Page 14 of A Gathering Storm

Doctor Liam Payne had come back to the states yet hadn’t returned to work when Michael reconnected with him. Liam was a good man and had settled into his hometown not far from where Michael lived. He and the rest of the team got together to talk several times a week. It was their own form of therapy.

“Yes, Liam will help. He’s going to be mad he wasn’t part of the rescue.” Michael sat back against the seat and kept a careful watch over the First Lady and the president. He prayed they’d be able to keep out of sight long enough to take the most important man in the country to a safe location. Because he had a feeling that things were about to get worse. Much worse.

Chapter Five

Anoise outside the door had both Abby and Brookes whirling toward the sound.

Abby’s gaze collided with Brookes’s. “Someone’s coming.”

There would be no way of preventing their captors from knowing they’d gotten free of their restraints.

“What do we do?” Abby asked, her attention on the door.

Brookes didn’t hesitate. “We take out as many of them as we can.” He hobbled to one side of the door. Abby flanked the opposite side. They’d have seconds to take out an unknown number of men—an impossible task, but God was in the business of impossible tasks.

A key slipped into the door and it unlocked. The first man stepped through the opening. Brookes lunged, taking him by surprise. A second man hurried to his buddy. Abby jumped on him, fighting with all her might. She gouged at his eyes, but she and Brookes were grossly outmanned.

The room filled with people. Someone pulled her from her victim and shoved her against the wall. Two more men pounced on Brookes. Held against the wall, all she could do was watch helplessly as they slugged the man she loved in his injured side.

“No.” She screamed and tried to free herself, but it was useless. Tears filled her eyes as Brookes was beaten to the ground and knocked unconscious.

The man restraining her hauled her to the chair and forced her down. Her hands were zip tied behind her back. Then, to her surprise, the men fell back without a word. As if they were waiting for someone.

The men standing in front of her focused their attention on the door. Someone entered. Abby tensed, waiting for the person to be revealed. The first thing she spotted was a pair of very expensive shoes. Her gaze traveled up past a dark blue suit to face the man whom she recognized from videos she and her team had watched of the press conference in Berlin.

But this wasn’t the man she expected to appear. It was instead someone who sent a tremor of warning up her spine. Daniel Pamphili, Walton Kirkpatrick’s protégé.

Her mouth dropped open at the look of pure malevolence on his face. Standing before her wasn’t the polished demeanor of the person who had appeared at Kirkpatrick’s side recently. This man watching her was pure evil, and he had an agenda of his own.

“So, we meet in person, Abby Temple.” The words surprised her. How did he know her name? He spotted her confusion and smiled. “No, we haven’t met before, but I do know you. All about you.”

A shiver was hard to control as she looked into gray eyes that were bottomless pits of evil.

“And I know you.” She kept her voice steady. “You’re Walton Kirkpatrick’s boy.”

Pamphili didn’t take the bait. “Yes, Walton has been a good friend to me.” He glanced to where Brookes lay unconscious. “Tie him up.” Several men stumbled over themselves to comply.

Pamphili drug up another chair and positioned it to where it was right in front of her. He sat down. Inches away.

Taking his time, he straightened his suit before he made eye contact. Abby couldn’t erase the impression out of her head that she was in the presence of the true leader of the coming One-world Order.

“Now, your friends at Strike Force have caused a lot of problems for me and my goals. So, I will need you to tell me where they are hiding. If you cooperate, perhaps I’ll let your fiancé live.”

Abby jerked back. How did he know about her engagement to Brookes? With the exception of her Strike Force brothers and sisters, she’d told no one.

Please let the team arrive before it’s too late.“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Pamphili chuckled as if she’d said something amusing. “Oh, Abby, you really don’t know who you’re dealing with.” Pamphili motioned to the two men who stood over Brookes. “Get him to his feet.”

The two quickly hauled Brookes’s limp body up beside them, and Abby’s heart went into panic mode.Don’t let them kill him.Multiple prayers raced through her head as Pamphili pulled out an exquisitely expensive pocket knife. He made a production out of opening it and twisting it in his hand so that the overhead light caught the blade’s glint. Pamphili slowly rose and moved to where the men held Brookes.

Over Abby’s racing heart, just the tiniest of sounds came from outside. Vehicles. More than one.

Help was on the way.

“Now, shall we try this again?” Pamphili faced her with a smug smile on his face. He held the knife against Brookes’s throat. “Where is Strike Force hiding?” The words were spoken calmly, yet there was no mistaking the threat in them.

The noise outside grew closer. Abby focused on Brookes. He was awake but pretending otherwise.

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