Page 127 of Fatal Intent
“Hold.” Seconds later, he returned. “I borrowed another company’s satellite. There are seven people inside that house. Six standing, one lying down. No movement aside from your infiltration team in the perimeter.”
Grant blinked. “Seven?”
“Donovan must have joined them.” Seth looked at Teagan, Andre, and Grant. “Ready?”
“Let’s do this.” Grant checked his weapon one last time.
“Move out.”
As they made their way toward the back of the farmhouse, Grant prayed they weren’t too late.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
RAYNE LISTENED FORany sounds to show she wasn’t alone in this musty room. Wherever she was, her surroundings smelled old and unused.
No sounds. No movement. Although she was probably alone, she would have to be careful not to alert a silent watcher that she had awoken from her drugged sleep.
Rayne wasn’t happy about the shot Ellis Lindsey had forced on her. The creep had overpowered her with the help of Gino Savage. Gino held her down while Ellis gave her the drug. When she escaped, she’d have to go to the closest hospital and have a blood test run to discover what Ellis gave her. A fast-acting drug, she had been alert and eager to check on Eileen one minute, taken down from behind the next, and sliding into blackness seconds after receiving the injection.
She opened her eyes to mere slits and glanced around the room, looking for a guard.
No one.
Rayne breathed easier. Now all she had to do was find something in this room to use as a weapon, assuming the soldiers had stripped her of hers. Her skin crawled at the thought of those men touching her while she’d been helpless. No doubt the searcher was Ellis. She scowled. He seemed to have taken a personal interest in her. Too bad for him, the only man she wanted was Grant Bowen. Ellis wasn’t in the same league as Grant.
She slowly turned her head, scanning the room as she went. The decorations were reminiscent of the style her grandmother had used. It reminded her of the good days she’d spent with her grandparents until the death of her father. From that point on, her grandparents wanted nothing to do with her. As an adult, she could understand why they were distraught. Her father was their son, their only child.
Pushing aside the sadness resurfacing from the dusty memories, Rayne struggled to a sitting position and tested the bonds on her wrists. Flexible. Zip ties. Nice. She wished they had cinched her wrists in the front instead of behind her, but she’d deal with it.
Swinging her legs over the side of the bed, she tested her strength by standing. Not bad. Though she couldn’t run a race, she could walk and maybe jog a short distance.
Rayne bent at the waist, gathered her meager strength, and clenched her hands. She spread her wrists apart as much as possible, raised her hands, and slammed them against her hip. The ties snapped, and she stripped the plastic from her wrists.
Time to get out of this building. Since she heard the indistinct murmur of men’s voices nearby, Rayne couldn’t go searching for a way out.
She turned toward a window. Hopefully, they had locked her in on the first floor. If not, well, she’d figure a way out. What she wouldn’t do was sit here like well-behaved bait and draw Grant and his friends into a deadly trap.
Rayne rested her back against the wall, then peered outside into the darkness. Not much light, but enough to see she was on the second floor with no handy trees close by. If she had her Go bag, escaping through this window wouldn’t be an issue. Without a bag full of equipment, this window was a no-go. She didn’t fancy breaking an ankle and marrying Grant in a cast.
A smile curved her lips. Grant said he’d marry her anytime she wanted. After this mission ended sounded like the perfect time to her.
Her smile faded. Time to refocus. She couldn’t get married if she didn’t survive the next few hours. Yes, she knew without a doubt Grant and their teammates were coming. She felt the heat from the GPS tag near her shoulder blade, a friendly reminder she hadn’t been forgotten or abandoned. Her teammates had her back.
But Grant was probably leading the charge. Although he’d get the job done, her man should be in bed, not taking on the enemy. Gino and his cronies had set up the murders. She knew it in her bones. The question was why? Whether or not she discovered the answer to that question, her job was to escape if possible and meet her team somewhere safe.
She crossed the room to the second window and smiled at the sight in front of her. A tree in the perfect position to help her shimmy to the ground.
Rayne checked the door was locked, glared at the knob when she discovered the lock was on the outside, then shoved a chair under the knob to slow down the man who checked on her.
Time to get out of this room and make tracks to a safe place where she could meet her team and come up with a plan to take down this trained group of thugs.
She crossed the room again to stand beside the second window. Rayne took her time scanning the area on this side of the building. No movement in the shadows.
Gino didn’t post guards outside? He was asking for trouble. Did he think Grant and the others wouldn’t track her? If nothing else, Zane or one of the other tech geeks would hack into the traffic cams and report the direction the vehicle took after Gino and Ellis kidnapped her.
Rayne waited a few beats. Still no guard. She scowled, not quite believing what she saw. Something told her a watcher was out there, monitoring the area.
She shuddered. Was it the sniper, Donovan Vance? Had he followed Gino or one of his men, planning to kill them?
