Page 105 of Under Fire

“Her brother. He says it’s important he speaks with her.”

Something to do with Petrelli? He straightened.

Delilah motioned for him to stay. “I’ll find out what he wants. Get what you need from Mr. Shannon. I won’t be gone long.”

He didn’t like having her out of his sight. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“I’ll be in the next room. Two minutes at most.”

He gave a reluctant nod. “Don’t leave the office for any reason.”

Delilah kissed him lightly and preceded Ms. Walters from the room. The assistant closed the door. Matt took a step toward the door to open it again.

“Can we get on with this?” Shannon snapped. “I have court in an hour.”

He turned back, determined to get the list and spirit his girl from this place. Matt’s skin crawled, never a good sign. Someone in this place was dirty and desperate enough to attempt kidnapping and murder to protect a money trail. “Print the list and we’ll be out of your hair.”

The lawyer didn’t appear to know his computer system well because he used the hunt-and-peck method of typing, squinting at the screen and muttering curses when he made mistakes and had to backtrack.

Good grief. Matt dragged a hand down his face. If Shannon didn’t get a move on, Matt would shove him aside and find the information himself. He didn’t have Zane Murphy’s mad computer skills, but he could navigate the system better than Shannon.

Two minutes later, the lawyer twisted his char around to grab the single sheet of paper spit out by the printer. “If that’s all, I’d appreciate you leaving my office so I can prepare for court.”

“I’ll be back, Shannon. Be available to answer questions.”

The older man drew himself up as though affronted.

Matt didn’t have time to soothe ruffled feathers. His instincts were screaming at him to get to Delilah. She’d been gone too long. Something was wrong.

He flung open the door and moved into the outer office where all was quiet. No sign of Delilah or Lisa. “Delilah?” No response. He quickly searched the rest of the suite of offices. Other than several startled law associates and assistants who denied seeing Lisa or Delilah, Matt came up empty.

Pulling out his cell phone, he called her number. A cell phone rang close by. A ball of ice formed in his stomach as he followed the sound to the trashcan beneath Lisa Walters’ desk. Under a mountain of paperwork dumped in the container rested the Fortress-issued cell phone.

He barged into Shannon’s office again. Striding to his desk, Matt slammed his palms on the flat surface. “Where is she?”

Shannon eased his chair further away from the desk. “Who are you talking about?”

“Delilah. She’s gone.”

The lawyer blinked. “I don’t understand.”

“What don’t you get? My woman is missing and so is your assistant.”

“You must be mistaken.” Shannon grabbed his desk phone and punched in a number. “I’m sure this will be cleared up shortly. Perhaps they went for coffee or a quick bite to eat.”

“She wouldn’t go against my instructions unless someone forced her to go.”

Several long seconds later, Shannon dropped the phone handset in the cradle, concern filling his gaze. “Lisa isn’t answering her phone. I don’t understand this. She always answers when I call. My assistant knows how important my job is.”

Matt circled the desk and yanked the man up by his lapels until his face was even with the lawyer’s. “I’ll explain it to you in simple terms. Your assistant kidnapped the woman I love.” He gave Shannon a hard shake. “If anything happens to Delilah, you won’t be able to find a hole deep enough to hide in to escape me.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

Delilah’s heart slammed against her ribcage. Although she tried to focus on the asphalt ribbon they drove on, her gaze kept shifting to the gun Lisa Walters pointed at her from the passenger seat of her silver SUV. “This isn’t a good idea, Lisa.”

Harsh laughter escaped from the other woman. “It’s a great idea. With you missing, the cops will be more interested in your disappearance than they will in Michelle’s money.”

Not a half-bad plan except for one thing. “Matt isn’t a cop and his focus will be on tracking me.”

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