Page 44 of High Reward

“I have a suspicion,” she says, her thumb stroking the back of my hand, “that we are going to be great friends.”

Tears prick my eyes, and for the first time, they aren’t from fear or anger. They are from relief. From the unexpected gift of connection in the middle of this nightmare. I squeeze her hand back, unable to speak past the lump in my throat.

I have an ally.

Leaving the room, I carry a sense of lightness where heavy dread had been when I walked in. The weight of the vest is still there, but the weight in my chest has eased. An ally. A friend. It’s a flicker of warmth in a world that has been relentlessly cold.

I step into the quiet, sterile hallway, my shoes making soft tapping sounds on the linoleum. The guard is there, waiting.

But it’s not the same guard.

This man is taller, leaner, with a sharp, angular face I don’t recognize. The same dark suit, the same earpiece, but his eyes are different. Colder.

A prickle of unease traces its way up my spine. “Where is the other guard?” I ask, my voice sounding louder than I intended in the stillness.

He gives me a brief, dismissive smile that doesn’t reach his eyes. “Doing a round on the floor. Change of plans, Mrs. Draven.” My name on his lips sounds wrong. “Mr. Serrano and Mr. Thorne are waiting nearby. They decided they want to change vehicles. This way.”

He gestures down the corridor, in the opposite direction from which I came. I’m suspicious, but I don’t have a phone or a way to contact anyone, and Owen did tell the guard to pass on his message to the others.

I follow him. My footsteps echo his. We take a turn, then another, until we’re at the main entrance instead of the emergency room doors.

A black SUV waits by the curb, engine humming softly. It looks identical to the one I arrived in. I’ve seen them use decoy vehicles before, so maybe that’s what this is.

I stop at the edge of the curb. My heart is racing against the hard shell of the vest beneath my shirt.

I look back at the guard. He’s standing just behind me, his expression placid, patient. He’s blocking my only path of escape. Making a scene here is impossible, foolish. He’s security. I’m the visitor. Who would believe me? I pray I’m not being misled, but something isn’t right.

With a hand that feels disconnected from my body, I reach for the handle of the back door. It’s cool to the touch. I pull it openand slide inside. The leather seats are cold, and no one else is in the car. Where are Victor and Owen?

The guard gets into the driver’s seat, the door closing with a solid thud that seals me inside. He pulls away from the curb smoothly.

“We’ll be picking up our other passenger in just a moment, Mrs. Draven,” the guard says, his eyes meeting mine in the rearview mirror for a fraction of a second.

Ice floods my veins. “Don’t call me that,” I snap.

He doesn’t respond. We drive in silence through the parking lot until we come to a stop sign just before the exit onto the street.

The engine idles, the sound unnaturally loud in my ears.

The passenger-side door next to me clicks open.

And my worst nightmare slides in next to me.

“Hello, wife,” he says, his voice a low, silky purr that makes me want to shrink into a corner and disappear. “You’ve been very naughty. Are you ready to come home and face the consequences?”

Chapter 13

Victor

Panicisnotafeeling I’m used to, but I’m overwhelmed with it now as I stare at the hospital emergency entrance with rage and worry bubbling through me.

“Where the fuck are they?” I snap at Owen.

Lili was supposed to come out of the emergency room exit of the hospital forty-five minutes ago. Trinity said she left and heard her talking to the bodyguard. But there’s been no sign of her, and we have no clue where they went.

“I’m working on it, mate. Something is funky with this surveillance footage. Like someone hacked into it and put it on a loop. I’m doing what I can to override it and see if the actual footage was captured anywhere, but I’m not having much luck.”

“Work faster,” I snap.