A Stainless Steel Cat (20 page)

"Why didn't you turn it over to the police, then?" Wolfe asked.

"Did you see the News earlier?" Royce replied. Those BioGen guys already said that the flash drive, if this is even it, isn't real. Before I turn it over to the cops, I want to know what's on it."

"Hmm. You have a point. Come on, let's go." Wolfe led the way to his IT room where Ray was ensconced with his computers.

When they got into the room, Wolfe explained the situation to Ray, who smiled and took the drive from Royce.

"Nothing encrypted that I can't hack." He boasted as he plugged it into his computer. Ray typed in his decryption algorithms and let it do its work.

Five minutes later, all the files had been decrypted, and Ray perused the stuff. He whistled. "BioGen have been some bad boys and girls!" He declared finally.

"So the files aren't fake?" Royce said.

"No, you can see here and here." He pointed to a couple lines of code. "These files were on that server for just over two years."

Royce, and nobody else in the room could see what he meant, but they shrugged. Ray was the computer expert, after all.

"I'm not even going to ask how you know that, Ray." Anthony Wolfe chuckled. Then he turned to Royce. "You have your answer, son. Those files are real, and should probably be sent to the FBI immediately."

"Thank you, sir." Royce shook their hands.

"Have you reconsidered my offer?" Wolfe asked as Royce turned to go.

"I'm thinking about it, and honestly, I'm thinking a lot more about it now." He smiled at the mafia don, then hugged Cammie again before shaking Justin's hand.

He walked back out to his bike, put on his helmet, and roared off into the early evening light.

Tam was disoriented, not knowing where exactly she was. She could remember snips here, and a flash of memory there. She was securely handcuffed to a chair, and couldn't see anything through the blindfold she wore.

"She's awake, sir." Tam recognized Mr. Green's voice from the apartment, and the memories came flooding back. She'd answered the door to tell them to go away again, and they had rushed her, injecting her with some kind of sedative that had knocked her out. She'd been drifting in and out of consciousness for a while, and woke up finally in some unknown place. She knew she'd been taken from the apartment, though.

"Good." Prescott said as he walked across the concrete floor to where she sat cuffed to the chair. "Miss Jenkins, I don't like being lied to, and neither does Mr. Green. I'm Liam Prescott, in case you were wondering."

"What do you want?" She slurred, the effects of the drug still apparent in her speech patterns.

"We want that flash drive, of course." Prescott chuckled. "Just tell us where it is, and you'll be free to leave."

"Ok, we threw it away after your press conference. No sense sending it to the cops now, since you faked the data on there." Tam bluffed.

"Once a liar, always a liar, eh?" Prescott said with a smirk. "Fine, have it your way." He nodded to Green, who slugged Tam in the stomach hard.

Tam felt the wind go out of her as she double over, gasping for air.

"Now, I really don't want to mess up that pretty face of yours, my dear. Where is my flash drive?" Prescott asked in a low tone.

"Fine! It's in the hands of the police now." She lied again, hoping it was where he expected it to be.

"No, it isn't. Trust me, I would have heard about it by now." Prescott laughed, then nodded again to Green.

Green once again avoided her face, slamming his fist into her right breast.

"AHHHHH!" Tam screamed. "SHIT!"

"Now are you feeling a bit more cooperative, Miss Jenkins?" Prescott said. "I'm only going to ask you one more time. Where. Is. My. Flash. Drive?" He said it carefully, enunciating each word.

Tam whimpered as the pain spread out from her stomach and breast. She knew she was screwed, and the sooner she gave them the real information, her life was forfeit.

"If I tell you, what guarantee will you give me that you'll let me go?" She asked, stalling for time.

"My word of honor, Miss Jenkins." Prescott said with a self-satisfied smirk. "I'll put it in writing if you want."

Tam shuddered at the sliminess of the man's voice. She now knew why Royce knew the guy was dirty from the word Go.

"Seriously, I don't want to die, but if I'm gonna die anyway, I'm not sayin' shit to you." Tam shook her head slowly from side to side. "I already know that if you let me go, there's nothing stopping me from goin' to the cops."

"And who is going to believe you, my dear?" Prescott chuckled. "A well respected businessman with no motive to kidnap anyone? Especially someone he doesn't even know from Eve."

