Page 52 of Waiting for Him
“Oh! Maybe we can talk the Doms into having a seventies theme night at the club. That would be so funky.”
Laughing harder, Kat reached back and grabbed her ass cheeks. “A spanking to disco music? Now that sounds really kinky.”
“Shelby would love it! She loves theme nights. I’ll run it by her and see what she thinks.” Checking her watch, Colleen added, “Shit. I’m going to be late if I don’t leave. I’ll see you later. Jake promised to text me and let me know if everything is okay with Ben’s parents.”
Kat waved goodbye as the secretary ran to her Toyota Prius and drove away. She checked her cell phone and saw it was at least another fifteen minutes before the team reached Sarasota. Not ready to go back inside, she wandered around the compound while playing fetch with Beau.
Finding herself in the club parking area, she ambled toward the guard gate to see if Murray needed water or anything. She was just about to speak when the man's head swiveled toward the road at the sound of an approaching vehicle. A black Cadillac Escalade with tinted windows pulled up to the closed gate and stopped. The guard eyed the SUV warily and placed his hand on his sidearm, ready to draw the 9mm handgun if necessary.
Everything seemed to move in slow motion as Kat watched the driver’s window roll down and Murray pull his weapon from the holster at his hip. But it was too late as the driver fired his own silenced pistol, and she gaped in horror as the burly guard’s body jerked with the impact of the bullet hitting his upper right chest. Stunned, Kat was frozen in place, staring at the man as he fell to the ground, blood starting to saturate his shirt and the weapon dropping from his hand.
Three doors to the SUV opened, and two large men exited from the front, armed with black handguns. The driver was a little taller and leaner than his counterpart, who Kat thought resembled a pig with his flat nose and pock-marked skin. Another man climbed out of the backseat, and she gasped. It was one of the Russians who’d tried to kidnap her from the motel in Norfolk, dragging a terrified Colleen out of the vehicle and holding a gun to her head. Next to Kat, Beau growled and barked, sensing his humans were in danger but unable to get through the closed gate.
“Call off dog and toss cell phone on ground. Come vith us or I kill friends. Now!”
Keeping her gaze on the wide-eyed secretary trying to hold it together, Kat placed a shaky hand on the security scanner until the gate began to slide open. “Beau, platz.” The canine continued to growl with the hair on his back raised but laid down as ordered. “Let her go, and I’ll come with you. If you hurt her, I’ll never tell you how to get the money.”
The big man smirked, and Kat shivered, knowing he would gladly torture her for the information. Pig-face from the front passenger seat had his gun trained on her while the driver aimed his at Murray, who was, thankfully, still alive. The injured guard looked more pissed than anything, but with his gun lying near his feet and being outnumbered, there wasn’t much he could do.
Pulling her phone out of her pocket, Kat placed it on the ground and stepped forward, her hands in the air. The sunlight hit the gold medical alert bracelet on her wrist, and she remembered Benny telling her about the GPS unit in it. He still had a way to track her if she went with these men. She had to do it, refusing to let anyone else get hurt because of her. “Please, let them go. I won’t fight you. I’ll show you where the money is.”
The man holding Colleen’s arm was obviously in charge as neither of the other men spoke. Shoving the woman viciously to the ground next to the guard, who struggled to put his body in front of hers for protection, the Russian indicated for Kat to get into the vehicle. “Come. Now. Or ve kill them.”
Kat hurried over to the rear driver’s side door as the man stepped back and let her scramble into the vehicle. He slid in beside her, forcing her to move to the other side. Before he shut his door, he instructed the driver, “Shoot them.”
Horrified, Kat dove for the door handle next to her, but the bastard grabbed her hair, preventing her escape. Pain shot through her scalp.
“Packen,” she shouted through the open driver’s door and was relieved to see Beau respond to the command, lunging toward the man with his weapon aimed at the two people on the ground. The driver brought his arm up to block the vicious attack, and his gun went off into the air, the slug striking a nearby tree. Twisting wildly, the man screamed in pain as the dog’s razor-sharp teeth tore through his flesh, down to the bones in his forearm.
The chaos allowed Murray to snatch up and fire his own weapon, dropping the driver with a bullet to the head. With what should have been an easy kill from across the hood, a distant shout caused Pig-face to turn his head and botch his own shot, missing Murray by inches when he rolled to protect Colleen.
Through the windshield, Kat saw Jake and Tanner running toward the front gate, weapons in hand. The combination of reinforcements arriving, and Beau releasing the driver and turning his attention to the second threat, had Pig-face diving into the front seat and slamming the door shut. He climbed over the console, threw the vehicle in reverse, and floored the accelerator as Beau made a futile attempt to find access on the passenger side.
None of Kat’s would-be rescuers could risk taking a shot with her in the line of fire. A quick turn of the steering wheel spun the car around, and they took off toward the highway at a high rate of speed. At the end of the road, before they turned left to take the northbound lanes, Kat spotted Colleen’s vehicle on the shoulder with its driver’s door wide open. The Russians must have ambushed her and forced her from the car.
“Where are we going?”
Neither man answered her. She urged herself to remain calm and look for a way to escape, but she couldn’t stop trembling.
Not knowing what else to do, Kat prayed.
* * *
Leaving the head and walking back toward the war-room, Jake continued to listen to the banter of his team members on the overhead speakers he’d turned on and cursed because he was missing the action. He knew Carter was the perfect person to take his place, but it was still irritating he was out of commission until his eye healed.
Ian’s voice came over the air just as he entered the room. “Reverend, you there?”
Stepping up to the microphone, Jake pressed the transmit button. “Yeah, Boss-man. What’s your status?”
“Just pulled up. How are things there?”
“Five by five,” he answered. “Just going to go get Kat. Stay safe, brothers.”
“Amen.”
Turning around, Jake headed past the reception area to the stairs, taking them two at a time. He hoped Kat had gotten some rest because she needed it. When this was all over, he wouldn’t be surprised if Boomer planned on taking her somewhere quiet to recuperate. The kid could use a vacation after this, as well.
Striding into the rec room, he glanced around and found it empty. Figuring she was in the bedroom she and Boomer had used last night, he went down the hallway and knocked on the only closed door. Not receiving an answer, he knocked again and, instead of waiting, turned the knob and opened the door. Empty. “Kat?”
