“Heads of departments, people on the board of directors. Honestly, I’m not entirely sure. None of them are aware of Nocturnal Mercenaries, though. They all only work for the legitimate side of the business.”
“How do you know that?”
“West did background checks on them all—on everyone in the company—when we first found out what our parents were really up to. As far as we can tell, everyone inside that building is clueless to who they really work for.”
“So the only people who know the truth are our parents and the guards at the compound?”
“Seems so. I guess, the less people who know, the better. Between the four families, they were able to ensure all aspects related to Nocturnal Mercenaries were managed by themselves. Frank laundered any cash so it looked like it came from legitimate sources, and he was able to justify the purchase of the compound by claiming it was a training facility for the men they recruited to protect their clients. With Barton and Maria in charge of security, they would have been able to keep an eye on things, and make sure no employees were snooping anywhere they shouldn’t. While Lawrence was in charge of the day-to-day running of the compound, those at Nocturnal Enterprises believed he was responsible for overseeing the running of the training facilities and private security personnel, and I doubt anyone would question Wilbert’s client meetings.”
Maria’s voice interrupts us, and I focus my attention back on the screen. “To start us off, I’d like to update you all on a few changes with regards to leadership.” She side-eyes Hawk and West. “West has already—rather unprofessionally—informed us of the change of ownership of the Warren quarter of the shares, but given the unfortunate situation Frank has found himself in, and Lawrence’s untimely death, I have absorbed their responsibilities, along with their control in the company. With the unexpected return of our daughter, my husband has also decided to step down. All of this is to say that from now on, I’ll be running things.
“I, of course, will be looking to fill the positions within the company that have been left vacant by the sudden absence of my fellow colleagues…”
For the next hour, they drone on about company related things, most of which goes over my head, but finally, everyone gets up to leave. Not waiting to hang around for Maria to catch up to them, Hawk and West are the first two out the door, and the elevator doors slide shut before anyone else can filter into the small space with them.
They descend in silence and make their way onto the street. With the meeting now over, and the two of them out of harm's way, Mason leans forward to close the lid of the laptop, when the screen suddenly goes black.
“What the hell just happened?” I question, looking puzzled at the laptop. “Did the camera just cut out?”
“Maybe West turned it off?” Cam suggest.
Maybe.
"Shush, do you hear that?” With his brows tugged together in confusion, Beck leans in closer to the laptop, turning the volume up full. Whatever is covering the camera must be muffling the sound as well, but with the volume turned up, we can hear what sounds like a scuffle, and the unmistakable sound of West grunting, followed by what sounds like a car door slamming.
“What the actual fuck is going on?” I snap. “Are they being kidnapped?”
I look desperately to the others, but Beck is the only one who looks away from the screen to meet my gaze.
“I think so.”
Chapter 22
I groan, and it takes a second for me to recall what happened. I distinctly remember something hard smashing across my temple. The second I remember that, the rest of my memories flood back like a tsunami, not that I remember much of use. I remember exiting Nocturnal Enterprises after the meeting. Of course, we knew by turning up today, we were putting a target on our backs, but I didn’t expect a retaliation so soon. The second our feet hit the pavement outside the building, someone threw a bag over my head, and I must have been surrounded by two or three people. When I hit out at one of the fucktards—and I know my hit landed well, causing some damage—someone else closed in behind me, pinning my arms.
I could hear West struggling beside me, but it wasn’t long before we were both neutralized and thrown into the back of some sort of van. I was screaming obscenities at the fucking shitheads, vividly painting their deaths with my words when something hard whipped me across the head, and the next thing I knew, the darkness was calling my name.
The hood is still drawn over my head, but I draw on my other senses, noting that I’m tied to some sort of a chair with my arms tied behind my back. I try to move my legs, but find them equally restrained. Fuck. I’m only left contemplating my options for a moment before I hear a faint groan from my left. I immediately recognize it as West’s, and I hiss out his name. I’ve no idea if anyone is around to hear us, but I have to know he’s okay. Fuck, Hadley will have my balls if he isn't.
“West,” I hiss again when he doesn’t respond.
“Uuuugggghhh.” It’s the only response I get. Better than nothing, I guess.
“Dude, wake the fuck up,” I rasp more urgently, trying to keep my tone low in case anyone is nearby.
There’s a long pause before he finally responds, and I breathe out a sigh of relief. “Fucking hell, I’m awake, asshole.”
“Are you okay?”
“I’ll survive, you?”
“Same. Do you know where we are?”
“No. They knocked me out.”
Fuck. Neither of us mentions it aloud, but I know he’s as perceptive, if not more so than I am, so without having to say it, I know he’s hoping the others will have seen through the camera what happened and be able to track us somehow.
“Cough,” he tells me, and without questioning him, I start hacking up, like I’m having a fucking asthma attack. Over the sound of my own wheezing, I can faintly hear him talking, and I know he’s speaking into his mic, likely reassuring the others that we’re okay, and relaying any information he can. I just hope we have reception and they actually hear what he’s saying, but it’s not like we have any better options at this point.
When he’s finished, we lapse into silence, both of us lost in our own thoughts. The fact we were lifted right outside Nocturnal Enterprises means this has to be my mother’s doing. Does that mean she knew about the transfer of shares before we arrived today? There’s no way she would have had time to arrange for us to be kidnapped during the meeting. I watched her every move the entire time we were in that room.
That only leaves one option—that we were double crossed. And there’s only one person who would have gone running to Maria. Wilbert Warren. That limp dicked, pathetic sack of shit. I’m going to fucking carve out his insides for this.