Page 30

Chapter Thirty

R yan pinched the bridge of his nose in a vain attempt to ward off the ache building in his head. He couldn’t believe he’d lost control of the company his father had built from scratch, especially with Vie mere months away from being operational. Even his telling the shareholders about the wearable AI device’s release date hadn’t swayed the more vocal ones adamant to get their big payout with Maxwell Technology’s takeover.

“Mr. Topher?” A young woman, whose name he’d forgotten, stood in front of him. “Will you be needing anything else from me tonight?”

“No, you can type up your notes and email them to Mae and myself in the morning.” No point in making the employee work longer than necessary. He would definitely not be putting in the overtime he had been. Mae’s cryptic text apologizing for not making the meeting because of an emergency bothered him. She had been his executive assistant since he’d ascended to the presidency, and her absence at such a crucial meeting was out of character.

He moved from the wings, where he’d disappeared for a few private moments after the results had been certified, and down the stage steps. Then he clocked the uniform police officers close to his siblings. This didn’t look good. He hustled over. “What’s going on?”

Yasmine, her eyes bright with unshed tears, nodded to Gene. “They’re saying he was behind the kidnapping of Emily Ainsley.”

“That’s absurd.” He turned to his brother. “I’d heard she was making a fuss again about her husband’s embezzlement, but to accuse you of kidnapping her is bizarre. Perhaps she’s developed a mental disorder and is going to accuse me of something heinous next.”

“As I was informing Mr. Topher, we have enough evidence to arrest him for the crime.” A tall detective nodded to one of the uniformed officers, who stepped forward and took Gene’s arm.

“I’m arresting you for the kidnapping of Emily Ainsley.” He pulled out a set of handcuffs and snapped them around Gene’s wrists.

As the officer recited the Miranda rights to Gene, Ryan said, “Don’t say a word. I’m calling our lawyer. He’ll meet you at the station.”

Gene nodded, his gaze sliding away from Ryan’s as the officer took his elbow in a loose grip.

After confirming which station Gene would be taken to, Ryan called the firm’s attorney to arrange for representation. Something about Gene’s expression troubled him. The detective followed the officers out of the room, leaving Ryan and Yasmine alone with a handful of other shareholders, who had been gawking at the scene.

Ryan touched his sister’s shoulder. “Let’s get out of here.” She nodded, and they left, heading to Ryan’s office for a private chat. “How could there be evidence of kidnapping?”

She sank onto the loveseat while he took one of the club chairs flanking the couch. “I have no idea.”

He leaned back in the chair to regard his youngest sibling as the prickle of unease that had arrived when the reporter had asked Gene and Yasmine why they were conspiring with Maxwell Technology for the takeover grew into flock of geese. Her guileless gaze reminded him of how easily she’d manipulated their parents during their childhood. She never received the blame for any of her shenanigans and often managed to get him or Gene to take the fall. In a flash, he realized he’d been holding a viper close to his breast all these years, that his sister—who should have put the company first—had been out for herself.

“It was you.” He whispered the words, then cleared his throat and spoke louder. “You’re the one who embezzled the money, not Jay.”

Yasmine laughed. “What are you talking about? Jay Ainsley was arrested for embezzling millions of dollars. You and Dad saw the evidence.”

“But we only recovered a fraction of what went missing. Where’s the other money?”

“He spent it.” Yasmine relaxed against the loveseat. “You haven’t seen me spend like a sailor, have you? You’re tired. The vote went against you and now you’re—”

Ryan tuned out her words, focusing on what he knew about his sister. Her love of pretty things. Her frequent trips to Europe in search of new art for her office and home. The pieces, always carefully within what her balance sheet could afford, displayed with such pride. Then the surety of why and how and what she’d spent the money on overwhelmed him. He sank his head into his hands.

“Ryan?”

The fake concern in his sister’s voice angered him. She was the reason Maxwell Technology had been successful. She’d been bleeding the company for years. He had no doubt she didn’t stop with Jay’s death. “It was never enough for you, was it?”

She widened her eyes. “What are you talking about?”

“The job, the generous salary and benefits, access to the company jet and other perks. You wanted more.” No, it was more than that. “You thought you deserved more.”

Anger sparked in her eyes as she dropped her I’m-just-a-girl facade. “You bet I do. I should have been CEO, but no, dear old Dad couldn’t get past the fact I was female, and didn’t I know companies needed strong men to run them? I would have taken Topher Robotics farther than you ever could. Look at your legacy. You’ve lost the company Dad spent his lifetime building. Good thing he’s already had an attack because this will break his heart.”

