And then one of them shouted, “Roger.”

  Was that Roone? They’d all disguised their voices, adopting south London accents. It was hard to tell which was which. Roone was slightly bigger than the other too, but no one could tell in the dark.

  April stiffened. “Oh my God, they’re going to rob us then kill us.” She clutched onto my free arm, and I smiled. That was exactly what was supposed to happen. I settled my arm up her shoulder to her neck and then I gently patted her back.

  “I’m so sorry. Oh my God, Let’s just do what they say.”

  She clutched onto me tighter. “This is not how I was meant to die.”

  I smoothed my hand down her arm and held onto her hand as she clutched me. With the tool between my thumb and index finger of my free hand, I found the clasp, turned it easily and then embraced her in a hug. “Mrs. Van Linsted, no one is going to die today. You’re going to be fine.”

  Thanks to the night vision glasses, I could see her expression. She was nodding, and tears streamed down her face. Between my fingertips, I had her bracelet. I released her slowly and continued holding her hand and squeezing gently. “I’m going to see if I can get by the window in the balcony. If I can sneak out there, I’ll alert security.”

  She held on tight. “They’ll see you. And when they do, they’ll kill us all.”

  As I spoke, I tucked the bracelet into the cleavage of my dress. “We’re going to be safe. I know we are.”

  “You can’t promise that.”

  “No, I can’t. But it’s what we have to hope for.”

  I gave her hand a final squeeze and released her. In the pitch blackness, she couldn’t see me, but I could still see her. I had what I needed.

  One of the guys shouted, “Thirty seconds.” As they made their way to the exit door, I saw Lucas hand over his booty. And then Bridge did the same as the Chase brothers made their escape at the door, opening it and then easing through it. There was another three second pause, and then the lights came up.

  Next to me, one of the ‘gunmen’ remained, but it wasn’t Roone. It was Alexi with the silvery grey eyes. He was the one who grabbed me in a choke hold. “We’re taking insurance.”

  I struggled against him. “What? Let me go. I haven’t done anything.”

  April, who had been my closest confidante and dearest friend in the dark, sighed with relief that she wasn’t the one taken. While the choke hold appeared real, I was more leaning into it than anything. Alexi’s touch was calm. Gentle. “Stop struggling and you won’t get hurt.”

  That was the line he’d been given. Then he dragged me to the door.

  Prince Lucas made a fake play for me. “Let her go.”

  Alexi shook his head and held a gun to my temple. “One more step and she gets it.”

  He turned my body slightly to the right, shielding me from the onlookers. I reached into my cleavage, pulled out the jewel, and handed it over. He gave me a slight nod, and that was my cue to struggle, which I did. I could only whisper a quick “sorry” before I stomped on his instep. “Let me go.”

  He muttered. “Damn, you’re strong.” And then he also muttered his apology as he pushed me to the ground before running down the hall toward the vent where Ben was hidden.

  Adrenaline spiked in my blood, making it thick, and my head swam. I dragged in deep breaths. Lucas and Bridge pretended to come to aid me, but I shook my head and shouted instructions. “Someone call the police. Someone also find the security guard and make sure he’s all right. Anyone here need medical attention? I need to go after them.”

  In my peripheral vision, I saw a shadow slip out of the room to the left toward the security gate, the same direction where one of the guys was making his escape.

  Oh, hell.

  I needed to provide some kind of diversion or something so my teammate could get away.

  I took off running after them, heels clicking and clomping with each step. “I called out. “Are you okay? Do you need medical attention? We need everyone who needs help together in one area. The police and ambulance have already been called.”

  Shit, I just needed to slow their progression so everyone could get away. The blond woman turned then, and I exhaled. “Oh, Mrs. Van Linsted. Are you okay?” What the hell was she doing out there? And why did it look like she was trying to escape the chaos?

  “There is no way I’m staying to be possibly shot at again.”

  Shot at? None of the team had shot at anyone. Those guns weren’t even real. “I understand that you’re frightened, but we really must stay and give the police a statement.”