"Fine. But if you hurt me, there will be hell to pay." She sighed. "The Steel Cat has it."

"Oh, you mean Mr. Royce?" Prescott chuckled as her mouth dropped open. "Yes, I put two and two together, Miss Jenkins. I know your boyfriend is this Steel Cat character. He took down a couple lowly politicians, but they were nothing. When it comes right down to it, when a Cat gets thrown in with the Big Dogs, the Big Dogs are going to win." He laughed. "Now, where is Mr. Royce?"

"Why? So you can kill him too?" Tam found some extra nerve. She wasn't one to scare easily, but she couldn't bear the thought of something happening to Royce.

"No, so I can get my flash drive back." Prescott said. 'I am going to enjoy watching them die!' He thought to himself, and smiled wider at the thought.

"He's probably at the Wolfe estate right now." Tam shrugged.

"Wait. ANTHONY Wolfe?" Prescott laughed heartily at that. "He's going to tear that boy to shreds!"

Tam suppressed a smile.

Royce pulled into the parking lot of the complex and noticed something was off immediately. The door was hanging open by a fraction of an inch.

He looked around, but didn't spot anything else out of place. He walked to the door and pushed it open slowly, stepping inside. Nothing seemed to be taken, but he noticed the scuff marks on the floor where multiple people had rushed in. They just hadn't shut the door all the way.

Royce's blood ran cold as he knew immediately what had happened. He pulled his phone out of his jacket pocket and opened it. Two missed calls, both from Tam!

He called her, and it rang a few times before it was picked up. "Ah, the Steel Cat, I presume?" Royce closed his eyes when he recognized Prescott's voice. "Are you at Mr. Wolfe's residence still?"

"No. I'm at my parents' house." Royce said, looking out the window of the apartment.

"Oh, parents, eh? Well, I suggest you make your excuses and leave, because you have something of mine that I need back. Also, I have something of yours that you will want back as well." Prescott was enjoying this.

"Fine, but it's going to be in a public place." Royce said.

"Hmmmm. No, I don't think so. You're hardly in a position to bargain. If you don't do exactly what I say, your little girlfriend is going to suffer very VERY badly before I finally allow her to die." Royce's teeth grated together as Prescott made his announcement of intent.

"I'm listening." Royce replied, out of options. He would do anything to get Tam out alive.

"Good. Very good in fact. I will need you to come down to the docks. The BioGen warehouse here, to be precise." Prescott oozed. "If you do exactly as I say, I give you my word that you will both leave here alive. Do I make myself clear?"

"Fine." Royce closed his eyes. "But if I get there and she's hurt in any way, I will kill you, all your men, then your entire fuckin' family. Do I make MYSELF clear, asshole?!" 'Make him think I'm coming in angry and stupid. I might be angry, but I'm not stupid, asshole.' He thought to himself, directing it at Prescott.

"Very clear, Mr. Cat. There is no need for threats, though. Once our business is concluded, you both will be free to leave." Royce could hear Prescott's smile through the phone, and knew the man was lying.

"Ok. I'll see you in an hour." Royce agreed, then hung up the phone.

He made sure the door was closed and locked behind him, jumped on his bike, and tore back to the Wolfe estate at top speed.

When he arrived, he ran up to the door as fast as possible. "I need to see Mr. Wolfe immediately!" Royce yelled at the goons guarding the door.

"Why?" One asked.

"Tell him I accept his job offer, and I already have a target to attack." Royce said seriously.

The goon's eyebrow went up. "Wait here." He said, then walked inside the mansion.

Royce looked around impatiently. He had 43 minutes to get a strike team together. The next man he saw was Justin Wolfe, accompanied by Cammie.

"Royce? What's going on?" Cammie asked.

Royce froze as he looked at her. 'Shit, how the hell am I going to tell her this?!' He settled for the truth. "Cammie, Tam's been kidnapped, and I know where she is. I need some help to rescue her, though." He stood stoically, giving it to her straight.

"What?! Oh my God!" Cammie's eyes went wide as her hands flew to cover her mouth.

"Where is she?" Justin asked quickly.

"The BioGen warehouse at the docks." Royce told him.

"Wait here a minute." Justin said, then sprinted inside, shouting for his father.

Royce hugged Cammie, who was starting to cry. "Don't worry, Cammie. I'm not going to let anything happen to her. I promise." He said, praying it was true.

