Page 45 of Fearless Encounter
Without balking, she stared back at him. “You’re a fool, Daniel. Your connections will betray you just like you’ve betrayed everyone around you.”
Daniel glared at Meg, barely containing his fury. “We don’t have time for games.” He motioned for her to hand over the bracelet.
Reluctantly, Meg placed the tracker in his hand. Daniel smirked as he dropped it to the ground, grinding the bracelet under his shoe.
“Get her phone,” Daniel said, pointing at Brooke. The Russian guard moved quickly, searching Brooke’s pockets with rough hands. He extracted her phone and removed the SIM card before crushing it beneath his boot, then tossed the phone onto the lawn.
Daniel grunted his approval. “Get them in the van.”
The Russian raised the gun. “Walk,” he said, his tone flat and uncompromising.
Brooke walked beside Meg toward an uncertain future.
*****
Gabriel’s cell phone rang, jarring him from his focus on surveillance. He glanced at the screen to see that it was Amalie.
“Dad, where are you?”
“On surveillance,” Gabriel said. “Is Brooke with you?”
“She’s not here. Weston says she disappeared.”
Gabriel’s blood ran cold. “What?”
“You have to hurry. I got a text from Brooke—she’s rescuing Meg at the cemetery.”
“Christ!” Gabriel made a split-second decision. “You stay there. If Brooke contacts you again, tell her I’m on my way.”
He hung up and turned to Abe, who had just finished cuffing the Russian and was calling for backup.
Gabriel cursed himself for letting Brooke out of his sight. “I gotta go,” he said. “Brooke is at the cemetery, must be Lower Garden District—closest one to the office. That’s probably where they’re holding Meg captive.”
Abe’s eyes widened. “Shit, let’s move.”
Just then, another cop car pulled up. Abe quickly updated the officer on the situation. “Take this scumbag back to the station,” he said, shoving the cuffed Russian toward the car. “We’ve got an emergency at the cemetery.”
The officer nodded, bundling the thug into the back of his cruiser.
Abe motioned to Gabriel. “Hop in,” he said, already striding toward his police car.
Gabriel jumped into the passenger seat as Abe fired up the engine, sirens blaring to life. They peeled out, tearing through the streets at breakneck speed.
As they raced toward the cemetery, Abe grabbed his radio. “Hostage situation at the cemetery. Requesting immediate backup. And notify the FBI. I’ll call with more details once we’re on scene.”
He slammed the radio back into its cradle, his face grim. Gabriel imagined all the terrible things that could be happening to Brooke and Meg. To pinpoint the location, he opened theapp on his phone to activate the tracking function, but Brooke’s tracker was offline.
The rest of the drive passed in tense silence.
*****
The Russian slammed the rear door, and the lock clicked into place. Then the van pulled out of the parking lot and sped away from the cemetery.
Brooke finally had a chance to talk to Meg, although the circumstances were less than desirable. “Are you okay?”
Meg nodded. “Physically, yes. They wanted to be sure I could help with any technical issues. The new software is worth a lot of money.” She raked her fingers through her hair. “But emotionally…”
Brooke tried to imagine the terror and isolation Meg had endured while held captive. She was grateful that her friend didn’t appear to be injured, although was clearly shaken.