Out of the Storm (Buckhorn, Montana #1) - B.J. Daniels Page 0,86

He had to make the best of this situation. But for him to succeed, Kate had to be with him when he crossed the border back into the US.

“I really don’t know how to cook,” he said as she pulled out a carton of eggs, some cheese and a loaf of bread.

“Then get out of my way,” she snapped, shoving the loaf of bread at him. “Surely you can make toast.” She pointed to a toaster in the corner.

He growled under his breath but took the bread and moved aside to let her do her thing. She was so damned efficient, so in control—even knowing how much danger she was in. He hated her for it because it only served as a reminder of how much stronger she was than him.

Ignoring him, she went to work, beating the eggs in a bowl. From the refrigerator, she took out a red bell pepper and a jalapeño, then dug in a drawer and came up with a paring knife. He watched her out of the corner of his eye as she chopped the peppers into small pieces and threw them into the eggs before grating some cheese in as well.

When the toast popped up, she slid the butter, a butter knife and a small plate down the counter to him. He couldn’t believe how calm she was. She had to know that if anyone was getting out of this, it wasn’t her. Did she think that Jon Harper was going to save her again? Not likely. He thought of the man down in that cold, dreary basement and wondered when Gerald would order him killed.

* * *

JON LOOKED AROUND the basement as he considered what to do. He hadn’t expected an attack in the hotel room. But he should have. He hadn’t been thinking clearly. He’d assumed Collin would think that he and Kate had taken off on the run. But Collin had her passport. He would have told whoever the brains behind this operation were—the man he’d called Gerald?

Maybe it wouldn’t have made a difference if they had run last night, driving across Canada in one direction or another. Kate had said whoever was behind this had help from law enforcement. They would have been located, anyway. He couldn’t worry about that now.

Looking around the basement, he spotted an assortment of tools scattered on a worn workbench. He started to slide the chair toward the tools when he felt one of the legs give. It wouldn’t take much and he would be on the floor. That wasn’t what he wanted. At least not yet.

He carefully rocked the chair until he could get up on his bound feet. Then it was just a matter of working his way slowly to the workbench. Collin hadn’t done much of a job with the tape or the rope, as if he was in a hurry to get it over with. He must have realized it was a waste of time binding a man locked in a basement, since Jon was sure they planned to kill him once Kate was out of here.

It didn’t take long to find what he was looking for on the workbench. Collin had been acting so strangely, now that he thought about it, hurrying to get him tied up, that he hadn’t been paying any attention to the tools or the workbench.

Jon cut quickly through the tape holding his ankles together with the dull box cutter he’d found. Then he went to work on the tape at his wrists. It took only a moment to unwrap the rope connecting him to the chair. He could hear movement upstairs and smell something cooking. He knew he had to move fast. If he were right, Collin and Kate would be leaving soon for the border. Which meant, someone would be coming down those stairs to take care of him.

As he finished freeing himself, he considered his best course of action. He’d never been a hothead, going off half-cocked. Instead, he thought things through, always had.

Free, he couldn’t go upstairs and try to take out as many of their abductors as he could. All any of them would have to do was put a gun to Kate’s head. No, once he was no longer their prisoner, he would be free to pick the time and place to end this.

He thought of Kate and the jeopardy she was already in. Right now they were using him to keep her in line. Without him, they wouldn’t