Close Cover (Masters and Mercenaries #16)(51)

“This is the best job ever.” Jules winked her husband’s way. “Stay safe, babe.”

Javi took Remy’s six. “If he wants to get her out quietly and he’s cased the place, he’ll take her out the office side. There’s a small parking lot. If it’s not full, we don’t complain about who parks there.”

There was a terrible knot in Remy’s gut, but he had to ignore it. God, if his last words to her had been to reject her love…he had no idea how he would live with himself. That couldn’t be the last thing he said to her. He needed to see her, hold her.

Macon nodded quietly and moved down the hall to start clearing the offices. He stopped at the first door. “We’re going to need a bus. Shit. Linc’s down. He’s breathing but he’s not conscious.”

That was when he heard the scream.

It was a sound that went straight to his soul. Lisa. Lisa was screaming.

He heard Javier say something, but the words didn’t register. He was running down the hallway, the only thought in his head to get to her, to save her. She was screaming for him to save her and he couldn’t let her down.

His heart pounded in his chest as he slammed through the door.

Where was she?

The world seemed to slow as he stopped and took in the area around him.

She screamed again and then there was the sound of something slamming shut.

Remy pivoted and ran to his left. That was when he found himself standing right in front of a tall man with icy blond hair. He wore a suit and trench coat and pointed a slender pistol Remy’s way.

“Well, that didn’t go the way I thought it would,” the man said in a heavy Italian accent.

Lisa was in the trunk. The nondescript sedan shook with the force of how hard she was fighting. She was still screaming.

And then she went suddenly silent.

“The police are on their way,” Javier said, standing beside him.

“Then it’s time for me to take my leave,” Biondo said. “You should get her out of the trunk as soon as possible. I released a gas that will smother her lungs in four minutes. You can follow me or save your girl.”

Biondo took off running.

Remy didn’t even think twice. They were in the middle of the city and despite the late hour, there were still people milling around downtown. And besides, all that mattered was Lisa. She was suffocating in the trunk. She’d gone quiet. Was it already too late?

He felt Javier starting to chase Biondo, but all Remy cared about was that car.

Pure panic flooded his system. He didn’t have the keys. She was dying right fucking now and he didn’t have the keys.

He wouldn’t get the trunk open. He had to see if he could get in the car.

Miraculously, the doors were open. With shaking hands he found the trunk release and it popped up.

He raced around to the back and there she was, blood all over her face. Without thought to the gas, he leaned over and pulled her out.

He held her close as the sirens could be heard and prayed they would make it in time.





“Biondo lied,” Will said three hours later, closing the folder in his hand. “I got the tox reports back. There was nothing in her system. There was no trace of gas at all. She’s got a minor concussion that I’ll monitor overnight, but otherwise she’s fine.”

He was still shaking. All this time later and he couldn’t stop his hands from shaking. Even after the ER nurse had come out and promised him she was awake and fine and being given all the best care, he could see her lying there still and pale, the blood on her skin a pure shock to his system.

“Remy, she’s okay,” Will said, putting a hand on his shoulder. “She’ll spend the night here and I’ll stay with her. She can go home sometime tomorrow. All in all, I’m calling this a win considering the fact that she tangled with a known assassin. Big Tag sent me the file they have on him. He’s the real deal.”

Will hadn’t been working, but he’d been at the hospital roughly ten minutes after the ambulance had brought Lisa in. Apparently when a man is the head of neurosurgery and his sister gets taken into the ER with a head injury, someone calls and fast. He’d shown up with Bridget and their son in tow because Bridget wasn’t about to be left behind. Lila, Laurel, and Mitch had been hot on their heels.

The waiting room was filled with Lisa’s family and friends, and the whole staff from Top there for both her and Linc. All those people who loved her and he was going to disappoint them all because that girl was his and she was coming home with him.

“Did he hit her with something? Like he took out Linc?” The night had been such a crazy one. He’d had to talk to cops and give Big Tag a rundown on what had happened. The problem was he wasn’t sure what had happened.

Why had Biondo tried to take her? Why hadn’t he killed her then and there? It would have been easy to put a bullet in her brain, but he’d tried to kidnap her. Hell, the infamous assassin hadn’t even taken out Linc. He’d hit the man over the head, but Linc had only a minor concussion. He was already sitting up in his hospital bed, eating popsicles and flirting outrageously with all the nurses.

“I don’t think Biondo hurt her physically at all. I believe she hit her head while she was inside the trunk,” Will explained. “I talked to her after we did her CT. She said Biondo told her he wanted to talk to her. She said he didn’t say a thing about gas or killing her. She said he wanted to talk and then they could go on with their lives.”