She rose to her feet. “Bye, brother dear. I’m going home to celebrate my windfall with a glass of wine.”

He let her leave without trying to stop her. For a long time, Ryan sat in the semi-darkness of his office, thinking about how to right the wrong perpetrated against an honest man and whether he had the guts to turn his own sister over to the authorities. All his life, he had tried to do what he thought would please his exacting father, who trumpeted family fidelity above all else. It was time for him to do what was right for him, not his father and not the company.

* * *

“Wake up, Seth.”

The soft whisper of his name penetrated the darkness, bringing him back to the light. His head pounded worse than the one—and only—time he’d downed too many beers at a frat party in college. The vibration underneath clued him in that he was in a vehicle. Memories filtered into his brain. The man who’d pulled a gun on him and forced him outside and into an SUV. Stickiness on his cheek and the metallic scent of blood filled in more gaps. The man who’d abducted him must have hit him in the head to knock him out.

As the vehicle turned, his body rolled to the left. He reached out but found his wrists bound together. Someone caught his bicep and kept him from falling off the seat. He hadn’t imagined her voice then. He’d been hoping he had dreamed Jetta calling his name, for that meant she was safe. He opened his eyes to darkness, the faint illumination of the vehicle’s dashboard the only light. Seth used his shoulder and bound hands to push into an upright position. Nausea swept his body at the movement, and he slammed his eyelids closed again while taking shallow breaths to avoid losing the contents of his stomach. After a few minutes, he cautiously opened his eyes, grateful to find the world had stopped spinning.

“Seth?” Jetta spoke very quietly over the hum of the engine.

“Just a minute.” He breathed the words as the SUV slammed to a stop, the driver cursing as a deer bounded across the road.

“No talking.” The man in the passenger seat raised his gun as if to emphasize his command.

Fine by Seth. He wasn’t sure he could get out any words without throwing up, so staying quiet would be best. The driver gunned the engine, throwing Seth backwards against the seat. He gritted his teeth as pain exploded in his head.

He would not pass out, not when Jetta needed him, but the vehicle’s swaying movement made it impossible to keep his eyes open and not vomit. He closed his eyes, willed his stomach to settle down, and prayed. The nausea faded as he poured out his heart to his heavenly Father for their safety and rescue.

Seth wasn’t sure how much time had passed when the SUV shuddered to a halt and the driver put it into park but didn’t cut the engine. Seth opened his eyes and reached his bound hands toward Jetta, who clasped them in her own. “You okay?”

“I said no talking.” The man shoved his gun in Seth’s face. “Or do I need to clock you in that big head of yours again?”

Seth shook his head, fighting another wave of nausea. He gritted his teeth and sucked in air, willing his stomach to calm down.

“I didn’t think so.” The man snorted. “Not such a big guy now, are you?”

You wouldn’t be either if someone had hit you on the head and bound your hands. Seth wisely kept that comment to himself. Both men waited without speaking or making a move to exit the vehicle. In the outside darkness, no lights provided any clue as to where they were. The SUV’s headlights shone on a gravel road with trees on either side. Someplace rural, which could be in the middle of nowhere or down the street from civilization.

A phone buzzed, and the passenger answered. “Yeah, we’re here with the two packages.”

He listened, then dropped a string of curses. “You ordered us to grab these two and you’re saying you’ve changed your mind? What are we supposed to do with them now?”

He yanked open the door and climbed out, shutting it with enough force to shake the entire vehicle. Seth leaned into Jetta’s shoulder, trying to comfort her as best he could. This didn’t sound good at all. More importantly, whoever had ordered them snatched was backpedaling, which meant they had suddenly become a liability instead of an asset.

The man returned to the vehicle, sliding into the seat without closing the door. “She will regret this.”

“What’s going on?” The driver turned to his companion. “Are we going to get paid?”

“Shut up and let me think!”

“No, you tell me what she said.”

“Out of the car.” The passenger exited the vehicle again and the driver did as well, leaving the car running and the doors closed. The two men met in front of the hood, their bodies silhouetted in the headlights.

Seth wasn’t going to waste this chance to escape. “Can you reach the door lock button on the passenger side?”

Without waiting for Jetta to reply, he looped his hands over the headrest on the driver’s side and launched himself onto the middle console. As his knees hit the hard surface, the door locks clicked with a satisfying snick .

