The Morning After (18 page)
Authors: Sally Clements
‘I think they’ve snatched me to put pressure on her. She’s the only one who has unfettered access to all areas of the museum.’
Once voiced, the tenuous theory solidified.
Tempest whistled softly. ‘And if they wanted to pull off the robbery of the century, the Rameses exhibition at the museum is the only place to be, with all that gold. The security must be incredible though. I don’t know how they think they’ll get around it.’
‘I do,’ he muttered wryly. ‘Try it now.’
The bindings yielded a bit more at her frantic tugs. She groaned, rotating her wrists. The rough jute must be agony on her soft skin. Eventually, after much effort, the fibres parted.
‘That did it!’
A butterfly touch of soft fingers brushed against his jaw. His flesh reacted as if burned. He swallowed and battled down the unfamiliar sensation.
‘Undo your other hand, and then see if you can untie yourself.’
The hardness of the concrete floor, unyielding against his knees, sent pain shooting through him, and Jake shifted his weight to relieve it.
Her body shifted and turned as she struggled for freedom.
‘How can they overcome security at the museum?’ she asked. ‘They’ve just put in a new alarm system which is absolutely state of the art.’
He hesitated as doubt bloomed in his chest. She was very well informed. Too well informed for someone attending an interview. Alarm bells started ringing in his brain. There were too many coincidences. She’d walked out of the elevator right in front of him dressed in a manner guaranteed to get the attention of any red-blooded man. She’d followed him down the alley. Maybe getting abducted was part of the plan. She could be working with the kidnappers, trying to get information from him in a more subtle manner. He clenched his jaw tight in the darkness. He wouldn’t give her any information she wouldn’t already know.
‘The system is foolproof. I know, I developed it. My company specializes in security.’
He held his breath, waiting for her answer.
‘You’re Jake Delon then?’
‘Forrester, Jake Forrester,’ he corrected.
‘Oh, Forrester Systems. Your alarms are supposedly the best.’
His gut tightened. Her answer gave him nothing. She could be involved or she might be an innocent bystander, whisked up accidentally into his personal nightmare. It was impossible to tell without more information.
‘The system I’ve installed in the museum is the most advanced ever developed. The user has to signal all is well before gaining access to the vault, and there’s no way a duress code can be detected. There is only one flaw, the human factor.’
He groaned as he tried to get more comfortable on the cold concrete. If she was involved, she’d know his mother wouldn’t activate the duress code. She’d never put him in danger. Since his father’s death he was all she had left.
Tempest’s voice was breathless with excitement. ‘I’m free!’ She wobbled off the chair and knelt beside him. ‘Let me untie your feet.’
She unknotted the old rope, then wrapped her hands around his arm, straining to pull him up. Her fingers slid down his arms to his handcuffed wrists.
‘There’s nothing we can do about these until we find the key. We better get out of here before they come back.’
She guided him to the sliver of light under the door.
He heard a rattle of the doorknob, and then her sigh of frustration. ‘It’s locked.’ If she was acting, she deserved an Oscar for her performance.
‘Stand back.’
He put his ear to the door and listened intently. He jiggled the feeling back into his aching legs. They might need to run when they got out, and right now, his legs were barely able to stagger.
‘I think we must be alone. Stand back, I’m going to kick the door down.’
‘I’m ready.’
She sounded eager, as though she might do something rash again. He wished he could search her face for any sign of deceit. Dealing with her voice alone was disorientating.
‘I don’t want you doing anything reckless, Tempest. You have to follow my lead and stay behind me, out of the way.’
‘Yes, sir.’
Jake frowned. The last thing he needed was for her to throw herself headlong into danger again. She was difficult enough to protect as it was.
‘I’m not kidding, these men may be very dangerous,’ he warned.
‘OK, I get it. We’ll do it your way, let’s just get out of here.’
Jake kicked the door open into a narrow corridor. He grabbed Tempest’s hand and pulled her along to the next door ahead of them, which was also closed.
‘Let me try.’ She rotated the handle and pushed. ‘It’s locked.’
‘Stand back.’
Jake kicked at the door and the rotten wood shattered. Light flooded the corridor, blinding him for a moment. Tempest’s hand curled around his upper arm. She was standing right behind him. He stumbled out into the fresh air, and stared in surprise at the choppy waves of a cold, grey sea.
Bound to Love is available
here from Amazon.com
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