Colby Lockdown

And that all depended upon whether or not he was on to her extracurricular activities.

Convoy glanced around the room. “I’m afraid the usual route for this sort of thing won’t work. Our client wants this meeting off the record as well.”

A new kind of fear reared its ugly head. “What does that mean?” Good grief, she’d been so fired up to get the goods on Gordon, she very well may have walked into a trap. But what kind of trap? What was the Colby Agency after? Who was this client he kept referring to?

His gaze, the shade so intensely green that it made her quiver, zeroed in on hers. “I’m going to cut right to the chase, Ms. Dawson.”

“That would be nice.” She braced, mentally and physically.

“We have a hostage situation at the Colby Agency. Contacting the authorities is out of the question. If I don’t bring Gordon in for this little tête-à-tête, then folks are going to die. I have only a few hours to accomplish that task.”

Mia hadn’t seen anyone else in the corridor outside her door. This man was alone. No cameras. No audio recorders visible. He was unarmed, for heaven’s sake. Yet, this had to be some kind of scam or setup. It was too bizarre to be real. Mia Dawson had never believed in coincidences.

Not to mention what he was talking about was kidnapping. A felony.

“O-kay.” She felt her gaze narrow. “What’s going on here? I don’t know what you’re up to, but you can tell me the truth now or I’m calling the police.” Her free hand went instinctively to her cell phone while her forefinger settled more fully on the pepper spray trigger. This game was over.

“Wait.” He held up both hands as she produced her cell. “I’m telling the truth,” he urged. “I don’t know what else to say to convince you, but this is not a scam or a joke. It’s real and people are going to die.”

Maybe if he hadn’t looked dead serious—or if she didn’t want to get her boss so badly—she wouldn’t have hesitated.

Could she really have gotten so lucky that an avenue to execute her plans had fallen right into her lap?

“You want me to believe you?” She hiked up her chin in defiance of the skepticism simmering beneath the hope. “Take me to the Colby Agency and let me hear this from someone besides a voice on the telephone.”

His hands dropped impotently to his sides once more. “That’s the one thing I can’t do.” That unsettling gaze pierced hers once more. “The truth is, ma’am, I could have waited for you in your little hybrid in the garage. I could have taken you by force. But I’m giving you the opportunity to do the right thing on your own.”

Her head was moving from side to side in protest before he completed the discourse on how this was the best for her. “If you need my help to do something that’s clearly illegal, then you’re going to have to show me that the stakes are as you say.” She wasn’t stupid. This guy had to be out of his mind if he thought she was going to go along with this crazy plan without some sort of tangible proof.

He thought about her demand for a moment, that tension still keeping a furious rhythm in his jaw. “Going to the agency is impossible. That’s where the hostages are being held. But I can take you to the temporary command center we’ve set up.”

“Who’s holding the hostages? If someone wants a face-to-face with Gordon, it must be an old enemy of his.” That was the only plausible explanation. As much as she wanted to see the scumbag go down, she would not be responsible for turning him over to some recently released criminal he’d once prosecuted. She was already only weeks from being without a job, she wasn’t going to make tracks to prison as well. The unemployment line was unpalatable enough.

Slade Convoy was the one shaking his head now. “We don’t know the answer to that question just yet. Our people, what’s left of them, are attempting to determine the source of the threat. Right now we have no choice but to accede to the demand given. Time is not on our side.”

This was one of those moments… when a woman had to decide if she was going to take an obvious leap of faith for what she believed in or just allow an opportunity to pass right on by.

This man…Slade Convoy…and the agency he represented didn’t have to know about her own agenda. This could actually work to her benefit. “I suppose that’s reasonable.” She had to be a lot desperate or a little crazy to go along with this. But she knew Gordon better than anyone else. She might even be able to help with determining who was behind this takeover. “I can also give you a list of the cases he has prosecuted the past couple of years. Your threat may be coming from one of those.”

The relief that flashed in the investigator’s eyes was palpable. “I’ll inform my superior that we’re on our way.”