Total pages in book: 165
Estimated words: 154925 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 775(@200wpm)___ 620(@250wpm)___ 516(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 154925 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 775(@200wpm)___ 620(@250wpm)___ 516(@300wpm)
This plot hadn’t been about stealing MaeBe. It had been all about him. It had always been about him.
He glanced over at the security cameras and noticed a black SUV had stopped in front of the parking lot, pausing on the street.
It was here for him.
He had mere seconds to do what he needed to do, but the truth was he didn’t need more. A weird peace settled over him. This was it. This was what he’d waited for since that moment when he’d realized how brutally he’d underestimated Julia Ennis. From the second he’d realized she was alive, he’d been waiting for the moment he took her out again, waiting to pay the price for his mistake. That price—he’d always thought—was his joy, his future, his life. He’d known he would face her alone.
But he wouldn’t. Not even close. That had been arrogance on his part, the masculine belief that he would stand alone against the face of evil.
MaeBe would laugh at him if she knew that thought had gone through his head.
He opened the package after writing a brief note on the notepad in front of him. He pulled the cell phone out and started for the door. “Hello, Julia. Is Kala alive?”
He wasn’t sure what he would do if she said no. He would never be able to look his uncle in the face again. He walked out the door and into the hallway.
“Of course she is. She wouldn’t be much use to me dead.” Julia’s words came over the line with what sounded to Kyle like a slight hiss. Like a snake who knew she had her dinner in view and she was waiting to swallow it whole. “Now let me tell you how this is going to go. You have less than a minute…”
“Proof of life.” He moved to the lobby where Tasha and Cooper still sat waiting parental judgment. They looked up but he moved past them, walking out the door.
A sigh came over the line. “Well, I don’t have her here with me. She’s knocked out but she’s alive. If you want to keep her that way, you’ll walk outside and get into the car I sent for you. If you don’t, I’ll be forced to decide that this was all a huge mistake and I’ll clean up my mistakes. I’ll have them kill her and go underground and you won’t ever feel safe again. You’ll never see me coming.”
“I’m on my way.” He believed her. He would give them no excuse to kill Kala. She would be there to keep him in line, and he would be used to make MaeBe do whatever she could to find the intel and turn it over to Julia. A big man stepped out of the SUV, his face covered in a balaclava. He held the door open for Kyle. “She’s just a kid.”
“Just a kid?” Julia chuckled over the line. “She gave five trained mercenaries hell. They had to put her out. Don’t worry. One of them is a medic. I’ve been assured she’s fine. And don’t bother trying to use her dad’s name to freak them out. They know. They don’t care. If you’re a good boy, you’ll be allowed to stay awake and watch over her on the flight. I don’t know that I trust them to not…well, she’s a pretty girl. I’ve given instructions, but you know how mercenaries can be.”
He hadn’t even thought about that. Fuck. He couldn’t fight. If he had a clear chance to get them both to safety, he would, but he had to prioritize Kala’s safety above everything else. And he was going to play this smart. She had a delusion. He could feed into that. Carefully. “I won’t cause trouble. Thank you for that, Julia.”
“Well, I’m not a monster. I don’t want some kid to get abused.”
He could argue she’d already done that by kidnapping her, but if she needed praise for not allowing a kid to get molested by her own hired soldiers, he would give it to her. “I appreciate it. I’m getting in the car now. I’ll see you in a couple of hours.”
“Kyle, you sound almost okay with that.” Her voice had turned wistful.
She needed so much help. Perhaps at some point in time that help could have come in the form of therapy. Now that help would be a bullet. “Well, I think it’s time.” He settled into the backseat. If Kala was in this car, he would try to delay. Big Tag could work miracles, and he would know something was wrong. He glanced around. “She’s not here, Julia.”
“She’s at a private airfield. I assure you I have eyes on her,” she promised. “I’m not joking, Kyle. I would kill her, but I wouldn’t torture a kid that way. I wouldn’t torture any woman that way. Not ever. You’ll be allowed to watch over her.”