Chapter 19

NINETEEN

SATURDAY, 2:50 A.M.

Voices filtered through her brain, but Juliette couldn't focus.

"What are we going to do? I didn't sign up for murder." The voice was female.

Another voice, male, grumbled. "She's not going to want witnesses. These three are a liability. They know too much."

Three ?

They must have Noelle. And Ivy? Juliette opened her eyes a slit and was hit by a wave of dizziness. What had they injected into her?

The female voice sounded familiar, and Juliette struggled to place it. She worked hard to adjust her eyes and found herself in a dark, square room. Across from her, Noelle lay crumpled on the floor. But Juliette saw her move her hand to signal she was alert but playing unconscious.

She tilted her head a fraction of an inch and saw the wooden legs of a chair. Attached to the chair, pink Converse.

Ivy .

Juliette took a deep breath to keep the nausea at bay. She could still hear voices, but they were distant, not in the room.

"What's the plan? We've patrolled the area and found two cars just outside the perimeter, but no signs of anyone. But with two cars, there have to be more."

When would the SWAT team arrive? The cars were her grandmother's and Alana's. But where were Caleb and Alana? She sent up a prayer that they'd found help. Two against three unfriendlies wasn't good. Based on voices, they were up against two men and one woman. The door creaked. Juliette didn't lift her head. Maybe they'd think she was still unconscious. Three sets of boots marched through the door. No shoes a woman would wear. So three men and one woman? Where was the woman?

"Time to move them," one of the men said. "We'll load them in a truck and take off."

Ivy struggled against her bonds. The chair scraped the floor. "Leave me alone," she cried.

"Police. You're surrounded. Come out with your hands up." A megaphoned voice echoed through the room.

"You morons!" One of the three men shouted commands. He must be the one in charge. Was he the General?

He continued ranting. "You patrolled but didn't spot the police? Get out there and assess the situation. Now!"

Footsteps retreated from the room. A distinct locking sound sealed them in. After a few moments of silence, Juliette dared to sit up and saw Noelle doing the same. But Juliette had to sink back down until the nausea wore off. She checked out Ivy from her spot on the floor.

The girl's left eye was swollen, but otherwise she looked like a survivor. The fierceness in Ivy's eyes fled when Juliette made eye contact and Ivy realized who it was.

"Juliette!" Tears ran down Ivy's cheek. "Where is Uncle Caleb?"

Noelle started working on Ivy's bindings.

"He's here, and probably trying to save us," Juliette said, attempting to stand again. This time, she was successful, the nausea easing and adrenaline kicking in.

A noise froze them all in place. Someone was unlocking the door.

Juliette and Noelle sprang into action and flanked either side of the door. Whoever was unlocking it took a while, fumbling with the mechanism. Someone who maybe didn't have a key?

She shot Noelle a look and mouthed, Caleb.

Noelle shrugged.

The door was flung open, but no one entered. "It's me," Caleb whispered, slipping through the entrance and propping the door open. "Don't take me out."

Juliette held back the urge to fling herself into his arms. Mainly because Ivy beat her to it. The reunion made Juliette tear up, but she sucked back her emotions. Now wasn't the time to get sappy.

"We've got to get out of here," Caleb said with Ivy still wrapped around him. "Our distraction worked, but they'll be back. We only have Alana and Detective Williams as backup. They're creating a distraction by making the hackers think they're surrounded, while Officer Slaton has driven off to get a signal to find out where the SWAT team is."

Juliette took Ivy's hand and pulled her away from Caleb so he could pass a gun to Noelle. Her eyes connected with his, and she remembered their kiss. Things weren't over between them.

This was just the beginning.

Caleb had started to toss a weapon to Juliette when the door crashed open. "Weapons down."

They all froze.

The man's identity registered.

"Theo?" Caleb's eyes widened. Juliette's shock mirrored Caleb's. They'd all been fooled. His employee stood in the doorway with the two armed guards flanking either side of him.

Theo shrugged. "I assumed you'd figured it out already. Since you're uber-smart and all."

"How—how could you?" Caleb stared the man down, his eyes flickering with the fiercest look she'd ever seen on his face. "I trusted you. You staged your own kidnapping? How could you do that to me, not to mention your wife and son?"

He shrugged. "It was the best way to throw off suspicions. Hopefully you suspected Blake. Because who would suspect me faking my own kidnapping?" He laughed.

Noelle made the slightest movement, and one of the armed men approached her to relieve her of her weapon. The other security guard patted Caleb down and then moved and did the same to Juliette.

"What's your end game, Theo?" Caleb's face betrayed his anger. "What are your wife and child going to do when you rot in prison? Did you really think you could rob banks and get away with it?"

Theo cocked his nine millimeter and pointed it in Caleb's face. "Well, thanks to Ivy, we'll get our money—the money the bank president owes my family for ruining my business. They owe my son college tuition and a future. The bank stopped lending us money, and my family has suffered long enough because of their greed." With every sentence, Theo raised his voice more. This was not good.

Rushmore had formed as a vendetta against the bank and their lending policies. Juliette decided to keep the man talking. "So, what is Rushmore going to do with the money if the bank pays your ransom demand?"

