Whiskey-Eyed Woman (Soldiering On Book 5) Page 7

  Duncan was closer, but not close enough. He wouldn’t make it.

  A car door opened, and Mandy was thrown unceremoniously onto the back seat, the man with the gun following her.

  The second man jumped in the front seat. The car was already running, so he shifted into drive and flattened his foot on the accelerator.

  The gun left Mandy’s temple, and she had a brief moment of relief until she saw the way the gun turned. Her kidnapper pointed it out the window and fired three shots as they passed Duncan.

  Duncan was thrown back against the road, hitting his head before he disappeared from Mandy’s sight. She scrambled up to peer out of the back window, hoping to see him get up.

  But her last image of Duncan before they turned a corner was him lying on the road, still and unmoving.

  Chapter 9

  A dull ringing sounded.

  Duncan blinked and the sky swam above him. He groaned, his stomach roiling. He turned his head, looking for the source of the noise before realising it was in his head.

  Memories came rushing back. Mandy struggling. Mandy afraid. Mandy taken from him.

  He had to get her back. He rolled and staggered to his feet. As he straightened, the world swayed. He tried to catch himself, but someone else got there first. He turned his head to see his rescuer and Zack’s face came into view.

  “Are you hit?” Zack asked.

  “Don’t know,” Duncan replied, his tongue thick. He suspected he had a concussion, but he couldn’t tell if he’d been shot or not—no pain didn’t necessarily mean no wound.

  “Let’s get you inside.”

  Duncan shook his head. “Mandy.”

  “I know, but we need to get you better before you go after her. You’d be no good to her like this.”

  The logic of Zack’s words penetrated, and he allowed himself to be escorted back into the house. Radha waited for them by the door, her hands wringing anxiously.

  “Are you okay?” she asked, guiding them over to the couch.

  “Think so.” Duncan sank down with a relieved groan. He rested his head against the back of the couch and closed his eyes. The spinning in his head slowed. “Did you see who took her?”

  “No, I was in the kitchen getting lunch. I’m sorry,” Zack said.

  “One of those guys looked familiar,” Duncan said, “but I’m not sure from where.”

  “I’ll get Paul to look into it,” Zack said, then his footsteps trailed out the room.

  “What will you do?” Radha asked.

  Duncan cracked an eye open. “Rescue her.”

  “Was it Tulane?”

  “Presumably.”

  They fell silent. Duncan’s head slowly settled, and he blinked his eyes open.

  “Are you shot?” she asked.

  Duncan considered this. “Would you mind checking my side? I think I feel a twinge.”

  Radha nodded, stepped forward, and peeled his shirt up. She held herself stiffly, as if she was uncomfortable, but she didn’t complain.

  “There’s some blood,” she said after a minute. “But no through-wound I can see. Probably just grazed you.”

  Duncan nodded. “Okay.”

  “I’ll grab the first aid kit.”

  She stepped into the kitchen, pulled out a small box and brought it over. She hesitated, so he grabbed the box from her and quickly disinfected the wound. He tried not to wince, but failed.

  Radha hovered, so Duncan paused what he was doing to glance up at her.

  “You will find her, right? Get her back?”

  Duncan swallowed. “Yeah,” he replied, voice rough. He couldn’t even think of another outcome. Then, he patched himself up. The wound wasn’t too bad, but it might pinch a bit for a few days.

  Guilt ate at him. He shouldn’t have left Mandy. He shouldn’t have let his hurt feelings get in the way of protecting her. If he’d been there, she would’ve been safe.

  He’d just felt so raw. Everything her father had said earlier, about Mandy being safer when she wasn’t with Soldiering On—with him—was true.

  He’d never felt so inadequate, sitting there in that ridiculously fancy office, with Mandy’s father looking down his nose at him, being told he’d nearly got the woman he lo—cared about killed.

  But he shouldn’t have let himself get distracted, he shouldn’t have let her kiss him, he shouldn’t have…

  “Stop overthinking,” Zack said as he strode back into the room. Radha finished packing up the first aid kit and returned it to the kitchen. Zack continued, “Blake’s on his way over, and Paul says we can conference him in. He wants to have his system in front of him for if we need him.”

