Chapter Twenty-Three
It took five minutes for Max to find a way into the cabin.
In his opinion, that was five minutes too long. He could have cursed himself for yelling out to Krieger, alerting the other man to his presence. In five minutes, he could have done anything to Nancy. Hell, it wouldn't even take a minute to kill her if he really wanted to. But Max had a feeling that Krieger hadn't killed her.
He couldn't explain how he knew that—it was just a feeling that he had. He just hoped that his feeling was right and he wouldn't find her dying or dead as soon as he got into the hunting cabin.
Anything would be better than that.
Max had sent Daniel to the back of the cabin, not wanting to alert Krieger to the fact that he had backup. It was his only advantage right now, and he'd given Daniel explicit orders not to go in unless things went to shit. It was the only way they would be able to get Nancy out of there, preferably alive.
Alive was the only goal.
With one final thrust of his foot, Max kicked the door open. Darkness greeted him from inside as the door slammed against the wall. There was not even one flicker of a light in the interior, so he had no idea where to search for Nancy. The faint moonlight flickered through the blinds covering the windows, but it still wasn't enough to make out anything. A flashing red light caught his attention a few feet away from him.
Stepping cautiously into the room, Max kept his grip tight on his gun as he pulled out a flashlight out of his pocket. Flicking it on, he shined it all over the room. His heart nearly stopped as the beam of the light caught Nancy in the middle of the room.
She was standing on a stool on the balls of her feet, her hands tied behind her back. As the trail of his light moved up her body, he saw that she was gagged and her blue eyes were shining brightly as she stared back at him, clearly terrified. But what chilled him the most was what he saw around her neck.
A noose had been fashioned out of rope, the end tied off to one of the thick beams that ran along the ceiling.
If she lost her footing, she'd hang herself.
All thought left Max as he rushed to Nancy. He needed to find some way to get her out of here before it was too late. He knew that Krieger was hiding out somewhere. He just needed to get Nancy away before he could surprise them.
Tucking his gun into his waistband, Max put his flashlight in his mouth before reaching up and pulling the gag out of Nancy's mouth.
"You came for me," Nancy said breathlessly as she looked down at him.
"Of course, I did." Max stood up on his tiptoes, pressing a kiss against her lips. More than anything, he wanted to keep the kiss going, especially when she responded to it with her own enthusiasm. But there would be time for that later.
"How did you find me?" Nancy asked as he broke the kiss.
"Later, Nancy." Max gripped her face between his hands, giving her another chaste kiss. "Right now, I need to get you out of here."
"There has actually been a change of plans, Mr. Grey." The click of a gun shattered through the darkness, just before the lights in the cabin snapped on.
Max jerked back from Nancy, blinking rapidly at the sudden brightness. As his eyes began to adjust, a chill went down his spine as he noticed Krieger standing behind Nancy, a cruel smile on his face. His grip on the gun was unwavering as he aimed it at Max's chest. The blinking red light was still flashing and it was then that Max realized it was a video camera trained on Nancy.
"I have to say, I am quite disappointed with you, Max," Krieger said, clucking his tongue in disapproval. "You came highly recommended to us when it came to retrievals. Your assignment was simple—find Miss Drew and deliver her, then walk away."
"I was never good at following directions," Max said, shrugging.
"Obviously," Krieger said with a nod. "If you had just done your job, this could have been over a week ago. But then you did something a person in your line of work is never supposed to do."
The corner of Max's mouth quirked up in amusement. "And what's that?"
"You fell in love with the target."
Nancy let out a small gasp at the revelation, her eyes locked on Max's as if she was looking for confirmation to Krieger's revelation. There was no way Max was going to hide his feelings from her—not when he'd come so close to losing her. If they only had a few minutes left, then he wanted her to know that what Krieger said was true.
He loved her.
Giving her a slight nod, Max turned his eyes back to Krieger. "You're right. I did. And I don't regret it for one minute."
"That only makes you sloppy, Max."
"I don't really care what you think, Krieger," Max said, his fingers itching for the gun in the back of his jeans. If he could just reach it, maybe he could shoot Krieger and still get to Nancy in time before he kicked the stool from beneath her feet. Max didn't miss the way that her legs were beginning to tremble as she tried to maintain her balance.
"You wouldn't be reaching for your weapon, would you, Max?"
Max shook his head, flashing his best winning smile. "Nope, just stretching my arms."
"Very funny." Krieger's expression hardened as he pulled something from his left jacket pocket. Before Max could figure out what it was, Nancy let out a pain-filled cry as her body jerked slightly, her tedious balance on the stool wavering before she was able to regain control. Krieger's smile was cold as he held up a Taser for Max to see. "Should we try this again? Or the next time, I'll hit her with a stronger dose. It just takes one misstep, and then it's no more Miss Drew."
Max gritted his teeth, the muscles in his cheek popping out. He wasn't going to do anything to put Nancy at further risk. Reaching into his waistband, he slowly pulled the gun out, keeping his eyes on Nancy the entire time.
"Put it on the floor and kick it towards me," Krieger said.
"Got it," Max bit out, doing as Krieger instructed. He kept his hands up where Krieger could see them. He just needed to figure out another way to distract him so he could get to Nancy. He knew he had Daniel, but he didn't want Daniel to reveal himself too early or they would all be screwed.