Theo shifted his gun from Caleb to Juliette. "You, stop talking. You and your bodyguard friend are nothing but trouble."

Caleb shifted closer to Ivy, who sat on the wooden chair. He stared Theo down and took another step sideways until he was in front of Ivy. "Did you go to work for me with the intention of selling out Cyberskies? You thought you could use my company to further your personal agenda?"

"Blake should have made me his partner. He was going to until you came along. Cyberskies should have been mine."

So it was more personal than the money. Theo thought Caleb had robbed him of a position.

Theo glared at Caleb, whose eyes never left Theo's trigger finger. If they didn't do something soon, this man might snap. Jules instinctively knew exactly what Caleb was planning. She shot him a quick wink of acknowledgement. He'd hit Theo, and Juliette would dive for Ivy and get her out of the crossfire. Noelle blinked twice, agreeing to their wordless plan. She'd be Caleb's backup.

But before they could attack, Theo changed the playing field. "This ends now." Theo nodded and the two security guards moved next to Juliette and Ivy.

"I'll let you decide, Caleb. I'll let you save one of your loves. The other one dies. Who will it be? Ivy or your pretty bodyguard? You can only save one."

* * *

SATURDAY, 3:00 A.M.

Theo Payne was one sick man.

Caleb willed his body to stop trembling, but adrenaline pulsed through him at a supersonic pace. One of the security guards pressed a gun against Juliette's temple. The other trained his gun on Ivy. And Theo blocked the exit, pointing his gun at Caleb.

Ivy. Juliette.

These two were his entire world. How could he choose? He loved them both.

Flashbacks filled his mind. Laz. Juliette. The mountain.

He fisted his hands to keep them from trembling. Juliette gave an imperceptible nod, as if to say, I'll save Ivy. Tears streaked his niece's cheeks and dripped onto her shirt. Noelle hovered in the corner, trying to remain invisible, but her clenched fists were ready for action.

"Please, don't do this." Ivy pleaded with Theo.

Was this an unwinnable situation?

Think, Caleb, think. There had to be a way out of this. Theo couldn't get away with his reign of terror. Noelle inched closer to Theo, trying to stay out of his field of vision.

"Stop with the games, Theo. You're not letting any of us walk away. We all know too much." Caleb turned slightly to catch Juliette's attention. She stood frozen, her eyes darting between the three bad guys with guns. He stood ramrod straight in front of Ivy, making himself look as intimidating as possible, despite his hammering heart playing his rib cage like a xylophone.

Refusing to flinch or back down in the slightest, Caleb stared hard. The Army had prepared him for combat. After assessing his opponent, he knew the man didn't have any combat skills—he wasn't holding the gun correctly—but with Theo's finger hovering over the trigger, if anything set the man off, it would spell disaster.

Theo's nostrils flared, but he said nothing. The man was in his late twenties, maybe approaching thirty. He had his whole life ahead of him. And while his Robin Hood vigilante-style justice was hailed by some, his list of crimes would land him in jail for the rest of his life. Assuming they could get him there.

"How much more are you willing to lose, Theo? Your family, your son? Because murder is a much bigger deal than a bank robbery."

"You don't call the shots. I do." Theo's hands trembled, and his eyes twitched. Was the man on something? "You've been the boss long enough. I've stood in your shadow long enough. It's time to take down two Goliaths with one stone—you and the bank."

This man had targeted Cyberskies to carry out his crimes. Theo was smart, but he hadn't operated alone.

"Theo, the police are surrounding the building as we speak. You need to run if you want to have any chance of escaping."

Caleb flicked his eyes to Noelle on his left and Juliette on his right, neither of whom were moving. Where were Alana and Agent Williams? Agent Slaton should have gotten through to help by now. Hopefully Theo wouldn't call his bluff.

"Choose!" Theo's agitation was just this side of unhinged.

As if Caleb could choose. The reason he'd refused to give his heart to anyone was this very situation. It always ended with someone getting hurt. Or worse—death.

"Police. We have the building surrounded." The sound of the police megaphone was music to Caleb's ears, but he needed to talk this madman off a ledge before he hurt the people Caleb loved.

There was only one answer in Caleb's mind. Juliette's wide eyes meant she could read his thoughts. He took two steps forward, straight into the path of Theo's gun.

"Take me. Let Ivy, Juliette, and Noelle go. It's obvious the issues you have are with me."

"That's not how it works. You do as I say. I'll kill them both—" Theo was cut off by a crackle over his radio. They must have set their communications up to get around the signal jammer. A fact he wished he'd known earlier—he would have tried to steal one of their radios.

A voice came through the speaker. "Rough Rider. Get out of there. Police have entered the building." Sirens wailed in the distance. But what struck Caleb was the distinctly female voice. It resonated with Caleb, like it was someone he knew.

Was the voice on the other end of the radio CyberLane? Could she be the mastermind of this whole operation?

"You know what?" Theo waved the gun around Caleb's face. "On second thought, I will take you. I'm getting out of here. You two." He nodded to the hired guns. "Get rid of the rest of them and then run. Caleb's my bargaining chip out of here."