Chapter Fifteen

S hiloh lay on her side, one arm beneath her head. The silvery-blue moonlight slanted through thin cracks between the window casing and the blinds. Each bar of light seemed drawn to Oaks lying in bed next to her.

The moonlight kissed his skin in all the places where her lips had already drawn paths. Each shadowed spot highlighted the striking lines of his muscled body. The carved angles of his jaw were just as hard in the throes of sleep. She imagined he still battled even in his dreams.

He’d fallen asleep soon after they rolled apart following their second round of lovemaking.

This time she could call it that. He’d told her he loved her.

And god, she loved him too. Maybe she was just being na?ve and jumping into the arms of the first man she had feelings for since William.

Right now, none of that mattered. She had plenty of time to figure it out after she handed over the files to her ex and erased the target drawn on Oaks.

Her fingers twitched, wanting to touch him, to feel his steely flesh rise to hers. But she needed him to sink deeper into sleep so she could slip out of bed as soon as the light of dawn trickled through the windows.

The sounds of the house at night provided a calm that made her drowsy. She battled against a yawn and won; no small feat when she had a man to curl up next to and sleep away the hours in safety and peace.

If Oaks woke before her, she’d never be able to slip out of the house unseen. The other problem was Colt. From talking to him, she knew he preferred to keep watch on the ranch at night, which meant his sharp eyes would be waiting to catch her.

She also knew what side of the house his bedroom was located on, and had even spotted him walking across the yard in the early evening to the garage. Her guess was that he stood sentry there. If she knew where Colt was, that meant she could avoid him.

Across the house, she heard the low hum of electronic equipment in the office. At the windows came a whisper of wind against the glass. Farther out in the house, though she couldn’t hear the noise, she knew the refrigerator hummed, with the occasional clink of the icemaker forming new cubes in the freezer.

Inside the room, she was sucked into the sound of Oaks’s rhythmic breathing and an old clock on the dresser ticking down the minutes until she met with William.

All these sounds threatened to lull her into a feeling of peace that would send her off to dreamland alongside Oaks. But if she ever wanted to end this hell she’d been living in, she had to do this.

Hours passed with her eyes growing heavier by the minute. Her hand crept across the sheet of its own accord, reaching toward Oaks, but she snatched it back before she could touch him and risk waking him.

Through the crack in the blinds, she saw the sky lightening to a cool navy blue. It would be bright enough for her to make her way to the area where the family parked their vehicles and make off with one.

She already knew where the keys were located in the front room of the house. The homey space was the only spot that never seemed to be tidy. With too many coats and muddy boots lined up on the floor, it was organized chaos that echoed the people who stored their possessions there.

With extreme slowness, she slipped one leg off the bed. Engaging her ab muscles, she sat up, keeping her eyes on Oaks. He didn’t budge from his position on his back. One hand lay open on the mattress, the fingers slightly curled as if beckoning her to come back to bed, but she rushed on tiptoe across the room and scooped up her clothes.

She’d purposely laid out black clothing to stay hidden from view—namely Colt’s—as she ran to the truck.

As silently as possible, she hurried to the door. She knew from studying the sounds of the house that the door didn’t make a noise when opened, and it didn’t now.

Luck was on her side.

She rushed into the hall, praying none of the family was out there to see her naked. She threw on her clothes. Then stole through the dark house to the mudroom. There, she snatched a set of keys. When the Malones woke and found one of their trucks had been stolen, all the might of the family would be aimed at the thief.

She preferred to think of it as borrowing the truck. She was doing this for Oaks. To keep him and the family safe. If William sent a drone, he would certainly go to more extreme measures to get to her.

But once she gave him the files, he would have no need of her anymore.

That was a stretch of wishful thinking, though. Of course he wasn’t finished with her—she knew what those files contained. Not only that, she knew names, dates, places and all the details that could convict him.

She’d just have to convince him that she wouldn’t talk. She had to do this for Oaks and his family and all the vets here on the ranch who had also become targets because of her.

The grip of fear in her gut drove her feet faster. She ran outside and threw a look at the garage. The doors were shut, and the place appeared to be vacant, but she’d seen Colt go in there earlier. She had to pray he was still inside.

Armed with only her burner phone and a set of stolen truck keys, she bolted to the vehicle and jumped behind the wheel. When she started the engine, she mashed her foot on the gas pedal and took off down the driveway.

Casting looks in the rearview mirror, she expected to see Colt coming after her any moment, but the man didn’t appear in his truck or on horseback.

She reached the main road and headed into the small town of Willowbrook. She’d studied the route on the map and learned it by heart. It wasn’t a long drive, and in minutes she pulled into the parking lot of the greasy spoon.

Dawn spread through the sky—she’d timed it just right. In four minutes, the place opened to serve an early bird breakfast.

Holding her breath, she watched the front window for the closed sign to switch to open. It did—right on time.

The parking lot had a few cars pulling in as locals came for their daily special, so Shiloh hung back until they all walked inside. She didn’t see William anywhere, though he was a stickler for being on time. He wouldn’t be late to something like this, not when his entire life depended on the information they exchanged today.

