Chapter 31

DIEGO HERNANDEZ FROWNEDas he stared at Janie. He glanced at the Reyes cousins. “What is she doing here?”

The two men exchanged puzzled glances. “You wanted her brought to you,” Matias said.

“Who told you that?”

Matias’s gaze flickered to Maria. “I thought you wanted Janie here, sir. If I misunderstood, I apologize.”

Hernandez’s expression hardened as he turned to Maria. “You did this?”

The other woman swallowed hard. “I thought having her here would please you.”

“I don’t need another woman in my life.”

Anger flickered in Maria’s eyes. “Of course not. This whole thing is David’s fault. I thought the trust-fund money would make the trouble you’ve experienced worth the hassle he’s put you through.”

“You thought adding another layer of problems would be a good thing? You told me she has friends, specifically a boyfriend. Do you think he’ll forget about her?”

“He doesn’t matter, baby. Sawyer is nothing. He’ll never find her. He does not know where she is. Besides, we made her leave her phone and jewelry behind as though she had changed her mind about being with him.”

“Does he know who took her?”

Maria grew pale.

Hernandez cursed and backhanded Maria so hard she fell, sprawling on the floor.

“Diego.” Tears poured down her cheeks. “Please, don’t be angry with me. I thought you would be happy.”

“Not your job, woman. Now, I’ll have another mess to clean up besides the hijacking. That was also your idea, was it not?”

“To get the money David owes you.”

“And the mess you made of the situation with your husband?”

“How was I to know the men wouldn’t do the job right?”

Janie’s heart sank. Maria had arranged to kill David. How could she betray the man she professed to love?

“Go to my room,” Hernandez snapped. “I will deal with you in private.”

Maria scrambled to her feet and rushed from the office.

Once the door closed behind her, Matias cleared his throat. “Sir….”

The boss cut him off with a wave of his hand. “Silence.” Hernandez glared at Janie. “You’ve been nothing but trouble since the moment I laid eyes on you, Ms. Moran. Did my woman and her family blindfold you for the journey, at least?”

Oh, man. This definitely wasn’t good for any of them. “No, sir.”

He closed his eyes and sighed. “Matias, you took her phone, correct?”

“Yes, sir. I swear.” Maria’s brother stood straighter. “No one will find her.”

“At least you did something right.” He sounded disgusted as he turned his attention back to Janie. “What am I going to do with you, Ms. Moran?”

“Take me back to Hartman and turn me loose. Simple solution to your problem.”

He sighed. “If only the answer was that easy, but you know I cannot do that.”

“A girl can hope.”

His lips curved slightly before he sobered. “I will consider options. In the meantime, you will be my guest.” He glanced at the Reyes cousins. “Take her to the training building and lock her in one of the cells. I’ll decide what to do with her later. Report back to me as soon as you have secured Ms. Moran.”

Janie’s stomach knotted. The description of the holding area sounded a lot like what she’d endured in Mexico. Man, she hoped she was wrong. Those hours before Sawyer and his teammates rescued her were horrendous. She never wanted to repeat them.

“Yes, sir.” Lorenzo gripped her upper arm again and propelled her from the office with Matias on her other side.

Once they were outside, Lorenzo glanced at Matias. “We’re in deep trouble, cousin.”

Maria’s brother scowled. “I know. I thought we were following Diego’s orders. I didn’t know Maria had set this whole thing in motion. I should have, the manipulative little witch.”

“Wouldn’t have been so bad if everything had worked out like she said it would,” Lorenzo muttered. “But she lied, Matias. We’ll be lucky if the boss doesn’t kill us all.”

“She doesn’t have to worry.” Matias sounded bitter. “She’s carrying Diego’s baby. We’re the ones who will pay. He doesn’t tolerate failure.”

“You could let me go,” Janie said.

Lorenzo snorted. “That would lead to us being dead sooner. No thanks, baby. I’d rather roll the dice on Diego’s good will than know for certain I will die.”

Matias slid his cousin a glance. “You could offer to take Janie off his hands.”

Wait. What? No, that was a terrible idea. She needed to stay here in this compound until Sawyer and his friends arrived. If Lorenzo moved her to yet another location, Janie’s chance of being found before it was too late dropped to zero.

Speculation lit Lorenzo’s gaze as he thought over Matias’s suggestion. “We both get what we want that way,” he murmured. “It might work. We’ll see what mood he’s in when we return to his office. I would enjoy training this one.”

Janie quelled her rising panic. She’d find a way to stay in this compound or, better yet, escape and contact Sawyer. Whatever she had to do to stay alive and get back to the man she adored was her next course of action.

