Page 69 of A Very Titan Christmas
“What does that mean?” Bryce wanted to know.
“There wasn’t much time between the leak about the summit and the abduction,” Parker said. “That tells me there’s a lack of planning. It smells of desperation, which statistically means that Rachel is close. She might still be in the building. If not, I thinkshe’s close by. No one’s getting off this mountain without a huge number of resources.”
Jared rubbed his forehead. “The question becomes why. What do they want?”
“To get the summit cancelled,” Bryce volunteered. “That’s a no-brainer.”
The head of Senator Porter’s security detail pushed through the conference room door. Boss Man tilted his head toward the table, signaling for the woman to join them. “Parker, Rhonda Melvin just walked in.”
“We found Rachel’s boot outside about fifty yards from a service entrance. The wear marks on the heel and side are consistent with being dragged.”
Someone had dragged Rachel away. Anger bubbled inside Bryce. Hope dwindled. Fear bloomed in his chest, an ugly foreign feeling he had no practice dealing with.
“Easy.” Jared raised his hand to Bryce in warning. “They want her for a reason. Dragging her means they’re moving her and nothing more.”
Nothing more? “She could be dead.”
“No,” Jared snapped. “Use your fuckin’ brain. Hurting Rachel won’t get anyone anything. She’s a bargaining chip. That’s all.”
Bryce understood what Boss Man was saying, but logic and negotiating tactics had fled his mind. The woman he loved had been taken when he was so damn close by. She could be dead and might be soon if whoever had taken her didn’t get what they wanted. This was worse than Montana dying. That had been an accident, but this was Bryce’s mistake.
Jared studied Bryce for a moment longer and shook his head. “Damn it, Bryce.Fake relationship. That’s what you said. Fake. Pretend. No problem.” He pushed a hand through his dark hair,which was flecked with gray at the temples. “Falling in love with your principal is a fuckin’ problem.”
Bryce sure as hell couldn’t deny it. His molars ground together. He’d fallen in love with Rachel Porter.Again. “This isn’t helping anyone find her.”
Jared scowled. “Then it’s a problem for another day.Afterwe get her home.”
An avalanche of guilt and panic smothered him.
“You’re sitting this out,” Jared barked at Bryce and pointed at Cash. “You—”
“No.”
Boss Man arched his eyebrow. “Yeah.”
“The hell I am. If—when—we find her, I’m going in. I’ll be the first face she sees and the first person who gets a shot at whoever put their hands on Rachel. That’s nonnegotiable.”
“Brother, you aren’t in a position to negotiate.”
“Well, here I am anyway.”
Jared scanned the room, maybe searching for someone who would object. Maybe looking for backup. He found neither. Years seemed to crawl by. Finally, Boss Man nodded. “Fine. I get it. I don’t fuckin’ like it. But I get it.” He pushed himself out of his chair, paced the conference table’s length again, and turned to Porter’s security detail. “Rhonda, how sure are you about your team?”
“They’re clean, and I’ve sequestered everyone else. Turned them over to the Feds, and we’re working with the FBI’s behavioral analysis folks. This is my problem: Once we figure out which direction to go, I’ll never get a SWAT team up here in time.” She nodded to the men around the table and looked at Jared. “I run point, and Titan is the muscle?”
Jared nodded then let out a long breath and gestured to Bryce. “Let that one lead the charge.”
Hope flickered in his chest. He had Titan Group. HewasTitan group. That had meant a lot when he took the job, and now, it meant the world. He trusted his teammates to do what it took so that he could bring Rachel home safely.
Two things were abundantly clear. He loved his job, and he loved Rachel Porter. Bryce had zero clue how he could make both things work together, but right now, he’d sell his soul to Jack Frost for this to end like one of those cheesy holiday movies.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Rachel Porter wokewith a sudden awareness that made her remember everything all at once. Her throat and neck were bruised. Pain burst and throbbed behind her eyes like Christmas lights short-circuiting inside her head. Her cold limbs were numb, and her teeth chattered. An old plastic tarp had been tucked around her like a blanket. It crinkled and crunched as she tested her body. Zip ties bit into her wrists and ankles. Every muscle hurt like she’d been trampled by Dancer, Prancer, Donner, and Blitzen, but she tried to make sense of her surroundings.
She was dry and inside some kind of shack. The air was damp and cold, tinged with the offseason scent of soil. Her cheek rested against the unforgiving, frozen dirt floor. She wriggled her fingers and toes then realized she wore only one boot.
She froze at the sound of low voices outside the thin wooden walls. They sounded calm, and the tone was conversational. She only remembered the one man who had taken her. How many people were involved?
