After Hours (18 page)

“I think he’s been tracking the phone calls I’ve been making to Zane and then the one I made to you,” he answered pressing her back to his warmth. “Are you sure that you’re okay?”

“I’m as good as I could be after being kidnapped by a strange man and then brought here against my will. That guy who was guarding the door kept bragging at how Hudson was going to give me to his men before he personally killed me.”

Muscular arms tightened around her frame as Forbes rested his chin on the top of her head. “I would have killed every last one of them,” he said between clenched teeth.

“Stop…we can’t waste our energy on him. We have to find a way out of here. I know they are going to kill us. I’m not stupid. Hudson hates us. He won’t think twice before putting a bullet in our heads.”

Calloused fingers gripped Jametria’s chin and her eyes connected with a pair of cool gray eyes, sparkling with love. “I’m in love with you and I won’t let any of them hurt you. Repeat it.”

“You’re in love with me.”

“Use my name.”

“Agent Harrington is in love with me.”

“Jametria,” Forbes’s voice rumbled deep in his throat. “Do it right.”

“Forbes Harrington loves with me.” She smiled, trying to forget the danger they were in.

“God…I hate you’re here with me, but I’m so glad to have you in my arms again.”

“I’m thrilled to see your handsome face again,” Jametria confessed. She ran her fingers over his face then kissed him.

Forbes gave her two more kisses then moved back. “Baby, I would love to kiss you some more, I have to be alert to listen for someone coming back. However, I swear to you that after we get out of here I’ll make love to that delectable body of yours all night long.”

“What if we don’t make it out?”

Jumping up from the floor, she wrapped his arms around her waist and moved to the other side of the room. “Hudson or one of his flunkies could kill us and hide our bodies.” she said. “You have to know that someone like him is good at getting rid of the evidence.”

“Don’t you trust me?” Forbes’ question was so low that she almost didn’t hear him.

“Of course I trust you. I love you and I’m here with you until the end.”

Moving until he was an inch from her, he brushed his firm lips over her softer ones. “I have a gun hidden inside the leg of my pants,” he breathed into her mouth. This news blindsided her and Jametria was too startled to respond.

“Don’t say a word,” he whispered into her mouth again. “I’m positive the room is bugged.”

“With cameras, listening devices or both?” she asked.

“I’m not sure, but I feel like we’re being observed, don’t you?” Forbes pointed out, loosening his grip on her.

Jametria nodded. “Is that why you didn’t want to me to say too much a few minutes ago?” she questioned, stepping back from Forbes.

“Yes…and I need you to do something for me.”

“What is it?”

“Slap me and make it look good. Someone will come in here and we can try to escape, but I have to make sure that you’re with me. We might only get this one chance at freedom.”

“I’m ready when you are,” Jametria said. She finally trusted Forbes with her heart…why not her life?

“We’ll do it on the count of three…” he said, softly. “One…two…three…” Forbes mouthed ‘
I love you’
then stepped back, getting ready for her to do her part.

Jametria slapped Forbes and he stumbled back from her. “You bastard,” she screamed. “How did you allow this to happen to me? I can’t believe you weren’t there to protect me. How could you let these men bring me here?”

“I hate you. I wish you were dead! I can’t believe I slept with you. You’re a worthless bastard. Hell, I pray I get out of the mess and never have to see your face again.”

“No more than I hate you, honey,” Forbes shouted back. “I only slept with you so I could get closer to arrest your uncle. Hell, every time I got in your bed, I was taking one for the team because no one else at the Bureau could stomach sleeping with you.”

She slapped Forbes again, hoping she hadn’t hurt him too much. “You weren’t the best lover in the world either, so I was taking one for the team too.”

Jametria rubbed her stinging palm and then raced over to the locked door. She was trying to remember that he didn’t mean anything he told her, but his last comment still hurt nevertheless.

“Let me out of here! I know someone can hear me. I want out of the damn room now with this son of a bitch. If you’re going to kill me come on and do it.” She slapped her palms against the steel door.

“Do you think Hudson or his men are going to listen to you? You aren’t worth their time,” Forbes taunted behind her.

“Shut up!” She banged on the door some more adding in a kick or two. “I know you’re out there. Open this damn door!”