Flashing another smile at Max, Krieger pressed the Taser against Nancy's side and let out another burst of electricity. Nancy let out another cry as her balance faltered from the stool, a choking gasp coming from her as the rope jerked tight against her throat.
"Not yet, Miss Drew," Krieger said, putting the stool back beneath her feet. "I don't want you dying quite yet."
"Bastard," Nancy gasped out as she got her breathing under control. Max didn't miss the trickle of sweat running down from her hairline.
"Language, Miss Drew."
"I'll give you some language, you son of a—"
"Nancy!" Max barked, causing her to jump. She wasn't going to do him any good if she managed to get herself killed just because she pissed Krieger off. He refused to stand there and watch her die. Ignoring Nancy's glare, Max turned his attention back to Krieger. "Where's your little friend?"
"You mean Wolfe?" Krieger chuckled. "I would hardly call him a friend."
"Then what would you call him?"
"A pain in the ass, for starters." Krieger shrugged. "And as for where he is, I imagine that he ran away when he realized that he couldn't deliver Miss Drew to me. I did give him a time limit, and told him in vivid detail about what would happen to him if he didn't."
Max smiled as he locked eyes with Nancy before glancing at Krieger again. "You're wrong on both counts. And if you're thinking he'll join you soon, you're wrong about that, too."
Krieger's eyes narrowed. "What the hell are you talking about?"
"I stumbled upon Wolfe about a mile away," Max said. "He was doing a very good job of holding up a tree."
"He's dead?"
"I didn't say that. But he was stabbed." Max shrugged again. "And if I didn't stab him and you didn't stab him…"
Realization dawned in Krieger's eyes as he glanced at Nancy. "That would only leave you, Miss Drew."
"I was defending myself."
"He's lucky I didn't decide to finish him off myself," Max said, glaring. "Of course, if he's lucky, he'll still be alive by the time I get back with Nancy."
It was Krieger's turn to smile. "You honestly think you're getting out of here with her?"
"Yes. I do."
"And what makes you so sure of that?"
"Well, let's take a minute and think about this," Max said as he moved slightly closer to Nancy. "I was able to track you down here and I bet you're wondering how. Come on, Krieger. I know you're curious."
"Now that you mention it…"
"My friend, Daniel—the one you took to get us here? He happens to be really familiar with computers. A genius, I guess you could say." Max smiled. "He was able to get into your exclusive viewing party—twenty-five grand later, and worth every penny. After that, it was just a matter of him tracing your location."
"I see. Not only will I have to kill Miss Drew, but I'll be taking you and your partner down with her."
"Before you do that, just know that Daniel has already sent out an email detailing the entire operation to every law enforcement agency in the country, not to mention to the major ones throughout the world." Max took another step closer to Nancy, closing the distance between them. "There will be nowhere you can hide, Krieger."
The color seemed to drain from Krieger's face as Max's words sank in. Then, slowly his face contorted to rage. With one last chilling smile at Max, Krieger kicked the stool out from underneath Nancy's feet.
"Daniel, now!" Max shouted as he shot towards Nancy, catching her before the rope could snap her neck.
Nancy let out a shuddering sob as Max wrapped his arms around her. "Max…"
"Shh, it's okay, Nancy. I've got you."
The sound of two gunshots rang out, causing Max to jerk his attention away from Nancy. "Daniel?" He hoped that it wasn't going to be Daniel's body that he found lying on the floor.
Daniel stepped into his line of sight with a smile on his face. "I'm good, Max. He didn't hit me."
"Is he dead?" Nancy asked.
"Unfortunately." Daniel's eyes locked with Nancy's. "I was trained to deliver a kill shot. I never quite grasped the ability to only deliver a shot to injure."
"He deserved what he got, Nancy," Max said, looking up at her. "He was about to kill you. I would have done the same thing that Daniel did."
Biting her bottom lip, Nancy merely nodded.
It hurt his heart to see Nancy staring down at him like that, like he was a killer. Which he was. But she had to know that he would never hurt her. He cared about her too much to hurt her. He only wanted to hold her and protect her. He prayed to God this wasn't going to mess anything up between them.
"Daniel, help me get her down from here."
Daniel pulled a knife from a sheath around his ankle and cut the ropes around her wrists before cutting the noose in half. Nancy slid the rest of the way into Max's arms, throwing her arms around him as her feet touched the ground. Max gingerly removed the rope from around her neck, tossing it aside. He let out a low growl as he noticed the marks marring the delicate skin of her neck.
"Max, it's okay," Nancy whispered as he brought her hands up to tangle in his hair. She angled herself so he had to focus on her bright blue eyes, instead of her injuries. "I'm okay."
Taking a deep breath, Max nodded as he pressed his lips against her, kissing her softly. "Let's see about getting you home, okay?"
Nancy shook her head. "I don't want to go home."
Max frowned. "Where do you—?"
"I want to go back to the beach, Max," Nancy said softly, kissing him again. "Take me back to the beach."
We've got one more chapter to go, folks. And yes, I do have something else lined up and it may or may not have something to do with a sequel to The Spider and the Fly. (That wasn't vague at all, was it?)
I want to thank everyone who reviewed the previous chapter: Michelle Gallichio, Angelvie S, MCR-1993, Angel 23, raven678, SC15, and Lady Emily. As you know, you guys rock!
I apologize for any mistakes and please let me know what you think!