aHunter4Ever (8 page)

“There is no time to argue. Let me take us to safety.”

“We don’t have much choice.” Grace nodded. “Which way?”

They took a back exit out of the building and skirted along a few side
roads. It was mostly residential low level apartment buildings. Partlan wanted
to find a place to hide before he contacted his unit. That way they would be
safe until rescue came for them.

There was rear parking behind one of the buildings. It was isolated.
Redbud and dogwood trees provided shade and privacy. Partlan hesitated a
second. There was a large brick wall at the end of the lot and no exit. They
could not cut through the back of the buildings from there. There was a small
laneway that ran along the next building. That would be a better route.

A black sports utility vehicle pulled up on the street beside them.

Four men jumped out of the car.

Partlan pushed Grace behind him and backed the two of them away. The men
kept pace until they were directly in line with the parking lot. Partlan
glanced both ways for an escape but another vehicle had pulled up and was
blocking the sidewalk. The only choice was to stand and fight while Grace
escaped in the opposite direction.

Grace had already pulled her gun out.

“Protect yourself.” He motioned in the direction that was not blocked.
“Do not let them catch you. Run.”

Grace hesitated a second.

Partlan pushed her away.

“Leave.” His voice softened. “It would be easier for me if I knew you
were safe.”

Grace glanced down the street where the men were approaching from. She
nodded and then took off in the opposite direction. Partlan stretched his neck
and clenched his fists as he prepared for battle. These men were armed with
guns, but that did not matter.

Behind the men were two Albireons. They crossed their arms and then
issued their orders.

“We want him alive.”

Grace stopped halfway up the street and looked back at Partlan. Her
breath caught in her throat as she watched four men surround him. They were all
dressed in black suits and had guns in their hands. She clenched her fingers
around her pistol. It would be easy to go back and help, but she remembered the
quiet confidence in Partlan’s voice. He had been adamant in his request that
she leave the area. She turned to run when an arm went around her neck from
behind.

“Don’t move.”

She jerked her hand holding her weapon at him, but he grabbed her arm and
pushed it down. “Drop it.”

Grace tightened her grip on the gun. She wasn’t going to be parted from
her weapon. A squeeze around her throat had her gasping for air. He must have
anticipated her escape and waited. It had been a trap, and like a fool, she’d
walked right into his hands. She tried to turn around and face her attacker,
but his hold was firm.

Her heart beat at a furious tattoo. “I’m an FBI agent. You’re making a
big mistake.”

“Doesn’t matter what you are. We’re here to take you and the alien away.
Now drop the weapon.” His hand gripped her arm until she couldn’t feel the
circulation in her fingers. The gun fell to the ground.

He was as crazy as Partlan with his talk about aliens. “Are you working
for his defense team?” Her tone was mocking as she struggled to twist her hand
between her and her attacker’s arm. He pulled her close and tightened his grip.
“Quiet.”

“I don’t like being restrained.” Grace flexed her numb fingers.

The man chuckled. “Get used to it. Where you’re going there’ll be no
freedom until they decide you’ve served your purpose.”

“I know my rights, and you’re not only violating them, you’re putting
yourself at risk by holding a federal agent captive. You’ll get life in jail.”

“Your laws don’t apply to me.” The man squeezed her neck until the world
blurred and started to spin.

She leaned into him and moved a leg back in an effort to loosen his grip,
but his arm tightened. She twisted her body trying to break his hold. He pulled
her free arm behind her back and yanked it up. Pain shot through her shoulder
and made her gasp for air. She went limp.

She was out of choices.

She was caught.

Her captor dragged her back to where Partlan had already defeated two of
his attackers. They were lying unconscious on the ground. The remaining two
were aiming their guns at him. He kicked the weapon out of one attacker’s hand
and then twirled around and grabbed the second man’s arm. He smashed the arm
against his leg. Grace cringed at the sound of bones breaking.