Hearing the latch move, she hurriedly stepped away from the door and glanced at Hudson as he walked through it. “I don’t want to hear the two of you all night long. Keep quiet or I’ll have to take matters into my own hands,” he threatened. “Agent Harrington, if you love Ms. Collins, you’ll keep her quiet for her own good.”

“Do it. I’m sick of listening to her too,” Forbes flung back.

Hudson glanced over at Forbes. “You aren’t going to lie to me about being a Federal Agent?” he asked.

“No, why should I?” Forbes answered. “You found out and that’s why I’m in this room with this bitch.”

Folding his arms over his chest, Hudson continued staring at Forbes. “I have to tell you that you are the best that has crossed my path in a very long time. If you hadn’t called Ms. Collins that night, I wouldn’t have ever made the connection. I can see why you risked blowing your cover to call her.”

Hudson’s eyes finally darted back over to her as he moved farther into the room, and she took a step back. Jametria cringed at the sexual gleam that came in his eyes. “You’re a very beautiful woman. The moment T.J. brought you back here and I laid eyes on you, I thought about having him put you in my bedroom, but I changed my mind at the last minute.”

“I’d rather die than let your hands on my body,” she retorted, stepping back. “You sicken me more than Forbes.”

“Oh…I want you alive and begging for me to stop.” Hudson’s face spilt into a nauseating grin as he followed her further into the room, totally ignoring Forbes moving up behind him.

“I’ll never beg you for anything,” Jametria taunted, hoping to keep Hudson’s attention, so Forbes could get behind him.

Totally caught up in his arrogance, Hudson licked his lips as his eyes raked over her body. “I think the first thing I’ll do is give you a taste of my product. You will love how heroin makes you feel. It will relax you enough that you wouldn’t want to fight me.”

“No amount of drugs in the world will ever make me want you,” she tossed back.

“I’m not so sure about that, sweetheart. It has brought down stronger women than you”, he bragged, reaching for her arm.

“Hudson,” Forbes shouted.

“What!” Hudson yelled, spinning back around. He didn’t have time to react before the bullet hit him in the middle of his chest, dropping him to the floor.

Screaming, Jametria jumped over Hudson’s dead body and raced over to Forbes. She tried to hug him, but he pushed her back. “We need to go now! I know they had to hear the gun shot. I don’t know how long we’ll have to get out before his bodyguards come looking for him.”

Taking her by the hand, Forbes pulled her from the room and through the darkened passageway. It seemed liked they traveled for hours before they came out the other end.

Pausing in the empty living room, Forbes planted a quick kiss on her mouth and shoved her towards the front door. “Get out of here as fast as you can and make it to the highway. It’s just over that hill. I’ll be right behind you, but if you hear gun shots, don’t look back, keep running.”

“I’m not going to leave you,” Jametria whispered as they made across the thick grass.

“You have to get Zane here if I can’t do it.” Forbes quickly rattled off a number to her. “It’s the direct line to his phone. He’ll answer it on the first ring,” Forbes said as they continued running towards for the highway. Seconds later, gun shots filled the air and a groan came from behind her.

“Forbes,” she cried. Spinning around, Jametria saw his weapon hit the ground a second before Forbes grabbed his arm.

She wasn’t about to leave him here to die alone on a cold, damp ground. Running back, she grabbed the gun and helped Forbes up. “Let’s go.”

“I told you to leave me,” he snapped struggling to his feet.

“Not on your life. Now shut up and keep running. I don’t know the direction the bullet came from,” she said as another whizzed past her ear.

Nodding, Forbes snatched the gun out of her hand and shoved her in front of him. “Keep running and I promise that I’ll be right behind you.”

Taking Forbes at his word, she shot off in a dead run and kept listening for his heavy steps behind her. Jametria kept running and pushed down the need to look back over her shoulder for Forbes. The long run was getting hard on her legs, but she kept at it until she spotted the highway.

Pushing her body a little further, she collapsed at the edge, gasping for breath. “Baby, we’re almost free. I know we can make it,” she whispered. Jametria waited for his answer, but instead of hearing his deep voice, all she got was dead silence.

