Riveted (Art of Eros #1) (23 page)

His stiff smile was a reminder that he held the control. She longingly looked at the phone as if her last lifeline had been cut off. She clung to a thread of hope, being cut by a man she loathed, but she wouldn’t give up. Mac would be searching for her, but he’d have to out maneuver Brock to find her.

At the resort Brock explained that the two o’clock maid shift had just come on, the perfect time to get in the mix. The lunch crowd was gone for the day, emptying the buildings except for staff and guests passing through. He handed her a master key to the resort and told her to go to the maids’ laundry room, where she would put on the first uniform she found. Brock would be waiting outside with his computer, where he would remotely operate all the security cameras on the inside. She was to wait for his call, then enter the suite, grab the laptop and meet him in the parking lot at the car.

Brock firmly grabbed Mara’s face and held her inches from his own. “And don’t think about contacting anyone. You picked an upscale resort, as always, and there are security cameras everywhere. I will see every move you make. One hint of contact and my inside guy will have his pick on who he gets to kill first. Oh, did I mention he enjoys killing? Despite getting paid, it’s a hobby of his. I’ll pick Raquelle first. She always was a smart-mouthed bitch,” he hissed as he roughly pushed her face away from his in disgust. “Now, go get that laptop so I won’t have to look at you ever again.”

Mara gingerly stepped out of the car, aware of her sore foot. She took in a deep breath and stood upright.

You may have won this battle, but you haven’t won the war. God, please give me an opening.

She hadn’t prayed in a very long time, but this moment seemed like as good a time as any.

Brock told her how to locate the laundry room and how to sneak in there without being seen. She got inside using the master key card he gave her to gain access. A rotating rack held a collection of uniforms from maids to gardeners. Brock prepared for plans B through Z. He seemed ready for anything.

Mara put on the first uniform she found with a name that read Maria. She needed to remember that in case anyone called her by name. Her hands shook and sweat slightly as she tried to ignore the nausea rolling in her stomach. She had to do this if her sisters and Mac were going to stay alive. According to Brock’s instructions, she needed to make her way to the suite via a back staircase she didn’t even know existed in the building. She dragged herself upstairs, hoping her sisters had left for the day.

At the top of the stairs, she waited for Brock’s call.

~

Mac met with local authorities in the lobby and filled them in on the latest in the investigation. They seemed disinterested at best, their attention veered away every time they heard the calling card of stilettos on the marble floor. They claimed to have hundreds of missing persons reports a year. A lover’s quarrel often ended in a missing person’s report. The cops usually dismissed the whole situation, reassuring the person making the report that the missing person would eventually return to the resort. What happened after that didn’t concern them.

Mac tried to impress upon them that Mara had been kidnapped by her deceased husband. Even as he said the words, Mac realized how crazy the whole thing must sound to them. That being said, this wasn’t the most far-fetched case he had ever been on; he just had the most to lose. As Mac’s phone rang, he excused himself to take the call.

“I think I identified something on the security feed.” Sydney’s keen eyes always detected anything unusual in digital feeds.

“What’s going on?” It could be the break he was waiting for. He needed Brock to slip up.

“I saw a blip on the security feed, which may mean someone is tampering with the connection. Where are you right now?”

“I’m in the lobby with the local officials. Why?”

“That’s interesting because I can’t locate you on any of the cameras. It may mean someone is remotely operating the camera feed. My guess is Brock and Mara are on site. How quickly can you get to the suite?”

“I’m on my way.” Mac didn’t bother telling the group of locals. If Mara was at the resort, he needed to find her before Brock took her off the property again.

~

Mara stood only a couple of feet from the door to the hallway when she received the call. The burner phone rang and vibrated, making her jump. She never would have made it as a spy, her nerves were frayed and on edge. Breathing deeply, she needed to pull it together as she answered the phone.

“Hello?” Her voice cracked.

