Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 72647 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 363(@200wpm)___ 291(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72647 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 363(@200wpm)___ 291(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
Liam took a step back, giving Nate the chance to talk to her first.
Because she was his responsibility now. He reached for her hand. “What’s happening?”
“The alarm is off, and I can’t find Devi,” she whispered.
His father cursed under his breath. “I’m on it. We’ve been away from the bloody security cams. I’ll run them back. She couldn’t have gotten out the front. We would have seen her.”
“She went out back,” Daisy replied, still surreally calm. “She was upset about something, and she sits on the back steps when she’s upset. Lucas, I need you to get the boys into the nursery. Bri’s there.”
Lucas was suddenly all kinds of serious. “You need me to call my dad?”
She shook her head. “My father’s already on it.”
“Yeah, go get Ian,” Liam was saying into his cell. “Tell him I want a sniper on the roof of the club, and they’re looking for Devi on the east side of the Ferguson building. Keep this quiet. We don’t know what’s happening yet.”
Lucas turned to the kids. “All right, guys. Let’s get a move on.”
Hunter was already in motion, gathering up the youngest. “Let’s brush some teeth. Don’t want them to fall out, do we?”
They weren’t military but they were calm under pressure.
“We’ll stay with Bri and the kids,” Gabe assured them. “Let me know when the coast is clear. Until then, we’ll keep everyone in lock-down.”
The young men moved efficiently, getting the boys to cover without panicking them.
“I think they’re calling my cell.” Daisy’s hand shook slightly as she passed it to him. “I didn’t answer or look at the texts they sent.”
“Smart girl.” Her father still had his cell in hand. “Better to play dumb. The minute you answer you’re on a timer.”
Daisy nodded. “I also didn’t get close to the windows. When I realized the alarm wasn’t on, I made sure no one could see me. I would have loved to have seen her, but that would put me on a timer, too.”
She hadn’t panicked. She hadn’t rushed out trying to save her friend herself. He was proud of her. His cell rang, and he slid his finger across the screen, putting it on speaker. “Dad? What have you got?”
Daisy leaned in.
“She went out the back and did exactly what Daisy said she would. She was drinking coffee, sitting on the back steps crying,” his father explained. “And then two men with military-grade weapons dressed in all black took her. I think they’re in a van on the other side of the Ferguson building. Liam, I told you I thought someone was following us.”
Liam cursed under his breath. “I’m sorry. I didn’t see it so I brushed it off.” He looked to his daughter. “I was too eager to get home and tell you and your mother you’re going to be safe. I just wanted to see my daughter and tell her how much I love her.”
Daisy nodded. “I love you, too, Da. But we have to get Devi. I can’t let them take her. We have to exchange me for her, and then you’ll rescue me. It’ll be fine. I’ll be a perfectly good hostage.”
There was only one problem with the scenario. “They don’t want you as a hostage, love. They want you dead so you can’t testify against their boss. So no, we’re not exchanging you.”
“I can be very charming,” she replied, her shoulders straightening like she was actually getting ready to walk right into danger and expect to come out on the other side. Because she was charming.
Keeping her alive was going to be a full-time job.
“You are, my darlin. You are the most charming woman alive besides your sainted mother, but I think in this case, we should try to take the fuckers out before they lay hands on you.” Her father was suddenly the voice of reason.
“Da, we can’t let them take Devi.” Daisy’s voice wavered.
“Her mother is already on her way, and Boomer happened to be in the club tonight so he’s got a high-powered rifle, and I assure you he only needs one shot,” Liam explained. “However, we’re going to have to start the timer or I worry they might kill her and try again later. I can’t imagine Devi’s being charming right now. She’s probably proving she’s Erin Taggart’s daughter and giving them hell.”
“She fought hard,” Brody said over the line. “They roughed her up but good. However, she was alive when they put her in the van. Oh, wow, we’ve got incoming. Erin’s moving around the back. She’s clinging to the shadows. I don’t think they can see her. She’s in.”
Erin Taggart strode into the room wearing an overcoat that absolutely did not fit her. She’d been playing at Sanctum so there was probably some fet wear under the men’s jacket. She’d tugged on a pair of sneakers, too. “Li, where’s my girl?”