“Are we really going to discuss my past right now?”
“No.” Leese turned away with purpose. “We can ride together.”
“To where?” Brand asked, even as he followed into the downpour.
Speaking loud over the storm, Leese explained, “In one breath Sahara put me in charge until she’s back, and then she mentioned Enoch.”
Soaked through to the skin, Miles and Brand climbed into the back seat of an agency SUV. Leese got behind the wheel and Justice rode shotgun. As they buckled up, Brand asked, “Enoch?”
“Respect him a lot,” Miles said. “But he’s an assistant, not a bodyguard.”
“He’s a hell of a lot more than an assistant to Sahara.” Leese glanced at each mirror, then pulled onto the rain-washed road. “Remember when Catalina was taken?”
Justice said, “I’ll never forget it.”
“None of us will,” Brand said, though he’d been involved only peripherally.
“We found her because Sahara had planted a GPS device on her.” He paused as he switched lanes, then continued with “I think she has one on herself, too.”
Brand gripped the seat behind Leese. “She said so?”
“She reminded me of the ‘protocol’ for Catalina. At first, I didn’t understand, but it’s starting to come together. I assume Enoch knows how to track her.”
Justice already had out his phone. “I’ll call him now.”
Miles withdrew his phone as well. “I’ll notify the others why we booked. They’re going to wonder, especially since our cars are still there.”
Brand hated feeling ineffectual, but while the others all seemed to know what to do, he hadn’t a fucking clue. He kept picturing Sahara, her attempt to look blasé at what she saw as his rejection.
Fuck, it had been a rejection.
Of the job...and of her personally.
But not for the reasons she thought. He wanted her, too much in fact. More than she wanted him, obviously, since she would always put the agency first.
“I got hold of Armie,” Miles said as he put the phone away. “He’s letting the others know. They’ll head over to her place to ensure her car is safely off the road.”
Armie, like Brand, was a fighter but not a bodyguard, but as a close personal friend to each of them, he’d do what he could. “They know where she lives?” Brand asked.
“They followed us there when Catalina was threatened.”
He’d missed a lot, Brand realized. Maybe too much. It pissed him off.
“Enoch is meeting us at Body Armor. Poor dude is frantic.” Justice pocketed his phone again. “He and Sahara are close.”
“She’s special to everyone who knows her,” Miles said.
Brand almost groaned. Special? Hell yeah, she was, in too many ways to count. From the time his friends had signed on at Body Armor, Sahara had been after him to join up, too. For too long now they’d engaged in a game of enticement and resistance—Sahara enticing and him resisting.
If it was just the job, no problem.
If it was only the strong physical chemistry, he could probably fight that, too, despite the fact that Sahara personified sexy in a classy but still touchable way.
It was more than that, though. Sahara was the whole package, a gorgeous woman with an enormous heart and a real head for business. She knew what she wanted and she went after it without reserve.
She’d wanted him...but he’d turned her down. And now men had her—
Miles nudged him.
Lost in his thoughts, Brand glanced up and caught his friend’s frown. “What?”
“Take a breath. If you’re going to do this, you need to get a little control.”
“I am controlled.” Hell, that was one of the major ways that he and Sahara clashed. She wanted all the control, always, in every situation, but then so did he.
“You look ready to erupt.”
Shaking his head, Brand shoved the rage deep inside and locked it down. He’d get Sahara back, then he’d destroy the bastards who’d taken her. “I’m fine.”
“It can’t be you,” Leese said from the front seat, “because you don’t know what you’re stepping in to.”
“Like you do?” Brand didn’t get annoyed. It didn’t matter what reasoning Leese used, he wouldn’t change his mind. “You can’t tell me that rescuing your boss from kidnappers is part of your normal workweek.”
“No, but each one of us has dealt with similar situations.”
“We’re tried and tested,” Justice said. “You’re not. God only knows the number of ways you could fuck it up, and Sahara will be the one hurt.”
Miles was the only one not giving him shit. “Fact is,” he pointed out, “Sahara called Brand, and she made it clear that the goons who have her would recognize us. Even if we can trace her, who’s to say they won’t spot us and kill her for it?”
“No,” Justice insisted.
“She called me.” Brand drank in a deep breath of humid air. “Plus you’re all married—”
“Not me,” said Justice.
“You will be soon enough.”
Justice couldn’t deny that, and it had him growling again. Maybe, like Brand, the lack of ability to fix this problem ASAP left Justice frustrated.
But Justice didn’t have the knowledge that he’d parted ways with Sahara under less than ideal circumstances. That was all on Brand and it was fucking well eating him up, adding to the need to do something. “Tell me the plan and I’ll see that it happens. But understand this—I’m going after her and that’s it.”
“Let’s get to Body Armor and see what we’re dealing with.” Leese drove aggressively despite the rain. “After that, we’ll make some quick decisions.”
Along the way the men called their significant others. Their low voices were intimate, except for Leese, who spoke via the speaker through the car’s Bluetooth.
“Dear God,” Catalina said, her worry plain. “Poor Sahara. She has to be frantic.”
Logical assumption, yet Brand couldn’t picture her being anything other than her usual cool, in-charge self. That, too, could be a problem. He reminded himself that Sahara was intelligent. Surely, she wouldn’t provoke her kidnappers.
“Please be careful, Leese,” Catalina whispered, “and please bring her back safe.”
“You know I will.”
Each of the women knew and cared about Sahara, so Brand had no doubt they’d all shared those sentiments.
Enoch was in the lobby waiting for them when they arrived. He’d already assigned extra guards on the building, not only on the ground floor but also as lookouts on the upper floors. “If there’s surveillance on the building, we’ll know.”
“Smart move.” Leese led the way to the elevator and they all rode up to Enoch’s office. He had his computer on and immediately showed them what he’d found. “She’s not far from her house, only about forty-five minutes.”
They each stood behind Enoch, leaning forward to see the screen. “They’re not driving anymore?” Miles asked.
“Don’t appear to be. The GPS has her stationary for about five minutes or so.”
“Looks like she’s in the slums,” Justice complained.
“The program can’t show me exactly where,” Enoch explained. “But if you get near the area you should be able to pick up her signal on this cell phone.” He handed it to Leese.
Brand took it from him.
No one said anything about it.
“I have access to some funds,” Enoch explained. “But I doubt it’ll be enough to pay off kidnappers.”
“Let’s wait and find out how much ransom they demand, then we’ll decide what to do.”
The waiting went against the grain for all of them, but until they got that call, it was all they could do.
“If Sahara was here,” Enoch stated, “she’d ask me to get coffee, so that’s what I’m going to do. All of you, make yourselves comfortable and I’ll be right back.”
*
THE VAN BUMPED over rough ground, taking her farther and farther away. No one spoke to her, but the four men riding in the cargo area continually watched her.
She pretended not to care and merely looked back, making note of what she could. Even sitting, their height was discernible, and under the dark sweatshirts and jeans, she could guess their weight.