here, let’s find a way out.”

“How? I can’t move my hands.”

“We need to find something sharp to cut these ties.” She inched-wormed across the metal floor until her back and wrists bumped into the sidewall. Moving all the way around the back of the van, she could find nothing sharp she could use to break the ties.

“We need something sharp,” Maggie murmured.

“I once bit a plastic straw in two,” Bryce said.

“Oh, honey, this is harder than a plastic straw. I would hate for you to break a tooth on it.”

“My mum says I’ll lose my front teeth next year. They’re baby teeth, and I’ll get new ones.”

He had a point.

“Let me break yours first to see if it’s even possible.” Maggie snaked across the floor until she was behind Bryce. He raised his wrists to get closer to her.

His tiny wrists were cinched tightly together, making it hard for her to get close enough to sink her teeth into the plastic. Once she was able to bite into the plastic, she didn’t let go. It would take too much time to get back into position.

Maggie tried biting with her front teeth, but it didn’t seem to make much of a dent in the hard plastic. Using a combination of biting and a back-and-forth sawing motion, she started making headway until suddenly it snapped in two.

Bryce immediately wiggled around. “Let me get yours.”

Maggie rolled over, giving Bryce her back and her wrists.

Using his hands, Bryce felt along her side and found her wrists. Then his little forehead pressed against her back as he bit into the zip-tie.

Maggie had adult teeth. How would a five-year-old with baby teeth be able to break through the hard plastic?

While he continued to bite into the tie, Maggie did her best to pull it tight, hoping that keeping tension on the binding would help.

Voices sounded outside the van.

Bryce lifted his head.

“Don’t stop,” Maggie whispered. “But if they open the door, drop down, pretend you’re sleeping and hide your hands behind your back. Got it?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Bryce said and went back to biting her zip tie.

As the voices moved closer, Maggie tensed, ready to tell Bryce to drop.

Then her tie snapped, and her hands were free. She quickly slipped out of her shoes and wiggled and pushed until she was able to slip the ties off her ankles. Then she slid her feet back into her shoes.

Footsteps sounded near the back door.

“Get down and close your eyes,” Maggie said softly.

Bryce lay down beside her.

She wanted to pull him into her arms and shield him, but they had to appear as if they were still asleep. Instead of holding the boy, she lay on her side, her arms behind her back, her ankles crossed together as if still secured.

At the screech of a metal door handle being turned, Maggie closed her eyes almost all the way, giving herself just enough of an opening to peer through her lashes.

Dim light eased the darkness from overhead lights in the distance.

“We got the brother and the sister,” said a man with what sounded like a Russian accent. The beam of a flashlight bounced against the door and then shone into the interior of the van.

Maggie closed her eyes to the light, careful not to squint. She needed her captors to think she and Bryce were still under the influence of whatever they’d used to put them to sleep. If they thought they were awake, they might drag them out and learn they’d broken free of their bindings.

Maggie prayed Bryce wouldn’t open his eyes or move.

“You must negotiate the ransom with your cousin,” the Russian said. “Tell him he has four hours to transfer money. If he doesn’t pay, his family dies and you with them.”

“Oh, he’ll pay,” a familiar voice said. Maggie recognized it as Ewan’s cousin, Rory. “Look, I’m not going anywhere. Is it necessary to keep me tied up?”

“No, but then I don’t want you to try anything.”

“I’m surrounded by your men, each one of whom is armed. I’m not stupid.”

The Russian snorted. “You take a loan to gamble.”

“Okay, I’m not smart when it comes to gambling. But I’m not stupid when it comes to men with guns. Besides, I’ll need my hands to use my phone.”

“I’ll take it under consideration,” the Russian said.

A shout echoed across what sounded like a large warehouse. Another shout followed.

The man holding the door called out in Russian and then said something that sounded like a curse. He slammed the van door shut. Footsteps pounded as people ran. The shouting grew louder, more voices joining in.

With the door closed, Maggie released the breath she’d been holding. “You okay?” she whispered.

“Yes.” Bryce moved closer. “Are those bad men going to kill us?”

“Not if we can help it, sweetie.” Maggie hoped she was right. She’d do the best she could to get them out of the van, but from what Rory had said, they were surrounded by Russian gang members, and they were armed.

Maggie prayed Callum’s other friends had arrived, that they’d come armed and that they knew where to find them.