Page 21

CHAPTER 21

A high-pitched buzzing reached Sephie’s ears first. Her neck and shoulders screamed, and tension radiated along her lower back. A heavy fog coated her brain. Every thought she attempted to grasp slipped through her fingers. She swallowed. The inside of her mouth felt like cotton. Her head pounded, and the pressure behind her eyes was enough to slap her back out of awareness.

When she came to again, some of the cloudiness had dissipated. The buzzing noise was louder. This time she identified the sound: electricity. Confusion jumbled her thoughts. She wasn’t in her bed. Matter of fact, she was sitting up, her arms stretched behind her back.

She groaned and attempted to pull her arms forward, but they didn’t budge. Shock hit her. Then a million images rushed through her mind like a freight train from hell.

The coffee shop. Smoke. Fire. A bomb. Taschen. Oh god, Taschen .

Her heart rate kicked up to a break-neck speed, and she snapped open her eyes. Searing bright light hit her face, so intense to her sensitive eyes she had to close them again momentarily.

Where the hell am I?

Memories from the van struck her next. Nausea pulled at her stomach. She’d been injected with something. Her arms and legs trembled with shock, and fear made her skin slick and cold. She forced herself to breathe slowly until her heart stopped threatening to burst from her chest.

She was in a room. A small cot was pushed up against a wall. A white sheet was tucked in closely around the edges, and a folded brown comforter lay at the end. There was no other furniture except for the plastic chair she sat on.

Near the only door was a sink, and on the other side of the room was a toilet. The buzzing sound came from the overhead light.

The sterilizing scent of bleach clouded the air. Panic split through her.

She tried her hands again. Some kind of binding bit into her wrists. Her ankles were free. If she could get her hands loose, she might have a chance at escape. Surely the door was locked, but there had to be something she could use as a weapon.

“Ms. Burgess, I see you’re awake.” The male voice came from a speaker.

She froze. Then anger hit. The bastards were watching her. Lifting her gaze to the ceiling, she found a glass dome positioned above the sink.

She glared at the camera. “Fuck you.”

Nothing.

The deafening lack of response deflated the fury in her chest. She couldn’t waste energy trying to piss off whoever was watching the security cameras. Instead, she had to find a way to loosen her arms without drawing attention to herself.

“I have to go to the bathroom,” she said.

The speaker clicked back on. “Someone will be along shortly to assist you.”

Would they leave her untied once she used the bathroom? If they secured her wrists again, she wouldn’t be able to do a damn thing.

She needed to rein in her temper and think. The man on the speaker hadn’t sounded like the ape who’d drugged her. It was possible he was the driver. She hadn’t heard him speak at all.

Where were they holding her? Why have a room like this, set up with a toilet and a camera? It wasn’t a jail cell. Unless it was a fancy one. This place seemed like a facility. Maybe a clinic?

She gazed around the room in search of something she could use as a weapon, aiming for disinterest in case the loser watching guessed she was up to something. The walls were painted a flat white. No pictures, not a single nail. Not even a fricken clock. Her gaze landed on the sink. There was a small cupboard beneath it. If she got close enough, she might be out of sight of the camera, since the sink was directly below.

Footsteps echoed outside her door. A beep sounded, and the lock unclicked. A male guard entered. Shaved head, pinched face, cold eyes. Handcuffs, a baton, and a gun sat in a holster around his waist.

Sephie drew in a breath.

The guard approached, producing a large pair of clippers. He cut the binding around her wrist. “You have two minutes to do your business.” He left the room and shut the door sharply.

Still reeling, she got to shaking feet. If she didn’t make use of the toilet, they’d know she was lying. Besides, she needed a reason to go to the sink.

Her brain spun as she moved toward the corner of the room. Keeping her hand on the wall for support, she reached the toilet. Shame crawled up her spine, but she booted it away. She couldn’t waste time worrying about flashing someone. Not when she might not live for five more minutes.

Nonetheless, she pushed her pants down carefully, grateful for the long sweater that covered her. When she was done, she got up and flushed then went to the sink. Turning on the water, she glanced up at the camera. She wasn’t a security whiz, but judging by the way the little camera sat inside the dome, she figured it’d be hard for the piece to detect what was directly below it.

Flipping on the faucet, she leaned down and opened the cupboard. Inside was a bucket, a cleaning cloth, and a can of aerosol cleaning spray.

Knock , knock

“You have thirty seconds.”

Cold sweat chilled the back of her neck. She had one shot at this. Since she had no idea how the building was laid out, her chances of escaping were slim.

But she had to try.