“The hallway’s clear. Knock on the suite door and in your best Spanish accent, say it’s housekeeping. Swipe your card to open the door and grab the damn laptop. I’m giving you fifteen minutes tops to meet me in the parking lot. Got it?”

“Yes.” Her mouth went dry, as she barely held her composure together.

“And Mara, be a good girl and bring the phone back to me. Don’t leave any breadcrumbs. I will put you in more pain than you ever thought possible if you do something cleverly stupid.” Brock hung up, leaving Mara shaking and terrified. She would dig deep to find her courage and see this through. Swallowing her fear, she gathered her nerves, dropping into the role she would play to save the lives of her loved ones, even if she couldn’t save herself.

Mara knocked on the door but got no response. Slipping into the suite undetected, the door snicked closed behind her. She was stunned to see all the computers and technical equipment taking up most of the living room. Scanning the area, she registered scattered shoes lying on the floor that belonged to her sisters. She almost lost her nerve, a physical reminder of their time together and how she couldn’t get to them.

She gulped into her lungs, covering her mouth with her hand. She needed to push past this to get to the laptop. Her estimated time was less than thirteen minutes.

She shook her head to get back to her task. Mara made her way through the living room into her bedroom, looking exactly the way she left it. She felt like years had passed since she had been there, but it had only been twenty-four hours. She swiveled around, looking for cameras, but didn’t see any. This could be her small break. As she headed for the table, searching for a pen and paper to write a note, she tripped on one of her favorite pair of Louboutin heels and landed awkwardly on her injured foot. When no pens or paper could be found, she became frantic, knowing she could run out of time. This might be her one shot. An idea hit her—she would leave a trail of breadcrumbs. At least they would know she had been there.

She scraped at the dried wound on the bottom of her foot until it opened up and bled. Scraping open the wound should have hurt, but adrenaline coursed through her body overriding the pain as the clock ticked down. She wiped her foot across the floor several times, smearing the blood, managing to draw a heart with the letter ‘u’. If death was her destiny, she wanted her sisters to know how much she loved them. She choked down a sob but continued to move ahead as the grains of sand in the hourglass continued to fall. Grabbing some tissues and tucking them under her foot, she stuffed her foot back into her shoe.

Looking towards the bed, the next breadcrumb came into view. The bed was neatly made, so she ripped the sheets off and threw pillows everywhere. If anything, they would see the mess, hopefully bringing their attention to the words on the floor. Love didn’t even begin to describe what filled her heart, knowing this might be the last time she would be this close to them. Her heart was being squeezed to the point of bursting, making it difficult to breathe.

She grabbed the laptop from the table and with a swipe of her arm, hurled everything else onto the floor. By the grace of God, they would put two and two together and notice the missing laptop. Tick-tock, time marched on. She made a mad dash for the door, closing it quietly behind her. As she headed for the stairwell door, she heard their voices behind her. She closed her eyes letting her ears absorb their voices one last time, feeling the sword that slashed at her heart.

“No one has seen either one of them. I’m running out of hope, Leigha.” Raquelle’s voice cracked, signaling more tears.

“Well, we know Mac and Sydney are doing everything they can and I have complete faith in them. They’re trained for this; we aren’t. We have to take their lead and be patient.” Leigha sounded confident but Mara knew those words covered her fear. Leigha spent a lifetime pretending to be the strong one when all she wanted to do was cry along with Raquelle. Everyone had their defenses in one form or another, all for different reasons. Her facade was in place to keep Raquelle from falling apart.

Who the hell is Sydney? Why is Sydney with Mac? Is Sydney with British Intelligence?

Mara was held by a strong cord of self-control. Otherwise she would have turned around and run back to Leigha and Raquelle to hold them and tell them she loved them one more time. She stopped herself, knowing Brock would stay true to his word and kill them. He would take out Raquelle first; his hate for her ran deep, mostly because she saw right through him.