  “I’m a fucking Van Linsted. I will not be questioned like—” She stopped speaking abruptly, and I whirled around at the sound of shuffling feet behind me. My eyes went wide and my mouth dry when I saw the man in the black mask and body armor.

  I could feel it around me again, that whisper of malice, the hint of despair. And before I knew what was happening, everything went black.

  Ben

  Jessa checked in, as did Lucas and Bridge. Xander and Roone were with me. Finally, Alexi checked in. “Clear.”

  I frowned. “Livy. Where’s Livy?”

  I tried to climb out of the vent, but Roone shoved me back in. “Mate, you have a job to do. We will get Livy.”

  I wondered if I could take him, but at the moment he had the upper hand because I was stuck in a vent and would have to crawl out. He could just punch me. “Fuck you.”

  “Do your job. You said you needed that jewel, didn’t you? Alexi has it, so do your job.”

  I didn’t have a choice. Everything in my body was telling me to go look for her. Find her. Make sure she was safe. East kept checking in the comms. “Olivia, check in. Olivia, come in. Olivia. Status check, Olivia.”

  My heart hammered against my ribs. Why wasn’t she checking in? After all this? Everything we’ve been through, and she was just vanishing on me?

  Don’t be daft. She’s worked this hard. She’s not leaving you.

  I couldn’t shake the feeling of fear though. Where was she? Was she hurt? Had roleplay gone too far? Had she been caught?

  Roone was right though. I didn’t have a choice. I wasn’t on the guest list, so I couldn’t be there.

  I grabbed the vent cover and began screwing it back on, all the while glowering at Roone. “Go find her.”

  Roone nodded. “I’ll make sure she’s safe. I’ll hand her to you myself.”

  I inched back into the vent. Luckily, everything had been exactly to specifications on the blueprints. The vents led exactly where they’re supposed to lead, to the basement of the museum which had a tunnel that I found easily, thanks to the night vision glasses we all had. Unfortunately, once in the basement, I didn’t get any reception, so I booked it in the dark amongst the priceless artifacts and ran for my life. When I reached the tunnel, I hoisted the bags over my shoulder, easing back in the way that I had come and closing the grate behind me. There was nothing to do about the padlock, but I wound the chain around and hooked the padlock in so it would at least look locked to someone lazy and untrained. Then I ran the rest of the distance through the tunnel to the outlet that led to a set of unused maintenance buildings. And there on the street, next to the first building, was where East had parked. “Mate. Olivia?”

  His eyes were wide, already answering the question I was afraid to ask.

  “She hasn’t checked in?”

  He shook his head. “Anyone have eyes on Olivia?”

  I yanked my comm out and stashed the bags, ripping my balaclava off my head. I ran my hand through my hair and grabbed the mic. “Fuck, Livy, come on. Let us know you’re okay.”

  Nothing but silence. Alexi’s voice came through the comms. “Once I ditched my bag, I came back. She’s not here. She’s not at the party. She’s not in the restroom either. Bryna and Jessa checked.”

  Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Where is she?

  Roone’s voice was grim when he appeared on the line. “Ben, I found blood down the hallway leading to the security stand. What the hell was she doing down there?”

  “It doesn’t mean the blood was hers.”

  The next voice I heard was Xander’s. “Um, mate, we also found her shoe and blood."

  “Fuck. Someone has taken her.”

  Whoever had been trying to get to her, we’d walked her right into their trap.

  To be continued in For Her Benefit…

  For Her Benefit

  Book 3 - See No Evil Trilogy

  1

  Livy

  The scent of gasoline singed the hairs inside my nose.

  The acrid odor was what woke me. I tried to lift my head, but my mind was in a hazy fog. I was tired. So damn tired.

  I must have been drugged. Lolling my head to the side, I tried to force my lids to open and blink. Beside me, or maybe it was behind me, there was a voice. It was saying blurred words. My fogged brain could make no sense of it.

