Hawk nudged him toward the room. "It"s my watch. Go back and lie down. You need sleep too. And..." He cast a long narrow gaze at Tesla in the bed. "She"s not sleeping well without you."
Mason twisted enough to look at the bed. True enough, Tesla was whimpering in her sleep.
"d.a.m.n. It took forever for her to sleep. She"s plagued by nightmares."
"I don"t blame her. She"s been kidnapped twice." Hawk sighed. "We all get nightmares. We have a good reason. Now so does she."
Mason winced. "True enough."
"Go."
After a quick glance toward Hawk and rea.s.sured that his friend had his back, Mason went and lay down. Instantly Tesla curled up against him. He wrapped an arm around her and tugged her closer.
And fell asleep.
For bare moments. His phone went off. He read the orders and frowned. He glanced down at Tesla. He hated to leave her. But there was a problem that needed attention. Someone had been seen entering the Hall. Had to be checked out. He sent a quick message back asking if someone else could do the check as he was on duty.
The response was immediate. She was asleep and had guards inside and out. He needed to do this and fast.
d.a.m.n it. He stared suspiciously at the orders. There was nothing untoward about them. Just he hated to leave her alone. And this was pulling him away.
Still, it was something that had to be checked.
Nothing could go wrong this day. He couldn"t argue that. With a last glance at Tesla, he slipped downstairs. He found Hawk in the living room and filled him in on the orders.
Hawk shrugged at his buddy"s frown. "It is what it is."
With a last look upstairs, he said, "Take good care of her."
And he walked out into the night.
Chapter 22.
SHE WOKE TO the birds singing and the sun shining. It was a glorious day. Then she remembered what today was. And what last night had been. She bolted upright. The other side of the bed was empty. The room was empty. She was nude. And her body hummed in joy. Satiated from the best loving in her life, she threw back her covers and bounded off the mattress. A check of her cell phone said it was early yet.
Good. A shower was first, followed by putting on her jeans and sweater until it was time to get ready. It was early and she didn"t want to spend more time in her suit and pumps than she had to. Afterwards, she twirled in front of the mirror, happy with her life. She twisted her hair back and up, looking to keep it from flying around her head.
Nothing could be allowed to distract her today.
She needed all her wits about her for this demonstration.
Mason would be with her all day, but she had no idea in what role. And after today, she was likely to never see him again.
Her heart jerked at the thought but knew it was inevitable. She"d known they weren"t to be since the beginning. She held her head up and shoved that thought to the back of her mind. Her priorities were clear.
She straightened her clothing once again. Lord she was nervous. After several deep bracing breaths she walked to the kitchen.
Coffee was set up. She clicked the power b.u.t.ton to set it dripping. Where was Mason? Swede? Hawk? Surely she wasn"t alone? Then she realized maybe it was all good now. Relieved but still wary, she pulled out a mug and thieved a cup of coffee. Then walked to her office. Standing at the entrance she studied the small room. It appeared to be as she"d left it. Good.
Her nerves were rubbing her wrong. There was so much hanging on this deal.
It wasn"t even the money. It was all about saving lives.
For Harry.
She turned to look around. As far as she could tell, she was alone. She frowned. She shouldn"t be, should she? She walked out to the back yard and wandered the small green patch aimlessly. There was no gardener today, and no one else that she could see within reach. How did that work? She wandered back inside, feeling her nerves tighten in worry.
Pulling out her cell phone, she checked the time. She still had hours to go. Determined to stay busy, she sat down at her computer and logged on. Her emails were first.
She ran though the ones she"d been expecting.
And came to one she hadn"t.
The subject said, "Robert"s life."
Frowning, she clicked on it. And froze. She s.n.a.t.c.hed up her phone and called Robert. No answer. She redialed and again, no answer. She left a voice message and logged onto the company account. He wasn"t online. She checked with another employee. She was online. She sent her an instant message asking if she"d had any contact with Robert.
The answer came back immediately. No. Not since noon yesterday.
Tesla brought out phone again. And called Mason.
"Tesla, what"s up?"
He sounded like he was driving from the noises of a radio coming through him.
"Where are you?" she asked, her voice tremulous.
"I"m almost at the house. Why?"
"There"s something you need to see."
"Be there in a few minutes. Have you shown Hawk?"
She took a raspy gasp. "He"s not here. I"m alone."
There was a moment of shocked silence. "Get up and move very quietly to the bathroom where I want you to lock yourself in."
She stood up and looked around. She locked the back door and then the front. And ran up the stairs. "I"m going upstairs," she whispered, her heart pounding against her chest. "Where"s Hawk?"
"I don"t know," he said. "I was called away over a security problem at the main hall where you"re to do your demonstration."
The bathroom was in sight. She raced inside and slammed the door shut. And locked it. Taking a deep breath, her hand trembling, she turned, intent on checking that the shower was empty.
And was s.n.a.t.c.hed from behind.
