Lisa Harris - Taken

A car pulled up beside her. “Get in!”

Kate kept running, but something made her pause and turn. Marcus sat in the driver’s seat.

“Get in the car,” he repeated.

Still out of breath, Kate slid into the car and dropped her bag onto the floorboard, too scared to ask questions. Too scared to consider the fact that she might not be trusting the right person.

* * *

Marcus pressed on the accelerator as he pulled into the heavy traffic and tried to bite back his irritation. Kate Elliot was supposed to be five thousand miles away in Dallas, Texas. Not trying to track down her sister’s shooter on her own here in Paris. No. From what he remembered, he’d given her specific instruction that she was to let him and the police handle the investigation of her sister’s attempted murder. Flying to Paris in search of her niece—as she’d clearly done—had not been an option. But for the moment, he couldn’t worry about what she’d done or why she was here. He needed to get her somewhere safe.

Marcus changed lanes and sped down the avenue, weaving in and out of traffic, hoping he’d catch sight of the vehicle that had tried to snatch her. But as much as he wanted to catch whoever had tried to grab her, for the moment her safety needed to be the priority. Because chasing down the bad guys with Kate Elliot at his side wasn’t a good idea.

“Are they following us?” he asked.

She looked back. “I don’t know. The cars...they all look the same.”

“It was a dark compact—”

“They’re all compact cars...or taxis.”

“I need a description, Kate. A license plate number—something I was unable to get. We need to find those guys.”

His irritation grew. They were the reason he was here. He needed to catch those guys and now he’d somehow ended up saddled with Kate and needing to think about her protection.

Which raised even more questions than he had answers. Like how did they know she’d be here in the first place?

“I was on my way to Chad’s store.”

“I was just there. He didn’t come in to work today.”

“You think they’re still after us?” she asked, her voice ragged.

“I managed to find you, and I don’t think they’re simply going to give up. So yes. There’s a good chance they’re still back there.”

“They had a gun...” Her jaw was set, determined, but she still sounded as if she were about to hyperventilate. “They shoved me into a car.”

“I know. I was driving by when you came flying out of that car into the traffic. You’re lucky you weren’t killed. I don’t know what you were thinking—”

Someone smashed into the back of his rental car, shoving both of them forward.

Marcus gripped the steering wheel as he swerved to avoid a collision with the car in front of him. “Hang on, Kate. I think we just found them.”

THREE

They’d found them.

“Marcus!”

Kate could hear the edge of panic in her voice. Gripping the armrest with her fingers, she tried not to hyperventilate as the car rammed into them a second time. She winced as her head hit the side of the car. Marcus would get them out of this. He had to. And she had no choice but to trust him. They were just trying to scare them. But why? None of it made sense. They already had Sophie. What else did they want?

Please, God...all I want to do is find Sophie and make sure she’s safe. But I don’t even know what is going on.

“What do they want?” Kate spoke her question out loud, her arms braced for another impact.

“I don’t know. Are you sure it’s them?”

She glanced back again and caught sight of the bald head of the man who’d tried to grab her off the street. She’d recognize him anywhere. “Yes. Besides, I can’t believe this is just a coincidence.”

Marcus’s jaw tensed, the vein in his neck pulsing, as he sped down a one-way street lined with bikes and motorcycles. Pedestrians strolled down the sidewalk, casting glances as they sped past. He slowed down as he came to a busy intersection, and managed to merge into traffic without stopping.

Kate dug her nails into the armrest, willing the car to go faster. “We need to lose them.”

“Not yet. Keep your eye on them. I need a license plate.”

“A license plate?” She craned her neck so she could see out the back window and squinted as she tried to read the plate. The car behind them sped forward, hitting again.

Her seat belt caught as her body snapped forward.

“You okay?” he asked.

“Yeah. I got the license.” Kate scrambled for a pen then wrote down the number on her hand.

“Good, because now I need you to make a call.”

“The police?”

“I’m working with French intelligence. They’ll be able to get us some backup.”

Her hands shook as she grabbed his phone, which was sitting between them.

Marcus kept his eyes on the road beside her, weaving in and out of traffic, with the car still on their tail. “Scroll through the favorites contacts and look for Pierre. Make the call, then put it on speakerphone so I can talk to him.”

A moment later, a man with a heavy French accent answered. “Bonjour?”

“Pierre, it’s Marcus.”

“Did you find Chad?”

“No, but I did run into his sister-in-law.”

Kate felt her fear morphing into anger as Marcus explained the situation while speeding through the heart of Paris. She glanced out the back window again. This time there was no sign of the other car.

“I’ll let you know what I find out about the license plate,” Pierre said.

“Good,” Marcus said. “I’ll meet you at the safe house in thirty minutes.”

Pierre hung up and the line went dead. Kate clicked off the phone and set it down. “We’ve lost them.”

“Are you sure?”

She nodded as she caught the hint of anger in his eyes. He’d warned her not to come. Told her to stay in Dallas and let him and the police handle the situation. And she’d done the opposite. And potentially almost got them both killed.

“I’m sorry,” she started.

“Sorry? This fiasco you just involved us both in could have got us killed.”

* * *

Marcus drove around the block three times until he was certain they’d lost their tail—and his anger had managed to subside slightly—before heading toward the safe house.

He glanced at her expression out of the corner of his eye. He could tell she was upset. Her hands were still shaking and her face had paled to a snowy-white color. At least she’d found the courage to do what he’d asked her to, but that didn’t excuse the fact that she’d disobeyed his instructions and flown halfway around the world on some mad quest to save her niece. If the police hadn’t been able to find the young girl yet with all of their resources, why in the world did she assume she could?

And how had her situation somehow managed to penetrate his normally fortified heart?

He mentally discarded the last question to deal with later. Or not at all. His focus was on closing this case. Period.

“Do you know where we are?” Kate asked.

He fought back a sharp retort. Before she jumped on his navigational skills, she had some explaining to do. “Yes. And I’m taking you to a safe house.”

“I checked into a hotel this morning. I’ll be fine there.”

“If they can find you on the street, don’t you think they can find you at your hotel?”

The question silenced her.

He gripped the steering wheel, regretting the tone of his response. He needed time to think, because he didn’t have time to take on her responsibility on top of everything else. But now he was going to have to arrange to send her back to the United States and ensure her safety in the meantime.