She might get away. Or maybe far enough to alert someone she needed help. A lump formed in her throat. There could be more armed guards. But if they’d wanted to kill her, they’d have done so already.

And she really didn’t want to find out why they were keeping her here. She had to take any opportunity she was given, and right now that opportunity came in the form of antibacterial spray.

The lock sounded. Sephie snapped up the can and aimed as he entered the room. Holding down the button, she blasted a cloud of disinfectant directly into his sour-ass face.

He coughed and howled. His body slammed against the doorway. Sephie bolted past him like a bat out of hell. A long, tiled corridor stretched in front of her. Up ahead, it turned. She passed several rooms on the way.

The crackle of a radio sounded behind her. “Room 2C is on the run. Repeat, backup for 2C! ”

Fear spiked her blood pressure. Her runners slapped against the slick floor. She reached the end of the hall and skidded to the left. Everything spun, her equilibrium still off from the drugs. Blood rushed through her head, making her vision blurry. She forced her gaze to focus on the set of stairs at the end of the hall.

Yes, yes. Please let this be the way out.

Behind her were shouts. Radios blipped. A scream lay at the base of her throat. She reached the stairs, grabbed the railing, and scrambled up as fast as she could.

“There she is!”

“Don’t fire!” another voice echoed.

Her breath came out in rapid pants as she reached the door at the top. It didn’t budge. The locked handle rattled beneath her shaking hand.

No!

“Help!” she screamed. She banged both fists against the wood. “Someone help! I’m being held prisoner!”

Footsteps thundered up the stairs. Two guards were on her. The first lifted her off her feet. She kicked and bucked. Using his chest as support for her back, she jammed her feet against the second guy’s middle. He reached for the railing but missed and barreled backward down the steps.

She belted out another scream—someone had to hear.

Wham !

A vicious punch to the side of her head knocked her teeth together. The impact made her limbs go weak, allowing the guard to heft her over his shoulder.

He descended the stairs. Each step shook her senses. At the bottom they passed the second guard, who sat on the floor. Blood leaked from a cut on his forehead, and murder seethed from his eyes. His pale skin accentuated his coal-like orbs. “You’re fucking dead,” he mumbled.

“Get yourself cleaned up before the boss sees you,” the man carrying her ordered.

The beep of a radio sounded. “I’ve got her. I need the nurse in 2C right now.”

Hysteria hit her core.

***

Rami’s expression was grim. “We lost ’em.”

Taschen’s muscles rippled. “How? Ghost followed them all the way to the damn airport using surveillance cameras. I don’t see how he can’t do the same thing from LAX.”

Taschen and Brick sat beside each other, facing Rami and Toth on the eight-seater plane. August was seated on the other side of the aisle.

“He’ll keep trying,” August reassured him. “It’s only been two hours since they landed.”

“And we’ve got another forty-five minutes until we get there.” Anger singed his flesh, attacking every cell in his body .

He wasn’t angry at his team but at the fact that the cocksuckers had a two-hour head start. And for the next three quarters of an hour, he was stuck thirty thousand feet in the air unable to do a goddamn thing.

“I don’t like it,” Toth said. “Ghost is usually able to find anyone anywhere. This isn’t a good sign.”

“Thanks, negative Nancy,” August murmured.

“Well, fuck. Have you ever seen Ghost get stuck like this? He normally has some kind of lead. It’s like they fucking vanished once they left the tarmac.”

Dread swirled in Taschen’s gut. “We know they took her to Raymond. I mean, Christ. There’s no other reason to take her to LAX. Question is why.”

“He’s pissed at her?” Rami offered. “Maybe wants to scare her?”

“I think the bomb attached to my vehicle did that,” Taschen retorted.

Toth sighed. “We can pay Raymond a visit at his house. I already asked Ghost to get us his address. If we’ve gotta bring the threat right to his door, so be it.”

Taschen grunted. He pinched his chin between his thumb and forefinger, his elbow on the armrest, as he stared out the window. The rippled floor of clouds stretched as far as his eye could see. The sun hung in the afternoon sky, its orange glow streaming over the white puffs.

Sephie was in this mess because of him. He couldn’t blame himself for the bomb, no one would’ve seen that shit coming, but he could damn well blame himself for taking her to the café to see—

Jack.

Sonofabitch. If anyone knew where Raymond might take Sephie, it was him. He cursed and pulled his phone from his pocket.

Brick jerked up his chin. “What is it?”

“Jack Gardner. The cameraman we met at the café. He’s got an in with Raymond’s sick little club. He might have an idea where they are.”

