Out Of The Past (2 page)

The second A.J. saw the area he knew.

Zoe wasn’t anywhere near the empty lot.

Still, he stepped from the vehicle and methodically scanned the area. In two minutes he had her bloodied tracker in his palm. Someone had been smart enough to remove it.

That told him this wasn’t a random abduction. Somebody knew about the device and how to prevent him from finding her quickly. Not a simple abduction. The kidnappers planned to hold her for ransom.

They wanted privacy and time. A.J. determined they weren’t going to have either. He jumped back in his SUV.

Frank called.

Damn, A.J. hated telling him the news. “I haven’t learned anything, except they took out her tracker.” Frank would be surprised by that move.

“I’ve received no ransom demand, yet.”

He pulled into traffic. “I wonder if Zoe is missing because of this stuff you’re involved with.”

“Then someone would’ve contacted me with threats.”

“Yeah, I guess I’m shooting blanks.”

“No, you’re on to something. No one would just kidnap Zoe and have enough knowledge about Falcon to know to disarm the tracker.”

“You think her kidnapping is about Falcon in some way?”

“That’s my guess. The problem is there are so many enemies out there I don’t know where to start. But check with every agent in the field. See if they might know anything.”

“Okay, I’ll do that next.”

“A.J., settle down and breathe. Nothing is going to happen to Zoe. We won’t allow it.”

“At times like this, my mind always goes back to Jake’s wife and kid.” A.J. tried to calm his beating heart, but he couldn’t. He visualized the same fate for Zoe and his reactions to losing her. “They died because we couldn’t get there in time.”

“That was five years ago. And we all remember, but we won’t let that happen to Zoe.”

“I hope and pray it doesn’t. I don’t know if I’m as brave as Jake.”

“Jake isn’t brave. He’s mentally broken into so many pieces he’ll never be the same again. However, we have to think of ways to get Zoe to safety and that’ll take every skill you have.”

“You know, when we find who did this, I’m going to kill them just for scaring her.”

“Find them. Then we’ll decide.”

C
old, snake green eyes narrowed and told Zoe the abductor planned to kill her. If for no other reason than to make an example to Falcon agents that they weren’t indefensible, and that they bled like every other person. Sadly, she’d be the way to prove that.

“I don’t know what you want, but you must believe I’m not a threat to you.”

Hands clasped in front of his body, the stranger stepped closer. He had to look up to see her face. “Unfortunately, Ms. Ross, you are Falcon’s weakest link. Like the underbelly of a shark or whale. The soft spot, so to say.”

“I don’t want to get you any madder, but you must understand, if you kill me, they’ll hunt you down like a rabid dog.”

He nodded. “I expect no less.”

So, he did plan to kill her. The suffocating blanket of doom settled in her chest, and her lungs momentarily froze. Her panicked mind wanted to travel to all sorts of terrible places. But, she focused on a warm tropical island. Fear wouldn’t help her now, but calm, rational thinking might save her life. She listened to swaying palms and the ocean waves, while her feet dug into the moist sand.

When she opened her eyes, she was alone. Zoe’s wrists were bleeding from the zip ties, her calves burned from standing on her toes, and she expected a shoulder to pop out of joint at any minute.

“Hello,” she called out. “I need a drink of water.”

Silence greeted her request. Had they left her alone with no one on watch? That was foolish, unless they were certain she’d never escape her bonds.

Zoe looked up at the plastic zip ties cutting into her wrists. She tried to move her hands along the pipe, but couldn’t budge. They had her rigged pretty tight. Stretched out, with her hands tied, her weight pulled her taut. She couldn’t maneuver an inch.

Fire scorched where the ties dug into her flesh, and her left leg cramped. Impossible to flatten her feet, she cried out in frustration from the excruciating pain. She didn’t know how much longer she could stay in this position without stepping down onto the box.

Zoe took a deep breath and twisted several times. Finally, she managed to get her right hand around the pipe. She tried to wedge her other palm free, but couldn’t. Still, she continued to struggle against the wrist restraints.

Then her foot slipped, and the box tipped over. She screamed as pain tore through her body. Holding the pipe, Zoe gripped tightly and tried to shake the pipe loose. Nothing moved.

