Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 56875 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 284(@200wpm)___ 228(@250wpm)___ 190(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 56875 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 284(@200wpm)___ 228(@250wpm)___ 190(@300wpm)
“Great.”
“We’ll be at the hotel in twenty minutes,” Rory called over his shoulder.
I glanced down at the tracker again, confused. It had stopped blinking. It held steady, the light red not green. I refreshed it, the light still red.
I called our security team, demanding to speak to Evan, explaining what had happened. He was in charge of all our toys and was brilliant at it. He tapped on his keyboard. “It shows a malfunction,” he muttered. “I don’t understand. I’m putting you on speaker.”
I looked at Finn. “I need Una upstairs now.”
He called, and I heard him talking, listened to Evan typing. My heart began to race, the feeling of worry I had been experiencing turning into fear.
Evan spoke. “It’s back online.”
I breathed a sigh of relief until his next words. “It shows her somewhere, moving away from the hotel.”
“What?”
Finn looked up, his expression worried. “Una says Anna isn’t in your room. Her phone isn’t there either.”
“Rory! I need back to the hotel now!” I roared.
“On it,” he replied, the sound of the engine revving high filling the car. “Ten minutes.”
“The signal is gone again,” Evan said. “I’m going to work on a different angle.”
“I’ll be there soon,” I said through gritted teeth.
Across from me, Finn was speaking rapidly into his phone. “Get every camera searching for Anna. Load up all the images from two o’clock onward, starting from the front desk. We’ll be in the security room shortly.”
He hung up, meeting my gaze. His was focused, intense. “We’ll find her. I’m sure there’s an explanation.” He spoke louder. “Whatever tickets we get for running reds, we’ll pay, Rory. Step on it.”
I swallowed down my panic. I knew what the explanation was.
Somehow, despite all our measures, she’d been taken.
And I needed to find her.
Fast.
ANNA
I blinked at the image of Juan in front of me. His evil smile.
“No. You’re dead.”
He shook his head. “No.”
“But they found your body,” I protested, as if by saying it out loud, it would be true.
He tutted. “They found a body.”
He gripped my shoulders, pulling me from the suitcase. All my muscles screamed in pain at the rough handling and as the blood flow was restored to my bent limbs. He laughed, the sound making the hairs on my neck stand up. He pushed me into the wall, my hands still tied behind my back, the pins and needles unbearable. I shook with the aches already forming. I fought against the tears, but he saw them, and they delighted him.
He paced the room, talking. “Unlike my cocky uncle, I was wearing a vest. I was shot in the chest and shoulder, and there was enough blood they didn’t even check. In the chaos, I slipped down the stairs, and I took one of the lab workers who had my build and coloring. I convinced him I would help him escape what was happening. We used another tunnel and came out not far from the barn.” He held up his hands. “Then I gave him his reward. A bullet in the chest. A switch of shoes and clothes, some careful staging, and ta-da! Here I am.” He tilted his head. “Did you miss me?”
“His-his hands,” I stuttered.
“Ah yes. A dull saw, then I let Mother Nature help. Lots of coyotes around there. The blood would draw them. I knew I would be found.” He winked. “Gave me time to call my wife and plan our next move.”
Heidi watched from the chair, looking bored.
“I don’t understand,” I whispered. “Why didn’t you run?”
“And leave you, my little pet, behind? Let someone else have you? No.” He shook his head. “No.”
Heidi stood with a smirk. “My husband wanted you. So, I decided, like the good wife I am, to get you for him. I did the research on your Irishmen and came up with a plan.” She looked at her nails, inspecting them. “That’s what I do. I befriend people and let Juan have them.” She narrowed her eyes. “You and your Una refused to let me befriend you. All I needed was to get you out of that hotel so Juan could have you. Your guards proved to be too close to let that happen. You refused to come to lunch. I couldn’t fucking separate the two of you. So, we came up with a different plan. So simple.” She eyed the suitcase on the floor. “I walked you right past them.” She laughed in delight. “I even stopped by the front desk and spoke with Una on the way out. Your stupid men watched me load you into a trunk, and they had no idea. Not a clue the man helping me take you away was the man they were supposed to protect you from.” She clapped her hands. “And now it’s too late.”
I swallowed, putting on a brave face. “Maybe not. Niall won’t stop until he finds me.”