Chapter 27

Monica"s head felt like someone was beating it with a hammer. A sudden shift rocked her body and made the pain that much worse.

Was that turbulence? Am I on a plane?

That was the only thing she could associate the movement with but that couldn"t be right. She hadn"t scheduled any trips lately.

Then suddenly, it was like a movie was turned on inside her head. Except instead of being one of the characters, it was as if she was part of the audience watching what was unfolding.

The fire alarm.

The mad dash to make sure everyone on her floor had left safely.

Her own hustle to leave once she knew everyone else was safe.

Then the worst part of the movie started. Someone grabbing her and her fighting for her life to get free, but all in vain. In the end, the two individuals overpowered, drugged, and carried her away.

"I know you"re awake. I could tell the moment your breathing changed."

Monica knew that voice, had prayed she would never have to hear it again. With great effort, she forced her eyes open and took in her surroundings. She was, in fact, on a plane, a luxurious one based on the looks of it, and sitting across from her was none other than Alexander Fletcher himself. From what she could tell, no one else was with them. The two men who grabbed her were nowhere in sight.

That made her feel marginally better. She could handle Fletcher. She wasn"t bound, so as soon as they landed, she could strike out and run away. She just needed to figure out where it was they were going to land.

"Where are you taking me?"

"What, no hello?" Fletcher chuckled. "I thought for sure you would be more excited to see me."

"Where are you taking me?" she asked again, through gritted teeth.

She wasn"t in the mood for games. Her head was pounding, and she wasn"t a huge fan of flying, despite being part of her job. But normally she had time to mentally prepare. She wasn"t too keen on waking up while she was already in the air.

"Now see, that"s a surprise. I wouldn"t want to spoil all the fun on the first go around."

If she thought her head hurt when she woke up, it was nothing compared to how it felt talking to this man. He made an art out of talking in circles, which was quite the contrast to the first time she met him. It made her wonder which personality was the true one.

"Why did you take me? It"s not like kidnapping me is going to help. Carmichael knows what you did with Silverstein. The moment he finds out I was taken, he"s going to put precautions in place to protect our clients."

"Oh, I know." Fletcher gave her a smile that sent shivers down her spine, and not the good kind either. "You lost the chance to help me. Now this is payback for a dear friend."

Payback? A cold dread washed over her. There was only one person outside of Fletcher who could possibly be out to get her.

"Silverstein." The name was nothing more than a whisper out of her lips.

"I see you figured it out." There was too much excitement on his face for her comfort. "When I told him you refused to follow in his steps, he decided it was time to collect on that debt you owed him."

"What debt?" She was almost too afraid to ask.

"For putting him in prison. It was your fault, you know. You just had to report her missing."

Fletcher must"ve been confused. That or Silverstein wasn"t providing him with all the information about what really happened.

"He sent a ransom note," Monica said slowly. "He tried extorting the company for money. Then tried to have her murdered when that didn"t work. Me reporting her missing had nothing to do with him going to jail."

"He said you would try to convince me it was his fault and not yours."

Holy shit. Silverstein was even more devious than she originally thought. This whole time she had assumed it was Fletcher who approached Silverstein, but what if it had been the other way around?

"Did Silverstein approach you about our clients?"

"Of course he did," Fletcher boasted. "He knew I was the best and wanted a partnership."

How had no one seen it before? She had honestly thought Fletcher was the mastermind and Silverstein was simply greedy.

Well, the man was still greedy. She just hadn"t realized how much until this moment. This changed everything. This entire time, she thought it was Fletcher going after her, but if it was Silverstein, things were much worse. Samuel hated her for taking his place.

"Whose idea was it to approach me?"

Fletcher looked at her like he didn"t understand what she was asking. And maybe he didn"t. If he was Silverstein"s puppet, then he might not understand what the true agenda was.

"It was mine, but Silverstein approved it."

Ah, Fletcher had been manipulated into it. She would never say that out loud but now that she thought it, her gut said she was right.

"So where are you taking me?"

"To see . . ." The pilot interrupted with a message that they were starting their descent. Fletcher smiled at her. "You will see soon enough."

Monica had a bad feeling she knew exactly who she was going to meet as soon as they landed. She had to stop herself from reaching for her earrings. It would do her no good to give away her ace in the hole. With any luck, Luke had been tracking her location and was already on the way to save her.

She just needed to stall until he got there. Five minutes ago she would"ve said no problem. She could"ve handled Fletcher, but if he wasn"t going to be alone, things wouldn"t be that easy.

Monica had to give the pilot credit, the landing was smooth despite the rickety airport they were landing at. One look out the window and it was clear they weren"t at a commercial airport. Hell, it didn"t even look like an airport that had been used in the past twenty years. All the buildings were run down or falling apart. Other than the fancy town car sitting outside one of the rusty barns, there was no sign of life.

"Looks like your surprise arrived before us."

Was it too late to tell Fletcher she didn"t want a surprise? That maybe he could return it? Yes, it was too damn late because they were taxiing toward the town car and Fletcher had already unbuckled his seat belt, something she would normally chastise a person for if this was a normal flight.

As soon as the plane came to a stop, the same man whose face she had seen earlier when he shoved a rag over her mouth came out of the cockpit and opened the door. With each new development, Monica realized just how screwed she was.

Now that they had landed, Luke would be able to locate her, but how long would that be? She had no idea how long she had been knocked out, so there was no way to gauge how long she had been flying.

The sun was still high in the sky, so her first assumption was they were still on the West Coast. They would"ve lost time if they had gone east. Monica didn"t get a chance to debate it more before Fletcher pushed her along.

"Let"s go. We don"t have all day and someone is excited to see you again."