Partlan brought the base of his hand up into the man’s chin and sent him
flying backwards. At the same time, Partlan’s leg kicked the other opponent in
the stomach. His adversary stumbled a couple of steps and then stood upright.
By that time, Partlan had him in a choke hold and was about to break the man’s
neck when Grace’s abductor yelled.

“Enough.”

Grace was hauled over to Partlan. His eyes narrowed when he saw her.
Anguish flickered in his eyes, and for an instant, a wave of regret and longing
rushed through her. She must have imagined the look because the next second
Partlan’s face was impassive. His hands were still tight around his captive’s
neck.

“Let the woman go.” Partlan’s words were a threat. “You know I can
destroy this man.”

“Kill him” The man holding Grace inched her chin up a few inches. “He
means nothing to me.”

“You have no honor.”

Grace’s abductor chuckled. It rumbled deep in his chest and she felt the
vibration through her body. Her stomach dropped at the true menace in his
attitude. The man didn’t care about anything but completing his mission. She’d
met people like that before. Usually it was when she’d had the misfortune to go
up against national security agencies. They were true patriots who believed
they had a righteous cause.

“You’re so predictable, Hunter.” The man’s voice dropped to a low growl.
“Surrender yourself or the woman dies.”

“She has done nothing.”

“She was caught with you. That is enough for the people I work with.”

“It is me you want.” Partlan threw his captive away from him. “Let her
go.”

“Down on your knees. Hands on your head.” The commands were spit out in
rapid fire. “I do not make deals with aliens.”

“You will let the woman go.”

“I’ll kill her if you don’t do as I say now.” The man yanked up on her
neck until she was standing on her toes.

Partlan looked at her and she thought she could hear his thoughts in her
head. Be calm. I will protect you. She blinked and would have shaken her head
if she could have moved it. She had to be hallucinating.

Partlan sank down onto his knees and put his hands behind his head.
Before Grace registered that he was surrendering, one of their attackers came
up behind Partlan and jabbed a needle into his neck. She opened her mouth to
protest, but a cloth was shoved between her lips before she could say anything.

She watched Partlan sag lifelessly to the ground.

Bile rose in her throat and tears pricked her eyes.

For a second she thought they’d killed him, but one of the men kicked him
over onto his back. She could see the steady rise of his chest and knew that he
was breathing. Relief pulsed through her. It was crazy, but she was connected
to Partlan.

“He’s out.” The man who kicked Partlan glanced up. “It’ll take all of us
to move him, though.”

“You would never have captured him otherwise.” The man holding Grace
pushed her toward the SUV. “The one sure thing about a Hunter is that they will
defend a woman to the death. They think it’s an honor to die saving them.”

“Now that shows a lack of smarts.” The guy who’d injected Partlan shook
his head. “What do we do with him now?”

One of the Albireons moved to Partlan. “Put him in the vehicle.”

Grace wanted to scream at them to leave him alone, but the gag prevented
any sound from escaping. She stomped her foot instead. Her reward was a
tightening around her neck as she was hauled across the sidewalk to the SUV.
She twisted her body, trying to attract the attention of someone on the street,
but there was no one.

Three men lifted Partlan off the ground and carried him to the rear of
the vehicle. They leaned his upper body against the open back and then lifted
his legs up and pushed him inside. Grace was next. She was thrown in beside
Partlan.

“No one can hear you scream except me and I promise that I will enjoy
making you pay for each and every word you say.” Her captor pulled the gag from
her mouth.

“Who are you people?”

“Silence. I won’t warn you again.”

The back door was slammed shut. Grace scooted closer to Partlan. It was
insane, but being near him gave her comfort. He was unconscious, unable to help
her, and yet knowing he was close, filled her with calm. She ran a quick hand
over his body to check for any injuries. Despite taking on four large men, he
was unhurt. If they hadn’t threatened him with her death, he would have been
able to escape.

Why had he tried to save her?

Her only thought throughout this whole ordeal had been to get him to
headquarters. Her hand caressed his shoulder. He should be in a hospital bed
recovering from the bullet wound that her team had inflicted on him. She
cringed when she remembered the shooting. He had never once blamed her for his
injuries. In the past, knowing that she’d been doing her job had always eased
her doubts and guilt, but not this time.

