“Will do,”Colemanresponded. “ThoughIgrabbed two security guards to assist.”
“Excuse me, ma’am,” the man beside me said with a smile.Itstartled me a little sinceIhad been paying attention to what everyone was saying on the comms.
Despite his pleasant approach,Idid not smile at him since this was not a good time for him to chit-chat.
“I know it’s a longshot, but are youAnnaO’Hara, the famous news anchor?” the man asked me, grinning from ear to ear. “Mywife andIwatch you all the time inAtlanta.”
You’ve got to be kidding me!
“My name isGiovanni, andIthink you are the best news anchorIhave ever watched,” the man continued. “Mywife agrees too.”
Giovanni?Seriously?Wasthis the man who emailed me at theTVstation?Thesame one who told me he and his wife were huge fans of mine?Whatwere the odds that this man, all the way fromGeorgia, would find me here at the exact momentIam supposed to be watching forSara?
I turned to him so thatIcould end this now and move on. “Umm, no,I’msorry,”Isaid, changing my voice slightly so he would thinkIwas someone else. “Youhave the wrong person, but that’s cool you thinkIlook like someone famous.”
I smiled back at him and then turned my head, searching forSara’sface.Thatwas the wrong move.Ishould have kept an eye on the man next to me, because as soon asIturned my head,Ifelt a sharp sting on my arm.
“Grab her,”Giovanni’svoice bluntly whispered.
I gasped and murmured a short curse before feeling someone else’s arm wrapping around my back and going under my armpit as if to hold me upright.
A second later,Iknew why, asIlost all feeling in my arms and legs.Itried to scream, but nothing came out.
“Ace, what was that?”Archer’svoice said in my ear, butIcouldn’t respond.
“My beautifulAnna,”Giovannisaid in my ear. “Nowyou are finally mine.”
24
ARCHER
The mystery man had arrived.Hestepped out of a vehicle and walked to exactly where he had been yesterday.Heturned around, taking in a full 360-degree view, as if searching for something.
Everything was going according to plan untilJoeyPaganoshowed up.Weadjusted withPagano, but we still proceeded with our original plan as well.
“Making my covered approach,”Itold everyone asIbegan walking over to the man’s not-so-secret smoking spot.
“Excuse me, ma’am,” a new voice broke into my comms.
The voice was crackly, andIstrained to hear what he had said.
“I know it’s a long shot, but are youAnnaO’Hara, the famous news anchor?” the voice asked again. “Mywife andIwatch you all the time inAtlanta.”
You’ve got to be kidding me!Really?Shegets recognized right now?
“My name isGiovanni, andIthink you are the best news anchorIhave ever watched,” the man continued. “Mywife agrees too.”
I stopped dead in my tracks.Giovanni?Thesame creepy man who emailedAce?Thatwasn’t exactly a common name.
Axel had looked him up and hadn’t found anything interesting.Theweird bird guy, however, had given us several things to look into, which was where we’d put more of our resources.
“Umm, no,I’msorry,”Aceresponded to him coolly. “Youhave the wrong person, but that’s cool you thinkIlook like someone famous.”
Hearing no concern in her voice,Ibegan moving toward our target again, planning to stop near the second bellhop stand as intended.
“Grab her,” a man’s low voice said, followed by a gasp and a low curse fromAce.
I stopped a few steps away from the bellhop stand, waiting to hearAce’svoice orSara’sto confirm everything was okay, but nothing came.