She walked inside the diner and scanned the tables. There—in the back near the restrooms was the perfect place to do a dirty deal like this.

Timing her breaths to each step she took didn’t stop the sensation that she might pass out. She reached the table and then glanced at the restroom. Her nerves were kicking in, giving her the urge pee.

She walked into the ladies’ room, wrinkling her nose at the harsh smell of chemical cleaners, and walked into one of the stalls.

This was it. She would give William everything. In return, he would leave her alone. Leave the Malones alone. The hell she’d lived for the past six months would be over.

Enclosed in the stall, she took out her phone. By now, Oaks knew she was missing. Colt probably had footage of her stealing the truck broadcast across three big monitors in the office.

She had to put Oaks’s mind at ease. She hesitated only a heartbeat before she shot off a text to her lover.

Sorry for sneaking off. Hopefully, I’m back before you read this. I’ll bring breakfast. Love you.

When she walked out of the stall and up to the sink, a distinctive metallic click made her freeze. Her blood chilled.

In the mirror, she stared at her reflection, and that of the woman holding a gun to her head. The barrel dug into her temple with a painful bite.

Even though Shiloh was staring at the woman who’d never met her in New York City, and she now knew her to be a Russian spy planted in the CIA, her poise kicked in.

“Can I at least wash my hands?” She gave the woman a bland look.

Collette Drummond snorted and didn’t move the gun even a fraction as Shiloh lathered her hands, rinsed and dried with a paper towel within reach on the wall.

Her mind was going in fifty different directions as she tried to think up a way to get out of this situation.

Preferably alive.

The woman hustled her out of the restroom. From the corner of her eye, she spotted a waitress standing at the nearby table. Shiloh sliced her a look. As she was forced out the side door leading to the parking lot, she made eye contact with the waitress, the same way she had with Oaks on that street.

Help me, she mouthed.

Collette Drummond shoved her outside and into the back seat of a waiting SUV.

The smell of a familiar, expensive cologne burned her nose. William sat there, looking totally out of place in the country setting. He looked at her and then directed his order to the driver. “To the airport. Don’t make me late.”

Shiloh’s broken, battered and bleeding heart plummeted to the soles of the new shoes Oaks had bought her.

She was so screwed. The man she loved would never find her.

* * * * *

The phone buzzed on the nightstand. Before Oaks’s eyes were even open, or his brain fully engaged, he snaked out a hand to grab it. He brought the device to his face and read the text message.

From Shiloh.

She wasn’t in bed?

He whipped upright like a new recruit at bootcamp. A glance at the empty space on the mattress injected him with adrenaline.

“Shiloh?” He jumped out of bed and in three strides reached the bathroom. She wasn’t there either.

“What the hell?” His voice elevated to a near roar.

Insides shaking with a degree of panic he’d never experienced before, he rushed to throw on his clothes. With his fly still open, he stormed out of the room and through the house.

“Shiloh! Shiloh! Goddammit, where is she?” His voice thundered off the walls as he stomped to Carson’s office.

His brother wasn’t there, but the police scanner they kept on at all times crackled.

He jerked his head toward the equipment. A police call from the local diner, from a waitress who’d witnessed a possible kidnapping.

All the oxygen exploded from his lungs. In two steps, he reached the equipment and stared down at it as if it could give him the answer he needed.

The report transmitted more information, each word more ominous than the last.

A female, five feet nine or ten inches tall, with blonde hair and blue eyes, wearing all black. She was forced out the back door of the diner by another female.

At gunpoint.

On the way out, she mouthed the words help me.

“Fuck!” He took off through the house, whipping open doors in search of Carson or Colt or hell, even Willow. Anyone who could help him get Shiloh back.

“Carson!”

The door of the master bedroom suite that Carson and Layne shared when they were staying here on the Black Heart and not at her family’s neighboring ranch whipped open, and his brother appeared in the opening, wearing only jeans. His brows formed a V. “What’s going on?”

Adrenaline hit a new high in Oaks’s system. “Shiloh’s gone. I just heard a police report over the scanner. Fuck , Carson! He’s got her. They kidnapped her.”

His brother’s eyes flew open wider. “Kidnapped her from the ranch ?”

“No. Read this.” He thrust the phone at his brother, who skimmed Shiloh’s text.

Their gazes met. “She left to get takeout? That doesn’t make any sense.”

Oaks gave his head a hard shake. “That’s because it’s bullshit. I think she went to meet William. She said something last night…”

“What? What did she say, Oaks?”

“I told her that I’ll do anything to save her. And she said she’d do anything to save me too.” Until now, his conscious mind hadn’t made the connection, but the minute the words burst out of his mouth, he knew them to be true.

An icy-cold dread ran down his spine. “She knows something. She found out something and didn’t tell me.”

“Just a minute.” Carson ducked into his room and came out with a shirt balled up in his fist. “Colt. He’s always on fire watch. He must have seen something.”

