Page 76 of Out of Reach
“Yeah. We just had a nice talk, that’s all.”
Jude smiled, glad for that.
Lying down on the bed, Hawk said, “I’m just going to close my eyes for a few minutes. Let me know when dinner’s ready.” He was asleep in less than five. Jude left him there, going downstairs to the kitchen to ask Olivia if she needed any help.
“You’re sweet, but I have it all under control,” Olivia told him. “Lizzy and Brandon are downstairs. Why don’t you go visit with them. In about thirty minutes you can wake up Hawk.”
Lizzy and Brandon were playing a board game in the den. Jude sat down and played a round with them before his mother announced dinner was ready. The doorbell rang as Jude bounded upstairs to wake Hawk with kisses. Hawk pulled him down onto the bed with him, tickling him until Jude begged him for mercy. They were both smiling when they walked downstairs.
The last thing Jude expected to see when they entered the dining room was Sam Prescott smiling at him while holding a gun on Hawk’s family.
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
Hawk
Hawk froze, and so did Jude, probably unable to comprehend what he was seeing. That Prescott hadn’t left the country. He was there, standing in Hawk’s parents’ house with his gun pressed against Hawk’s mother’s temple. She sat stock-still, a pot of beef stew half spilled at the center of the table. Lizzy and Brandon stood in the far corner of the room with scared, shocked looks on their faces. Where was Hawk’s father?
“Is there anyone else in the house?” Sam asked gruffly. Disheveled, unshaven, he looked like someone who’d been on the run.
“Yes,” Hawk lied. Maybe his father had gone to the store to pick up something. Maybe when he came in, it would startle Prescott long enough for Hawk to make a move. Or maybe he’d gone down to the basement and would see they were in trouble and call the police.
Or, maybe he’d walk in on them and Prescott would shoot him.
Hawk was about to tell him his father might be home when Prescott smiled grimly and said, “Can’t say it’s nice to see you again, Frogman.” He looked Hawk over before his eyes went to Jude. “Jude, come here.”
Jude glanced at Hawk.
“Don’t fucking look at him! I’m the one with the gun. I said, come here!” Sam yelled. Hawk’s mother stiffened in her chair and squeezed her eyes shut.
Jude hurried over to him. How had Sam gotten in, Hawk wondered? He remembered hearing the doorbell ringing just before Jude had walked in to wake him up. Hawk had already been awake, but on a whim had closed his eyes to trick Jude, delighted when he’d begun kissing Hawk all over the face. Hawk had retaliated by tickling Jude, and all the while, Prescott was taking Hawk’s family hostage. The asshole had to have been watching them the whole time.
Prescott wrapped his arm not holding the gun around Jude’s neck and pulled him back so that Jude’s body was flush with his. Jude stared at Hawk from across the room, eyes asking,What do I do?
“Why the hell are you still in the country? You have federal agents looking for you. Your face is on every news channel,” Hawk asked Prescott. Olivia’s eyes popped open, her face shocked. Clearly, she’d seen broadcasts about the manhunt.
“Because you have something of mine,” Sam said, tightening his hold on Jude, making him gag. Hawk clenched his hands into fists. Any other time or place and he would have had his gun with him. He’d had it on their trip that day, but now it was in the nightstand drawer by his bed. How could he have been so careless to leave it there? So wrapped up in being back home and back with Jude, he’d fucked up bigtime. He glanced over to Brandon and Lizzy. Both looked terrified, but they were watching Prescott carefully, tense and ready for whatever happened next.
Taking the muzzle of the gun from Olivia’s head, Prescott transferred it to Jude’s and pulled him with him as he stepped backward, inching toward a bag on the corner of the table. “Open that and get the rope out,” he snapped.
Jude’s hands shook as he unfastened the leather bag.
“Sit down, Frogman,” Prescott ordered Hawk, motioning to an empty chair with his chin.
Prescott was going to tie them up and leave with Jude. Hawk couldn’t let that happen. Easing down onto the chair, Hawk kept his eyes on Prescott and the gun he had pressed to Jude’s head.
“Put your hands behind you,” Prescott barked at Hawk. “Jude, tie his wrists together tight. Then secure them to the chair. No tricks, or I’ll kill you all right now.”
Doing as he was told, Hawk tensed his wrists behind the chair. He had no doubt Prescott would check the ropes, but hoped he wouldn’t be too thorough with five of them and only one of him. If he could leave just a little wiggle room, he should be able to free himself.
While Jude got on his knees behind Hawk, Prescott aimed his gun at Hawk’s forehead. Hearing his mother gasp softly, Hawk bowed his head then bit the inside of his mouth when he felt Jude press a kiss to his arm as he tied the knot securing Hawk’s bound wrists to the back of the chair. The second Prescott let his guard down, Hawk would be out of these ropes to save Jude and his family. Somehow.
Raising his head to find the gun still pointed at him, Hawk watched as Prescott had Jude tie up Hawk’s mother.
“Tie those two back-to-back,” Prescott pointed to Lizzy and Brandon. “Turn around,” he ordered Brandon.
When Brandon hesitated, Hawk said, “Do as he says.”
When everyone was bound, Prescott jerked Jude against him again, gun to his head. Hawk was already wiggling his wrists in the ties, loosening them. The knot held, but because Hawk had created some room by tightening his muscles, he was making a little headway. Thank God Prescott hadn’t made Jude tie up Hawk’s feet—probably because there wasn’t enough rope. Undoubtedly, Prescott would be long gone with Jude before Hawk could manage to get his feet unbound.