Sweet Reward (33 page)

“Okay, yeah. We’ve gone out a few times, but she broke it off with me. I wanted to see who she threw me over for. Seeing how the man’s got the money for a limo, guess I just wasn’t rich enough for her.” He raised his hands and backed away. “No harm, no foul.”

One of the men pressed his ear as if he were listening
to something. Jared figured Philippe was calling the shots from the safety of the limo. But why couldn’t he hear?

“Monsieur Ricard would like you to join us.”

“Really, man, I—”

“He would also like you to strip to your underwear.”

Fuck it. He had at least three items on him that McCall could track. Stripping down to his briefs meant they were on their own. He sure as hell didn’t have a tracker in his shorts. “I’ll come, but I’m not taking my clothes off.”

“Look behind you.”

Once again Jared glanced toward the place where Mia was being held. This time was different. She was slumped against the side of the Hummer. While one man held her up, another hacked at her clothes with a knife.

“That is Eric. He is not so good with the knife. I think I already see blood.”

Jared jerked at his clothes, dropping them quickly to the ground. He’d find a way to overpower these bastards once they reached their destination, but he’d be damned if he’d watch Mia being sliced.

Now down to his underwear, he was about to put his boots back on when the tattooed man said, “No boots.”

“Hell, I can’t walk around barefoot. It’s too cold.”

“I’ve been told the grave is cold as well. Would you like to try it?”

Looking forward to busting this guy’s smart-ass mouth, Jared dropped his boots.

Tattoo man’s mouth curled. “You may keep your socks. The watch, however, must go.”

Shit, his last hope of keeping anything that could be tracked. It’d been a long shot, anyway. He dropped the watch onto the clump of clothes at his feet.

“Lie down on the ground and put your arms behind your back.”

Jaw clenched with fury, Jared once more complied. Facedown, he put his arms behind his back and heard the clink of handcuffs. These assholes thought they had prepared for just about everything. He anticipated the moment when he and Mia revealed that the bastards hadn’t prepared for them.

“Get to your feet and go to the limo.”

Jared stood and gestured toward his bike, which held some innocuous-looking but lethal weapons, along with a tracking device. “What about my bike? Man, that cost me thousands. If I leave it here, someone will steal it.”

The suited man walked over to the motorcycle and shot both tires. He turned and grinned. “They’ll have to work extra hard for it.” Waving a hand toward the Hummer, he said, “Let’s go.”

With the two armed men behind him, Jared started toward the limo. Mia had been put back in the limo, but her clothes lay in rags on the ground. As he got closer, he was disappointed to see that her watch lay on top of the clothing. She had nothing else on her to track. They were one hundred percent on their own.

   Philippe watched warily as the handcuffed and almost naked man climbed into the limo. This was a problem he hadn’t anticipated. He was glad he had chosen to go in two separate vehicles. Two of his men had left his home a minute or so later than Philippe, and when one had called and told him about the man on a motorcycle who’d zoomed after them, he hadn’t given it much thought. He owned all the acreage around his home, including the area outside the estate. However, anyone could drive down the road, and though it wasn’t heavily traveled, a man on a motorcycle certainly wasn’t an unusual occurrence. But then his worry had grown. What if this was Mia’s accomplice?

He’d given the order to stop and investigate. The man had sounded convincing, and Philippe had started to believe he was indeed just taking the joy ride he’d claimed. Of course, he still would have to be eliminated, since he might have seen something he shouldn’t have. But then the man had admitted to knowing Mia … had said he was her former lover. That information had extended his life for another few hours.

Philippe wished he had told the men to transport the stranger in the other vehicle. Even handcuffed and almost nude, he had a menacing air that made Philippe nervous. His muscles bulged with obvious strength. Philippe had always been proud of his fit but slender physique. This man made him feel inferior. For that alone, he wanted the man dead.

The hard glare he gave Philippe would have melted a lesser man. But even as powerful and dangerous as this man looked, Philippe reminded himself that he was indeed handcuffed and had two guns aimed at him. There was no need to worry.

“What is your name?” Philippe demanded.

