“None of your business,” he snapped.
She nodded and just stayed close to her sister. But he did deliver a cup of tea, strong, black, with no milk or sugar. Astra politely said, “Thank you.”
He nodded, grabbed the loose end of her rope, and tied it to her sister’s chair. “Now you’re not fucking going anywhere,” he said.
Astra just sat here, crestfallen, looking beaten down and upset, so he would think that she actually was. The last thing she wanted him to realize was that Kano wasn’t the only one who had been with her in the car, and she didn’t want anybody to go back outside and finish the job on him. All she had to do now was keep her and her sister both alive and wait for the cavalry or for their own opening to escape.
*
Garret checked for a pulse on Kano’s wrist. He was down as low as he could be to the ground, right next to the vehicle, his gaze constantly scanning the area around him. Even as he checked, he could feel something surging through him, and then he realized it was Kano’s pulse.
Kano groaned.
“Take it easy,” Garret said. “You’ve been hit over the head.”
“Where am I?” Kano said, reaching up to rub his forehead.
“You’re still in the car,” he said, “but I don’t think it’ll be long before somebody comes back to check on you.” He quickly opened the vehicle, helped Kano out, and moved him into the trees. Once in the shadows, he sat him back down on the ground. “Astra’s been taken.”
Kano stared at him in shock.
“I’m not sure how he got the jump on you,” Garret said.
“I don’t know. He came out of nowhere. I’d just turned to say something to her and got clobbered on the head. I don’t remember anything after that.”
“Well, I saw her being led into the house, and I heard part of the conversation. They have Amy too.”
“Well, that’s a good thing,” he said. “We’ve got two of them now.”
“Exactly. And, at the same time, they’re still looking for Gregg. Apparently the guy trying to convince the boss to let Gregg go had moved him. He might have known more about what was going on and what they would do with him. Anyway, he moved Gregg, and these guys—who kidnapped Gregg in the first place—can’t find him now.”
“Shit,” Kano said. “That’s not good, … for a couple reasons. Gregg could be someplace where time is running out on him.”
“And it’s possible that we won’t ever find out where he is.”
“We have to track that asshole’s movements,” Kano said.
“Oh, I hear you,” he said. “I’m doing what I can, but, right now, we have to get the girls. I’ve already told Charles, and he’s on it. They’re tracking the dead courier’s life to find out where he could have moved Gregg. Chances are it’ll be not too far away. But we have to get there before anything else happens to Gregg.”
“I wonder why the courier backtracked, protecting Gregg?”
“Something Gregg said maybe.”
“It’s possible. Who the hell knows?” Kano stood up experimentally and gave his head a shake. “Damn, that’ll be a bit of a bitch for a while.”
“That’s okay. You’re up. You’re moving. You’re alive,” Garret said. “We’ve got to remember that.”
“Yeah, and I owe that asshole for the headache,” he said. He turned to face the house. “How many in there?”
“That’s the problem,” he said. “I only saw one, and that makes no sense to me.”
“He’s the guard on duty? Maybe he’s the one waiting for the others to come back.”
“Most likely,” Garret said, “so we don’t have much time.”
“No, we don’t have any time,” he said.
“So let’s go, if you’re up to it.”
Kano shot him a hard look. “Oh, I’m up to it,” he said. Blood still trickled down the side of his head, but he ignored it and said, “Let’s go.”
Chapter 13
Seated in the kitchen, Astra watched the gunman’s movements. He kept looking out the window constantly, as if waiting for somebody else.
She whispered to Amy, “Is anybody else here?”
Amy looked at her and looked at him, but he appeared not to have heard. She held up three fingers and then shrugged.
So three people were here, or at least Amy had seen three, but where were the other two? Were they still around here or had they left the property, out looking for Gregg?
It was a case of so many questions and no answers again.
“I still don’t understand why you want Gregg,” Astra stated, facing the gunman.
“You don’t have to understand,” he said. “I told you to shut the fuck up. Do I need to tell you again? Because I’ll tell you with my fists the next time.”
She shut up for a while, looking at Amy.
Amy nodded and turned her head a bit, so Astra could see the side of her face, which was puffy.
Her glare deepened. “You actually hit a tied-up woman?” she said. “What kind of an asshole are you?”
“An asshole who doesn’t have a problem hitting her nosy sister either,” he said. “I’ve got things to do and places to be, and I really don’t need to be here, listening to you.”
“Ahh,” she said. “So you’re waiting for somebody now, aren’t you?”
“Yeah, I am,” he said. “And they ain’t coming any faster with your noise rattling around.”
“Sorry,” she said cheerfully.
He just glared at her.
“You know that, if you put us in a bedroom and let us lie down, we wouldn’t be bothering you,” she said.
He looked like he would almost consider it; then he shook his head. “No way,” he said. “I’m keeping you right where I can see you.”
“Okay,” she said agreeably. He looked at her suspiciously, but she just sipped her tea. She was totally okay to be here too, because it meant that the men would find them easily. As she sat here, Amy looked at her.
“I don’t know what happened to Gregg,” she said tearfully.
“Just have some faith,” she said, “that this will all work out.”
The guy sneered. “Oh, yeah, it’ll all work out.” And then he gave a big laugh. “Such a loser.”
Amy’s face twisted again.
Astra held up her hand and said, “Don’t bother, Amy. It’ll be fine. Don’t cry.”
Taking several long deep breaths, Amy searched her sister’s face.
Astra tried to give her a reassuring smile, but it was a little hard, considering the asshole remained in the room with them. Astra nodded toward the front door.
Amy frowned at her, looked toward the front door, and back. She raised one eyebrow and then gave a clipped nod. Immediately Amy sank back and stared.
Astra shrugged, sipped her tea, and motioned at Amy’s tea. “Drink up the tea,” she said. “It will make you feel better.” Amy sipped it quietly, as Astra studied the gunman.