Chapter 13

Bonnie came back alive as they pulled off the freeway and into a maze of warehouses and factories that filled this small industrial area outside the city, craning her neck around, looking from building to building. “That’s it up there,” Taylor said, pointing down toward the end of the street.

They made it past another warehouse when Bonnie said, “Pull off here. Park around back.”

It was the smart play Taylor thought as he pulled around the building. It would give them some room to operate, scope out how they were set up inside.

“Alright, let’s check it out,” Taylor said as they got out of the SUV.

“I’m not going in with you,” Bonnie said.

“What?”

Taylor tried to read people, to figure out when they would make a move or whatever, but he was frankly flabbergasted. Why would she come all this way just to bail now? It seemed too far-fetched that this was some kind of plot, and she had maneuvered him into being out here.

“Don’t freak out,” Bonnie said, reading him instead. “I saw a skylight up on the roof, and those pictures we saw on the listings page showed what looked like a catwalk. I’m going to go up and come down through the skylight to provide overwatch.”

“No way. No way am I letting you go off on your own while I go in there alone. Not happening. Not with my kid in there.”

“That’s why I’m going to do it. You want to just waltz in the front door? Unless these guys are complete amateurs, they’ll have men on those catwalks. We’ll be walking into a kill box.”

Taylor grimaced. She was right, and the fact that he hadn’t seen it just showed how much their grabbing Kara had messed with him. He wasn’t thinking rationally, and it was going to get him killed. Worse, it would get Kara killed.

“Fine, but don’t even think about...”

“Double-crossing you, or you’ll come after me? Yeah, I get it,” Bonnie said, going around to the rear and pulling out the Remington, attaching its scope.

Taylor moved up toward the front of the building while Bonnie sprinted across the fence line toward the back of the warehouse. When Taylor looked back, he could have sworn she was giving him a look that he couldn’t decipher, before she disappeared into the shadows.

Taylor was nervous as he walked up to the front of the warehouse, preparing himself. He had been in a lot of intense situations, but he was walking into a trap and Kara was sitting in the middle of it.

When he got to the front, two men in light tactical gear emerged from the entrance. These guys were the opposite of the idiot PMC guys in Venezuela. Everything they wore was practical, not just a catalog of the latest gear from one of the wannabe suppliers. They didn’t bluster or puff up, they just eyed him while sweeping the rest of the parking lot. They were completely calm.

Whoever Ellsworth hired, these guys knew what they were doing.

“Hold up, we need to check you,” the guy on the left said.

“Like hell, you will. I’ve got the girl you want, but I wasn’t stupid enough to bring her with me. Once I know my daughter is here and safe, I’ll go get her, otherwise, the deal is off.”

Taylor matched their energy. Three professionals facing each other down. They looked at each other. He was way off the script, and they were trying to figure out what to do.

One of the guys took a step toward Taylor, who said, “You touch me, and the deal’s off. You kill me, and the cops will find her body in a few days when she runs out of air. Which means you’ll never find the evidence she has on your boss.”

Taylor didn’t move. Didn’t flinch. He stayed calm, looking the guy hard in the eyes, to make sure he got the message. Again, they exchanged glances, with the guy who had stepped forward stepping back again.

“Wait here,” the other one said, and walked several steps away, a hand going to his ear.

He kept in eyeshot of Taylor, smart enough not to leave his partner on his own, but he also didn’t want to have that conversation in close to listening ears.

Even that might have been more than he wanted to share. Taylor watched as the guy muttered into a hidden radio, his expression growing increasingly frustrated. It was clear they hadn’t expected this turn of events. They had assumed Taylor would simply deliver Bonnie on a silver platter. Minutes ticked by while they argued, then waited, then argued some more. Finally, whoever was in charge must have given the word, because the guy made a face and put his hand down, walking back over to Taylor.

“Come on,” he grunted, gesturing for Taylor to follow.

They led him into the warehouse, their weapons now out, but not exactly trained on him. They were trying to walk that fine line between being secure and pushing things too far. The place reeked of industrial chemicals and metal. Enormous pipes and other metal parts were stacked in rows the whole length of the warehouse, which seemed to have been last used as storage for a machining company of some sort.

They crossed through the rows into a more open area at the center of the warehouse, where four men stood around a chair with a figure slumped in it, a hood obscuring the face.

The person in the chair was not Kara. That much was instantly obvious. The woman in the chair was physically much larger than Kara was, both in height and bulk. They at least had the person wearing a t-shirt and jeans, which was plausible as something a teen girl would wear, but the combat boots the person was wearing were not. Kara almost always wore tennis shoes.

The best guess was they had one female member of their team, and they’d been in a rush to figure out something to show him. Why they hadn’t predicted Taylor might show up without Bonnie in tow, and have a plan for that, was mind-boggling to him. It was one of the more obvious likely outcomes.

It also meant they were keeping Kara somewhere else, off premises.

One of the men, standing just behind the woman, spoke up. “Alright, you see her. Now, bring us the girl.”

“Fine,” he said. “I’ll go get her and be back.”

He was outnumbered and possibly alone if Bonnie screwed him. Now that he knew Kara wasn’t there, Taylor needed to get out and figure out his next move.

Unfortunately, something of Taylor’s thoughts must have shown on his face because the guy suddenly pointed at him and said, “Grab him!”

Before anyone could move, there was a deafening crack from somewhere above them. Maybe because it was so unexpected or because no one was hit, everyone froze for a second, most of them looking up, trying to figure out where the shot came from.