Conceal, Protect - By Carol Ericson Page 0,67
tries to follow you, we’ll kill him.”
“He’s not going to follow me. He doesn’t know where I am. He doesn’t know about this meeting. I didn’t want to put anyone else in jeopardy.”
“Good.” He cranked the wheel to the right, and the truck bounced over the rough terrain. The four-wheel drive kicked in and the wheels dug in and churned over the snow-dappled access road.
Noelle spied a light in the distance. As they drew closer, a small cabin emerged along the tree line.
The truck pulled behind the cabin next to a small helicopter. Noelle’s stomach dropped. If they took her away in a helicopter it wouldn’t matter that J.D. had a GPS tracking device on her phone. He’d never get to her in time to capture Zendaris’s men.
The driver got out first. He opened her door with one hand while training a small gun at her chest—at least it looked small after that weapon he’d poked out the window to disintegrate her truck.
She clambered out of the truck, and her silent companion in the back followed her out. Now she had two guns pointed at her by two masked men. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t been in this situation before.
They marched her into the cabin, and she breathed a sigh of relief. No helicopter ride tonight—at least not yet.
The taller man shoved open the door and pushed her across the threshold.
“Ted!” She stumbled across the carpeted floor of the cabin toward her brother; his hands were tied behind his back, his ankles roped to a chair.
“What kind of mess have you gotten yourself into, Noelle? I thought I was the unstable one in this family.”
She dropped to her knees in front of him, ignoring the blonde standing to his right. She was the only one unmasked, but then, Ted already knew what she looked like. “Are you okay? Did they hurt you?”
He eyed his captors through narrowed eyes. “Not yet. What the hell do they want from you, and why the hell are you here? Not to save my sorry ass?”
“My roommate, Abby, put something on my laptop and they want it.”
“That’s enough. He doesn’t need to know any more.” The woman stepped from the shadows, the low light in the cabin gleaming in her blond hair.
Noelle sat back on her heels. “Why don’t you let him go as a sign of good faith? You have me here now, and I’ll help you access the file...if I can.”
Everyone seemed to say no at the same time, including Ted. Maybe her brother had changed—just in time.
“We call the shots here, Noelle.” The driver of the car rubbed his hands together. “And right now we need to unlock that file.”
She pushed to her feet and lurched toward the desk, where her laptop glowed in the dimly lit room. “I’m ready to try.”
The man with the accent pulled out the chair and gestured to it with a sweep of his hand. “Have a seat.”
Noelle perched on the edge of the hard chair, facing her computer. They’d opened a folder she’d never seen before, which contained one document. The document’s title contained only digits, which looked random. They must’ve known how to search for the contents of the file. The document icon sported a tiny microphone, which must indicate a voice password-protected file.
Abby had been clever. She’d told Noelle she was developing some new computer technology and had her sit in front of the laptop recording different words and sounds. If only she could remember some of those words, phrases and names now.
Licking her lips, she slid a gaze to the man in the ski mask. What if she just deleted the file? She could save Prospero a lot of time and effort.
Of course, she’d probably get herself and Ted killed. But would that happen anyway? J.D. seemed to think so, and he knew these people better than she did.
Her hand swooped for the mouse and right-clicked on the file.
A stinging blow hit the back of her head, and her eyes watered.
“Nobody told you to touch that file. You do something like that again and we’ll shoot Ted.” To drive home this threat, the big man who’d been in the backseat with her released the safety on his weapon with a click that resounded through the cabin.
Noelle clasped her hands in her lap. “What do you want me to do?”
“Start that brain of yours working. At any time did Abby record your voice?”
She had, but Noelle didn’t want to give these guys any