She gave a strangled scream but a blow came out of nowhere and caught the side of her head and cut off the sound as she slumped to the floor. She couldn"t speak or hear for the ringing in her head.
Still numb but aware, unable to move, she was dragged to the living room. And tossed onto the floor.
Another man grabbed her and picked her up, slamming her to the chair. Seconds later she was tied and helpless. She tried to hold back the panic, but when the first blow hit her across her face, a whimper escaped.
"Talk."
She stayed silent. Oh G.o.d. This was her worst nightmare come true. Third time lucky for the b.a.s.t.a.r.ds. It was now or never. This morning was everything. She either gave in and died now or didn"t give in and died in a few moments. She"d go the second route, and give Mason"s men those few extra minutes he and the team needed to get to her. At least he knew she was in trouble. As calmly as she could manage, she asked, "Where"s Hawk?"
A different man laughed behind her. She closed her eyes, recognizing the voice. Daniel.
s.h.i.t.
"He"s...indisposed."
A euphemism for dead. And that would be her fate, he was warning her, if she didn"t give them what they wanted.
"Now, talk."
She shook her head. "No."
The next blow sent her flying. The chair tumbled sideways and she landed on her arms, her head snapping down to the floor. The blow stunned her and she lay struggling to catch her breath.
One of the other men righted her. She moaned.
"Talk."
"No."
Another blow.
And on it went.
She lost track of time. The only thought in her mind was to endure. Survive. To be there alive for when Mason arrived. He"d come. She knew he"d come.
Into a trap.
MASON WAS ALREADY racing to the house. He had to get her out of there safely. In his heart he knew Hawk had a chance if the enemy hadn"t popped him immediately. If they had, well he had another reason to kill these b.a.s.t.a.r.ds.
He drove like a crazy man through town. The rest of the team were converging on the house. But that didn"t mean she"d be there when he arrived.
He was minutes away. Minutes she didn"t have. He had to make it.
His communicator beeped. "We"re in position."
"ETA is two minutes. What can you see?"
"Nothing. The curtains are closed. The cottage is silent. Not a sound."
s.h.i.t. He made a hard right turn and then a left. She was just a minute away. Dear G.o.d, let him be in time.
Swede spoke. "I can see into the kitchen. All clear."
He ripped up to the correct block, pulled off and parked out of sight. "On foot. Approaching from the road. Going silent."
He put away the phone and ran forward. He could see several men on the road. He knew the others would be ready. He slipped to the front door and listened. Swede would be entering through the kitchen. The others through the windows. He checked his watch, three, two, one. He burst through the front door and raced into the small cottage.
There was no one in the living room. He spun through the house, Swede coming in through the back door. "Where is she?"
He shook his head in denial of the truth. He ran through the hall to the bedroom, his heart stopping at the sight of the bed where he"d spent the night with her. And found nothing. The bathroom. The closets.
Returning to the living room, he caught sight of Swede. And the horrible truth on his face.
She was gone. Again.
Chapter 23.
PAIN RADIATED FROM the top of her body down. The only good thing was Hawk lay beside her, blood oozing from his skull. Not a bad head wound hopefully, but he hadn"t regained consciousness yet and that worried her.
It was hard to see through her swollen eyes, but she could make out that his chest rose and fell with each breath. If he could get help, then he"d likely survive. Like Mason, he was tough. And like Mason he"d worked his way into her heart. She hurt for him. And the others. They wouldn"t handle it well if they found the two of them dead.
Poor Mason.
She couldn"t do that to him.
But she might not have a choice.
She didn"t even remember when they stopped hitting her. She"d pa.s.sed out before they ran out of fun. How long until the a.s.sholes came back. She rolled over and spat out a mouthful of blood. Gathering her strength, she pulled up onto her knees.
That was the first time she realized she wasn"t tied up. She glanced around, looking for a way out. There was a door to the left. She couldn"t hear anyone on the other side. But Hawk came first. She shuffled toward him. Other than his head injury, he appeared to be fine. Other than that...she almost laughed then almost cried at the pain the laugh caused. "c.r.a.p."
Well, she could talk, so that was something. If that guttural sound was talking. She smacked Hawk gently on the cheek. "Hawk, wake up."
He didn"t move. She leaned down and whispered in his ear. "Hawk, I need you. Wake up, please. We"re prisoners." She picked up his hand and squeezed it. When she thought she felt a faint response, she squeezed harder. "Hawk, please wake up. They are likely to come back at any minute."
The floor shifted beneath her. She froze. Earthquake? No not possible. She waited for it to happen again. And this time the shift was more of a roll. Water. They were on a boat. s.h.i.t. Now she shook Hawk. She needed him awake. She could swim, but she doubted she could keep an unconscious Hawk afloat. She wasn"t that strong a swimmer.
She couldn"t leave him alone. "Hawk," she snapped, trying to interject some military harshness to her voice. It"s what he was used to after all. "Wake up," she ordered.