  “Great,” said Duncan. “I need guns.” He levered to his feet.

  “Got you covered. Sam’s on her way with the new stuff she bought on your credit card.”

  “Okay. I’ll call Destiny and report this as a kidnapping. And maybe our new ADA friend can help us.”

  Zack nodded and handed Duncan his phone. Duncan seriously needed to get a new one.

  As he dialled Destiny’s number, he turned to Zack. “Once we have the arsenal, we’ll just need to find out where they took her.”

  Zack began pulling out pages he’d stowed in a bookcase. “Let’s start with the Beaton properties I looked through earlier. We might get lucky.”

  Destiny answered the phone, and Duncan explained to her what had happened. “I need you guys looking for her, and for Tulane. Hopefully your new friend might help us here.”

  “I’ll put in an alert to stay on the lookout for Mandy. What do you want Hannah to do?” Destiny asked doubtfully.

  “I don’t know. Serve a warrant on this Gregory guy? I need to know where he’s keeping her.”

  Destiny hummed as she thought about this. “I’ll ask her and see.”

  Duncan thanked her, then turned to the city maps Zack had put together. They had red markings where each property was, and a sticky-note next to it with information about the place.

  By the time Blake and Sam arrived, Zack and Duncan had put together a likely list of locations. Blake was followed in the door by Sierra, who immediately punched Duncan in the arm. She glared at him while shaking her hand out, clearly not having expected the punch to hurt.

  “That’s for losing Mandy,” she told him. He nodded, accepting it as his due. He deserved far worse.

  Cameron and Sam carried all the weapons Sam had somehow acquired in the last day.

  “Where did you get all this?” Duncan asked, eyes wide. Was that a rocket launcher?

  Sam shrugged. “You mostly don’t want to know, but some of it is legal.”

  Duncan chuckled, though he cut it short. It didn’t feel like the right time to be laughing. “Good. We’ll need everything we can get.”

  He had to believe Mandy was still alive. Surely they wouldn’t bother kidnapping her if they just intended to kill her? Unless it was to send him a message.

  He swallowed and shoved the thought away. It wasn’t useful to think Mandy might be dead. They needed to plan as if she was definitely still alive.

  “What have we got?” Blake asked. “Any idea where she’s being held?”

  Duncan shook his head. “Let’s get Paul on the phone and see if he can hack the traffic cameras, see where the car went. In the meantime, let’s come up with a plan of action for searching the Beaton properties.”

  Sierra cleared her throat. “I know you guys play by your own rules—Blake more than anyone. But is it worth letting the police handle this? I have to ask.”

  Duncan shook his head. Mandy was his personal responsibility, no one else’s. She was his. And wasn’t that a kicker to realise at this moment. After he’d hurt her so badly, caused her to be kidnapped because of his own stubbornness. If—when—he got her back, she’d likely never forgive him.

  He only had himself to blame, but it didn’t stop the misery welling up within him. So much wasted time. Over what? Fear of rejection? He was such an asshole.

  But
he knew none of that would convince Sierra when her best friend’s life was on the line.

  “We’ve had trouble with the cops before. Half of them are corrupt, and in someone’s pocket. Given how powerful Tulane has proven to be so far, I think it’s safe to say he’ll have a few of them on his side.”

  “Still…”

  “Think of it this way. Cops have to play by the rules, but I don’t.” He picked up a gun, sighted it, then began loading ammo.

  “What do you mean, you don’t?” Sierra argued. “What good will you do her if you’re in jail?”

  Duncan’s jaw clenched. “As long as she’s safe, I don’t give two shits if I end up in jail. I’ll do whatever—whatever—it takes to get her back safely.”

  Sierra’s eyes went wide. She stared at him for a long moment, and he knew the moment when she realised what he meant. He’d die for Mandy, without question.

  Sierra nodded slowly, then slipped into Blake’s arms for comfort.

