Authors: Victoria Paige
“I can’t just leave; I have a restaurant to rebuild.”
“There would be nothing to rebuild if you are dead,” her father replied. He addressed her mother. “You should come as well.”
“Not on your life,” Nana snapped, pulling Pru to her with one hand and Sylvie with the other. “Sylvie’s man will protect us.”
“Nathan Reece?” her father said skeptically. “I had no time to . . . vet this person. I will not trust my daughter to anyone else after what happened with Hiroshi.”
“I choose to stay here, Dad,” Sylvie said. She glared at her father’s goon who was pointing a gun at Sam. “For heaven’s sake, will someone cut him loose?”
“No,” her father said sharply. “I’m afraid you leave me no choice, Sylvie.”
“Dai, Nate can protect her—”
“Where is this Nathan Reece now?” her father mocked. “One person to protect her.” He looked scathingly at Sam whose beady eyes seemed darker and full of anger. “Hiroshi marched in here and so did I.”
Just then, one of Daichi’s men called his attention. Sylvie’s grasp on Japanese was workable, and as far as she could tell, the cops were on their way. Someone called 911. But who? Taylor? Kato?
“We need to leave now,” her father said urgently, grabbing hold of Sylvie’s arm and dragging her to the door. “You can come, Pru, but I will not force you.”
“I’m not leaving Ma,” Pru replied. “Dai, be reasonable—”
“I’ve no time to argue—”
“Wait just a minute, Dad!” Sylvie said angrily and yanked her arm away from his grasp. Somehow she wasn’t afraid of him and knew she could reason with him. Hopefully. “If you just tell us what is going on, we could better . . .
Yow!” She felt a prick on her neck. She whirled on her father’s henchman, who was holding an injector. “What the hell . . .”
She heard her Nana and mother’s cries of outrage, but Sylvie was quickly getting discombobulated. Sluggishness overwhelmed her body. “You . . .”
Her father’s blurry face came closer, and she was swept up in someone’s arms. “Just a little sedative.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
What did he give me?
She was conscious, but she couldn’t move her limbs. Sylvie had never felt more helpless in her life. Her ocular and auditory faculties were conscious, but impaired. She heard her environment in a vacuum. She was loaded in the back of a black SUV, her father getting in beside her after having a vicious argument with her mother. She couldn’t make out what was said, but her father had no recourse but to have Nana and her mother tied up as well. Sam fought pretty hard against her father’s men, but with his hands secured behind his back, they managed to knock him unconscious again.
When the car started moving, her panic must had been palpable because her father tenderly stroked her brow. “You’ll be okay in a few minutes. It was just a mild tranquilizer.” Her father’s voice was weird— low, distorted, and reminded her of a poorly dubbed Japanese movie, but her earlier confusion was fading.
Her world was spinning. She found some relief when she closed her eyes, so she did. Her father spoke to her in hushed tones. Telling her that a big pharmaceutical company was after his biochemist for some drug that needed the benefits of the GDE. The ACS voted for a partnership, but the pharmaceutical company wanted total autonomy in exchange for a sum of money. However, Toshiro Endo, their biochemist was a savant in the field of biochemistry and genetics. He was young, not yet thirty, and had a long career ahead of him that could not be quantified.
The car’s intermittent stop and go told her they were taking the side roads and not the interstate. Nate. Would he wait for her? Look for her? She was thankful for the tranquilizer for it must have numbed her somewhat. Still there was a dull ache in the center of her chest.
“So you see, Sylvie, I have no choice, but once we’ve gotten rid of the threat, you will be free to return to your life,” her father said. He continued talking about other things. Like maybe how she might like to settle in Japan. “I’ll make it up to you, daughter, have no doubt.”
A jarring swerve of the car threw her against the door. Her father’s driver started speaking in rapid-fire Japanese. Someone on a motorcycle tried to run them off the road.
Her man had come after her.
Strong emotions tingled over her body. Her muscles reacted, and she was pretty sure her lips lifted in a smile. Her father scowled at her. “This your Nathan Reece?”
