Defending Zara (Mountain Mercenaries #6)(91)

Just then, five phones belonging to the men standing in the room vibrated at the same time. All five pulled them out and looked at the screens.

“Fuck,” Black swore.

Four similar curse words followed.

Zara closed her eyes. She guessed Rex had already found and emailed to the others the same picture she’d received. “I don’t care about the money,” she told Everly. “I’d give up my entire fortune if it means getting Meat back. He got hurt because of me!”

“No, he didn’t,” Arrow said sternly. “Someone hurt him because they’re a greedy asshole.”

“Do you know who has him?” Black asked.

Zara shook her head. “I’m assuming it’s my uncle? He’s gotten more and more angry. I don’t know who else it could be.”

“It could be any one of the people who have been emailing you, begging for money,” Gray said. “Didn’t you have someone recognize you just the other day in a store, and they had to be forcibly removed because they got obnoxious about asking for money?”

Zara nodded.

“Rex is on this,” Gray continued. “He said the number the text came from belongs to a burner phone, but there are still ways to track it. He can find the serial number and where the phone was sold, then check the surveillance cameras to figure out who bought it.”

“There’s no time!” Zara said with a frenzied shake of her head. “I was only given twenty-four hours. You guys saw the text!”

“So you were going to . . . what? Just drop off the money and hope to get Meat back?” Ball asked.

Zara winced. “That’s what they said,” she whispered.

“If they get a million bucks out of you, what do you think they’ll do next?” Without waiting for her to answer, Ball went on. “They’ll decide they want more. It’ll never be enough, Zara.”

Frustration filled her. “What was I supposed to do, then?”

Ball leaned over until he was almost nose to nose with her and said in a low, steady voice, “Call. Us.”

“But the note said if I got anyone else involved—”

He cut her off. “That’s what they always say. But, Zara, I don’t think I know anyone who’s ever gotten their loved one back safely without help.”

Zara just stared at him for a long moment. Then she stood and took a deep breath, her eyes downcast. “Fine. I screwed up. But all I want is to get Meat back. What should I do?”

No one spoke for a heartbeat—and then it seemed as if everyone started talking at once.

They threw out ideas left and right, discarding them or tabling them for a later discussion. It was fascinating to watch and confusing as hell.

Everly pulled Zara in close and said softly, “This is what they do. They’ll talk through every option before deciding on the one that will most likely work. I know it’s hard, but you have to trust them.”

“I do,” Zara said with a tired sigh.

After what seemed like forever, but was probably only around fifteen minutes, Gray left the room to talk to the bank manager.

Ro turned to Zara. “If you agree, here’s the plan. You’ll get the money and text the kidnapper that you’ll be on your way to the rest stop by five. That will give us plenty of time to set up around the perimeter. Rex will also monitor the burner and see if he can track it by following the towers it’s pinging off of. You’ll drop the money and leave.”

“But what about Meat?”

“After you put the money in the trash can, you’ll text and ask where you can find Meat,” Ro said.

“And if he won’t tell me?”

“It’s not going to matter, because we’ll be there to grab whoever shows up to collect the money,” Ball said matter-of-factly.

“But if he doesn’t have Meat with him, he could just refuse to tell you where he is,” Zara argued. “Or he could have an accomplice!”

“Trust me, when we’re done with him, he won’t refuse to tell us anything,” Arrow said in a tone that made Zara shiver.

It was a better plan than Zara had come up with on her own. She just hoped it worked.



Meat felt horrible. His head was throbbing, and his shoulder was on fire.

He stirred, and someone lifted his head and held something to his mouth. He smelled roses, and the body his head was propped against was definitely female.

“Zara,” he mumbled.

“Drink,” the feminine voice said harshly from above him.

His mouth dry, Meat opened and swallowed what he hoped was water.

But the second the syrupy-sweet liquid eased down his throat, he realized what was happening. He tried to throw off the woman’s hold, but was too weak and disoriented.

“That’s it, drink it all down,” the woman purred.

Choking, Meat fought as best he could. Most of the liquid ended up spilling over his chin, onto his shirt, but enough slid down his throat that he knew he’d be knocked out again before too long. He realized he was still in the back seat of the truck he’d willingly climbed into, and he cracked his eyes open and stared up at the woman who’d just forced another dose of midazolam down his throat.

After a few seconds, he was lucid enough to recognize her.

“Renee,” he spat.