rental clerk, the real estate agent, the owner of the shop where Vasili bought their food—had been on his payroll.
Belatedly, she realized they should have taken the thumb drive and left the country.
But it was too late for regrets now.
As Ming Kow’s sedan made its way through the city, his henchman zip tied her hands and mocked her.
Nat had a thick skin and her training had been excellent. Sophomoric jibes never affected her. So it was easy to maintain an attitude of aplomb—as long as she didn’t think about Cooper and how hard the car had hit him.
She had to believe he was all right.
That it had been but a glancing blow.
She had to believe that Gregor or Vasili had heard the commotion and had helped him. That they were, even now, searching for her. With the access they had to advanced satellite feeds, they should be able to track the car.
She hoped.
When they pulled up next to the warehouse on Lánlǚ de Pier, she breathed a sigh of relief. This was a boon, because both Cooper and Gregor knew this location, and while it might take them a while to figure it out, she knew they would come for her.
She winced as her captor took her by the hair again—God, she hated that—and dragged her inside the cavernous warehouse. She was barely able to keep up as he led her to the back, behind the pallets and crates…to the cages she had seen before.
They’d been empty then, but they were not now.
To her horror, she counted no fewer than five children clustered together in the larger cage. Their hands were tied like hers and there were tears on their faces. The label on the cage made it clear… This was Donovan’s shipment.
Fury raked through her.
Damn him.
Damn Ming Kow.
Damn all men who thought they owned the world. Owned the people. Thought they had the right to do as they wished regardless of what was right and what was definitely wrong.
As Ming Kow’s minion pushed her into the smaller cage, memories of her childhood came rushing back. All the horrors, all the fears. Everything she had tried so hard to forget, or bury.
And with it, her wrath. A vehemence unlike anything she had ever known.
By God, he would not succeed. He would not have these children.
No matter what it took, she would save them.
She would.
This thought echoed in her heart and soul, even as the bars of her cage clanged shut.
* * *
“Here.” Gregor pointed at the car on the screen, heading for the Lánlǚ de Pier. “This is it.”
“Why would he take her there?” Cooper asked.
“It is strange,” Vasili said. “He knows we know this place.”
Gregor grunted. His eyes glimmered. “I think I understand.” But he didn’t elaborate.
It was strange to be working in tandem with Gregor for a change. It was nice that his growls were directed at someone else. But to be frank, there was little time to enjoy the sensation. Cooper’s whole attention was firmly fixed on the screen showing the satellite image of Hong Kong Pier.
Even his pain had faded away. But that might have been the shot Vasili gave him. He had contusions on his right hip and a bruised kidney, but he’d had worse. It was certainly not going to keep him from finding Nat and bringing her back safe.
It irked him that Ming Kow had taken her—as that surely was who it had been—and the fact that he had done it so brazenly was beyond the pale. It spoke to the hubris of the man, that he felt he was beyond the reach of the law.
And he might be.
But he wasn’t beyond the reach of the Elite Warriors. Or, apparently, the Elitnyye Voiny.
With fervid determination, Coop resolved that this was it. This was the last chance Ming Kow got to fuck up his world.
The bastard would die today.
No interrogations. No custody agreements.
Just dead meat.
And if he hurt Nat, it would be the most painful death a man could devise.
Judging from Gregor’s expression, he felt the same.
Cooper was pretty sure the final battle would be the one between them, to decide who got to execute the final blow.
As they determined their plan of attack, and loaded into the car, Cooper was pretty sure he would have the honor. Whether Gregor liked it or not.
* * *
After locking her in to the tiny cage, Ming Kow’s minion left, no doubt to go notify her erstwhile boss that she’d been found. She was uncomfortable and her