She couldn’t move her neck yet and her tongue felt like lead, but her answer must have shown in her eyes. Daichi’s men who were in another vehicle shouted through the radio, asking if they should take evasive or offensive maneuvers. Sylvie’s heart thudded painfully; her eyes pleaded with her father not to hurt Nate. He was on a motorcycle. If the SUVs chose to bump him off the road, it could prove fatal.
Their SUV swerved again, then her father gave the order.
*****
Nate was pissed.
Fucking pissed.
His woman simply couldn’t catch a break, and now her own father had abducted her. He’d been en route home when Taylor called him and reported armed men had attacked the house. Boyd, the second security person he had assigned to assist Sam with security was stuck in fucking D.C. traffic and didn’t get to his house in time.
Nate immediately called Travis, filling him on the situation and told his friend to head in the general direction of his house. Porter was in the car behind him, and when the admiral was apprised of the situation, he called Gabe for backup. Beatrice’s husband worked for Artemis Guardian Services (AGS) an elite security company specializing in special ops. Everyone was highly trained and were the go-to guys whenever the DoD needed to execute politically sensitive operations that couldn’t be traced back to the U.S. Government.
When Daichi Yoshida left his house, Taylor and Kato freed Sam and the women. Sam went on the security monitor and called back the feed of the driveway and gave Nate the license plate of the cars. At about the same time, the cops arrived. Nate told Sam to deny access to the security feeds for now because the last thing he wanted was a manhunt on Sylvie’s dad. He fed the information back to the AGS data center and their analyst was able to extrapolate possible routes to the airports or roads out of D.C. Finally, they traced the convoy. Sylvie’s father did not travel lightly. They were in four SUVs. Sam said there were about eight of her father’s men, plus four from Hiroshi who Nate was surprised to find out had been executed. He didn’t want to dwell on the why because he was sure it was something Hiroshi did to Sylvie. Too many thoughts and feelings were pinging inside his system, he had to shut those down and focus on a singular goal of getting his woman back. Controlled fury was always effective in centering his mind with laser like precision.
They spotted the convoy moving through a small commercial area. Nate gave instructions to stand down until they got into a stretch of road flanked by acres of farmland.
And then he made his move.
His motorcycle accelerated, checking each vehicle for occupants, shooting past the lead car and slowing down. Nate was sure Sylvie was in the second SUV, the least occupied one given what he could tell from the heavily tinted windows of three vehicles sporting New York license plates. Without giving any time for the drivers to react, he harassed the first car, swerving within inches of the front bumper, before veering off. The SUV predictably avoided him, but continued to forge ahead.
Nate could feel eyes burning into him as the convoy took evasive formation.
“What the fuck, bro?” Travis barked on his comms’ earpiece. His friend was in the Suburban with Porter and they were following behind Yoshida’s rear vehicle. “Sylvie isn’t gonna appreciate picking up your splattered ass all over the pavement.”
“Nice graphic,” Nate muttered. “How far are the Guardians?”
“ETA three minutes,” Gabe joined comms. “I’ll have your six soon. Try not to become roadkill in the meantime, will ya?”
“You boys are fucking hilarious,” he answered snidely. Nate checked his rearview mirror to make sure no weapons were pointed at him. He was counting on Daichi Yoshida’s reluctance to create a scene, especially after the furor Hiroshi caused in the underground parking garage.
The SUVs started to slow down. One by one, they pulled to the shoulder. Trying to contain the urge to drive alongside the second one and yank the door open, Nate crossed the double line and parked on the opposite shoulder. Travis did the same and lined up behind his bike. The driver exited the second vehicle and opened the passenger door of the SUV, allowing a distinguished gentleman to alight. He caught sight of another person in the car, but the door was abruptly closed. This was making him antsy. Nate knew the man before him was Daichi Yoshida based on the files he’d obtained of the ACS boss. He looked a bit older, but there was no doubt it was Sylvie’s father.
The blunt rhythm of rotor blades echoed nearer and nearer. Those better be the Guardians.
The man straightened his suit and speared Nate with a calculating stare. “Nathan Reece?”
“You got it,” Nate said. “I’ll make this quick. I want Sylvie and that’s non-negotiable.”