Chapter Twenty Nine

“Forbes,” Jametria screamed, her voice echoing through the silence that surrounded her. “Can you hear me? Please answer me.”

Pushing her body up off the ground, she moved back towards the trees when she suddenly heard a branch crack in the darkness. She glanced back over her shoulder.

Forbes made her promise to get in touch with Zane, but she couldn’t leave him out here all alone. Taking several deep breaths, Jametria slowly placed one foot in front of the other, when a shadow stepped out from the trees.

“I thought you were dead,” she cried, wrapping her arms around Forbes’ neck. “Why didn’t you answer me when I called out to you?”

“Sweetheart, I had to lure them away from you. I wasn’t about to let any of them get their hands on you. There were only two of them and I took them out pretty quick,” Forbes answered against the side of her neck.

“Thank God! I don’t know what I would do if something ever happened to you. I love you so much.”

Long fingers cupped her butt and yanked her closer to the erection poking her stomach. “Do you feel what your words are doing to me?”

“Is that a bad thing, Agent?” Jametria whispered, leaning back in his arms. She never knew it felt this good to be in love with another person.

“Yes…damn it, when we’re out in the wilderness and I don’t have a place to make love to you,” he complained, releasing her, taking a step back.

“Do we have a way out of here?”

“Zane is on his way with backup. They should be here soon.”

“I don’t understand.” She frowned. “How were you able to get in touch with Zane?”

Forbes pulled her back into her arms and rested his chin on her head. “One of the guys I knocked out luckily had a cell phone and I called Zane. I gave him all the information he needed and he’s coming for us. He couldn’t believe you were here with me.”

“Lord…I know if he tells Africa, she’ll be out of her mind with worry. She wanted me to get some extra time to myself, so I could think about my feelings for you. But I’m pretty sure this isn’t what she had in mind.”

Chuckling, he ran his hands up and down her back. “This isn’t the time or place I thought you would finally admit to your feelings, but I’m a greedy man so I’ll take it.”

“I do….” She started to tell Forbes how she felt again until he covered her mouth with his hand.

“Don’t say a word…I hear something,” he whispered in her ear as he pushed her down into the thick grass. “Stay perfectly still until I know it’s safe.”

Nodding, she bit her lip as Forbes removed his hand from her mouth and reached for the gun in the back of his pants. “If I have to start shooting I want you to stay here until I draw their fire away from you. Run in the opposite direction and I will find you.”

Jametria shook her head as tears streamed down her face. “I won’t leave you.”

“Yes, you will,” Forbes said as he checked his gun for bullets. “I don’t want you killed and I can’t think about anything more happening to you.”

She hated that Forbes was right. It wouldn’t do either of them any good if they both got caught and tossed back in that room again. “Alright,” she agreed as the footsteps got closer.

Forbes pointed his gun in the direction the footsteps were coming from and was about to shoot when a familiar voice called out to them. “Forbes, Jametria, are you out there?” Zane whispered loudly. “Answer me if you are. We don’t have much time before the men I saw reach us.”

“We’re over here,” Forbes answered, pulling her up from their hiding position

Zane raced over to them. “Are the two of you okay? What in the hell went wrong? I had no clue Hudson had kidnapped Jametria.”

“I didn’t know until he took me to this hidden room and I saw her lying there,” Forbes answered hugging her to him.

“We need to leave and quick,” Zane said. “I hear Hudson’s bodyguards getting closer. It won’t be long before they find the bodies of the other men.”

“I agree with Forbes. I don’t want to be here a moment longer. This entire place makes my skin crawl. I want to go back home and take a long hot shower,” Jametria whispered, running her hands up and down her bare arms.

“Well…let’s go,” Zane replied. “The van is just over that hill in the distance. I informed the men to wait at least an hour for us before calling reinforcements.”

Turning, Forbes, Jametria, and Zane took off for the large trees in the distance. All of them sent up a silent prayer that they would be able to make it back to the van safely without any of Hudson’s guards finding them.

****

“I can’t believe we made it out of there without any problems,” Jametria whispered, taking another sip of the hot coffee cradled in her hands. “I thought for sure at the last second one of his men would jump out of the trees and grab me.”