Tamed by Love (Agent Lovers Series Book 2) (13 page)

Jennifer’s gaze drifted from Annie, who cowered in the attic, to Liz. “There has to be a ladder here. So they’ll find us at some point.”

“Of course there’s a ladder here, but if they try to use it, they’ll be in for a surprise. It’s been broken forever and I guarantee Dad never had it fixed because we never use the attic,” Liz said. Suddenly she held a finger to her lips and pointed down toward the room they had just evacuated.

“No one’s in here,” came a muffled voice. “Just a supply closet.”

“They have to have an attic. Let’s look around!” said another, deep muffled voice.

Jennifer looked at Liz with raised brows and was astonished to see her grinning from ear to ear. Then they heard a loud crash, followed by furious cursing.

“No one could be up there. The damned ladder fell apart. We would have heard if someone had tried to get up there. The upstairs is clean.” After a short pause they heard more muffled curses. “Shit! Sirens! The cops must have been tipped off. Quick, downstairs!”

The voices disappeared quickly and after a while, Jennifer turned to Liz. “And now what do we do? Sit up here and wait for the police to bore these guys to death with negotiating tactics? Does your father have any weapons around?”

“He collects bowie knives. There’s a cabinet in his office.”

“Not exactly fair against a sub-machine gun, but at least it’s something. His office is…”

“Downstairs.”

“I should have known! That room’s been searched now; we should be good.”

“Of course! They’ll look for a room that’s centrally located and easily accessible so they can quickly move around the house. That means they’ll either go to the kitchen or the living room, or maybe the parlor, but not the office.”

“How do we get there now? I mean, if we want to get to the office, we can hardly move through the living room undetected.”

“No, we don’t have to go through the parlor. There’s a narrow spiral staircase from the upstairs right into the office. It’s at the other end of the hall. We can go down there and get some knives. If we’re lucky, the door will be closed and they won’t notice us.”

“Hopefully we’ll get lucky. Otherwise we’ll have to think of something else,” said Jennifer, moving the ceiling panel aside. Then she slipped back down into the supply closet.

“You stay up here, okay?” Liz stroked Annie’s cheek reassuringly and swept a lock of hair behind her ear. “Nothing can happen to you here.”

“But where are you going? Wouldn’t it be better if you stayed up here? The police are coming.”

“Promise me you won’t show your face and will stay put!” After a nod from Annie, Liz said, “While I’m down there, put the ceiling panel back. Can you do that?”

Again Annie nodded and Liz disappeared through the opening. After Annie covered the hole, the two women peered out into the hallway to see if the intruders were patrolling the area. But they didn’t see anyone. They quietly ran to the other side of the hall and opened the door leading to the narrow spiral staircase. When Jennifer saw all the books that were stacked up, about two stories high on the shelves, she realized it was less of an office and more of a library.

Quickly she followed Liz down the narrow stairs without making the slightest noise. Luck was on their side because the door to the parlor was closed. Together they lifted the thick sliding glass door on the cabinet, which protected the contents from dust. They each put two bowie knives and their protective sheaths in the back waistband of their pants. Then they crept up the spiral staircase and went to the stair railing which went in a large arc to the entry, and lay on their stomachs, waiting.

“We have to neutralize one of them so we can get our hands on one of their burp guns,” whispered Jennifer looking uneasily at Liz. This wasn’t at all like any of their other missions. They weren’t sufficiently armed and above all, family was involved.

“I have an idea.” A slight smile lit up Liz’s face. She stood up and darted into one of the bedrooms. After a moment, she reappeared and took up her position next to Jennifer.

“What’d you do?” Jennifer whispered.

“I turned up the heat on them down there. You can operate the thermostat from anywhere. They’ll soon be so thirsty, they’ll send someone into the kitchen. Then we’ll steal their toys.”

“Liz?”

“Hm?”

“You realize, that’s your family down there, right?”

“Of course! Why?”

“Because you’re in just as good a mood as when we’re on assignment. I can understand it there, but here? There are so many dangers.”

“What’s your point, Jenny? I know exactly what awaits me if I mess up. Have I ever messed up before?”

“No. You haven’t. Even when the odds were against us.”

