Page 45 of Guarding Grace (Hawk Security #2)

Grace

The tremors in my hand got worse as I waited for his instructions, still facing the window.

Marci sobbed in the background. “Shut the fuck up,” Mr. Evil said. “You’re going to leave the building and walk south to the bus stop,” he told me. “Sit down when you get there, and I’ll call you with further instructions. Nod if you understand.”

Gripping the phone angrily, I nodded. I didn’t know how, but this fucker was going down for threatening one of my people. Terry’s threat about a bullet sounded a lot better right now. There was a special place in hell for someone who would threaten to murder a sweet girl like Marci.

“You’re going to leave the building now without anybody following you, and without letting any of those guards know you’re gone. You understand me?”

“How?”

“You figure it out. Sweet Marci is depending on you. If I see anyone following you, she dies…painfully. If you’re late?—”

“I get it, asshole. I’ll get there.” Maybe that wasn’t the smartest thing to say, since I had no idea how to do that yet, but I refused to cower. I’d find a way for Marci. I had to. Then I’d let Terry loose on him.

Marci cried uncontrollably.

“Shut up, bitch,” he said angrily. “Or I’ll tape your mouth shut. ”

“You can’t do that,” I told him. “She has asthma.”

“Another reason for you to hurry.” He laughed. “No funny business?—”

“You have to let her go if I come to you.”

“Of course.” He laughed that evil laugh again. “I can’t wait to get rid of her. You have five minutes. Remember, I’m watching you. Warn your guards, and she dies. Tick-tock, tick-tock.” The line went dead.

It was decision time. I stayed facing the window. But there weren’t any alternatives, so there wasn’t a decision to be made.

I clasped the tiny compass Terry had given me, and my choice was clear.

Sneaking out without notifying Constance or Zane was the only way to free Marci.

I had no idea how this guy could see me, and if leaving my office would provide any cover.

And knowing the Hawk people, if I let them know about the call, they’d either prevent me from going or follow me and put Marci in danger.

When it had only been about me and Elliot, calling Terry had been the smart thing to do, but calling now, or letting Constance or Zane know, would doom Marci. It might even lead the monster to attack another of my employees.

As the phone went into my big handbag, I noticed my keyring, and a plan formed. I had a key to disarm the alarm bar on the emergency exit by the bathrooms at the back of our offices. I only needed to avoid having Zane or Constance see me slipping out that way.

Noticing the Pain Pen Terry had forced on me, I shifted it to the bottom of the bag.

Then I remembered the phone he’d given me.

I didn’t dare risk calling him, or having the phone ring when I met Mr. Evil, so I powered it off and hid it in one of the inside pockets that zipped shut.

With any luck, I might get to use it later.

The tremor in my hand had stilled. Fear had turned to anger. It was time for this momma bear to take care of her people, and I would gladly Taser this guy’s ass into next week. Nobody, but nobody, got to hurt my family.

Hefting the bag, I strode out of my office and looked right.

Zane looked up. Constance was nowhere to be seen.

“Where’s Constance?” I couldn’t risk running into her during my escape.

Zane stood. “She’s on a Starbucks run.”

“Bathroom,” I said and turned toward the ladies’ room.

Zane jogged over.

“You going to listen to me tinkle?” I chided.

He fell into step next to me. “Terry said to not let you out of my sight.”

I stopped at the entrance to the short hallway with the restrooms. “ Maybe you could give me a little privacy and guard the hallway from here? Or do you need to come in and help me with my tampon?”

His nose wrinkled, and he pulled out his phone. “Here is good.”

Success. The more masculine the man, the more the T-word affected him.

I pushed open the door to the ladies’ room and looked back. Zane stood at the end of the hallway with his back to me, scrolling on his phone.

I let the door close and tiptoed down the hall and around the corner to the emergency fire escape. Careful to keep quiet, I retrieved my keyring and located the odd key for the alarm bar. Which way did it go?

The key slipped in my sweaty hand. I tried both directions, but it didn’t budge.

“Hey, man. Can I use the bathroom?” It was Paul.

“Sure,” Zane replied.

In this location around the corner from Zane, but directly opposite the door to the mens’ room, I was out of time. Pulling out my phone, I sent a quick text to Paul.

ME: Come

Not a great message, but it was all I had time for. With my blood rushing loudly in my ears, I almost didn’t make out the sound of Paul’s phone chime.

