Banan followed Henri to his car and got in. Then watched as Henri pulled out an iPad and typed in some numbers. Banan knew Guy had to make a choice, but Banan hated that he hadn’t been there to watch Jane.
Each second that ticked by felt like years. He couldn’t allow himself to think about what was being done to Jane. If he did, he’d likely lose what little control he had on his emotions. And he couldn’t permit himself to shift into dragon form in the middle of London.
“What’s her number?” Henri asked urgently.
Banan hastily rattled off the numbers. Within a matter of seconds, a map of London pulled up and a small red dot blinked, locating Jane.
“I was right,” Henri said with a wry smile. “They’re taking her to a warehouse.”
“Get moving, then,” Banan said between clenched teeth.
Henri smiled and started his BMW. “Why is it anytime I get a call from you, I always find myself in the middle of some bloody mess that takes me months to get myself out of?”
“You enjoy it.” Usually Banan enjoyed Henri’s banter, but he was too concerned about Jane to be able to contribute.
“You care for this chit?”
Banan looked out the side window as Henri sped off. “Aye.”
“Love catches us all, doesn’t it, mate?”
He couldn’t answer Henri. Banan kept seeing Jane’s beautiful coffee brown eyes filled with passion and pleasure. He’d had the most wonderful night of his very long existence, and it left him uneasy.
Banan focused on the blinking red dot while Henri maneuvered them through the crowded London streets. They were gaining ground, but not enough. Jane and her abductors were still too far ahead, and with the traffic, they would never reach her in time.
“Nay!” Banan bellowed when the red light suddenly stopped blinking.
“Bloody hell,” Henri ground out, and pulled over.
Once more he was punching in all sorts of codes, but nothing he did had the red light back.
“It’s gone, mate. I’m sorry. They must’ve realized she had the GPS turned on her mobile.”
Banan looked to the sky. Millions of years ago, he’d have shifted into dragon form and taken to the skies to find Jane. Now, he could do nothing but wait. It was that waiting that would likely get Jane killed.
“Why did they take her, Banan?”
It took a moment for his brain to register that Henri was speaking. “The number I gave you last night, she found it. She also overheard some information.”
“You should’ve bloody well gotten her out of the city.” Henri slammed his hand against his steering wheel. “I can do no more here. I need to get back to the office. There I can use satellites to see inside the warehouses.”
“And likely lose your job.”
“I’m MI5, Banan. My job is the safety of Britain and her people.”
Banan turned his head to look at Henri. He was the kind of man a person forgot. Light, sandy brown hair, hazel eyes, plain face, and average height. He was forgettable, the kind of person everyone overlooked. Which was why he was one of Britain’s top MI5 agents.
“You need to know this is about Dreagan,” Banan said.
Henri gave a slight nod. “I assumed as much when you called. One of these days, you’re going to tell me what’s so important about a scotch distillery.”
“Doona hold your breath, my friend. That day willna likely come.”
Henri grinned slyly. “We all have our secrets.”
Banan opened the car door as thunder rumbled over him. “If you find anything, call me. I need to find Jane, and when we do, I suspect the people we’re searching for are going to be there.”
“And does that include Richard Arnold?”
He shouldn’t have been surprised Henri knew that much. “Aye.”
“We’ve a large file on him. Taking him down won’t be a problem.”
“It’s no’ just him we need.”
Jane opened her eyes to the blackness of a hood over her. Her head ached so badly, she was nauseated. She parted her lips to breathe through her mouth, and wished her hands weren’t tied so tightly behind her, because she had an itch on her nose.
Banan.
God, how she wished he were there. Or that she hadn’t gone into PureGems, as he’d asked. She thought she had gotten in and out without being seen. How wrong she’d been.
“I see you’re awake.”
The voice was male, and held a slight mocking quality to it. It wasn’t exactly British, because she heard traces of a Scots brogue, so faint that it was hard to detect.
Jane knew she could cower beneath the hood, or she could face whatever was before her. She wasn’t naturally aggressive or courageous. But what else could she do?
“Who are you?” she asked.
The man chuckled softly. “I wouldn’t suggest you try to outwit me, Jane Holden. You wouldn’t last long.”
“Because I asked who you were, you think I’m trying to outwit you? Talk about an ego,” she said with a snort.
She wasn’t sure what had come over her, but his attitude, so like Richard Arnold’s, grated on her nerves.
Suddenly, his voice was whispering in her ear. “I have your life in my hands. I wouldn’t suggest pissing me off.”
She was grateful for the hood, because it hid the tear that fell down her cheek. Jane blinked back the rest, but she couldn’t dispel the terror that knotted in her stomach.
“What do you want from me?”
She flinched when a finger caressed down her arm to her tied wrists.
“I can make life easier for you. At least until I kill you.”
Her heart pounded so hard, she thought it might burst from her chest. Never had she been so terrified.
“If you’re going to kill me, why not just do it now?”
“You Americans, always thinking you control things,” he said with a snarl. “I knew the moment I saw you that you’d be trouble.”
“Because I’m a good secretary who works late?” she quipped.
“Because you meddle. And you had the unfortunate mistake of making the acquaintance of a Dragon King.”
Jane frowned. She had no idea what a Dragon King was, but she was positive she hadn’t met one. But the image of Banan’s intertwined double dragon tattoo flashed in her mind. “I’ve never met any king, so I can assure you, you’re dead wrong.”
“Oh, sod off,” he said, the heels of his shoes hitting the concrete. “You’ve met two.”
“Who?”