  Think. Wake up. Clear the fog. You need to think.

  I finally managed to open my eyes, but when I did, all I saw was empty blackness.

  I chanced another sniff and winced. That was gasoline. Where the fuck was I?

  "Wake the hell up. We have to get out of here."

  My brain started to process the words a little better. That voice. Why was that voice familiar?

  I felt as if I was being jostled or moved. "Wake up, damn it. I do not belong here."

  Suddenly, I knew why that voice was so familiar. That was April Van Linsted. She’d used the same pinched tone with me earlier. At the Gem Gala.

  The Gala. Okay, the gala, the boys, the heist.

  What in the world had happened? Think, Livy.

  Piece by piece, as if an unseen hand started to put together the parts of the puzzle of my last hours, things started to click into place. And just like a real puzzle, my brain occasionally tried to jam the odd piece into places they didn't belong before finally finding the correct spot.

  I had followed April Van Linsted. I’d thought she was after one of the guys. She’d been calling for one of the security guards, pointing back at the room and then... What? What had happened?

  I had heard a sound? Sensed movement maybe? There had been a man, bigger than me, dressed in black and wearing a balaclava. But his eyes were flat, cold, not like one of our guys. I'd quickly turned on the balls of my feet to run toward security, but then I’d felt a prick in my neck, and...

  And then I woke up here with April Van Linsted. I tried to force my mouth to say words. I made my throat contract and release, moved my tongue, all the things that signified speech, but I couldn't do it. No words came out.

  I licked my lips and tried again, but all I managed was a scorching fire in my throat, as if someone had shoved a hot poker down it.

  My last attempt was the best one, because actual sounds formed. "Are we?"

  That wasn't right. I was missing a word. I cleared my throat, wincing through the pain. "Where are we?"

  "Does it matter? And how the hell would I know? All I know is that we're in a couple of chairs, we're tied together, and there's no way out. Oh yes, and it's dark in here."

  Why was she shouting? “Please don't shout. I have to figure this out. Do you know who took us?"

  "As if I would associate with the kind of people who would kidnap someone. I'm April fucking Van Linsted."

  I sighed. Clearly, she was going to be no help. I glanced around. Small slivers of light told me we were in a large garage or something. There were dark voids I couldn't see properly, but I thought I detected the outlines of some kind of large equipment. That would certainly account for the gasoline smell.

  "Did they drug you too?"

  “How would I know? All I know is that someone forced a bag over my head then shoved me into some kind of tight space with you. I must have passed out.”

  Maybe they’d only drugged me. Why not keep both of us quiet? Or was I the more dangerous of the two of us? "Do you know how many people there were?"

  "Why would I worry about such a thing? I was too busy worrying about my life."

  As co-kidnappees went, April Van Linsted was the worst. "I'm asking so I can figure out how many men are holding us. Do you know how long we drove? It might give some clues to our location."

  "I don't know. Thirty minutes I suppose."

  Thirty minutes. On a Saturday night, London traffic was notorious. If April was even close to accurate in her time estimation, that left very few options. It might be safe to assume we were at least somewhere accessible to people, which helped with our avenues for escape.

  Are you seriously considering escaping? Ben will come for you.

  I would have loved to believe that. But he didn't know where I was. I doubted that the people who had taken us were dumb enough not to have checked for my tracker and removed it, so he wouldn't know where I was. As options went, it was either sit there with April Van Linsted or figure a way out. I couldn’t count on them launching a rescue mission for me.

  You don't know Ben.

  He might come for me, but the least I could do was give him a hand and try to rescue myself. Besides, chances were that if I didn't do something, April and I would both end up dead.

  I tried to move my wrists and discovered April was tied to a chair behind mine. the chairs were fused together somehow and likely bolted to the ground to keep us in place. "April, can you move your hands?"

  There was a bit of silence. "A little, why?"

  "I'm trying to figure out if we can get out of our restraints."

  "Are you joking?"

