"Roger," Finn said and knocked his fist against the side of the truck. "Go get her. We'll radio when we're on our way."
Ethan leaned around Simon enough to say, "Call some of the neighbors, see if they can help clear the woods. There's no telling how many of these guys are out there."
Finn nodded and headed into the lodge, just as Cooper lumbered across the drive, still in bear form. He gave a mournful grizzly groan and snuffled at Tate, still laying on the gravel. Simon refused to look back as he drove away from the lodge. He couldn't think about Tate yet. He had to find Zoe.
Ethan didn't speak as the truck careened through the switchbacks, but kept loading magazines for the rifles they both carried. He'd known Tate, too. They knew from experience that it wasn't the hot anger that proved dangerous. No, cold anger meant clarity and precision. Deliberate and calculating. Perfect for vengeance. Simon gripped the steering wheel until the leather creaked. If there was so much as a scratch on Zoe, everyone Castellano knew would pay the price.
16
ZOE
She fell at least three times before she heard an idling car. A door opened and then the guy with a vise grip on her shoulder shoved her forward. She tripped and fell forward, onto a bench seat, and struggled to get her feet under her once more. Zoe wormed around to sit up, wrists aching as the plastic ties cut into her skin, and as the door closed, someone pulled the hood off her head.
She blinked and sneezed, shaking her head to get hair out of her face, and stared around the inside of the car. It was one of the fancy town cars with a large back seat, almost a limo with a rear-facing bench seat as well. She faced Castellano and one of his right-hand guys, Joey. No one knew Joey's last name, and he always said it was better that way. Zoe gulped.
Castellano frowned, heavy eyebrows drawing down, and adjusted the fine suit coat he wore even in the middle of the woods. "Zoe. You haven't been answering your phone."
"Reception is terrible out here," she said, a little weakly.
"Indeed." Castellano didn't blink as the car started moving, but Zoe almost fell off the seat. Her former bossstudied his nails as he went on. "Imagine my surprise when I discovered you'd disappeared. And when I checked my bank accounts."
She cleared her throat, unable to meet his cold gaze. She needed to buy a little time, that was all. "A misunderstanding, Mick. Really."
"That's what I thought." The boss glanced at his henchman as he gestured at Zoe. "A misunderstanding, isn't that what I said?"
"Yeah," Joey said, expressionless. He watched Zoe with dead eyes, and she shivered.
Castellano folded his hands in his lap, unperturbed as the town car bumped and skidded along the unpaved road. "So now we have just a small mistake to resolve. Right?"
Zoe's heart raced and she tried to swallow, tried to smile winningly. "Easy fix, Mick. Promise. We just need to find some good wifi, and I can put everything back the way it was."
"Good. That's what I want, Zoe." Castellano's eyes narrowed as he sat forward, and Zoe recoiled on instinct. "Exactly the way things were. Is that going to be a problem?"
"N-no," she said. She looked out the window for half a second, praying she would see a giant bear running beside the car, but nothing. Just trees and a hint of sky. Her eyes burned and she cleared her throat to keep her voice steady as she looked back at her former boss. "Not a problem at all."
"Good." He glanced down at his phone, then handed it to Joey. "We'll make sure everything is back where it should be, then we can talk about the future. Your future."
"My future?" Zoe's voice went a little high at the end, particularly as Joey put the phone away and revealed the dull gleam of a pistol at his belt. She'd always known Castellano wasn't a good guy, but she'd overlooked some of the morequestionable business practices because they didn't really affect her. Except now they did. Her palms started to sweat as the car sped up.
Castellano let the silence stretch, his fingers drumming on his knee.
Zoe sank lower in the seat and fiddled with the plastic on her wrists. The bear didn't want to be there, wanted to transform and scare the bejesus out of these guys. But Zoe knew perfectly well that they would shoot her, and chances were, she wouldn't be a very good bear to start with. She'd never done it. What if she got stuck? What if she couldn't walk or think or anything? She shivered and swallowed a knot in her throat.
Plus, Castellano would see it as another thing to exploit. Imagine having a trick bear. She'd end up in a cage for real, trotted out to entertain his business partners. Or... Worse. It could be so much worse. So she had to stay human. Definitely human.
She could get out of this. She had to get away from Castellano and his guys. Then she could call Tate or Simon and figure out what to do next. But first she had to get free.
The car turned onto a paved road and she twisted, trying to figure out where they headed. Castellano ran a hand over his balding head and made a face. "This is the worst part of the country. Unbelievable. Not a decent restaurant anywhere."
"And terrible wifi," Zoe added, trying not to get her hopes up. "So far the only place with connectivity is that bar. The one in the town. That's it."
Castellano rubbed his jaw and watched her without expression. "Convenient, no?"
"Incredibly inconvenient." Zoe took a deep breath and steeled what remained of her courage. "If you want all yourfiles back the way they were, as fast as possible, it's very inconvenient. But unless you want to wait until we're all back in Seattle or somewhere, that's the only option."
Joey grunted. He didn't look happy as Castellano directed the driver toward town, and the car accelerated. Zoe wiggled her fingers and wished the feeling would come back, otherwise she'd never be able to work fast enough to stay alive. She bought herself a little time, maybe, if they took her to Rosie's. And if Rosie were there, maybe she would call Simon.
She tried not to hope too much as the car pulled into the tiny, desolate town. Hard to believe she'd only been there two days. So much had changed since then. The town car pulled to a halt in front of the bar and the driver came around to open the door. Zoe held out her wrists. "I can't type like this."