Monica tried to drag her feet, but it was no use. Fletcher was pushing her forward and the one man who kidnapped her kept her within his line of sight. She didn"t particularly care for his menacing look and he already proved once that he would drug her. Monica couldn"t afford that to happen a second time.

Silverstein stepped out of the town car as soon as they were close. The smile on his face made her stomach swoosh more than it already was. The combination of the drugs and nerves was wreaking havoc on her system. Not to mention the pulsing in her head. She would"ve much preferred to be curled up in a ball. Perhaps in her bed where she could pull the covers over her head.

Since none of that was an option, she forced herself to snap her spine straight and present the powerful woman she now was.

"Monica." Silverstein"s whiny voice went straight through her. "It"s so nice to see you again."

"I wish I could say the same." The words fell out of her mouth before she could stop them.

Silverstein merely laughed. "You always did have a mouth on you. I knew you would go places one day. I just didn"t think your goal was to take my job from me."

Again, her filter seemed to be lacking. Maybe it was the drugs, or the lack of food. Either way, she answered truthfully.

"The seat wouldn"t have been available if you didn"t go after Ashlynn. You had to know there was a flaw in your plan. Carmichael might not care enough about his daughter, but he very much loves his company and will do anything to make sure it never looks bad."

"Carmichael"s a fool who never understood what it took to make things great. He could"ve been a much richer man if he just listened to me," Silverstein snapped.

Niles Carmichael was a millionaire who owned a billion-dollar company. How the hell was that not enough? Then Monica remembered something she learned when Samuel had been arrested.

"Maybe if you didn"t have a gambling addiction and a fondness for living the high life, you wouldn"t have needed all that extra money. Guys like Carmichael live well within their means. You never understood the meaning of that."

Before her brain could register the movement, Silverstein"s hand whipped out and cracked her across the cheek. The sound echoed through her brain, and the pain had her biting down on the inside of her mouth hard enough to draw blood.

Shit, she forgot that amongst his charges there had been spousal abuse. His wife had years' worth of abuse documented.

Pissing him off hadn"t been her smartest plan.

"You never said anything about physically hurting her," Fletcher whined.

Monica was stunned. Was Fletcher really that naive? Samuel had gone to prison for abuse and the man really thought Silverstein would never hurt her?

"What do you think he meant when he said he wanted to collect his debt?" She really should"ve kept her mouth shut, but at this point, the anger was taking over and that was never a good thing. She had a tendency to lash out when she was pissed and hungry.

"That he would frame you so you lost your job just like he did. Maybe even do some jail time. I didn"t think he meant he would hurt you."

"Oh, I don"t plan to just hurt her. I want her dead."

Fletcher was the only one to gasp. Her kidnapper didn"t look surprised nor concerned either way. To him, this was probably just a job. One he did routinely from the looks of it.

She, on the other hand, had already come to that conclusion, so Silverstein confirming it did nothing for her. Her only focus at the moment was finding the opportunity to slip away. It was vital that she get away from Silverstein before he had the chance to follow through on his plan. Give herself enough time for Luke and his team to rescue her.

Thankfully, an opportunity presented itself a few moments later when Silverstein and Fletcher started to argue. Neither gave her any mind as the two hurled insults at each other.

Monica stepped back slowly, conscious not to make any sudden movements that would bring attention to herself. She managed to get a few feet of distance before she said "screw it" and turned around to haul ass.

Running in heels wasn"t ideal, but she gave it her all regardless. With her arms pumping against her side, she took off for one of the abandoned buildings. With any luck, she would find a place to hide and bide her time.

She was about five feet away from the building when a pair of strong arms wrapped around her. Unlike the last time, these arms were gentle, but that didn"t stop her from kicking and screaming. If she was going to be dragged back to Silverstein, then the person would need to do it with her fighting them the entire way.

"Easy, now. Tex sent me."

She didn"t recognize that voice, but she recognized that name and that was enough for her. Monica sagged against the muscular chest.

"Please tell me Luke"s on his way."

"He is, but I"m going to need you to come in here with me while two of my teammates deal with your friends."

They weren"t her friends, but who was she to correct the giant of a man who looked like he could bench-press two of her.

"I"m Matthew but my friends call me Wolf."

She shook his outstretched hand. "I"m Monica, but you probably already knew that."

Wolf laughed and it eased her some. "Tex may have mentioned your name when he called in a favor."

"Do you and your friends do this often?" She circled her finger in the air. "You know, rescue kidnapped people?"

"More often than people realize." Wolf stopped and looked to be listening to something. Monica tried to hear what caught his attention but the pounding in her head was still present. Not as bad but enough to keep her from concentrating too hard. "Sounds like my team handled your little problem. Let"s go wait for Luke outside. He shouldn"t be too far behind."

They stepped back out of the decrepit building and moved back to the town car where both Silverstein and Fletcher sat on the ground with their hands stretched behind their backs. The man who kidnapped her lay crumbled on the pavement at an unusual angle, and there was a fourth man also tied up by the hood.

"I take it he gave you some trouble." Wolf nodded his head toward her kidnapper.

All three men had dark hair and were of similar height. They were dressed the same. If it weren"t for their facial features, she would"ve assumed they were related.

"He pulled a knife," the man with a few scars on his face answered. "He should stay asleep until the authorities arrive."

He wasn"t dead. Somehow that made her feel marginally better. She wasn"t too keen on having a man"s death on her conscience.

"That"s Mozart and this guy is Dude."

Both men nodded at her but didn"t say much more.

"I think I"m just going to sit down for a minute ..." Monica said the words out loud, she thought, before darkness took over.