When they arrived at the front door of a building on the edge of the compound, Matias unlocked the door and the two men ushered Janie inside. They escorted her upstairs to the last room on the right.

Lorenzo shoved her inside. He gave her a hard look. “Turn around.”

Her stomach knotted. “Why?” Before she could draw in a breath, the man slapped her. Tears stung her eyes.

“Do as you’re told. Turn around.”

Afraid he would continue to hit her and cause her eyes to swell shut, Janie turned around.

Rough hands yanked her arms behind her back. Seconds later, she felt a thin plastic strip circle her wrists.

“Climb on the bed and lie down,” Lorenzo ordered. “Now.” After she complied, he folded his arms across his chest. “If you remain quiet, I won’t gag you. If I hear anything from you at all, I will not be happy. Do you understand?”

Janie swallowed hard. His threat was hard to miss. She nodded.

“The door will be locked. You’re on the second floor. There’s nowhere to go. Get some rest.” He smirked. “If things go like I want, you’ll need it. Neither one of us will sleep much.” After a long look, Lorenzo glanced at his cousin and inclined his head toward the corridor.

They left the room and locked the door behind them, leaving her trussed up like a turkey awaiting slaughter.

Janie shivered. Bad analogy. She waited a few minutes to be sure Lorenzo and Matias were gone. When she heard nothing, Janie rolled onto her side and worked her way into a sitting position.

She wiggled her wrists. The plastic flexed but didn’t loosen. Too bad the Reyes men were skilled at using zip ties.

Janie felt sure Sawyer could free his hands with no problem. Unfortunately, she didn’t have the same knowledge or skill.

She did, however, have the knife she’d taken from Sawyer’s pocket. If she was careful, she could cut the plastic and free herself, hopefully without slicing her wrists.

Since she didn’t know if she was in the building alone, Janie would have to exercise caution in getting the knife. If the weapon fell on the hardwood floor, anyone in the building would hear and investigate.

Thinking through her options, Janie scooted to the center of the bed and twisted to the side so she could grasp the edge of her zippered hoodie. She tugged and shook the fabric until Sawyer’s knife dropped to the bed.

She studied the weapon for a moment. The knife required pressure on a side button before the blade would release. If she was lucky, the knife wouldn’t spring back and cut her fingers or palm.

No other choice. She could either figure out a way to use Sawyer’s knife or lay back down and wait for the Reyes cousins to tell Janie about her fate.

She scowled. That wasn’t happening. She needed to get out of here before Diego decided what to do with her.

Janie wiggled and scooted until she grasped the knife in her right hand. Her thumb found the button to release the blade. Holding her breath, she pushed the button.

Nothing happened.

Dismayed, she tried again. Still nothing. She knew the knife must open somehow. Sawyer wouldn’t carry a defective weapon.

She considered the problem for a minute. What if this wasn’t a button to push but one to slide? After gripping the knife handle gingerly and positioning the weapon as far from her body as possible, Janie slid the button to the side.

The blade released, slicing through the hem of her hoodie. She breathed a sigh of relief. At least she hadn’t sliced her skin.

Adjusting her grip on the knife, Janie eased the tip of the blade under the zip tie and went to work. After long minutes and a few slips ending with nicked skin, the plastic fell away from her wrists. Yes!

Relieved that she’d accomplished the first step of her goal, Janie took a moment to catch her breath. She eased her hands to the front, wincing at the pain from shifting her arms to a normal position.

That’s when she saw her forearms. Multiple scratches marred the smooth surface. At least she hadn’t sliced a vein in her bid for freedom. These scratches would heal in time.

Janie rubbed her shoulder joints to increase the blood flow and ease the ache, then surveyed the room. A door stood ajar to the left. Closet or bathroom?

Gripping the hilt of the knife, she rose and crossed the room to the door. Pushing it open, she peered inside a small bathroom. Janie examined the door. No lock.

She scowled. Of course not. Besides, from the looks of the aged wood, one good kick and the door would fly open.

The room had a window facing the back of the building. If she was lucky, guards assigned to the compound would focus more on the front rather than the back.

Janie wished she had Sawyer’s knowledge of all things security. What if the compound had security cameras stationed around the area? Unless the cameras were blindingly obvious, she wouldn’t notice them. She’d have to be fast and hope the guards were slow.

Next task. Could she escape this building? Her hand tightened around the knife hilt. No other option if she wanted a life with Sawyer.

In case a guard looked up at the bathroom window, Janie stood to the side and eased aside the curtain just enough to see outside.

She studied the options. Few. No convenient tree grew right outside the window. No ladder left against the wall.

