Page 56 of Fake Christmas Date Cowboy

But in the end, whatever he hid from her didn’t matter at all.

He was the best fake Christmas boyfriend she’d ever had.

The ringtone of a phone projected from the front of the vehicle. She heard Haileigh’s brash tone as she answered but over the noise of the engine, she couldn’t make out more than a few words.

Belle held her breath and tried to slow the pounding of her heart in her ears, hoping to hear anything that would tell her what was happening. She might have no control right now, but that didn’t mean she would quit searching for a way out of this.

Haileigh’s tinkling laugh lifted the hair on Belle’s nape.

“Who was that, dear?” Ethan asked as if he were asking what was for dinner.

“You know who it was.”

Belle lost the thread of the conversation as they struck several more jarring bumps that gave her a new bruise or two.

“They got it,” Haileigh said.

“The ransom demand?”

Ransom? Belle’s brain tripped over that word. What were they holding for ransom? Her?

Her parents would payanyamount to get her back, she knew that well enough. But it terrified her that Ethan also had a photo of them handy. A man like Ethan would have no hesitation whatsoever. He’d hurt them. Maybe even torture them for the adrenaline rush.

Her shoulder struck the table leg hard, and it hurt like hell, but at least it wasn’t her head. That hurt bad enough after they struck her down outside that door.

“WEST is getting the money together to get it all back.”

“You were right, honey.”

Again, Belle was stunned by Ethan’s deference to his accomplice.

“Of course I was. If it gets out that there’s been a security breach, their whole company goes under. And we’ve got those files, thanks to your little ex-toy back there.”

She couldn’t see Haileigh from her position on the floor, partly under the table, but she sensed the woman was glancing back at her.

Fury churned in her gut. She didn’t know how she was getting out of this mess—but when she did, she would make damn sure that her kidnappers wouldn’t see freedom for the rest of their days.

And whenshegot free? Well, her Christmas wish was silly.

She hoped that Declan would be there waiting for her…so she could run straight into his arms.

Chapter Fourteen

Failure was not an option. Declan was not going to fail. Just because they’d searched the ranch for more than two hours, even having some ranch hands jump in their vehicles and scour the fields for her, and come up emptyhanded, it didn’t mean he wouldn’t find Belle.

When he stormed back into the WEST Protection office, it was like a war zone. Every desk was occupied with a team member hitting the computer system. Some were busy locking down cybersecurity after they discovered the breach. Others were trying to locate Belle.

A demand for ransom had come in while he was out. Unless the WEST team paid the ransom, the company would be wrecked. Nobody would trust them ever again.

And nobody was working fast enough for Declan.

He paced the center of the room, boot heels loud thuds punctuating every step. The pressure in his chest compounded by the second. If he didn’t get her back…

Hell no. He wasn’t buying into that mindset. He’d done more difficult things. He’d performed special ops. He’d seen battle. He could find one woman.

As he passed a desk, he scanned the security camera footage on the monitor. Images blinked to different views.

Madeline sat stiffly, hunched forward in her seat to peer closer at the footage. But she wasn’t doing nearly enough.

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