The thought propelled her forward. Pushing the door open, she ran down the stairwell, out of the building and across the parking lot with tears streaming down her face. Her emotions spiraled out of control with no hope of reeling them in. The pain in her chest was like chards of metal and her breathing was shallow. She opened the car door, throwing the laptop and phone at Brock.

“Hey, what the fuck?!” Brock caught the laptop just before it hit him in the chest. The phone bounced off his leg and landed on the floor. She caught him off-guard, doing something he would never expect from her.

“Here’s your fucking laptop, asshole. Don’t you dare touch my sisters or anyone else in my family!” Her scream filled the small space of the car. She’d had enough, the fear slipped away at long last. Weakness left her, replaced by strength she didn’t know she possessed. She completed the job she needed to do to save her sisters, knowing she was still at his mercy.

For a moment, Brock looked stunned, but it quickly faded. She glared at him dead in the eyes to let him know she could take whatever he threw her way. This was her breaking point, the final freedom she had earned. Mara wouldn’t die as the woman she once was; she would take death as a strong, confident woman.

“I’m shocked you didn’t run back to your sisters. Yes, I saw everything in the hallway. Quite honestly, I didn’t think you had it in you, princess. Are you finally angry and fighting? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you pissed off before. Congratulations, it’s about time. But time is what you are out of.”

With that, he peeled out of the parking lot, heading for the concrete cell they had come from. He needed to ignore the change in her eyes, acknowledging she wasn’t the same woman he had left behind. Breaking her was his goal, but she proved to be stronger than he gave her credit for. That thought had him on edge, but it wasn’t anything he couldn’t handle.

~

In the suite, Leigha and Raquelle plopped themselves down on the couch, exhausted from a day that garnered no results. No one on the property had seen Mara or Brock, and they were starting to lose hope.

Suddenly, the door crashed open and Mac flew in with Sydney on his heels.

“Was she here? Did you see her?” Mac’s eyes wildly scanned the room.

Leigha and Raquelle jumped off the couch like it was on fire. “What?” Their voices were in unison.

“Look over every inch of this suite. Sydney, take a look at those computers and see if you can get a read on anything unusual.” Mac barked out orders as if his life depended on it. They split up to search the suite.

“Oh, my God!” Raquelle screamed from the bedroom.

Mac, Leigha and Sydney raced in, stopping short at the sight before them. The room looked as though a tornado had raced through.

“She was here. Look at the floor,” Raquelle managed to utter as her hands covered her mouth and she trembled uncontrollably.

As Leigha’s eyes took in the room, she looked at the floor where Mara’s message glared up at her. On the inside, she broke apart in an instant but on the outside, she was still in control. She turned to Raquelle and held on tight, letting Raquelle sob into her shoulder. She wasn’t sure if she held on for her sake or her sister’s, but she wouldn’t let go. Mara had been there, so close to them, leaving a piece of her behind as a clue.

“The laptop’s missing,” Sydney observed, running to the command center set up in the living room. “Lei, didn’t you tell me that laptop is equipped with a GPS, as well?” Sydney typed furiously, concentrating on what she was doing.

“Yea, it does. I think the GPS works whether the laptop is on or off.” Leigha frowned. The silence and tension began to build between all of them as a glimmer of hope floated in the air.

“Let’s see if we can get a ping on that. I bet he’s going back to the same place we were last night.” Mac eyes were glued to the computer screen. Time might still be on their side. Once Brock got those passwords, he had no use for Mara anymore. He needed to find her before Brock got them.

They watched the computers, searching for the GPS signal. Several red dots came to life, but only one would catch their interest. All of the sudden a red beacon appeared in a sea of black.

“There’s what we’re looking for and it’s moving.” They weren’t out of the woods yet.

“Syd, bring the laptop and let’s roll before we lose the signal. If Brock has a brain in his head, he’ll catch on that her laptop has a GPS. He’ll hope we aren’t smart enough to realize that.” Mac had hope in his heart for the first time in two days, but he needed luck to be on his side, as well.