“So then, what’s the problem?” Liz asked.

Jennifer looked down at the entryway and whispered, “I want to resign from the unit.”

“You want to
what
?” whispered Liz stunned. “You can’t do that! Why do you want to resign? Did Chris force you into it?”

“No! It’s my decision. He doesn’t know anything about it.”

“But why?”

“I’m pregnant,” said Jennifer, and she lowered her gaze, as if she were ashamed for abandoning her friend.

Liz was speechless. Jenny was pregnant? But that couldn’t be! They went to the doctor together and she got her shot just minutes after Liz got hers.

“How long have you known?”

“I suspected when we got back from our last assignment. But I’ve only known for certain for two weeks. By my calculations, I must be at the end of my second, beginning of my third month of pregnancy.”

Now it was obvious why Jenny’s crying fit at the boutique had seemed so genuine. The tears hadn’t been an act. “Have you taken any kind of medication that could have affected the birth control?”

“I’m not sure. Could be,” said Jennifer, close to tears. She sniffled softly and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.

“Do you want it then?” Liz asked.

“Yes. I want it! I want it no matter what happens.” Her eyes shone full of anticipation at the thought of being a mother.

“Why haven’t you told him yet?”

“Because of you! I disappointed you, didn’t I?”

“No. You didn’t,” Liz said and smiled. “You could never do that!”

“Thanks!”

“But you have to promise me something.”

“And that would be?”

“When this is over, you have to tell Chris about it right away.” Then a sassy grin spread over her face and she quietly imitated Gray’s voice, “That is an order!”

Jennifer put her hand over her mouth to cover her laugh and nodded. “It’s starting to get rather warm in here, don’t you think?”

“Well, then someone should come in soon looking for water,” said Liz, which was quickly validated. It didn’t take long before two of the masked men walked into the foyer, shooing Betty in front of them toward the kitchen. Quickly Liz and Jennifer crept down the stairs after them.

***

“Blackwood?” came tensely over the phone.

“Yes, Sir?”

“There’s another problem!”

“What?”

“Your wife’s family was taken hostage half an hour ago. One of the gardeners saw it and notified the police. Where’s Elizabeth?”

“With them,” said Gray as he closed his eyes.

“That’s not possible! They’re demanding your wife in exchange for her family.”

“She has to be there; she’s with Jennifer.”

“Then maybe they looked for cover and the guys haven’t found them yet.”

“Who’s on site?”

“The local police. But a SWAT team is on the way.”

“Can you hold the police back in any way so that nothing happens to anyone in my family because of their overzealousness?”

“Of course! I’ll see to it that the command of the unit is transferred to you as soon as you arrive there. A helicopter is already on its way to pick you up.”

“Thank you, Sir!” Gray placed the receiver back in the cradle and three pairs of eyes scrutinized him curiously. Chris was the first to speak, “What’s happened to Jennifer?” His voice sounded tense.

“At the moment, it’s only been determined that Liz’s family is being held hostage. Jennifer and Liz must have found cover and avoided being discovered in the house.”

“And what do the guys want?” asked Jeff.

“Not what, but who. They want Liz in exchange for her family.” Gray couldn’t hold himself back any longer. He jumped up from his chair, signaled Chris and grabbed his jacket. “Chris, come with me. You two wait here and keep going.”

“No way! Maybe we can help. We’re coming too,” Terence said and stood up alongside Jeff. Quickly they left the building and ran to the landing helicopter.

***

One of the masked men crammed a cookie through the slit of his ski mask into his mouth. Smacking his lips, he threw one to his buddy, who also wolfed it down. Together they watched over Betty, who was loading up a tray with glasses.

“What’s wrong here? Why did the house get so hot?”

The other man shook his head and scratched his chin. It was terribly warm under the mask.

With lips pressed tightly together, Betty prepared a large pitcher of iced tea and watched as the two helped themselves to the freshly baked cookies. What did these guys want with Liz?

Luckily it seemed like the girls had hidden. Her little angel was always good at that. Heaven knows how many times she had looked for her and then had to give up because she hadn’t been able to find her.

