Page 61 of Shadowed Agenda
Pavlo didn’t waste time. He pulled out his Glock as he raced to the sedan. He struck the corner of the passenger window with the Glock’s grip and ducked. Glass rained onto the road as he slipped his gun back into his shoulder holster. Emmeline screamed as Pavlo reached through the shattered window to unlock the door.
The light turned green, and the car jerked to the right, forcing Pavlo to step back or lose his arm. The driver cut off the vehicle in the next lane. Traffic picked up speed, and Pavlo was forced back to the sidewalk. He had blown his one chance to save Emmeline.
People stared at him as he stepped onto the curb.
“They took my daughter!” Pavlo screamed and pointed to the car in the distance. “Someone call the police.”
Several people pulled out their phone as Pavlo ran back to Regan. Sometimes noise was as effective as stealth.
Before calling Javier, he put two blocks between him and anyone who witnessed him break the car window.
“We ran into a problem,” Pavlo said when Javier picked up.
“Drake already called me and filled me in on the text Regan received,” Javier said and got to the point. “Did you get the guys?”
“Long story. I only got the plates. It was a black sedan.” He rattled off the plate number and the vehicle model. The details of what happened could wait for later. They needed the location of the sedan.
“Running the plate as we speak,” Javier said, and Pavlo could hear his computer keys clicking in the background. “The sedan is a newer model. I should be able to hack into their GPS provider’s system and track the car. Watch for Drake. Reporters are stopping vehicles leaving the parking garage, hoping they can catch Regan. Traffic is crawling in front of the hotel as drivers slow to see what’s happening. It may take him a while before he picks the two of you up.”
“Have you contacted our team at the cottage? They should have spotted these guys when they snatched Emmeline.”
“They’re not answering my texts or calls,” Javier replied, the worry in his voice evident. “I’ve asked the local police to check on them.”
“Let me know when you hear from them,” Pavlo said, equally worried, and hung up.
There was something very wrong if Javier couldn’t reach them. There’d been a problem with flight connections, and Javier had adjusted the security plans. Instead of two teams watching the cottage, they’d had to do with one until the other team of two people stuck at the airport arrived.
Pavlo put his cell phone back into his pants pocket and picked up his pace. Finlay had come directly to Pavlo’s hotel suite the second Regan had left. She’d not only filled in both Drake and himself on the kidnapping, but she’d demanded an explanation for what she and Regan had overheard.
Reagan had only heard a small, easily misconstrued portion of his discussion with Drake. If she hadn’t ended the call when she did, she would have known he had been discussing Mia. His ex-fiancée had come close to destroying him.
Finding out that Regan intended to remarry Wyndham had forced Pavlo to examine his feelings for her. He was in love with Regan, and he’d failed her. He was returning without Emmeline.
Chapter twenty-nine
ReganstoodbesidetheLinkNYC kiosk, staring in the direction Emmeline’s kidnapper had headed. She glanced down at her cell phone. Twenty minutes had passed. Where were Pavlo and Emmeline?
The kidnapper couldn’t have gotten far on foot. Regan knew how difficult it was to hold Emmeline when she was upset and trying to jump out of her arms. The man in the black hoodie wouldn’t have been able to run quickly enough to evade Pavlo while holding Emmeline in his arms.
Regan spotted Pavlo jogging toward her. He didn’t have Emmeline. The kidnappers had gotten away. Fear and anger knotted inside her. Fear for her baby. Anger that she was helpless. Emmeline’s kidnappers were in control of her every word and action. They knew she would do anything to keep Emmeline safe.
“Emmeline?” Regan asked as Pavlo took her hand. She knew the answer but had to ask.
He pulled her to the other side of the sidewalk. They stood beside the brick wall of the women’s clothing store in front of the LinkNYC kiosk, out of the way of the pedestrians.
“They got away,” Pavlo said.
Regan couldn’t stop the tears running down her face. She started to shake, and Pavlo pulled her close.
Why? Why was this happening to her?
“They had everything planned perfectly. A car was waiting for the kidnapper further up the block,” Pavlo said, rubbing circles across her back. Regan did that when Emmeline was upset. She stifled a sob as Pavlo continued. “The driver faked a breakdown. The minute Emmeline was in the car, it drove away. Traffic was slow enough that I could follow, but they turned onto a less congested road.”
“I’m sorry,” he said, and Regan could hear the pain in his voice. “The light turned red. I smashed the passenger’s window. I hoped I’d have time to open the door and grab Emmeline. The light changed.”
“Pavlo, this isn’t your fault.” Regan tipped her head up to look at him. “They had a car waiting. They were prepared.”
“I got the license plate number,” Pavlo said, wiping the tears off her cheeks with his thumbs. “Javier’s accessing traffic cams to find the car as he runs down the plates. We’ll find her, Regan. I promise.”