He faced outward, his body blocking Rowan from view, and waited. Brent didn’t wait long. The kidnappers sent another text. “What does it say?”
“Place the records on the ground in the alcove and walk away.”
“Not going to happen.” He held out his hand for her phone. “Let’s not make it easy for them.”
Rowan dropped the phone on his palm. Brent sent the kidnappers a message to bring Alexa or no records. He handed the phone back to Rowan.
Seconds later, a gunshot shattered the silence in the late afternoon. A bullet slammed into Brent, the momentum throwing him against the mausoleum wall. Pain in his chest stole his breath as he sank to the ground, his legs no longer able to hold him up.
Nearby a woman screamed his name. He tried to fight off the approaching darkness and lost.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Rowan scrambled to Brent’s side and dropped to her knees on the cold ground. “Brent!” She rolled him to his back, desperate to see where he was injured. She’d heard the shot, knew that was the reason he’d flown back and hit the mausoleum wall.
“Brent.” Rowan patted his cheek, but he didn’t respond. She stomped on the panic exploding in her gut. Rowan couldn’t help if she had a meltdown.
Heavy feet raced toward her.
Assuming it was one of the Fortress operatives, maybe Jake Davenport, she didn’t bother turning to look. “Help me. Brent’s been shot.” She spread his jacket open to determine the location of his wound and apply pressure to the injury.
Hard hands grabbed Rowan and yanked her to her feet.
“Hey!” She slapped at the hands dragging her away. “No!” Rowan glanced up. A ski mask covered the face of the man. She gasped at the sight. Not Fortress. Crap. She renewed her efforts to escape, yelling for Jon and Eli.
“Shut up,” a deep voice hissed. The hands jerked her off the path and deep into the forest and shoved her up against a tree, a gun pressed to her head, bark scratching her scalp as she tried to escape the gun. “One more sound and I’ll kill you and give orders to make sure your boyfriend is dead. The third bullet will go into your niece. One phone call and her brains splatter all over the room where she’s being held. Choose. You come with me now or you, your boyfriend, and the brat are dead.”
Another man in a ski mask raced toward them. “Go, go, go! The boyfriend’s friends are swarming this area. They’re armed, man. Who are these guys?”
Hard Hand’s head whipped back to her. “You living or dying today, Ms. Scott?” he growled.
“Living.” Hopefully, Jon or Eli would reach her before these guys left with her. If not, Brent’s tracker would bring Fortress to the rescue before she and Alexa paid a high price.
Her heart skipped a beat at the thought of the man she loved lying on the cold ground, maybe bleeding out before he reached the hospital. Jake had to reach him in time. Brent was a fighter, she reminded herself as her captor threw her over his shoulder and ran.
The trees blurred. Rowan looked behind them. Far in the distance, several men raced to the rescue, Jon and Eli in the lead. The Fortress operatives gained on the kidnappers with every stride. Just when she thought her captors would be caught, the second man stopped, turned on his heel, and fired round after round of bullets at the operatives. “No, don’t!”
The Fortress employees dived this way and that, dodging bullets while the man carrying her didn’t break stride. A short while later, he pulled up short, yanked Rowan off his shoulder, and shoved her over a low rock wall into the waiting hands of yet another man dressed in black with a ski mask covering his face.
The third captor shoved her into the backseat of a waiting SUV with the engine running. He climbed in after her and pointed a gun at her chest. His two buddies dived into the front seats. Hard Hands put the vehicle in motion and raced from the cemetery.
“Where are you taking me?” Rowan demanded.
“Shut up. You’ll find out when we get there.” The man in the backseat with her waggled his gun. “Turn around, lady.”
“Why?”
“You think we’ll leave you free to attack the driver? I’m not dying today although you might if you don’t turn around.”
Rowan swallowed hard. He might shoot her if she didn’t comply. Rowan had to stay alive in order to protect Alexa.
She turned. Immediately, her hands were yanked behind her back and cinched with plastic. Zip ties? She wiggled her wrists experimentally. Gun Guy knew what he was doing. If Brent were here, he’d know how to escape the cuffs.
A moment later, Gun Guy dangled a strip of black cloth in front of her face.
“No!” Rowan lurched away from him. If the kidnappers blindfolded her, she wouldn’t know where they were taking her. She needed to be able to see to plot an escape route if Brent couldn’t find her in time to help.
Her breath choked off. If Brent was still alive to find her. He couldn’t be dead. Losing him would kill her. Brent and the others had great faith in Jake Davenport’s skills. That the medic was close at hand could only mean a better chance for Brent’s survival.
“Relax, lady,” the kidnapper said. “The boss wants to make sure you can’t tell nobody where he is.”
“Do it, Ms. Scott,” Hard Hands said. “Your only other choice is for us to drug you.”
“No drugs,” she snapped. Praying she wasn’t making a fatal mistake, Rowan turned to face the window. The kidnapper tied the black cloth over her eyes and, after making sure she couldn’t see, shoved her flat on the seat.
Rowan had no idea how much time had passed since she’d been taken from Brent’s side when the SUV came to a