To her right, the pipe connected to a coupling. That had to be a weak spot in the plumbing. Gritting her teeth and fighting against the pain, she swung her legs until she moved slowly toward the end.

She screamed again as the agony intensified, but she refused to give up. Not now. Not when she might escape. And not when death stared her in the eyes. Every move ripped pain through her body with greater intensity.

Covered in sweat, she finally reached the pipe junction, and with one last push, she hooked her bound wrists over the connection. Kicking frantically, she moved up and down, certain her hands would fall off.

A crack. A pop. Then water spewed out, and Zoe collapsed to the concrete floor. She landed on her right side, but managed to push into a sitting position. Blood covered her hands. Curling her limp arms to her chest, she rocked into a sitting position.

Anxious to get away, she shoved to her feet and searched for an exit. Dizzy with pain, she forced her feet to move. With the water pouring in and unsure of her surroundings, she stumbled twice before reaching a set of stairs.

The rough wood bit into her bare feet as she raced up the steps then paused at the closed door. Blind to what waited for her, she turned the doorknob and waited. Weak slivers of light spilled into the basement as she glanced around the room.

A large hallway with marble floors greeted her as she stepped from the cellar. Nothing registered. Nothing gave her location away, and nothing made a sound.

The building appeared empty with only the emergency lights working. Outside, darkness had pushed aside daylight, making it at least eight o’clock or later.

With her back against the wall, she slid along, looking for a way out. She was confident she could escape by the front door. Safety code required that all public buildings must have a door that opens outward and cannot be locked to people within.

But most buildings had security cameras at the entrance, and the man who kidnapped her must either have unlimited access to the building or a clever way in and out.

Keeping the cameras in mind, for fear of being recaptured, she didn’t want to risk someone viewing the monitor who might alert her kidnapper. Zoe had only one plan in mind. Find out her location and contact A.J. so he could help her flee. She dare not run out the door because she didn’t know what awaited her. Perhaps her abductor had men waiting.

Hugging the walls, she glanced at the blood droplets she left behind. The telltale smears would make it easy for someone to follow. If she hoped to get away, she had to stop the bleeding and get off the main floor.

Around the corner, she saw the elevators. Fear kept her tight against the only solid structure she’d felt in hours. She had to eliminate the trail of blood should the man who held her prisoner return.

Determined to get out of the situation alive, she rubbed her bloodied hands against the front of her dress until her wrists no longer bled. She threaded her fingers tightly to keep the pain at bay.

Instead of taking the elevators, she searched until she found the stairwell. Using only the tips of her dried fingers to open the door, she rushed inside and up the stairs to the third floor.

There she found an office sectioned by cubicles and workspaces. She quickly ran to the first phone and punched in A.J.’s number with shaking fingers.

“Hello?” she whispered frantically when A.J. answered.

“Zoe? Where are you?”

“I don’t know. They tied me up in the basement, but I managed to escape.”

“Are you in a building?”

“Yes, on the third floor.”

“Zoe, put the phone down and look out any window.”

She turned on a desktop computer, a company logo streamed across the screen. “It seems I’m in the Wainwright Accounts department.”

“Okay, now go look for a landmark.”

“They may have security monitors on the phones, so I probably shouldn’t stay on it too long. I’ll call you right back.” She hung up and ran to the wall of glass.

After looking around, she realized she was only two blocks from Falcon’s headquarters. Blood trickled down the window. She quickly grabbed several tissues from a nearby desk and wiped the evidence away.

Stocking up on Kleenex, she wiped her wrists the best she could before redialing A.J. “I’m only a few blocks from the office, in what I think is the Butler Building on Elm.”

“Okay, I’m on my way now. Stay where you are. Find a safe place and hide.”

“How will you get in?”

“Let me worry about that.” 

***

C
overed in sweat, A.J. made his way to the building Zoe had identified. From the sidewalk looking up, the place where Zoe hid didn’t stand out as unusual. Apparently, the complex housed several businesses and co-ops.

Why this building? He’d already sent out inquiries about who owned the property and put in a request for NSA to collect information.

