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Still nothing. So far so good. These guys were either really confident
that they hadn t been followed or really, really stupid.
Jared waited for his eyes to adjust to the darkness. After a minute he
could make out shapes through the gloom. A few rows down was a ladder
to a catwalk.
Perfect.
Wasting no time, he climbed the ladder and walked silently across
the catwalk looking for the two guys with the laundry. He found them in
an office on the other side of the building. They had a TV blasting and
were eating a pizza. No wonder they didn t hear him jumping in the
window, they wouldn t have heard if he d broken the window.
He didn t see any sign of the bundle they had grabbed from the hotel.
Where could they have dropped their burden?
Automatically dividing the room into a grid, he searched from his
perch for any clues to her whereabouts. Just as he was about to give up,
he spotted a blonde length of hair hanging out of a bunch of towels. They
had dropped her, towels and all, on a ratty carpet near the front door.
Jared couldn t risk a closer look, but he made sure he saw at least three
breaths lift the towels up before he left.
Sweat ran down his back as he scurried across the catwalk. He didn t
bother wasting time trying to be silent as he shimmied down the ladder.
He d be out the window before they hit a commercial break. The need to
clear out the hotel room and get Connor spurred him to quicken his pace
as he ran up the embankment.
He just prayed he d find Connor before they moved her or worse.
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As soon as Romero pulled away from the bus station, Connor slipped
to the lockers and removed a key from the sole of his shoe. This very
expensive and very illegal key could open any locker in the entire bus
station, but in this case it opened one that contained a banged up
backpack. Connor took it to the bathroom where he locked the door, took
out the contents of the bag, and laid them out on the counter.
In seconds he d changed into the baggy jeans, loose shirt, scraggly
baseball cap and expensive basketball sneakers. He slipped the handgun
into his waistband and checked the thin knife he carried in the thick sole
of the sneaker.
He stuffed his other clothes into the bag and slipped it over one
shoulder. With a final look in the mirror, he adjusted his face to the
bitter, angry, look that was the uniform for the people he was meeting,
and sauntered out. Had anyone bothered to take note, they might have
wondered how the disreputable character got the bag from the gentleman
who went into the bathroom earlier and hadn t come out.
Once on the street, Connor affected the nervous-eyed look common to
the neighborhood. The bus station was a few blocks from his normal
roaming area, and he moved as quickly as possible without running and
attracting attention.
He d only been gone an hour or so when a familiar car drove up to
him.
What are you trying to do? Get me killed, or yourself? he snarled at
Romero.
Get in, the bastards got your girl.
Connor felt fear congeal in the pit of his stomach. He slid across the
hood of the car and got in.
Tell me what the hell happened. You were supposed to keep an eye
on her.
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Shut up and listen, I know where they ve taken her. I ll tell you on
the way.
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Arianna Hart
Chapter Fourteen
Samara slowly became aware of her surroundings. The first thing she
noticed was the odor. She smelled mildewed towels, stale cigarette smoke
and other things better left unknown. The combination made her already
delicate stomach mutinous.
Luckily, she had nothing in her stomach so all she did was retch
dryly. Her mouth, already dry as cotton, felt even worse with the addition
of her stomach s acid. Her head felt like it was stuffed with the same
cotton that had been left in her mouth, and her arms and legs were
leaden.
It seemed like too much effort to try to move the towels off her, so she
lay still and tried to figure out where she was. Her head was doing the
cha-cha, and her stomach wasn t much calmer, but she forced herself to
remember what had happened. She remembered leaving the hotel for a
fire alarm, then being grabbed. She must have been drugged because the
next thing she remembered was waking up here.
One part of her mind shrieked at her to get up and get away while
she could. The more rational part of her mind advised faking
unconsciousness until she knew what was going on. She carefully pulled
one of the towels down enough so she could get a glimpse of her
surroundings, and was blinded by overhead lights. She quickly closed
them against the glare. Squinted this time and tried again.
She was against a wall, probably near a door, because there was a
faint breeze blowing by her face. Turning her head as slowly as she
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could, she tried to get a better look around without alerting any watchers
she was awake, but she need not have bothered. No one was anywhere
near her. If she craned her head far enough she could see two huge men
sitting in a glassed-in office. They were watching TV at a concert level
volume that was doing nothing to help her headache.
She was considering her escape options when the door near her
slammed open. Her heart pounded in her chest as she tried to feign
unconsciousness. She watched through slit eyes and saw a man storm
into the room, kick open the office door and turn off the TV.
What the hell! There was still fifteen minutes left, An unfamiliar
voice shouted.
I realize you two aren t rocket scientists, but didn t it occur to you
that this is supposed to be an abandoned building? I could hear the TV
when I came through the main door. Where is the lock for the gate? Did
you want to invite O Riley in for tea as well? Idiots. He could have already
taken the girl and you two wouldn t even have known.
Relax, she s not going anywhere, she s still out from the knock out
drops that Ronny gave her. She s over there by the door.
Samara s heart leapt to her throat and adrenaline made her knees
weak. It was all she could do to lie still and fake unconsciousness.
What are you so afraid of? O Riley will exchange the computer for
her, and he ll never even know you were involved.
She dared another peek and saw three men in the office. One goon
sat and propped his feet back on the desk.
As he reached to turn on the TV, the new man kicked goon boy s feet
off the desk and threw the TV to the floor.
Don t underestimate O Riley, you idiot. He has more lives than a cat.
I ve sent better than you after him and all have failed. Did you hear what
happened to Rick and Sam up North? He poisoned a loaf of bread, which
the idiots ate, and they re probably still on the can. He didn t even know
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Arianna Hart
someone was after him, and he was still a step ahead of us. I sent you
after the computer, not the girl.
We didn t have a choice, cops were everywhere and we couldn t get
into the hotel. O Riley will trade the computer for the girl, trust me.
Not as far as I can throw you. I don t know if this will get me the
computer, but I m at the end of my rope. You two screwed up big time,
and now I have to clean up your messes.
Samara saw him run a hand through his thinning hair in obvious
frustration.
If I don t get access to the money in his account, my life span will be
counted in minutes. And I guarantee you that if I go down you all go with
me. Now one of you patrol the outside of the building, the other stay with
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