Total pages in book: 148
Estimated words: 139606 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 698(@200wpm)___ 558(@250wpm)___ 465(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 139606 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 698(@200wpm)___ 558(@250wpm)___ 465(@300wpm)
He parked the car and eased out, seeing Oakley’s big body in the distance. He was surrounded by five burly guards, each of them armed to the teeth.
There was no sign of Tasha, and he was pretty sure Chet wasn’t with them either.
Had Chet taken off with her? Was he going to hide her away or kill her? Dare prayed it was the former. No matter what happened, he could hold her and help her heal. Just let her be alive.
He took a deep breath and tried to remember what he’d learned about the property. The main house would be roughly half a mile north. The helo pad was far closer to the big building Taggart had described as the caretaker’s storage. It was where all the landscaping equipment was kept. If he needed a place to hide, it was closest, and if he remembered correctly a bit behind him. The road branched off in two directions, the one that led him here and to the main house, and the one that wound back to the storage house.
Where would Tasha be held? Was she even close? They’d carried her out of the hotel alive, but that was all he was certain of.
Oakley started to walk toward him.
Move. He was supposed to move. Meet him halfway was what Taggart had said, but not too close. Don’t let them put hands on you.
“Where is Tasha?” Dare let the gun hang at his side, showing them he was armed but he wasn’t pointing it anyone’s way yet.
Oakley stopped midfield and put a hand out, stopping the men around him. “She’s fine.”
“I doubt that.” Dare stopped, keeping yards between them.
“She’s alive,” Oakley replied, staring at him for a moment. “I didn’t expect you to come armed. I guess you’re more your father’s son than I thought. I rather bought into the whole ‘I hate my father’ thing you have going.”
“I can hate him and still want his business.” He was going to play to Oakley’s expectations. “What are you planning to do with the anthrax? Not that I care. What I care is you’re stealing it instead of fucking paying us. Do you think we made it for fun?”
A brow rose over Oakley’s eyes, a clear sign he’d surprised the man. “I thought you didn’t know about your father’s more interesting side businesses.”
“I know everything. I’m the man’s heir. We might not see eye to eye on a lot of things, but we both like money. If you’d come to me, I would have made you a deal. I’m a salesman, after all, and I know there’s nothing that’s not for sale.”
Except the pack. The pack would never sell each other out. Never. The pack would sacrifice and suffer for each other. They would celebrate each other. They would live all of life together.
“Well, I’ve tried to talk your father into it,” Oakley admitted. “I guess I should have come to you.”
“You could kill my father and put me in the CEO spot,” Dare offered. “But I need proof my girlfriend is alive. She’s the one thing that’s not negotiable. I want to see her.”
“Let me take you to her. She’s a short helicopter ride away,” Oakley promised.
A lie. Tristan had monitored Oakley’s helicopter. It had flown straight from an office building in Sydney to this place. No stops. They had CCTV footage of Chet carrying Tasha on that chopper. She was here. They wouldn’t have had enough time to get her here and then drive her somewhere else. It made sense that she was in one of the buildings on the property. “No. I don’t move until I see her and she’s released. That was the deal. We can make another one, you and I, if you like, but her release will be part of it, too. You want that anthrax, you can have it, but she’s my payment.”
“A little closer,” Taggart said in his ear.
Dare moved forward a couple of feet.
Oakley sighed. “Fine. I’ll show you that she’s alive.” He pulled out his cell and punched in some numbers. And frowned because no one picked up the line. “She’s here. She’s alive. I can take you to her.”
He’d had a plan, and part of it was someone picking up the other end of that line.
Had Chet fucked Oakley over, too?
Or had Kala and Lou found Tasha?
“Dare, Lou has her,” Taggart said in his ear. “I just got a text. They’ve got her secure. Get down.”
A shot rang out but Oakley had moved, and Charlotte’s bullet went wild, hitting one of the other guards.
Oakley ran back to the safety of the SUV. “That was a mistake.”
Dare felt something hit his right shoulder, and fire exploded across his system. That was a pain unlike anything he’d ever felt. Shot. He’d been shot.
“Move, Dare. I’m coming,” Taggart assured him.