When she turned around to put the pitcher of iced tea on the tray, she saw Liz and Jennifer standing behind the men. The men hadn’t noticed the women because they were too busy eating Betty’s cookies. Then everything happened quickly.

With lightning fast movements, Liz and Jennifer immobilized the men without making a sound. They caught their lifeless bodies and let them slowly drop to the ground. Then they disarmed the masked men and picked up their sub-machine guns.

“Liz? What are you doing there, honey?” asked Betty after she saw how her little princess hung the sub-machine gun around her neck. “The police are already here. They’ll get us out of this.”

“They can’t help us. Let Jenny and me have a go at it! We know what we’re doing,” she said with a mischievous smile. Then she grabbed one of the cookies and shoved it into her mouth. “I always knew your baking skills would save my life some day, Betty.”

“Liz!” Jennifer softly warned.

“All right! I want you to go up in the supply closet, Betty. Annie is in the attic. Get her down and barricade yourselves in one of the bedrooms. We’ll worry about the other visitors.”

Betty nodded and darted up the stairs, unusually quickly for someone her age, while Liz and Jennifer made sure that no one came out of the parlor. They were lucky again.

Betty had just disappeared upstairs when they heard a helicopter land outside. Jennifer glanced out the window at the large lawn in front of the house and sighed. “You get three guesses as to who just arrived.”

“Gray, Chris, Jeff and Terence?”

“Jackpot!”

Someone pushed opened the living room door and two more masked men came into the hallway. Immediately the two women opened fire before the two masked men could even raise their weapons. They fell to the ground, hit by two short deadly bursts of fire.

Loud cursing could be heard in the living room, then erratic gunfire came toward them. The bullets whizzed by and Liz and Jennifer dove safely behind the wall next to the living room door.

“Four have come out, so there must be two left,” said Liz and Jennifer nodded to her from the other side of the door.

“Give up, Elizabeth Gibson, and we’ll let your family live,” the leader called out. “If you don’t surrender, the old man will be the first to die.”

“Who says you’ll really let them go if I surrender?” Liz yelled back. “I have a problem with people like you. Honesty isn’t exactly one of your virtues.”

“Then stay where you are and wait until I kill him. I’ll give you two minutes to think it over!”

The helicopter landed on the Gibson’s property – on the only available area that wasn’t covered by police vehicles. The area had been quickly cleared so the military helicopter could land; Townsend had kept his promise and informed the local police task force.

Gray’s gaze returned to the mansion where his wife and family were in grave danger. He pushed open the helicopter door and the curious police watched him step out onto the torn up grass. He ran over to the chief of police. He knew the commissioner, Timothy Higgings, from a mission where he had acted as advisor.

Higgings turned to the new arrivals with a tense expression. “Lt. Colonel Blackwood, I would say, nice to see you, but if you…” with his words he nodded to the place where Chris, Jeff and Terence had taken up position behind Gray, “…and your people show up here, then that doesn’t bode well. Even the FBI hasn’t shown up. And they’re always happy to get involved.”

“I have full authority. The case has been assigned to me.”

“To the military?” The commissioner’s already lined face creased more, given the surprising news. “Why? The hostages are a building contractor and his family.”

“I’m aware of that, Higgings.” Gray looked toward the house and stifled his fear for Liz and her family.

“Then you’re also aware the assailants don’t want any money, aren’t you?” Gray nodded. “We can’t find Elizabeth Gibson. Her apartment has been cleaned out. No clue as to her whereabouts.”

Gray pointed with his chin toward the mansion. “She’s inside.”

“That can’t be. They wouldn’t have demanded her if they already had her.”

“I don’t want to discuss what you think you know here. The fact is, she’s already inside the house. In all probability she’s hiding.”

“I know you’ll only give me the information you want to give me, Blackwood, but how can you be so sure?” The police chief wanted to get to the bottom of this, because it didn’t follow the usual pattern. The FBI had refused him; the SWAT team was chomping at the bit but wasn’t allowed to deal with saving the hostages. Negotiations of any form weren’t allowed. And everything had to be run by the Lt. Colonel in front of him. An impressive man with extensive power, and he didn’t have the slightest clue how far that power extended. What did Blackwood have to do with all this? “How can you be so sure Ms. Gibson is in the house?”