He pulled up his call log and tapped the number Jack had called from that morning. The line rang in his ear.

Jack answered on the third ring. “Hello?” he said tentatively.

“Jack, it’s Taschen. Sephie’s missing.”

A curse hit the speaker. “W-What happened?”

“Didn’t you hear the explosion?”

Silence. “I—Yes. I saw it. I was already driving away and... shit. I just couldn’t stick my neck out. I’m sorry. I never wanted anything to happen to her, or anyone.”

Taschen swallowed his irritation. Part of him wanted to tell Jack what a douchebag he was, but the other part thought better of it. Jack might be his only chance at getting Sephie back. He couldn’t burn this bridge. “It doesn’t matter,” he mustered. “A bomb was planted on my car. While I was unconscious and shit was crazy, they took her. We know they got her onto a private jet and landed at LAX.”

“Holy shit.”

“Raymond has her. There’s no other reason they’d go to so much trouble to get her there. I need your help.”

“Man. I don’t know where she is, I swear.”

“Never said you do. However, you run in Raymond’s circles. You know where they could have taken her.”

“I don’t know shit.”

Taschen bit his tongue. He glanced at Brick, who made a “calm down” motion with his hand. Inhaling a sharp breath through his nose, he lost his cool. “Look, motherfucker. Sephie’s missing. These sick fucks have her. You’ve got two choices: help me find her or I find you .”

Brick’s mouth twitched with amusement.

Toth cocked an eyebrow, and Rami nodded in approval.

“I’m not your enemy,” Jack blurted.

“If you don’t help me find her, you are.”

“All right, man. Geez. Considering I’m driving and a good day away from Los Angeles, I can’t do a whole hell of a lot. But I can tell you what I know.”

“Shoot.” He hit the speaker button and motioned for the guys to pay attention. Everyone leaned in to listen over the drone of the plane.

“I don’t know for sure where they’re holding her, but I doubt it’s Raymond’s personal residence. He’s got another place, though. Near Castaic.”

“Address?” he asked, while snapping his fingers at Rami. He didn’t want to waste a goddamn second getting eyes on where Sephie could be.

“You’re gonna get me killed.” But he rattled off the address. “It’s a large acreage. A monster of a property. All the meetings are held downstairs. There’s a secret staircase that leads to a tunnel underground.”

“Where’s the staircase?”

“You won’t make it through the front gate, let alone the front door.”

“Tell me where it is.”

Jack gave a sigh of frustration. “There’s a study off the foyer. The bookcase opens, but I’m not sure where the lever is. One of the elders always leads everyone else down.”

“Is there more than one way in and out of the underground area?”

“There’s a back entrance, but that’s where the auctioned prizes come and go.”

“All right. Thanks.”

“I don’t know how you’re going to get in,” Jack said again. “Top-of-the-line security, day and night. No one gets in unless they’re on the list.”

“When’s the next auction?” Taschen asked .

“It was supposed to be next week, but I got word this morning it was bumped up to tonight. Something about the elders being out of town next week.”

Taschen’s pulse quickened. He curled his hand into a fist and lifted his gaze to Rami and Toth. Both men must have been thinking the same damn thing as he was. Toth’s face was red and Rami’s jaw was clenched.

The auction had been moved up for Sephie.

“Do they give you any kind of pass to get through security?” He forced out the question through his tight throat.

“Yup. There’s a card you’ll need to get scanned. You can get mine from my place.”

“There’s no facial recognition?”

“No. They keep technology to a minimum. I’m sure that’s to avoid hackers.” Jack huffed with impatience. “Look, I don’t want anything to happen to Sephie. She doesn’t deserve this. But if I help you, you’ve gotta agree to leave me out of this. I don’t want the FBI at my door. I’ve got a good gig in Berlin and I’m getting out.”

Hope inflated Taschen’s chest. Trusting this guy might not be the smartest thing, but he had to explore all their options. “Fine. All I want is to get Sephie out safely.”

“You’ll need a cloak and mask to blend in. I’ll confirm my attendance for tonight and you can pose as me. ”

The image of the black robe and creepy mask appeared in Taschen’s mind. Just the thought of putting that shit on his skin made disgust hit his palate. “Where’re the robe and mask?”

“I’ll text you my address and the code to my place. Just—Be careful. If you get caught, they’ll be after me.”

Taschen locked his jaw. “Roger that. Keep your phone on and answer when I call. We could have more questions.”

Jack mumbled his agreement and hung up.

Now if they could just get this fucking plane on the ground, he’d be one step closer to taking Sephie home—and putting a bullet in Raymond’s head.