Pretending to walk casually by the front door, A.J. knew it would be unwise to go in the primary entrance. He circled the perimeter and found a back door near the dumpster. With the speed of a professional burglar, he entered the building and made his way to the third floor.

Strange he didn’t hear an alarm, or anything that would sound a warning. The whole thing could be set to remain silent and catch a prowler, but A.J. didn’t think so. Someone had been using the back door to enter and exit the building.

Inside, the silence had the hair on his arms standing up and his senses on high alert. He searched the main floor, working toward the front. He was about halfway there when he noticed blood on the floor.

Gun held at his side, he narrowed his eyes as he followed the trail. It led to a basement door. A.J. turned around and headed back where he’d come from.

When the droplets ended, he looked around. The elevator doors would make noise. Zoe was too smart to try that. He searched for a stairwell. When he found it, he slowly headed for the designated floor, his weapon leading the way.

He pushed open the door on the third floor and dropped low. Carefully, he worked through the maze of cubicles and workstations.

No sign of Zoe.

A soft thud from a cubicle in the corner caught his attention. Something hit the floor and grabbed his attention. He almost lost it when he saw Zoe sitting at a desk, intently trying to clip the zip ties on her wrist with a pair of scissors.

“Zoe?” Blood smeared her face and the front of her dress, but she was alive. He almost collapsed with relief.

She stood. “I’m so happy you found me.”

Slipping the gun into his waistband, A.J. ran to her. “Are you hurt?”

She tried a wobbly grin and held out her hands. “Mostly my wrists.”

He cut through the plastic and gently rubbed her cuts. They weren’t serious, but he knew an injury like that hurt like a bitch.

Who did this to Zoe, and why?

He pulled her against his chest and finally managed to take a decent breath since all this had happened. “Let’s get out of here,” he whispered. “We’ll go the way you came up. There’s a backdoor we can use.”

She desperately clung to him. “The man who took me didn’t say what he wanted. But he had a heavy accent. Not Russian. He said he was Croatian.”

He took her hand and headed out, leading the way. In the stairwell, he turned to her. “What happened?”

She wiped her face. “He came up on me so quickly I didn’t have time to think.” She pulled the dress off her left shoulder to show him two burns. “I was tasered and brought here.”

The nasty burn marks made A.J. grit his teeth in anger. “Come on.” He took his gun back out. “I won’t feel comfortable until you’re safe.”

Making their way down the stairs, A.J. cracked the stairwell door and looked out. A tall man, wide and roughly dressed walked toward the basement. Not wanting to take any chances until they were safely out of the building, A.J. waited.

As soon as the basement door opened, he took Zoe’s hand and they darted out the back. Then they stopped abruptly.

Three men stood outside with AR-15’s pointed at them.

Z
oe grabbed A.J.’s arm.

The man who’d taken her stepped forward wearing an evil smile. “I see you managed to get loose, Ms. Ross.” He wore a nicely tailored suit, business shoes, and a tie that reminded her of strawberry Twizzlers. “Most ingenious. I’m very impressed.”

A.J. pressed her behind him, while he kept his gun pointed at the man. “You should be. What kind of person kidnaps a woman and ties her up like that?”

Smiling, the Croatian said, “I don’t know.” He spread out his hands. “You see, I’m a simple businessman who does what pays most.”

“Whatever you’re being paid, Falcon Securities will double.”

The man shook his head. “No, no, I can’t do that. It would be unethical. And while I may be many things, I’ve quite the reputation for getting results.”

“Not this time.” A.J. stepped closer. “I know you. You’re Casmir Slavko. A cold blooded killer.”

Zoe’s heart threatened to explode out of her chest.

“My, I’m even more impressed.” The kidnapper stared at them, his face stark and hard. “Enough with the niceties. I’ll have her, or you die.”

“You first.” A.J. fired at the kidnapper and then dragged her to the ground. On hands and knees, they crawled around behind a dumpster for cover. A.J. took out his phone and handed it to her. “Call 911.”

Before she reached the dispatcher, sirens sounded in the distance. In a panic, the men jumped into a dark van, and tires squealed out of the alleyway.