Their captors settled into the vehicle and it pulled away from the curb.
No one had tried to help them. It seemed impossible to believe that people
could be abducted in broad daylight without someone noticing. What would the
point be though? These men had clearance to do what they wanted and from what
Bakker had said, they had thrown their weight around enough that even her
position as a Federal agent didn’t matter. Who did they work for?

Grace’s mind darted from one possibility to the next. The law enforcement
agencies might bicker over jurisdiction, but they wouldn’t deliberately let
another agent be taken. There was something very wrong about this group of men.
They didn’t fall under any organization that she was aware of. There was also
the matter of the two Albireons who seemed to be in control. Were they aliens?
Her stomach rolled with unease.

Her badge couldn’t save them.

For the first time since they’d started running in the hospital, she
questioned her ability to free them. These men didn’t care about her position
or the legalities of abducting a federal agent. They were either criminals, or
a black ops division for some unknown defense unit. They certainly had the
resources and men to do what they wanted.

She gave herself a mental shake. She was sounding like some conspiracy
nut and that wasn’t possible. Secret organizations and unsanctioned operations
didn’t happen in her world. She didn’t believe in the existence of a shadow
government that could run roughshod over people’s rights. There had to be a
logical explanation for what was happening to them.

She strained her neck to raise her head and look out the window of the
car, but it was tinted so dark that it was impossible to see anything. They were
locked into a small area at the rear of the vehicle. It had bars on the window
and a dark glass barrier that separated them from the other occupants. It
looked like something you’d keep an animal in.

She leaned back against Partlan and tried to stretch out the kinks in her
legs. The men in the front of the vehicle were talking. She could hear murmurs
of voices and she strained her ears to hear past the glass barrier, but it was
no use. Until the vehicle stopped, there was nothing that she could do. She
might as well get comfortable.

An hour later, the vehicle slowed and after a couple of turns, they
stopped. Grace looked at Partlan’s motionless body. Whatever they’d given him
was very powerful. If she hadn’t seen his chest rising and falling for herself,
she would have thought he was dead. Her fingers trembled as she reached out to
shake him awake. There was no response. A chill raced through her. What if he
didn’t wake up?

It made no sense, but she needed him to live.

Partlan mattered to her.

She had no use for men, but he had somehow worked his way into her heart.
She wasn’t sure when it had happened. Maybe when he’d tried to protect her from
those strange visitors in his hospital room, or when he’d accepted her fear of
the dark and helped her through it. All she knew was that when he’d knelt down
and offered himself in place of her, he was no longer just her prisoner.

She trusted Partlan.

She was a woman who’d learned the hard way that she could only rely on
herself. An abusive brother and being jilted at the altar had her swearing off
men forever. It was different with Partlan. There was a bond that connected
them. Partlan had tried to exchange his life for her freedom. Now it was her
turn to fight.

She wouldn’t let Partlan die.

She tensed her muscles at the slamming of the vehicle’s doors. This would
be her only opportunity to escape and she intended to be ready this time. Years
of self-defence training would not be wasted. They might be bigger than her,
but she had a black belt in martial arts.

The hatch was flung open. A blaze of sunlight blinded her. Before her
eyes adjusted, she was being pulled from the vehicle. She leaned into her
assailant and used his weight to throw him over her shoulder. She turned to
grab his weapon when two men tackled her to the pavement. The click of the
hammer of a gun sounded near her ear.

“You’re expendable. There’s nothing I’d like more than to dispose of you
right now.” The voice of the man who had originally grabbed her was deadly
calm. “Our orders are to bring the Hunter back alive. There was nothing about
you.”

Grace stilled her breathing and looked up at the man. He was dark haired
with emotionless steel grey eyes. “Then kill me.”

There was several seconds of silence before the man removed his gun from
the side of her head. “No. We can use you to control the Hunter.”

The man straightened up. “Put her on the plane.”