  Through gritted teeth, I said, "Look, I know you don't want to be here. Neither do I, so we have to work together, okay?" She was the last partner I would have picked for anything, but she was all I had at the moment.

  I was startled by a clattering noise. It sounded like metal grating on metal followed by a loud creaking sound and then a roar, and suddenly light poured in. I had to blink rapidly to adjust to the sudden brightness. Three men walked in, stocky, burly, and one of them looked vaguely familiar.

  My stomach twisted when I realized it was the same man who had mugged me the night of the party at the Van Linsted estate.

  He recognized me too. When our gazes met, he leaned forward, leered at me, and then said something to one of his partners, whom I didn't recognize. The guy he spoke to was even bigger, burlier. Built like a damn tank. I made a mental note to avoid him if at all possible.

  Tussling with him would just be trouble for us later. When he spoke, his voice was low, guttural. His accent was vaguely Eastern European. I knew it wasn't Russian or Lithuanian. My mother had been posted in Russia at one point in my childhood, so I was familiar enough with the language to recognize it if needed. No, they were speaking something else. Not Slavic exactly. I mentally tried to catalog the languages and the accents of my mother's friends whom I'd met over the years. I couldn't place it, but I knew I would eventually.

  As he spoke to his friend, he said the word Libret more than once. What the hell did that mean?

  The stockier one continued to leer at me as he approached us. He and his friend had bottles of water, uncapped, and I knew better than to drink. So when he tried to place the bottle near my lips, I turned my head.

  With an evil smile, he grabbed my hair tightly and forced my head to turn. I winced at the pain as he tried to force the bottle into my mouth. Some of it trickled into my mouth, which I immediately sprayed back out onto him.

  His friend laughed. That humiliation earned me a sharp crack across the face, and pain exploded in my cheekbone. My body jerked with the force of it. Agony and fear made me want to crawl into a deep dark hole and pass out right then, but I knew I couldn't afford to let myself do that.

  Whether she wanted to or not, April was depending on me. Ben was counting on me to come home. And I didn't fucking want to die. My head rolled and I tried to bring it back up. Behind me, I could hear the sounds of swallowing. Shit. There was no telling what kind of drugs could be in what she was drinking. I didn't know what else they'd given her.

  April spoke to the person giving her a drink. "I-if you help me, m-my husband will reward you."

  The man in front of her only chuckled low. “You cannot bargain with me,” he said. Then he and his partner left.

  Of course she was trying to bargain for herself. I noted I hadn’t been included in that bargain. Because no way in hell Marcus Van Linsted would save me too. He was more likely to leave me here to rot. Yeah, right. Of course.

  “Can you move your hands at all?”

  “No? Why are you asking?” When short and stocky had slapped me, the force of it had made me jerk hard enough that my right arm became slightly loose. I wiggled and wiggled, wincing as the rope chafed. Finally, I got my hands into position, and using the thumb of my left hand, I pressed on the top knuckle of my right thumb, pulled and dislocated it.

  I haven't felt pain like that since Micah Hadid had accidentally kicked me in the front lip once when I was ten. The pain was enough to make my eyes well and my brain feel like it was going to explode, but I kept it up. I knew what I had to do, thanks to some preparation from Roone.

  Another couple of quick tugs and my hand was free. More quick tugs, and I shoved my other arm to the left, loosening the ropes enough to get that side free. Knowing I’d need as much dexterity as possible, I held my breath and quickly popped my thumb back into the socket while forcing myself to swallow the cries of pain that wanted to escape. Then I quickly undid my feet and went for April's restraints next as I crouched in front of her. "Are you okay?"

  They'd blindfolded her. Shit. They hadn't blindfolded me, which meant they were planning to trade her back, like she’d suggested.

  They had no such plan for you.

  It was a hell of a time to realize something like that, but there wasn't a damn thing to do about it, so I needed to just carry the hell on. "Come on, we're getting out of here."

  Her mouth opened then closed. "You're free?"