Chapter 25

"Monica?" Amelia stood at her office door with her tablet cradled in her arm. "Mr. Ferguson just called and said he will be unable to make his meeting with you. He"s stuck in traffic and it doesn"t look like he'll be clear from it anytime soon. He asked that I pass along his sincerest apologies."

Monica sat back in her chair and let out a sigh of relief. Canceled clients would normally put her on edge but not today. Mr. Ferguson was her fourth meeting that morning and his canceling was a welcome reprieve.

"Thanks. Can you hold my calls for the next hour? I want to make some kind of dent in these emails before I leave tonight."

"Absolutely." Amelia typed something out on her tablet. "I"ll hold them and then take my lunch. You don"t have another client until two. Would you like me to order you something or do you want to leave the building for lunch?"

Leaving the building for a few minutes sounded like heaven, but it was a cloudy day, and the more she got done now, the less she would have to save for the next day. It was an easy decision.

"Can you order me something? I"ll eat at my desk while I finish up the month-end reports. But you should go out. You deserve an hour away from this place."

Amelia had been putting in just as many long hours as she had. Her secretary deserved a break or, hell, even a raise.

"I"m going to take you up on that offer. I want to go try that little café"s lunch menu. I"ll bring you back lunch from there. I"ll even grab something for Ryker and Dom."

And that was the second reason Amelia deserved a raise. She was always ten steps ahead and thinking about others.

"That would be amazing. They deserve to eat well after babysitting me all day for days on end."

Maybe now that she was wearing the trackers she could convince Luke to give his friends a break. She was sure they had better things to do than sit at her building all day. At least Ryker was allowed in the lobby. He could interact with people who walked in, but poor Dom was stuck in a car. It had to be boring out there all day. She didn"t care how much Luke insisted Dom liked the peace and quiet. All day in a car couldn"t be fun.

"I"ll take care of it."

The next hour flew by. Monica hadn"t even realized what time it was until Amelia popped her head in to advise she was headed to lunch, and she'd barely managed to make a dent in her inbox. Being CEO meant getting blind copied on nearly every email that went through the office.

Silverstein would just ignore those not directly sent to him, but she much preferred Carmichael"s take on things. One never knew when something could be important. Ignoring an email could be the difference between preventing a disaster or reacting to a mess. She much preferred prevention. And her employees liked her diligence. Even if it meant dozens of extra emails.

Her stomach was starting to make its protests known when the blare of the fire alarms rang through her office. Monica quickly checked to see if there was a notification for a false alarm; security would alert if the system was under test. When she didn"t find an alert, she stepped out of her office to ensure those on her floor were exiting as advised.

She was proud to see her employees following the alarm instructions and taking things seriously. With Mr. Carmichael out of the office for the day, it was her responsibility to check that the floor was clear before leaving herself.

Monica walked into each office and around each cubicle. Once she was satisfied that there was no one left on the floor, she moved to the staircase. She was pushing the door open to join the rest of the employees down in the lobby when a strong arm wrapped around her middle and dragged her backward.

She tried to scream, but before the sound could leave her lips, a hand stifled the noise. Panic settled over her. Monica attempted to claw at the giant paw encasing both her mouth and nose, but it was no use. The person seemed to be immune to her struggles.

Fight or flight finally kicked in and it was no longer about just trying to dislodge the hand over her face. Monica kicked and bucked like a bull at the rodeo. Sick satisfaction swirled in her belly when she felt her heel connect with what she hoped was a shin. The small grunt from her captor ensured she hit something of importance, but it did nothing to loosen the hold on her.

With each new step she was dragged along, her ability to fight was further diminished. Monica regretted all those times Ash tried to convince her to participate in yoga or some other form of exercise. The exertion she was putting out was quickly causing fatigue.

Why the hell had she thought she could get by on her fast metabolism was beyond her. It was of no use now when she was growing exhausted from mere minutes of struggling.

The panic was made worse by the fact that whoever was taking her had yet to speak. It sent her mind reeling. The hard chest and large palm suggested a very fit male. The lack of odor or any other scent made her think the person had done this before. At this rate, if he let her go, she wouldn"t be able to give the police a single detail to help them identify the guy.

That thought further freaked her out. Was it good or bad that the person kidnapping her didn"t want her to be able to identify them? Monica thought back to every crime show she ever watched. Usually, it was the kidnappers who showed their faces that were the most dangerous. It meant the chances of survival were slim to none. So maybe not being able to identify this person was a good thing. She would survive.

Then Monica thought back to the earrings she was wearing. Was it really just two days ago that Luke insisted she have them modified? If what Caden had said was true, this Tex guy would be able to find her no matter where she ended up.

The thought provided some comfort.

With any luck, Ryker would swoop in to save the day before they ever managed to make it out of the building. That thought disappeared when a second individual stepped into her line of vision. This person didn"t care that she saw his face as he shoved a rag toward her. At the last second, the hand cutting off her access to breath suddenly moved, and before she could think better of it, her lungs demanded she take a big gulp of air.

But instead of the fresh air her body needed, a sickly sweet scent filled her nostrils and she immediately understood her mistake. They weren"t giving her the opportunity to breathe. They were knocking her out.

As her vision started to blacken, Monica realized how precarious her situation was. There was nothing left to do, as the darkness pulled her under, except to hope her earrings would indeed save her life.

Otherwise, it was game over. Seeing her kidnapper"s face promised that. And that was Monica"s last thought before her body and mind succumbed to the drugs.