  They prepped weapons, discussed strategies, and weighed up potential locations where Tulane might be holding Mandy.

  Impatience dogged Duncan. He wanted to be out there doing something. Every second they waited was a second Mandy was in mortal danger. Tulane had already proven he would kill, and he couldn’t bear the thought of her being in his clutches.

  Cameron’s phone rang and he stepped out of the room for a minute. He came back in seconds later with a stricken look on his face. Duncan’s heart plummeted.

  The group stilled, waiting for Cameron to deliver bad news.

  Instead, Cameron held out the phone to Duncan. “It’s for you. It’s Tulane.”

  Duncan’s heart stopped for a moment, then kicked into working overtime. He grabbed the phone from Cameron and put it to his ear.

  “Where is she? Is she still alive?” he growled into the phone.

  The voice on the other end chuckled lightly. “So impatient,” he reprimanded. The voice was cultured. Not British, exactly, but more like that mid-Atlantic accent old movie stars had. But rather than charm, the voice sent a cold shiver down Duncan’s spine.

  “I’ll be more patient if you offer me proof of life.”

  Tulane hummed. “She’s alive. That’s all you need to know right now.”

  The words sent a rush of relief through Duncan’s system, but he wanted—needed—to hear her voice before he believed it. “Forgive me if I don’t trust your word on that.”

  “Forgive me if I don’t care,” Tulane countered. “Remember, I hold all the cards here.”

  We’ll see about that. “What do you want?”

  Tulane was silent for a minute. Duncan checked the connection, but it was still active. So he strained his ears in the silence on the other end of the phone, trying to get some clue as to Tulane’s whereabouts.

  Was that a car? Too hard to tell.

  “What I want is all the so-called evidence you’ve collected against me and my company. Originals and any copies you’ve made. Since you’ve brought an ADA into your little team, I have to assume the office fire didn’t destroy everything as I hoped.”

  “And if I give you this, what will stop you from killing us both? Right now, if we die, all that evidence goes public anyway. If I give it all to you, there’s nothing stopping you from arranging our deaths.”

  “Frankly, there’s nothing stopping me from killing you now. It’s just more convenient for me if you do the hard work first of clearing away all that evidence. And once I have that, I’ll have no need to kill you. Your company is destroyed, and you won’t be able to come after me. Therefore, I might just let you live.”

  Duncan didn’t believe him for a second. “And if I refuse?” he asked.

  Tulane laughed. “Then I kill your girlfriend of course. Though I may just let my men have some fun with her first.”

  Duncan growled, but Tulane didn’t seem put out. “Do we have a deal?” he asked smoothly.

  Rage filled Duncan at Tulane’s complete calm. He was a sociopath, completely uncaring that he held lives in his hands. Perhaps even enjoying it.

  He couldn’t let Mandy stay with this man a second longer than necessary. He’d give up anything to save her, even his chance to bring Tulane down for good.

  “Fine. Where do you want to meet?”

  Tulane made a self-satisfied sound and then gave an address near the docks. “Midnight tonight. Don’t be late.”

  He hung up.

  Duncan stared at the phone for a long moment, then turned back to the group. They all watched him with worried eyes.

  “He says she’s alive. I need to make a trade. Her life for the information we’ve collected on him so far.”

  “You can’t,” Cameron stated fiercely. The man had his own reasons for hating Tulane, and had only agreed to let Duncan handle the investigation when Duncan had promised he’d take his former boss down.

  “I know. That’s why we’ve got to get to her first.”

  “What do you mean?” Sierra asked cautiously.

  “I mean, we need to scope out that address Tulane gave me. If Mandy is being held there, we go in early. If she’s not, we need to find out where she is before they move her to the swap location. Zack and I made a list of possible locations, so we’ll start there.”

  “I’ll go,” said Blake.

  Zack and Sam also volunteered to scout locations.

  Duncan desperately wanted to join them, to do something to save Mandy, but he knew it would be better if he coordinated the effort from here.

  For now, at least.