“Hey!” One of the men had spotted his movement and rounded the hood, but Seth had his legs over the console. The other man headed toward the passenger side of the vehicle. Seth would not let them get their grubby hands on Jetta again.

He didn’t pause but maneuvered his body into the driver’s seat. Once there, he used his bound hands to put the car into drive. Pressing down on the accelerator, he gripped the steering wheel at the bottom with both hands as the SUV lurched forward.

One of the men banged on a back window. Jetta screamed. Seth gave the vehicle more gas, and it leapt forward.

In the rearview mirror, he spied the passenger raising his weapon, the red of the taillights giving the scene an otherworldly appearance. “Get down!”

The gunshot shattered the hatch window right before the gravel road turned. He nearly lost control of the vehicle as he navigated the tight left, his fingers tingling and his wrists burning. But he managed to keep all four wheels on the gravel.

“Jetta, you all right?”

“Yes.”

His heart zinged with relief at her voice and confirmation she was okay. Now to figure out where they were.

“The driver took his phone, but the navigation system is displaying the map with our location.”

Excellent. With his limited ability to steer, he couldn’t take his eyes off the winding road. “Can you read the map and tell me where we’re headed?”

She leaned forward between the front seats. “Not quite sure, as it appears we’re on some unnamed road. But it looks like we’ll connect with Dry Mill Road soon.”

“Okay.” His hands ached from the zip ties and strain of managing the wheel. He thought about stopping and having Jetta drive, but fear their kidnappers had called in reinforcements kept him in the driver’s seat. “Do you see anything you can use to cut these zip ties?”

“Nothing back here, but I’ll check the console.” She opened the compartment. “Nothing. Maybe there’s something in the glove compartment. Could you stop for a minute so I can switch to the front passenger seat?”

“Let’s get to the main road first. I don’t want to stop until we’re farther away from those guys.” He wrestled with the wheel as the SUV hit a pothole.

“Okay.” She sat back, and he missed her closeness.

Which was ridiculous. They’d shared one kiss, and while he longed to repeat it, she had pulled even further away of late. That hadn’t stopped him from developing a burning need to not only protect her but to cherish her all the days of her life. He glanced at the map, which showed their blue dot only a few feet from the road. Sure enough, as they rounded a slight curve, the headlights showed a paved road up ahead.

He halted the SUV a few feet from the verge. “I think it’s safe if you want to get in the front seat.”

“Can you unlock the doors?”

He did so and she climbed out. Was she moving slower than usual? He couldn’t be sure, but something seemed off. Once she was settled in the passenger seat and he’d relocked the doors, she immediately rummaged in the glove compartment. “I don’t think there’s anything sharp enough. Wait, here’s something.” She held up a pair of nail clippers. “This will work. Give me your hands.”

He held them out. Before starting, she clicked on the interior light. As she worked on cutting the thick plastic, he studied her. Beads of sweat dotted her flushed face. A slight grimace twisted her lips. He recognized the signs of suppressed pain, having seen his mother ignore her own aches for so many years as a child.

The tight bands encircling his wrists broke with a snap, releasing him and flooding his hands with a tingling sensation as unrestricted blood flowed to his fingers. “Thanks.”

She replaced the clippers in the glove compartment, snapping it closed with a gasp.

“You’re not okay.” He twisted in his seat and reached for her, but she shrank back against the passenger door.

“I’m fine. Please, let’s go.”

He glimpsed tears shimmering in her eyes before she snapped off the light.

“If you turn right, we’ll be heading back toward commerce.”

Seth bit his lower lip to keep from pressing her to tell him what was wrong and checked for traffic. His wrists ached and his fingers tingled as he pulled onto the pavement, but it was his heart that hurt the most.

No matter how many times he glanced in her direction as he drove through the darkness, Jetta never turned her head from gazing out the passenger side window. Her arms cradled her belly, her shoulders drooped with fatigue. She shivered from the cold air blowing into the SUV from the broken rear window. He had no jacket to give her to warm her up, and he couldn’t stop until they were in a safe place.

Since he couldn’t make her accept his help, he did the only thing he could think of—prayed for her and the baby’s safety, as well as giving thanks for delivering them from their captors. As they continued toward civilization and safety, underneath his prayer hummed his sadness at her rejection of his assistance. He fought back tears at his inability to reach the woman he loved, but as his mother had taught him years ago with her continual bad choices when it came to men, you could love a woman with your whole heart, but you couldn’t save her unless she let you.