Janie crossed to the other side of the window and looked for an escape route.

Nothing.

She could try to jimmy the lock on the door and escape downstairs, but how soon would the Reyes cousins return to the building? They might catch her.

For that matter, she didn’t know if a guard had been left inside the building to make sure she didn’t escape. She had to decide soon or risk having someone discover she’d escaped the zip tie with a knife.

That meant she had two choices. Try to unlock her bedroom door and take her chances of being caught inside the building or escape through a window.

Door first, she decided. If she couldn’t escape that way, she’d have no choice but to go out a window despite her room being on the second floor.

Janie returned to the bedroom and walked to the door. She listened for a moment to be sure no one was standing guard right outside the door. When she heard nothing, she gently twisted the knob. It didn’t give.

Sawyer’s knife had been handy with the zip tie. Wonder if it would work on jimmying a locked door? Only one way to find out.

After another moment of listening for any movement outside the door, Janie slid the blade between the door and the jamb’s striker plate. She drew the knife down until it bottomed out on the door latch. She swept the end of the knife and slowly pushed the latch inward, working until the bolt slid out of the jamb.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Janie pulled open the door and peered into the hallway. Clear.

Hoping she wasn’t making a huge mistake, she pulled the door to her room closed. The latch caught. So, whatever happened, she couldn’t retreat to the room for safety. Hopefully, the locked door would slow down the Reyes men a few more seconds and give her time to find a hiding place.

With quiet steps, Janie made her way downstairs to the first floor. So far, no sounds to indicate she had company in the building. Excellent. If her luck held, she’d escape.

And then what? The question stopped her in her tracks. She couldn’t march into the compound. How would she escape into the countryside?

Not only that, Janie didn’t have a clue where she was. The Reyes cousins had driven her miles off the main road to reach this compound.

One thing at a time. She’d figure it out as she cleared each hurdle. First thing to do was get out of this building before the Reyes cousins found her and locked her up again without Sawyer’s knife.

Janie walked to the back of the building, trying to stay away from windows. She grasped the knob of the back door.

Gunfire erupted in the compound.

She froze.

A second later, Janie heard someone shove a key into the lock at the back door. She scrambled back and raced from the kitchen and collided with Lorenzo Reyes.

He scowled, gripping her arms in a painful hold. “How did you get out of the room?”

Behind her, Matias said, “Later. If you want to keep her, get her out of here.”

Keep her? Panic exploded inside Janie. She had to get away from Reyes. Distraction. That’s what she needed. “What’s going on? Who’s shooting?”

“Let’s go.” Lorenzo propelled her toward the back door. “If you fight me, you’ll regret it.” Without giving her a chance to do anything except comply, the man dragged her toward the compound wall.

To the left was an iron gate. Maria’s cousin held up an access card in front of the scanner and the gate swung open far enough for them to slip through the opening. The gate locked behind them.

“Where are we going?” Janie slowed her pace as much as possible without being blatant about it.

“Shut up,” Lorenzo snapped, voice low.

“Please, tell me what’s happening.”

“You’re coming with me. That’s all you need to know.”

“I thought Diego wanted me locked up.”

“Until he decided what to do with you. He gave you to me.” Lorenzo forced her to move faster as he grabbed his weapon and hustled her deeper into the woods.

Her blood ran cold. “Why are we running away from the compound?”

“We have unwanted visitors.” His grip tightened. “You’re mine. I’m not giving you up.”

“Sawyer is here, isn’t he?”

Lorenzo cursed. “He shouldn’t have been able to find you. It doesn’t matter. He won’t stop me from taking you. You belong to me now.”

“Let me go, Lorenzo. You can still get away if you leave me here.”

“Shut up.”

“He’ll never stop looking for me. When he finds me, you’ll die. Is that what you want?”

Maria’s cousin stopped suddenly and spun to face her. “If you don’t shut your mouth, I’ll knock you out and carry you out of here. I don’t tolerate mouthy women. You’re mine until I grow tired of you. Do you understand?”

“You have a death wish.”

His expression dissolved into one of fury. He backhanded her, sending Janie sprawling on the forest floor. “Last warning, Janie. Shut your mouth. I enjoy hurting women. Give me one more reason, and I’ll show you why women fear me.”

She fell silent, watchful. Delay was one thing. Getting injured would seriously hamper her escape.

With a slight nod of satisfaction, Lorenzo clamped his hand around her wrist and yanked Janie to her feet and into motion again.

Before they’d gone over ten feet, a woman dressed in black emerged from behind a large tree. The gun in her hand was pointed at Lorenzo.