Page 65 of Savage Escape

“She escaped, sir.”

“I didn’t ask what she did. I asked where she is.” Charles righted the chair he’d chucked in his rage and carefully sat. “You seem to know where to find her. So, please, enlighten me.”

“I... I’ll find her.”

“Okay, so now explain to me why I should allow you to continue breathing.”

There was a sharp inhale and Kyott started sputtering. Charles didn’t usually make threats. Actions speaking louder than words and all that. But he felt like maybe this was a special case. Kyott was proving to be especially stupid. Maybe he’d need it spelled out for him.

“You have not only put my business in danger by detaining and torturing and failing to kill a US government agent, but you’ve also failed to do the one job I assigned you. So tell me Kyott, why is it that you are still alive?”

“I’ll find her.” Kyott’s voice was cold now that he’d masked his terror. “I will.”

“How are you going to do that?” The computer was now trashed. The screen was busted, and the keyboard was in piecesaround the room. He’d have to wait to do anything until he got home.

“I’ve got information on her. Information we didn’t have before.” His voice didn’t betray a tremor. “I’ll find her.”

Charles knew that Kyott was lying in an attempt to save his own skin. There was no information on Caden Quinn. No little bits of evidence that pointed in any discernible direction—he knew this for a fact. He’d hired plenty of private detectives to find out that exact fact. Kyott knew that. Kyott was also aware that dangling Caden Quinn’s possible whereabouts in front of him was the only thing that was going to save his life. The enraging part of it was that it was going to work.

“Bring her to me and you’ll live.” Fucking woman. Just like his temper, she was a weakness a man like him could not afford to have.

Charles disconnected the call and counted to ten before he allowed his temper to destroy the phone.

Kyott would most likely run and hide, but a small stupid part of him was holding out that the man really did have new information. Kyott had had her for three days. Maybe she’d let something slip. Maybe she’d left a trail.

It was stupid to hope, he knew, but hope he did. It had already been three days, and the idiot had only just reported. Had she left a trail, which was unlikely, then it was already cold. The woman was a wraith who only surfaced to do quick jobs before she disappeared again. Another ghost was what he needed to catch her.

And he obviously needed to handle the Nathan Savage situation. The thought gave him pause. Savage was supposedly retired. Would he escape with Quinn and hand her over to the powers that be? He’d been told that Caden Quinn had been in bad shape when she’d walked out of his compound. Did she have a chance of escaping that giant pain in the ass?

Forming a mental checklist, Charles picked up his phone again and decided on a course of action. He’d hire someone to torture and kill his disappointing employee after he came back empty-handed.

He also needed to deal with Nathan Savage. Savage was retired, but he was well-liked and connected. If handled improperly, he was going to have a shit-storm of trouble.

As for Caden Quinn, it was only a matter of time. She’d eventually be his again.

22

CADEN

“And checkmate.” The voice was deep and male and... only slightly familiar. No inner alarms rang. But that was probably only due to drugs clogging up her brain.

Her mind felt slurry. Like only part of her was present and the rest of her was floating somewhere just above and just slightly out of reach. Caden couldn’t decide if she liked the feeling. It didn’t hurt. In fact, she didn’t hurt at all, which was odd because she knew she was supposed to be hurting. There was a muffled dull throb radiating from somewhere she couldn’t pinpoint.Thatwas pain. She knew it, but it was too blurry to feel.

She was fucking drugged. Again.

The usual rush of fear-induced adrenaline didn’t slam through her at the thought, though. She was cognisant enough to remember where she was and who she was with.

The brothers. The ridiculous number of brothers.

One of them, Caden couldn’t recall his name, needed to get punched. His name just wasn’t coming to her. Annoying and exasperating, however, were descriptors that popped up prettyquick. It should have been frustrating how slowly little bits of information leaked into her brain, but she was too drugged to feel it. Probably morphine.

“There is no checkmate in chessckers. There is only Twinkie and not Twinkie.”

Why she wasn’t panicking at the distinct sound of males surrounding her was almost cause for panic. But she didn’t. There was no reason to panic because she was warm, so very warm, and that meant she was safe. Although she wasn’t sure why it meant that. And she knew it was stupid to think she was safe when she was drugged and there were male voices around her. But the warmth she was feeling was accompanied by a familiar weight. She knew that her drugged mind tried to grapple for the name that belonged to the weight but it wasn’t coming to her. Now she was getting frustrated.

“No, my dear poor sweet, naïve brother, the rules state that upon a half-eaten Twinkie, whichyouate, checkmate can be invoked if said invoker has both the Butterfinger and the half of the Oreo with the frosting on it. And I’ve got both.”

She could smell him. She knew him. She liked him. What the hell was his name? Fucking morphine. Goddamn Reid. He smelled clean and her drugged nose could detect no trace of blood or cordite. He smelled like Nate, that was almost his name, smelled when he wasn’t three days into a captive torture situation. Like laundry detergent, tater-tots, and ketchup. The thief couldn’t help but grin stupidly as she sniffed at the warm weight, all but smothering her.