Page 75 of Boxed In

From the corner of his vision, Luke saw Olivia leap into the room. He wanted to shout at her to stay back, but he couldn’t spare the breath—or the concentration.

The man gave him a head butt that made his own head feel like a Chinese gong.

He retaliated with a nerve pinch that should have put the guy out of commission, but he’d apparently been taught how to slip far enough from his opponent’s grasp to neutralize the technique.

Olivia flew by, heading for the desk.

Then, in a flash of movement, she brought her arm down.

Luke saw the heavy glass paperweight in her hand just before it thudded against the man’s skull, and he went still.

“Good work,” he said as he rolled away from the thug.

“Are you all right?” she demanded.

“Yes. Are you?”

“Yes.”

“Let’s make sure he can’t attack again.” He reached down and handed Olivia the gun. “Keep him covered.”

She did as he asked, while he riffled through the desk drawers and found a roll of strapping tape. Lifting the man into the chair, he wound the tape around his upper body, securing him in place.

Then he taped his wrists to the chair arms and his legs to the horizontal pieces that held the wheels. By the time he finished, the Poisoned One was stirring.

He lifted his head and glared at Luke. “Where were you?”

“Somewhere else.”

“But . . .”

“I’ll ask the questions. When are your friends coming back?”

The man pressed his lips together.

“There are ways to make you talk.”

“You won’t use them in front of her,” the man said with confidence.

“Don’t count on it.”

Luke itched to slap the son of a goat across his smug face. He knew that striking his opponent’s flesh would give a feeling of satisfaction. But that was all he’d get out of it. And he'd be wasting precious time.

He glanced toward the computer. He wanted to boot it up and see if the Master of the Moon had sent him the location of the temple. But two things stopped him. He didn't want the Poisoned One anywhere near the message. And he knew that staying would waste precious time.

Instead, he stuffed a gag in the man’s mouth and taped it in place, then picked up the box where he’d set it on the floor. He and Olivia were on their way out of the office when a sound made him stop in his tracks.

The front door opened, then closed again.

“Smith?” someone called from the floor below.

The man in the chair made a muffled sound as he tried to respond.

“Smith?” the question came again.

When the captive didn’t answer, two sets of footsteps came pounding up the steps. And Luke knew it wasn’t the Hanovers coming home to check their e-mail.

Two of the men leaped into the room. Sizing up the situation quickly, one of them grabbed Olivia and knocked the gun out of her hand. It hit the rug with a dull thud as he held her against his chest and his own gun against her head.