Spying Under the Mistletoe (Love Undercover #2) - Stina Lindenblatt Page 0,102

was right.

“Now, unless you want to spend the rest of your days without a functional set of balls, I suggest you put the gun on the ground and lie on your stomach.

“And just so we’ve got it straight, my hands are shaking because it’s fucking cold out here. So you might want to take that into consideration. Chloe and I won’t be straining ourselves to drag your bleeding bodies inside the nice, warm house. We don’t want to ruin the beautiful hardwood floors with your blood.”

I don’t know if he believes her or not, but in the end, he doesn’t want to take a chance and is clearly attached to his man parts. He lowers the gun on the floor and does what she says.

Ten minutes later, both men are tied up with the rope from the bedroom. I found more in the shed behind the house. It seems that Nikolai really liked rope.

And Tabitha and I made good use of it.

By the time we finished tying them to the dining room chairs, they can’t move—other than their necks, feet, and fingers. I won’t be surprised if it takes the authorities well over an hour to untie them.

“I had no idea you were an excellent markswoman,” I say to Tabitha as I walk to the phone by the wall.

She grins at me. “I’m not. My ex took me to the shooting range only the one time, and I didn’t come close to hitting the target. I made it clear I never wanted to go back.”

She turns her grin to the two immobilized men, who are staring dumbfoundedly at her. “But they didn’t know that.”

36

Landon

I enter the cabin and almost fall to my knees at the sight of Chloe.

Standing there.

Alive and looking maybe a little badass.

When Adam realized Chloe had gone missing at the retirement home, we contacted the team and the FBI to alert them that we had a situation. The home’s director showed us footage from the security cameras.

We couldn’t see what happened when they disappeared into the supply closet, but it was clear who’d taken her.

One man was known by the FBI, a henchman for one of Vadik’s rivals.

That was all they needed to piece together who had a contract out on Chloe.

The only problem was, the FBI had no idea where the two men had taken her.

It wasn’t until three hours ago that we finally got our answer when Chloe called me.

With my healthy arm, I pull her to me. “Thank God you’re okay,” I say against her hair.

Eric and his goon are lucky the FBI got to them first.

I mean, sure, the hand-to-hand combat would have been a little lopsided, considering I’m currently shorthanded. But that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t have tried.

My gaze lands on the two men tied to the chairs. Agents Foden and Ramsey don’t appear to be in a particular rush to undo them—and I can see why.

“Did you tie them up?” I ask Chloe, unable to keep the grin off my face. Pride rushes through me at how she managed to take down the two men on her own.

She nods toward the hallway as Tabitha enters the living room. “We both did.”

Tabitha is smiling, an equal amount of pride on her face.

It seems that Chloe failed to mention a few details when she called me. Okay, a lot of details, from the looks of things.

I glance around the living room. “Nice place.” The interior reminds me of a rustic ski lodge, not your typical location for hiding individuals who’ve been kidnapped.

“Thanks,” Chloe says.

I must’ve been looking at her funny because she clarifies what she meant. “It appears that I now own this house. It was Nikolai’s. This is where he’d been hiding while the FBI was searching for him. Eric told me Nikolai bequeathed it to me.”

The corners of her mouth turn down. “Those two are the reason Nikolai shot you and Adam.” She points to the two in question. “Their boss made some sort of twisted deal with Nikolai. If he killed you two, the contract on my head would be dropped.”

“But he didn’t kill us. He only injured us.”

“Which is why they kidnapped me. He died trying to protect me, but in the end, it didn’t change anything.”

I can feel my eyebrows draw together. “Something doesn’t seem right. The FBI had reason to believe someone had a contract out on you, but other than the hit and run, no one has made any other attempts on your life. They’ve just