Jared tried to maintain a stoic, expressionless demeanor. Damned hard to do when an unconscious Mia was lying across from him. Stripped down to her delicate lace underwear, she had multiple bloody slices on her tender skin. They didn’t look deep, and from what he could tell, had stopped bleeding. Still, he wanted to rip the arms off the man who’d put them there.

“I asked you a question.”

Jared saw no reason to speak at this point. Until he knew exactly what was going on, he would hold his tongue. Philippe might well be some sort of sexual deviant; if so, this event had nothing to do with their case. Until he was certain, he’d wait.

Ricard’s slimy smirk made Jared think of the Grinch’s evil smile. The bastard thought he held all the cards, and while this wasn’t an ideal situation, he and Mia had several things on their side. He had specialized training of a sort that these men had never been exposed to—especially Ricard. And though Jared couldn’t hide the fact that he was in excellent physical condition, there was no way these freaks could realize exactly what he could do to them.

However, Mia might well provide their best chance of survival. Her body, while beautifully toned, looked delicate and feminine, not threatening at all. Jared had seen her in action. The woman could be lethal.

And though McCall would have no idea how to track them, he had the information that Mia had been taken. When Jared didn’t check in, the assumption would be that he had been discovered and taken, too. They could no longer be tracked, but he had faith in LCR. They would find a way to get to them.

Not that he planned on waiting. When the time came to act, he had no doubt that he and Mia could outwit and outmaneuver these idiots.

“Apparently, you’re going to stay silent until you’re forced to talk. And though I hate to lower myself to using cheesy movie lines, this one works so well, I can’t resist.” Ricard leaned forward and whispered, “We have ways of making you talk.”

A comeback line was tempting, but Jared refrained. Using the hard, emotionless stare he’d learned in his earlier training, he locked eyes with Ricard. It worked. The man lost the smarmy smile and sank back into the comfort and relative safety of his seat.

A soft sigh from Mia almost broke that eye contact. Damned if he’d give them any idea that she meant something
to him. They’d already used her against him once, and while he’d had no choice then, he couldn’t give in to them again. When Mia woke, he hoped to hell she would maintain the same demeanor. If not, they might well be screwed.

   Her eyelids heavy and uncooperative, Mia tried to blink, found the task too difficult, and chose to keep them closed. Her entire body had a lethargic, heavy feeling, and her brain was all fuzzy. Why she felt this way she didn’t know and, for some reason, didn’t care.

Voices interrupted her dreamy state. One in particular sounded familiar, and not pleasant, either. Panic replaced the lethargy. Even within the depths of a foggy brain, she realized she should be wary of the man who’d spoken. She didn’t know why yet, but something told her she was in trouble.

Determination forced her eyes open. Her vision wavered for a few seconds, and then she was able to focus. Three things hit her simultaneously: she wore nothing but her bra and panties, Philippe Ricard was sitting beside her, and an almost nude Jared sat across from her.
What the hell?

Since Jared’s eyes were fixed on Philippe’s, he didn’t yet know she was awake. Until she figured out what was going on, she wanted to maintain that secret. She closed her eyes quickly, allowing herself time to process her thoughts. Visions of a wavering table laden with fine china and food hovered in her mind … but why? Seconds later, her memory caught up. She had been at Philippe’s house. They were having lunch, and she began to get dizzy; she remembered nothing after that.

How had he discovered the truth about her? How had Jared been captured? And holy hell, how were they going to get out of this mess?

The cessation of movement told her they’d stopped—crap, she hadn’t even comprehended that they were in some kind of vehicle. Mia gave herself a stern lecture; she needed to get her act together. Her life and Jared’s were in danger. If that didn’t give her incentive, nothing would.

“We’ve arrived,” Philippe said.

Cruel fingers tugged hard on her hair, and Philippe’s hot breath whispered in her ear, “The sedative I gave you should have worn off by now. Wake up or you’ll miss the party.”

Since pretending unconsciousness was no longer useful, Mia opened her eyes and blinked rapidly, as if confused. “What’s going on? Where am I?”