Oaks pushed past Carson and took off for the front door. As soon as he hit the front porch, he noticed one of the trucks was gone.

“Colt!” His bellow brought his brother running from around the side of the house.

As soon as Colt saw him, an expression of deep guilt crossed over his face. “I know, brother. Someone took the truck.”

“Shiloh took the truck.”

He shook his head. “I thought it was one of the veterans leaving. You know how Dean’s taken off in one of our vehicles before. I just ran over to check that everyone’s accounted for.”

“You never saw her come outside or get in the truck?” Oaks took a hasty step toward his brother.

“No. I was working on the new Black Heart case on the laptop all night in my room in the garage. When I heard the truck engine, I ran out, but I never saw who took it.”

The three of them stood there for only a beat of time. As if they all came to the same conclusion simultaneously, they took off running for the SUV.

“Colt, you stay here. Get the security camera footage. And see if you can find out anything from Shiloh’s time on the computer.” Carson barked orders that made Colt skid in his tracks and take off for the office.

Carson jumped behind the wheel. “Get in,” he commanded Oaks. As soon as both doors slammed, he started the engine.

Oaks had his phone in hand. “I’m calling the contact in the CIA that you gave me.”

He gave a single nod as he backed up and hit the driveway at a fast clip. “You don’t think she really went to meet her ex, do you?”

“Yes. I do. I never got a chance to discuss transferring the files with her or luring William out either.” He scraped his fingers through his hair. “Fucking hell. This is my fault. I should have taken the time, but it didn’t seem to fit the moment. I just told her we were having a meeting with you this morning.”

Carson didn’t respond, but the grim set of his jaw told Oaks what he already knew—that their odds of getting her back weren’t phenomenal.

He located the number for their contact in the CIA, but before he could dial, the local sheriff’s office called.

“Oaks Malone.”

“This is Deputy Stallman. I’ve got a missing person report. A female, mid-thirties—said to have been seen at the strip mall with you.”

He cut the deputy off. “We’ve got this under control.”

“So you know she’s been kidnapped from the diner?”

“We heard. We’re on our way.”

“This woman is one of your clients?” the deputy asked.

“She’s my ward. She slipped away to meet somebody at the diner. Stallman, we’re asking you to leave this to us. All we need from you is access to the security cameras at the diner. We’ll call if we need backup.”

Stallman let out a low snort through his nose. The sound projected into the SUV and knotted Oaks’s nerves into a tighter bundle.

He knew from past experiences with the sheriff’s office that it was best to play nice.

“We’d be happy to have your support, Stallman.”

He muttered something that sounded like “kiss-ass.”

“I need to make contact with a few more people. I’ll be in touch with you personally.” Without another word, Oaks ended the call.

Carson took the back roads at a high rate of speed, heedless of the switchbacks and tight curves of the roads that traced around the mountain.

“A woman forced Shiloh out of the diner.” He jerked his head to meet his brother’s stare. “You think it’s the Russian operative?”

“We haven’t encountered any other woman in this game. It’s only been her and William.”

“Fuck.” He’d told the deputy that Black Heart Security had this situation under control…but did they?

Carson dialed Colt. “Whatcha got for us?” he asked as soon as the call connected.

“The footage shows Shiloh leaving the ranch. She runs to the truck and takes off.”

“And the computer?”

“She wiped the browser history, but there’s a trace of something pointing to an email.”

“He contacted her by email?”

“That’s what I’m thinking. Which is why I checked all flights coming into the area.”

Oaks’s heart ramped up an extra beat. “What did you find?”

“A chartered plane landed at the private airstrip at 0530.”

“Is it still there?”

“I asked. Yes, it’s still there, but set for takeoff within the hour.”

Carson took a sharp turn to bypass the stown and head to the airstrip that was off the beaten path. “Tell the airport personnel to stall them.”

Oaks nodded as if Colt could see. “Then call the sheriff’s office and get them to meet us there. We need all the backup we can get. Colt, we need you too. Leave Willow to man the office.”

“You’re sure you don’t want Willow? She’s a damn good shot.” Colt’s statement brought Oaks out of the hole he felt himself sinking deeper into by the moment.

He had to get to Shiloh. Had to get her back in his arms, safe where she belonged.

“We need Willow safe.”

Since Oaks didn’t agree to Colt bringing Willow into the fight, he changed gears. “You’re right. I’m right behind you. I’ll tell the airport to stall that plane.”

Once the call ended, silence resounded through the SUV. Neither Carson nor Oaks had anything to say.

As the small sign for the airstrip came into view, Carson stomped on the gas. “When we get there, you should hang back.”

He whipped his head to look at his brother. “You’re telling me to stay out of this fight?”

“You’re too emotionally invested.”

“And did you sit out when it was Layne?” He swallowed the sharp, burning lump in his throat. “This is worse, man. Shiloh is my wife.”

Carson’s chest heaved. “Promise you’re not going in with guns blazing. We don’t want her caught in the crossfire.”

“I will do whatever I need to do to get her back. I didn’t marry her for love, but goddammit, I can’t lose her.”