Page 85 of Royal Pain
Two men had followed us with visible guns. It had taken her a full ten minutes with me coaxing her to stop thinking about them. The time spent had been wonderful, but we’d both known it was destined to be short lived.
“We’ll be leaving at six in the morning. You really should get some rest.”
“I doubt that will happen. Check the cameras again. I’m telling you that we’re missing something.”
Jeff flanked my side. “Look. If that’s the case, then whoever these people hired should be considered true Black Ops. Those would be only people who would know how to disengage the new security placed on the system on the perimeter. They would also need to anticipate you had a hard-wired security system placed on the house and immediate grounds, managing to stealthily get through my men, past the camera, catching the trip wires andcutting the right wire. Or they’d need the most sophisticated off-site system available, which few people in the world own. That would allow them to remotely temporarily knock out the security system in its entirety just at the right moment to swoop in and kidnap Evangeline, which I suspect is the first goal.”
“What you’re telling me is it’s impossible?” I knew the answer.
He sighed, looking away. “No, not impossible, just improbable.”
“I didn’t make a fortune and neither did my father or my brothers by not paying attention to the improbable. This organization, however greedy and old-fashioned they might seem, have money squirreled away to the tune of billions. Valerio found some offshore accounts that rival ours.”
“You should allow me to have my guys hack them. We can place a hold on their funds.”
I hadn’t thought about that. “Not a bad idea and you can do that on the plane. Now, with finding the private dicks roaming their beloved community, someone is going to guess we’re headed in. If so, they would likely prefer to take their prize before we arrive at their city, doing our best to make it look like a war zone.”
“Understood.”
“Is there a way to find out if anyone is attacking our system remotely?”
He shook his head. “Yeah, of course, but we don’t have that equipment here.”
I wanted to be angry with him but that would be ridiculous. This wasn’t supposed to be like a military operation. Although in my mind, I had a bad feeling that’s what it was turning out to be.
He could obviously tell even in the dark I was more than just concerned. “If they are doing that, the people in charge would need to be no more than a couple hundred meters out. I can have a couple men check for any vans that are just hanging out on the street or in parking lots.”
“Good. That will make me feel better.”
“I’ll call my men.”
He’d no sooner than pulled out his phone when we heard a horrible scream coming from upstairs.
And at that moment, both an unsettled and amazing feeling washed through me.
The bastards would stop at nothing to take or kill Evangeline.
But I would fight to the death to save the woman l wanted to spend the rest of my life with.
CHAPTER 22
Gage
I wasn’t prone to shit falling into slow motion but as I sped through my office, I heard Jeff barking orders and every sound was muffled.
Except her second scream and the horrific thud as if furniture was being tossed around.
I had no idea how I made it up the stairs so quickly but at that point, I could hear footsteps on the roof and glass being shattered downstairs. I had to leave it to the men I trusted to fulfill their duties.
As I sprinted down the hallway, I was met by two assholes dressed in all black jetting from the shadows of one room then another with assault weapons in their hands. I had to act quickly, punching one asshole in the jaw and nose with enough force he was pitched backward, which allowed me to grab his weapon.
But the second guy grabbed me around the neck, trying to wrangle me to the floor. I wasn’t allowing that to happen, using wrestling moves I’d learned in high school and wrapping both legs around his neck, clamping them together.
While I was choking the life out of the second guy, the first reappeared, still silent. There was no other choice but to fire off the assault rifle. His bullet-ridden corpse was pitched backward off his feet.
I heard a horrific crack indicating I’d broken the second jerk’s neck.
“No. No!” Evangeline huffed, the noises coming from the room even worse. I struggled to free myself from the tangle of limbs, managing to do so and lunging into the bedroom. The dresser had been turned over, lamps pitched against the wall.