“That’s quite a demand, Mr. Reece, seeing you’re outnumbered.”
And just like an old Tarantino movie, gangsters dressed in black emerged simultaneously from the other vehicles. Weapons were not drawn, but they were visible either on the waistband or shoulder holster.
“Speak to me, Gabe,” Nate muttered into comms, tension stiffening his spine. Judging from the alert stance of Travis and Porter, they were ready for a firefight.
“I’ve got Yoshida in sight,” Gabe answered.
Thank Christ.
It was at that time Yoshida paid attention to the approaching chopper, expression turning wary.
“I’ve got a sniper trained on your head,” Nate said. “I don’t want this to get bloody. All I want is Sylvie. You have to make a decision now—”
Vehicles passed by their standoff, passengers curious.
“—your whole convoy is under surveillance,” Nate added. “But it’s still off the grid from conventional law enforcement—”
“And unconventional is?” Daichi arched a brow.
“Us,” Porter answered. “We could take you down, bury your entire crew never to be heard from again.”
“We only have minutes before the police get involved,” Nate said. “I’m sure one of those drivers who’ve passed us has already called 911.”
“How can you take care of Sylvie if it was this easy to snatch her from your house?”
That statement burned through Nate’s veins like acid. He made a tactical error by underestimating Hiroshi and her father.
“It didn’t take me long to track you,” he replied. “I’m not letting you take her.”
“I’m her father.”
“And her mother wants her back. I want her back. Sylvie is mine now, let’s be clear about that,” Nate spoke through gritted teeth.
Yoshida motioned for his men to stand down and crossed the road to stand in front of Nate. “Do you swear on your life, you will do everything to protect my daughter?”
“My life belongs to her because it’s nothing without her,” Nate said with conviction. “I will do anything for your daughter, Mr. Yoshida.”
“You love her.”
Nate cleared his throat. “I beg your pardon, sir, but I want her to hear it from me first.”
“Damn, Reece,” Gabe crackled through comms. “Wrap up this soap opera. Loudoun County police has been notified.”
“Shit,” Nate muttered.
He nodded to the vehicles in front of him and addressed Daichi. “You need to go.”
Nate crossed the road with Sylvie’s father, ignoring the cursing from his side of this standoff, hoping everyone else had his back. His main focus right now was getting a visual on Sylvie because any further delay would make him lose his fucking mind.
When the passenger door opened, Nate’s apprehension morphed into fury when he took in Sylvie’s glazed eyes and sluggish movements. And blood?
“Nate,” she whispered.
“What the fuck did you do to her?” Nate growled. The anger inside him was about to detonate. “Where are you hurt, babe?”
“Not mine . . . the blood.”
Slightly appeased, he reached in and carefully lifted her.
“We had to administer a mild tranquilizer,” Daichi replied with no remorse. “She’s coming out of it and will be back to normal in an hour.” As if that sounded any better. These damned mafia types.
“Nate,” Sylvie repeated, her eyes lit up with what only could be described as elation.
His heart felt the same way. All through this ordeal he felt an elemental part of him had been ripped away, and now, with Sylvie in his arms he felt whole. “I got you, babe.”
He felt the older man’s eyes on him, the expression on his face one of fatherly approval.
“Until we meet again, Nathan San,” Daichi said. “Next time, I hope it will be under better circumstances.”
Nate nodded, and without another word, carried Sylvie to Travis’s SUV, loath to let her go even for a second. Porter got into the backseat to stay with her as Nate closed the door. He strode back to his bike and watched the ACS contingent pull away in their vehicles. Sighing heavily, he revved up his engine and got on the road, heading back to his house.
*****
She felt more like herself every minute the car drew closer to the house. Paralyzed and yet aware of one’s surroundings was one state Sylvie never wanted to find herself again. What was her father thinking? It would have been better to have just knocked her out. Sylvie fidgeted a bit and wiggled her toes.
Yep, almost back to normal
. A little tingly and thirsty.
As if reading her thoughts, the admiral leaned over with a newly opened water bottle. “Water?”
She nodded as Porter held the mouth of the bottle to her eager lips.