felt. Bridget seemed to slip through his fingers. Not that he was trying to capture her. Still, it seemed as though she had some elusive quality to her. As though, if he didn’t hold on, she would suddenly be gone.
Again.
Maybe for good this time.
Aiden spotted her. She headed through the gathered crowd, away from him. “Can you excuse me?”
Conroy nodded. “Go. But don’t stay long. You should be at home.”
Aiden just wanted to talk to her, make sure she was all right. Her body language was stiff. As though something was wrong. He jogged after her while all the fatigue of the day weighed down on him and slowed his steps.
She looked at her phone, which lit her face with the light of the screen. Yes, there was definitely something wrong.
“Bridget!” He jogged faster.
She kept walking, scanning the crowd in the other direction, not seeming to have heard him.
“Bridget! Wait up!”
She moved fast, headed for a vehicle parked at the road. As she approached the van, the side door slid open.
Aiden saw a gun.
“Bridget!” He reached for his weapon but felt...nothing. No gun. He hadn’t brought it.
He ran faster, uncaring that he was headed, unarmed, into danger.
She climbed into the van, swinging a glance over her other shoulder. But Aiden was too late. The door slid closed as she was forced in at gunpoint.
Just as he neared it, the vehicle drove away. Aiden wasn’t going to catch up to it on foot. He needed to get back to his car and—
Sharp pain jabbed the side of his neck.
Aiden heard a crackle, and everything went black.
Thirty-two
She’d heard her name. In the middle of everything, the van and the photo—focusing on what she needed to do—Bridget had heard Aiden call her name. Sydney’s life was in danger. That had already been true. Add to that now, a more direct threat.
If she didn’t go, Sydney would be hurt.
From the first time she’d heard her name, she’d tried to find him. Desperately, she’d looked for him. Somehow she’d have communicated to him there was a problem. That she needed help, and Sydney needed extra security.
“Get in.” Clarke had sent her that photo. He’d used a tone she had never heard before, and then pointed a gun at her.
At first Bridget hadn’t moved, but sought Aiden in the crowd instead by looking over her shoulder. Searching for some kind of commotion, and then just for his face when she realized he’d been calling her name. The way he stood. The way he moved. But, no Aiden. Where was he? She was banking on him showing up just in time.
“You know what happens if you don’t.”
She’d had no choice but to climb into the van. As the door closed, she’d heard her name again and caught a glimpse of someone running. She was sure it had been Aiden. But who were those men coming up behind him? And why had Aiden suddenly stopped?
Bridget blinked awake, out of the dream. Though it was more like a nightmare of true events. She lay up against the side of the van. One knee ached as if she’d smashed it on something. It sure didn’t feel as if it had happened an hour ago. Right after seeing Aiden. Being forced into the van by Clarke at gunpoint while he threatened to hurt Sydney.
Bridget winced and shifted. Ugh. Her head was groggy, as though she’d been zapped with a stun gun. She tried to shake off the sensation and pushed herself to sit…though it was difficult with bound hands.
The van turned a corner and her body swayed with the movement. She nearly fell back to her side, but caught herself by planting her hands on the floor. Right by her phone.
She snatched it up and flipped it over in her hands so she could—
The screen was shattered. Bridget tapped the screen to try and wake it up, but nothing happened. It was completely busted—of course, the only reason Clarke would have left it back here with her. As an operator and former military, he had serious skills. In a fight between them, there was no way she would win while injured, especially since he had all the firepower. That canceled out the fact he was injured, too.
She had to get the drop on him before he realized the fight had started. Utilize the element of surprise and get the upper hand that way.
She looked around for a weapon of some kind she could use. Not that she thought he’d left her