"What the hell did you two get yourselves into?!" Cammie shot back through her sobs.

"I swear, we'll tell you everything after I get Tam back." He promised, knowing their lives were going to change forever.

Justin appeared a moment later with several of his father's soldiers, guys who were obviously former military. Each one was armed for war. "We're ready." Justin said. "You're with us, Royce."

Royce nodded. "Yes, sir. I wasn't military, but I know how to fight."

Justin nodded, then pulled a pistol from his belt and went to hand it to Royce, grip first.

Royce shook his head. "I hate guns, sir. I'll stick with my knives." He said.

"Ok. Let's go get Tam back." Justin nodded, and they piled into the van while Royce remounted his motorcycle.

"Royce!" Cammie shouted. Royce looked at her with his steel gray eyes. "Bring my sister back, or I'll kill you myself!"

Royce just nodded once. He placed his helmet over his head, kick started the powerful Ducati, and led the Wolfe strike team toward the docks.

Royce was leading the way on his Ducati, and had to slow down so the van could keep up. Just around the corner of the street from the docks, he slowed to a stop and waited for the van to catch up. When it did, he popped his visor and looked at Justin in the driver's seat.

"When I go in, give me five minutes, then come in guns blazing." He said.

"We have suppressed weapons, man. We can take down the sentries without raising the alarm." Justin nodded.

Royce smiled beneath his helmet. "Good. I'm not usually one for killing, but these guys deserve it."

"Amen, brother." Justin nodded his agreement and smiled. "Tam is family, and we're going to get her back."

Royce just nodded back, lowered his visor, and accelerated toward the dock. When he parked, he removed his helmet and walked into the loading area by the BioGen warehouse.

Two guards saw him and said something into their earbuds before starting toward him, automatic weapons at the ready.

"You must be Royce. The CEO would like a word with you." Green said. "I saw you at the apartment earlier."

"Yeah, the asshole questioning Tam." Royce smiled at him. "If you've hurt her in any way, there is no force in Heaven or Earth that will save you."

"Heh. I'm shaking in my boots, kid." Green laughed.

'You should be, asshole. If you only knew.' Royce smiled grimly to himself as he led the way where they pointed, the goons behind him. Once inside, he was prodded toward a staircase that led up to a concrete balcony with a chair and Mr. Prescott. As they ascended the stairs, Royce noticed that Tam was the one in the chair with a blindfold on her.

"Ah, Mr. Royce. I'm afraid I'm going to have to cancel the tour of our facilities on Monday. I hope you understand." Prescott said with a conciliatory smile.

"Of course, Mr. Prescott. I hope you'll understand that if you don't release Tam right now, I'm going to kill you very quickly." Royce gave him the same conciliatory smile.

"Mr. Royce, you really aren't in any position to be making demands." Prescott chuckled. "Now. Give me my flash drive, and we can all be on our way."

"Actually, I'm in the perfect position to make demands, Mr. Prescott. Release Tam now. She gets outside and away from here, and gets to live the rest of her life free of your interference, and you can do whatever you want to me. Refuse, and you never see that flash drive again, except at your federal trial. I've made arrangements for that drive to be delivered to the FBI in exactly..." He checked his watch... "half an hour from right now."

Prescott got a look of slight uncertainty on his face for a moment. It passed quickly, but Royce noted it. "Mr. Prescott. Your men can search me, but I don't have the flash drive on me. It's my insurance policy."

"Where is it?" Prescott demanded, all pretense of civility gone. "Tell me now!"

"It's in a very safe place, Mr. Prescott." Royce said with a smile. He glanced at Tam, but she kept silent as she let Royce handle it. "A place guarded by wolves, if you must know."

Prescott's face paled, and Tam couldn't restrain her laughter. "You bit off more than you can chew, Prescott."

"Now, you have one last chance. We walk out there, and you don't die. We don't walk out in another..." He checked his watch again... "Minute and a half, you don't leave here except in a body bag."

"Oh, yeah? And what happens in a minute and a half?" Prescott was calling his bluff.

"Well..." Royce checked his watch again... "In just over a minute, a Wolfe strike team comes in and rips you and your goons to shreds. Then the evidence goes directly to the FBI. Whether you're dead or alive, your company falls."

"You're bluffing!" Prescott snarled at him.