  Once they knew where Mandy was, they couldn’t stop him from going after her.

  Chapter 10

  The room they’d put her in was small and dank. Exposed pipes rusted above her, and a tiny window near the ceiling allowed the late-afternoon sun to stream into the room. It illuminated the low cot in the corner, the dirt-streaked wall, and not much else.

  The room had clearly been designed as a makeshift prison. The window was too far above her to be reached even when standing on the cot—she’d already tried—and the door locked from the outside. She shivered at the thought of how many people Tulane might have kept here.

  She refused to sit on the bed. It was the only defiance she could manage until she found a way to escape, or until Duncan came for her. If he was still alive.

  She swallowed at the thought Duncan might be dead. He’d been so still on the road, almost lifeless. But she hadn’t seen any blood, and she held onto that. He had to be alive, he just had to. And if he was, he’d definitely find her, she knew. She just had to hope it was before Tulane could do whatever he planned to do with her.

  She hadn’t met the man himself, yet. The two men had placed a bag over her head, driven her here, then deposited her in this room to wait. But she had no doubt he’d show up soon enough.

  Mandy slid to the floor and waited. In the empty room, all she could think about was Duncan. But to get her mind away from the fact he might be dead or seriously injured, she thought about everything else. Their kiss, and his reaction. She could admit privately to herself that she was a little bitter his stubbornness had significantly contributed to her current predicament. If he hadn’t stormed off, there was a chance those men might have been unable to grab her.

  But she also knew it wasn’t fair to blame him. He hadn’t known this had been their plan. That wouldn’t stop him from blaming himself, though.

  Mandy groaned. She had to find a way out of this mess, and soon.

  She rattled the doorknob again, but it was still locked. No surprise. There was no keyhole on this side, so she assumed that for all the disrepair of the room, they’d updated the lock at the very least. That lessened her chances of escaping.

  She kicked the door in a fit of annoyance. Much to her surprise, it swung open to reveal a well-dressed man of about sixty with grey hair and a smug expression. Tulane. She was finally face to face with her—their—enemy. It was strange to think that so much terror and death had been caused by this man,
who looked like so many others. The only difference was the coldness in his eyes, the complete lack of human empathy as he looked at her.

  One of the men that had kidnapped her—the one with the gun—stood in the doorway, blocking Mandy’s exit. She held herself still, waiting.

  Tulane eyed the open door, then her.

  “Did your little tantrum help?” he asked.

  Mandy glared at him, the heat of embarrassment rising in her cheeks. “Tulane, I presume?”

  He inclined his head. “I am indeed.”

  Mandy crossed her arms over her chest. “Why did you bring me here?”

  He shrugged. “You were the easier of the two to take, even with your boyfriend’s sad injury.” His expression turned to one of false sympathy, and Mandy narrowed her eyes. She didn’t know whether or not to be offended on Duncan’s behalf, since she’d never felt his leg had been a detriment. She settled on being offended on her own behalf.

  “Well, you’ll realise your mistake soon enough.”

  He smirked. “Oh, I doubt that very much.”

  Mandy stayed silent, though she itched to tell him where to stick it. Tulane was clearly a businessman, urbane and polished. He looked exactly like so many executives she’d dealt with over the years—men like her father. The setting may have changed—a moldy prison instead of a boardroom—but this was still her domain. She could outmanoeuvre a man like this.

  She had to.

  Mandy strolled a few steps past Tulane, wishing she had on one of her sharp suits and heels as armour, but the suit-skirt and t-shirt combination she’d scrambled together this morning at the safe house would have to do. She kept Tulane in her peripheral vision, while still turning her back to him, showing that he didn’t intimidate her.

  She turned back to him and smiled. “What can I do for you, Tulane? Or should I call you Mr. Fairfax?”

  Tulane blinked. “So you’ve discovered my identity. Clever girl.”

  She gave him a smile that bordered on sarcastic, sure he used the ‘girl’ epithet on purpose to infantilise her.

  “We know a lot of things about you.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “Yes. Let’s talk about that, shall we?”