“This was my father’s home,
chérie
. Though records will show that it was destroyed by fire years ago, I couldn’t allow it to remain in such a sad state. I secretly had it rebuilt. Now it’s my retreat when I need to get completely away.” He smiled down at her. “It’s an excellent place for us to get to know each other better and share our secrets.”

“Philippe, why …?”

In an instant, the façade vanished and his handsome, aristocratic face hardened into a unrecognizable mask of cruelty. “Your sister, Nadia, called me yesterday. I know all about your rescue service, Mia
Ryker
.”

With her bewildered expression still in place, Mia shook her head slowly. “I was going to tell you about that. It’s just a hobby. I—”

“Let’s cut the shit, Mia,” Philippe snarled. “I know you were hired to find the missing baby in Chicago. Somehow you traced that disappearance to me.”

There was no point in pretending any longer. “Fine. I know you’re a baby-snatching freak.”

The slap to her face was a shock. Before she could spring to retaliate, hard hands grasped her from behind.

A greasy smirk of triumph slid across Philippe’s face. “Let’s show our guests to their room.”

Something sharp and painful stung Mia’s neck. Vision dimming rapidly, her eyes flickered over to Jared. Before darkness took her, she saw the reassuring message in his eyes:
I’m with you
.

Jared woke to a scene from his worst nightmare. Mia was tied to a post across from him, her head bent limply to one side. The cuts she’d sustained earlier stood out in stark contrast to her pale skin. From what he could tell, she was still unconscious from the needle he’d seen injected into her neck … seconds before one was jabbed into his.

Their situation had definitely not improved. The hard, unyielding surface at his back told him he was tied to a similar post. The thick ropes around his wrists and ankles felt tight and secure. They were in some kind of small building. A high window indicated that hours had passed and dusk was upon them. Jared swung his gaze from left to right—first to determine where the hell they were and second to figure out how the hell they were going to escape.

The building was small, maybe twelve feet by twelve, and other than the two of them, no one was around. He spotted a riding lawn mower and some gardening equipment. Apparently, this was a toolshed. Other questions quickly arose: where was Ricard? And what the hell did he have planned?

“Mia,” Jared whispered harshly, urgently. “Can you hear me? Wake up.”

He heard a groan, and then she mumbled something.

“That’s it … wake up. We need to figure out a way out of here.”

Most of her face was obscured by her silky dark hair, but he thought he spotted her eyelids moving. “Come on, sweetheart. Wake up and talk to me.”

“Jared?” she whispered.

Things might not be any better, but just hearing her say his name lightened something inside him.

“Yeah, it’s me. How are you feeling?”

She raised her head and gasped as she saw him tied up across from her. “Holy hell, Jared, what did I get us into?”

“And here I was blaming myself for getting you into this mess.”

“Either way, we’re up shit creek, aren’t we?”

Some Americanisms were so vivid and accurate, they just couldn’t be doctored or amended. Mia had nailed this one. “Yeah, good description. What do you remember?”

“Nothing more than drinking some wine and then feeling ill. How did they get you?”

“There was a car behind me I didn’t see.” He didn’t go into an explanation of how they’d cut her clothes off. If she hadn’t noticed the multiple cuts on her body, there was no point in mentioning them.

“Does he know who you are?” she asked.

“I haven’t said a word to him.”

Her eyes went wide. “I can’t believe Nadia told him about me. I swear, as soon as we’re free, I’m going to go straight to Rome and pull her hair out.”

Her spirit amazed him. There was no if about their survival. He didn’t want her here, but he was damn glad that Mia had that unsinkable spirit. He had a feeling they were going to need it.

Keeping her voice low, she said, “What do you think he has planned?”

“My guess would be torture until we tell him who else knows about him, then death.” Once the words were out, he inwardly winced at their bluntness. However, they needed to talk about what came next. She needed to know some things about him.

He heard a noise that sounded suspiciously like startled laughter. “One of the things I admire about you, Livingston. You never beat around the bush.” The warm amusement in her voice, along with her use of his last name, was reassuring. Mia was in warrior mode. Damn if he didn’t love that about her.

“Remember I told you I was recruited into an agency when I was eighteen?”