His footsteps stopped, then started again, but going away rather than coming toward me.

I let out a breath. That had been close. With a very short time before Paul found my office empty, I pulled out and re-inserted the key. This time, it turned.

But had I properly disarmed it? My heart was in my throat as I pushed on the bar.

A whoosh of incoming air from the stairwell greeted me as the door opened. Quickly, I slid through and gently closed it behind me. My nerves were shot, and the sound of the door latching again might as well have been a gunshot, as loud as it sounded to me.

The clock was ticking for Marci as I hurried down the stairs and out into the alley on the side of the building.

When I rushed to the street, Constance was returning with her haul from Starbucks, so I slipped back into the alley.

Tick-tock, tick-tock . I waited until I heard the door to our building open and close.

A careful glance around the corner showed the coast was clear, and I hurried down the street to the bus stop, guessing I wouldn’t have to go far if the monster could see me through my office window. My phone rang as soon as I sat on the bench.

“Good girl,” Mr. Evil said. “You’re going to need to hurry, because I’m getting tired of this whiny bitch here.”

Marci sobbed in the background. “Please don’t hurt me.”

I had to get to her.

“You hear what I have to put up with?” He was a true monster. “A phone and a small box are taped under the bench to your right. Pull them out and take them with you. A Yellow Cab will arrive in a moment.”

“What?”

“You heard what I said. Get the phone and box and be ready for the cab. You’ve seen them—Yellow Cab, like the color. Do not hang up on me.”

I located the items under the bench and yanked them loose from the tape right before the Yellow Cab pulled up.

The cabbie lowered his window. “Grace Brennan?”

“That’s me.” As I climbed into the back of the taxi, my hand started trembling again.

“For such a long fare, I’m going to need a credit card in advance,” the driver said. “You understand.”

“Sure.” I pulled out my Visa and inserted it into the reader he held over the seat back. Paying a fare to be abducted was a new twist.

When the taxi left the curb, the driver looked in the rearview mirror. “Settle in. It’ll take a while.”

“Tell him yes,” Mr. Evil demanded.

“Okay, thanks.”

As soon as we started off, a phone started ringing in my purse.

“Answer it,” my tormentor demanded.

It was the phone I’d just gotten from the bus stop bench. “Hello?”

“Now end the call on your cellphone and slide it under the seat in front of you.”

I hit the end button as requested. This was my one chance to contact Terry, and I took it.

ME: He has Marci

Then I added.

ME: Find me

If this was a movie, the cabbie would be working for Mr. Evil, so I slid the phone under the seat as instructed.

Terry

Jordy’s fingers flew over the keys as multiple windows opened on the various screens on his desk and walls. His room looked like the pictures of a NASA space control room.

“Anything?” Winston asked.

“Patience.” Jordy snorted. “Even greatness takes time.”

Winston rolled his eyes, but we both knew the value of Jordy’s talent and had long ago stopped kidding him.

Jordy was an odd bird—a nerd who also hit the gym and the dojo.

Cables ran between the laptop Winston and I had secured from Rudi’s hideout and one of Jordy’s large computers. Far be it for Jordy to be satisfied with one computer. He had five operating around the room, plus one opened up on a side workbench.

I knew my way around normal computer stuff, but Jordy was in a completely different league than the rest of us humans.

“How much longer?” Winston asked.

“Give my brother space to do his thing,” Lucas said.

I hadn’t heard him come up behind us.

Winston backed away. “Yes, boss. I’m just eager to get this guy.”

“We all are,” Lucas responded.

My phone vibrated in my pocket, and I pulled it out.

WILDCAT: He has Marci

WILDCAT: Find me

I left Jordy’s room and immediately called Grace. My heart sped up when it went to voicemail. I dialed Zane.

“Hey,” he answered.

“Get Grace on the phone,” I demanded.

“She’s in the bathroom.”

“Get her.”

“She’s busy doin’ a woman thing.”

“Get her on the fucking phone.”

After a few-seconds delay, I could hear Zane’s voice in the background. “Grace, Terry wants to talk to you. Grace… Grace?” A door slammed. “Fuck. I’m sorry, man. She’s not in here.”

“What do you mean she’s not in there? ”

“I don’t know. I was at the end of the hall the entire time.”

I heard him running.

“Fuck, the emergency exit has been disarmed. She must have gone down the stairwell.”

