Page 63 of Shadowed Agenda

“The only thing that could take down the two guys Javier sent is bullets.” Pavlo shook his head. “There’s no way whoever is at the cottage got the drop on them.”

“Pavlo,” Regan said. Her heart twisted at the worry etched on his face. “If they threatened to kill the children, your men would do whatever the kidnappers asked.”

He rubbed the fingers of one hand over his forehead. He knew she was right.

“Mackenzie is generally unpleasant and extremely unpleasant when she puts her mind to it,” Regan said and couldn’t help but smile. It was the first time she appreciated that personality trait. “I’m certain Mackenzie has been in full-on bitch mode the entire time to keep whoever is there off balance. She’ll have insisted on doing what she could to help your men.”

“Javier has been trying to get a hold of the team that replaced the PI yesterday. Neither of the two men is answering his calls or texts. He’s asked the local police to check on them,” Pavlo said, reaching for the cell phone in his pocket. “Those cops don’t know what they’re walking into.”

Regan prayed the police hadn’t already arrived at the cottage. Pavlo and Drake seemed capable of handling any situation, and she assumed the two men on the team were no different. If the Shadow Defense team had been taken out, the police would have been walking into a situation far more dangerous than they expected.

Whatever Isla had unwittingly dragged her into had to be massive. These people would kill to make sure nothing got in their way. Regan was convinced more than ever that Mrs. Aster’s life was on the line.

“Mackenzie’s husband is at a conference in Boston,” Regan said. “Someone needs to check to see if he’s okay. If the guys in her home threatened Mackenzie’s husband or her kids, she would have done anything to keep them safe. Her family is her whole life.”

“We’ll send someone. Drake rented a vehicle, and he’ll pick us up.” Pavlo said before he tapped his cell phone. “Javier will figure out where the kidnappers are headed. We’re going to get Emmeline back.”Regan nodded, her eyes full of tears. They’d get her daughter back. They had to.

She brushed away the stray tear that ran down her cheek. She needed to tell Pavlo how she felt. With all her heart, Regan knew that her love for him matched his feelings for her, but he was already speaking to Javier. Later, there’d be time for her to talk to him. He’d slipped into SEAL mode, a force to be reckoned with, and would do whatever it took to bring Emmeline home safe.

Regan stepped away from the building, leaving Pavlo to talk with Javier. Her gaze traveled across the street. She stood by the LinkNYC kiosk, her eyes wandering up and down the street, searching for any sign of Emmeline. It was foolish. The kidnappers were gone, but the slim possibility they may have doubled back compelled her to continue scanning the streets.

Why take Emmeline? They had a theory but no idea who was pulling the strings. The only thing they knew was Gage Palmer had come up with the idea of the private book signing. Even then, they didn’t know if it was a spur-of-the-moment idea or if he’d orchestrated meeting Isla at the animal sanctuary fundraiser. Javier was doing a thorough background check and had come up with nothing unusual so far.

Movement close to Regan caught her eye. A sizeable crowd walked toward her. They were upon her before she could move, and she was swept up in the press of people.

Regan struggled to escape the crowd. No one looked at her. Expressionless, their eyes were fixed ahead as if in a trance. Despite her attempts to stay on the edge of the crowd, she was bumped and shoved as the group moved forward, and she ended up in the center.

A hand wrapped around her upper arm, and a voice said, “Keep walking, or Pavlo Barislov and your daughter die.”

Chapter thirty

Pavlohadturnedhisback to the busy street to hear Javier better. The lump of tightly packed pedestrians were there seconds after he sensed their approach. The press of bodies shoved him repeatedly against the rough brick wall.

He caught a flicker of red bobbing up and down in the middle of the crowd. A surge of adrenaline rushed through Pavlo’s body. He reminded himself that Baldy was safely tucked away in jail. Like a swarm of locusts, they moved down the sidewalk.

The sidewalk in front of him was empty.

“Regan,” Pavlo said, hurrying to the LinkNYC kiosk, hoping she’d been able to hide behind the metal structure.

She wasn’t there. He glanced over to the entryway of the stall, hoping Regan had been quicker than him and had sought shelter from the onslaught of people. Other than a discarded coffee cup, it was empty.

The pedestrians on the sidewalk on both sides of the street had thinned. Most of the office workers had reached their destination and started their workday. A few people broke away from the mass of people that had swept past him.

Pavlo’s heart pounded in his chest as he recalled the flicker of red, and he jogged toward the group, checking the entranceway of each building he passed.

“Go after them,” a voice shouted behind him, and he turned.

Finlay ran past him. “It was a setup.”

Pavlo didn’t hesitate and raced past Finlay toward the crowd. The perfectly executed plan had separated them without drawing outside attention to the kidnappers. Pavlo was certain there’d been a backup plan if he’d caused trouble, more than likely a well-placed bullet.

People were breaking away from the crowd as it reached the end of the block. A few individuals crossed the street as the light changed while the smaller group turned the corner.

Pavlo didn’t spot Regan. He felt the burn in his thighs as he pushed himself, vaguely aware of Finlay following behind him. His fear for Regan’s safety was growing.

Pavlo raced around the corner. The mass of people had disappeared, along with Regan. The people along both sides of the sidewalk kept pace with one another, the odd tourist disrupting the flow. There was no way to tell who had been part of the crowd.

“This was carefully choreographed like a flash mob,” Finlay said, gasping for breath. She was bent over, her hands on her knees. She’d obviously run full out the minute she left the hotel. “I was behind them and didn’t realize what was happening until the crowd had grown significantly. Four guys were further down the sidewalk. Every time they passed a building, two or three people exited and joined the group.”

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