“How many of our guys are with them?” I ask.
“Just Jayden, Virginia, and Blake.”
Thanks to the issue we’re having with the earpieces, we have no idea what’s going on with everyone else. We have no idea if the rest of the team is okay.
“What about the bad guys? How many of those are there?”
“Four. Vadik, Bernard, someone with an extremely thick neck and muscles to match, and a man who looks like he could be Tyler.”
“Could be?”
“Let’s just say his photo on his firm’s website hasn’t been updated in a few years.”
“What is it you want in exchange for the agent?” Jayden asks, his voice calm and soothing, as if he’s trying to lull Vadik to sleep like a baby.
“You,” is Vadik’s simple answer.
“Me? Is there any particular reason?”
“Because you broke my granddaughter’s heart and you will pay for what you did.”
“Who’s your granddaughter?”
“Suzanna Neumann.”
A stunned silence fills the space for a heartbeat. “Wait, you kidnapped Josephine Berkshire because my ex-girlfriend—your granddaughter—cheated on me and brokemyheart?”
More silence. “My sweet Suzanna would never harm a soul.” Unlike her grandfather, apparently.
“Well, she did, while I was serving in the military. I was away and she was screwing a close friend of mine at home.…So let me get this straight. All this, Bernard luring Isabelle and me to his resort, kidnapping Isabelle, and then kidnapping Josephine is all because you believed I had cheated on Suzanna?”
“No—not entirely. I vas angry that you and your little band of warriors put a wrench in our scheme to escape the country a few weeks ago. When I learned from Bernard Bradshaw about your connection to Isabelle, I decided to shoot for a two-for-one when it comes to revenge.”
“Taking the bad guys down is our job. Just like your job seems to be doing illegal activities so law enforcement is kept busy. You’re the Ying to our Yang.”
Vadik laughs, the sound so deep, I could almost imagine him as Santa at Christmas.
An evil Santa, mind you.
“Did you know I was going to be at the resort or was that a convenient fluke?”
“Maybe a little of both. I discovered that Isabelle’s grandmother once knew Bernard. So I had already made arrangements for him to manipulate things to bring you two to his resort. It vas the least he could do since our family trees are connected in one way or another. But as it turns out, you and the rest of your team were attempting to make my life a nightmare. Unfortunately, the bullet that had your name on it missed its target, and so we continued with the original plan once you showed up at the resort.”
What feels like a gun barrel nudges me from behind, and my heart picks up speed, scrambling into my throat.
Oh. Shit.
“Drop your gun,” a gruff male voice commands. Don’t know what he has to be grumpy about. He’s not the one with a gun poking him.
I do what I’m told and lower it to the floor. He nudges me forward, his gun pressed in my back again.
Landon slowly turns around. I mouth,He’s got a gun. Henchman gives him the same command to drop his weapon. Landon reluctantly places his gun on the ground.
With further prompting from the henchman, Landon and I walk around the barrels to where Jayden and the others are standing. Like where we were a moment ago, giant wooden barrels line the walls of the hallway.
I cringe when Jayden spots me. His worst nightmare is coming true. But given that his situation isn’t much better, he can’t really complain. The only difference is the gun isn’t pointing at his head—it’s aimed at Virginia’s.
A scary jack-o’-lantern grin breaks out on Vadik’s face. “I shouldn’t be too surprised you’re here, Isabelle, given your grandmother is a guest here.”