“You had one fucking job to do?—”

Lucas spun me around. “What’s going on?”

“Don’t just stand there. You and Constance go find her,” I said into the phone before answering Lucas. “Grace is gone.” I swiped to the messages she’d sent me to show him and then admitted the bad news. “She skipped out.”

Lucas shook his head. “She should have contacted you before she ran off… Jordy, we need a twenty on Grace, now.”

Lucas and I joined Jordy and Winston in the office.

“She’s northbound on Lucchese Boulevard, moving fast enough that it has to be a car.”

She was moving away from Zane and Constance and toward us.

“Jordy, she doesn’t have a car, so do your rideshare thing and find out where she’s going.” I pulled out my key fob. “And keep feeding me her position.”

“I’m coming along,” Winston called as I ran for the door.

We peeled out of the garage like a cat with its tail on fire.

Winston punched up the call on the screen as I drove.

“We’ve also got Zane and Constance on,” Jordy told us when he answered. “I’ve got her phone. She’s turned east on Warmwood Drive. It looks like she might be headed for the freeway.”

I took the next right at speed and let the twin-turbo V8 loose. “Hold on.”

Winston braced. He was no wilting violet, but I was pressing pretty hard to catch up to Grace.

“Jordy, what’s her destination?”

“I don’t see a ride booked under her name,” he said.

That sucked. Now catching up to her was the only option.

Winston hit the mute button. “Why is she doing this?”

“Whoever it is took one of her people, and they’re like family to her. She’ll sacrifice herself for them.” Saying it out loud made the stakes all the more real, because I was certain Grace would take any risk to help one of her people.

“She’s now northbound on the four-oh-five,” Jordy announced.

I unmuted the phone line. “Copy that. We’re only about a minute from the freeway entrance.”

“Grace planned to visit a customer’s residence today for measurements,” Constance said. “But I vetoed that, and she sent Marci and Paul instead.”

“So where is Paul?” Winston asked.

“On it,” Constance replied.

It took ten minutes of weaving through freeway traffic to get near Grace.

“You’re very close to her signal,” Jordy said.

“She went old school.” Winston pointed. “See that Yellow Cab up there?”

I saw the taxi ahead, and a half mile later, I pulled up alongside when he moved to the center lane to pass a slower car.

“You’re right on top of her,” Jordy confirmed.

I didn’t see her, but she could have been lying down on the backseat.

I honked.

Winston held his credentials up to the window when the driver looked over, and pointed to the side of the road. When the driver didn’t move over or slow, Winston pulled his weapon and tapped the window again.

This time the cabbie got the memo and quickly pulled over to the shoulder.

I parked us behind the taxi. “Jordy, it’s Yellow Cab number triple three seven.”

Winston beat me out of the car. “She’s not here,” he yelled over the traffic noise.

When I reached him, the driver rolled down his window and put his hands up. “I don’t carry cash.”

I holstered my SIG. “You can put your hands down. We’re only looking for a woman we thought was in your cab.”

“Grace Brennan?”

“That’s the one. Where is she?”

Winston pulled open the back door on his side.

The driver held up a small box. “She was my fare, going all the way up to Magic Mountain, a sweet ride. But then she got out back in town and told me to take this box up to Magic Mountain.”

“Found it.” Winston held up Grace’s phone. It was her personal phone, not the encrypted one I’d given her.

“Where in town?”

“Whippleson Drive,” the cabbie said.

I held out my hand. “I need that box.”

He pulled it away. “I can’t. My job is to deliver it.”

Opening my wallet, I pulled out three Benjamins and offered them. “Now you’re being paid to deliver it to me. ”

He snatched the bills and handed over the box.

I shook it, then opened the box. It was empty.

We let him go and piled back into the Porsche.

The phone line to Jordy was still open. “She ditched the cab back in Santa Monica,” Winston told them.

I accelerated back into traffic. “The driver said Whippleson Drive. See if you have any cameras in the vicinity.”

“You got it.”

“Also, Jordy, you were tracking her personal phone, right?”

“Of course.”

“I also gave her one of our encrypted ones. Number seventeen, I think.”

“Hold on,” Jordy said.

Grace had complained about the phone and Taser when I’d given them to her. I hoped she hadn’t left them behind.

“It’s off,” Jordy reported. “It was last active at her building. I’m going to switch to traffic cameras.”

Shit . Grace didn’t have the time that would take.