Page 113 of Hidden Ascent

“He’s holding a gun on me,” Maddy said. “Call the police.”

“Franklin,” Sharpe said, ignoring her plea. “Would you mind organizing some men to search my office for intruders? And make sure they check the fifth floor as well.”

“Yes, sir. Is that everything?”

“That’s all for now.”

The screen rose, and Sharpe made a call.

“I didn’t expect to hear from you so soon,” Jay said when he answered the phone. “I’m getting everything together now.”

“There’s been a change of plans. Meet me at the Red Wolves building in an hour so we can discuss what to do with Maddy.”

“Who?”

“If you would prefer to make my life difficult, Mr. Parker, I could simply shoot her now. It would save us all some trouble.”

“I’ll see you in an hour.”

“Fantastic. And make sure you bring Isla and the photos; otherwise, I’ll be upset and you don’t want me to be upset.” He ended the call and laid the phone on the seat beside him. “You were right about one thing. Jaywastrying to use me, but I’m not going to let him.”

* * *

Jay hung up the phone and threw a bottle of water across the room, then took a breath before turning on his mic for the earpieces.

“Guys, we have a problem,” he said to his team. “Sharpe’s on to us. He’s got Maddy, and he’s bringing her to the Wolves’ hideout.”

“How’d he find out?” Charlotte said.

“I don’t know. He didn’t say.”

“I’m tailing them,” Isla said. “You want me to run them off the road?”

“No. That would put Maddy at too great a risk. I want you to stand down. We know where they’re going.”

“Sharpe will kill her if we don’t do something.”

“He won’t kill her yet. We have time to figure out a new plan.”

“She could be dead before you get there. I’m going in.”

“No, Isla. I said stand down. You’ll only get yourself killed.”

“If that’s what it takes.”

“We’ve breached the safe,” Charlotte said.

“Good. Did we find what we need?”

“Oh, yeah,” Will said. “Looks like a lot of interesting reads. But we need to make sure Maddy’s safe.”

“We will. You two have to get out of there now. Sharpe will have a team headed your way already. And Charlotte, you’ll need to get out with Will. It won’t be safe to exit out the front.”

“I was afraid you’d say that. Just look after my sister, will you?”

“Maddy knows how to handle herself. We’ll regroup and make a new plan. Everyone is getting out of this alive.”

* * *

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