Page 98 of S.O.S. Billboard

He shoved her forward. “Move.”

Slowly, as if dazed—when in actuality O’Shea was pissed and simply burning time—she stumbled toward the steps, aiming her foot at the first one to miss.

She got thumped in her ribs for her troubles, but it seemed like the guy was taking it easy on her for now. Probably until he got his hands on what he wanted, then all bets were off. She had no idea what his orders were, but she’d be ready.

O’Shea clumsily climbed the two steps then paused as she heard the front door squeak open.

“Do you have the kid?” her captor called out from behind her as he pushed her through their portal.

“No. He disappeared,” the groin-damaged man hissed, walking gingerly in through the front.

O’Shea dropped her head and stared at the floor, letting her dark hair swing in front of her face. The guy holding her hadn’t recognized that she wasn’t Mrs. Jakes, but she’d hedge her bets with the man she hoped she’d neutered. Right now, the last thing she wanted was to be recognized as the woman who’d confronted Jakes at the town meeting. That would probably up the beating factor by about a gazillion.

“We’ll leave him for now,” Mr. Bloody-nose barked. “The bitch is about to show us where the papers are.”

“Good,” Limpy agreed. “If the boss gets two out of the three things he wants delivered, maybe he won’t be too pissed.”

Two out of three things delivered, O’Shea speculated.

That had to mean her and the papers, now that they understood they couldn’t get their hands on Ethan.

O’Shea paused to think.Dammit.She had a dilemma. She could cooperate, give these guys what they wanted as quickly as possible, then Anna might not walk in on a debacle. Or, she could waste time, hoping Ethan had called his mother to stay away,andthat SOS showed up first.

But Anna…

It was a no-brainer. She couldn’t risk her new friend. She had to get these jerks out of here, fast.

At least she knew now that they weren’t going to kill her right away. They had orders—believing she was Anna—to deliver her to Barnie. That was a plus.

Then, once she was in Jakes’ hands and Barnie got a gander at who his lackies had kidnapped, she could probablybuy herself even more time. She’d taunt them that she knew the combination to the safe—which she did—and let them beat her up for a while before giving it over.

It was the best plan she could come up with on the fly.

“Which way, bitch?” Her current aggressor asked, giving her a shove.

“The…the garage.” She managed to sound pitiful rather than furious.

He grabbed her bound wrists and propelled her forward, slamming her into the new door that separated the garage from the living room.

“Ow. Please. Don’t hurt me anymore,” O’Shea fake sobbed. “I’ll do what you want.”

Her aggressor opened the door without acknowledgment, then shoved her through.

Goon two followed behind.

She could still hear him hobbling, which did her heart good. He deserved every bit of his pain. Still, she’d have to watch out for that guy when they got to their destination. He’d want revenge, and most likely cause her maximum suffering for having put his jewels in a vice.

“It’s…over there,” O’Shea fake-blubbered in a small, defeated voice. “In the corner. A square of concrete lifts up. There’s a safe underneath.”

“You better be telling the truth,” her captor muttered.

O’Shea kept her head low, but watched as the perp not herding her tottered toward the hidey-hole, grabbed the crowbar Anna kept nearby, then not so carefully pried away at one edge until he had the block askew.

He gazed down into the shallow hole.

“The bitch is right. There’s a safe in there. A small one.” He gingerly reached forward and extracted it, cradling it in his arms.

“Combination?” he grunted.

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