High-Risk Rescue, page 1
“I always have a backup plan...”
Hannah’s eyes widened as Ayden ushered her out the office door. The men would be here any moment, and he was surprised they were not already upon them.
“Wait! I can’t go yet.” Hannah pulled her hand free and then dashed back toward the office.
The elevator dinged.
Before those doors could open, he had to get her out of here. They would not be taking the elevators.
“There’s no time!” He grabbed her by the waist and hauled her through the exit and into the stairwell.
Just in time.
Bullets flew. Gunfire beat against the door and into the stairwell, banging the rails. Hannah kicked and screamed on his shoulder as he carried her and fired his gun to cover their escape.
“Put me down!”
“You’re not going back in there,” he muttered.
He set her down and together they continued running up the stairs. Stairwells and corridors. Again.
Behind him, Hannah gasped for breath. “Where are we going?”
“The top floor.”
“What? Why? We’ll be trapped!”
“Trust me.”
Elizabeth Goddard is the award-winning author of more than thirty novels and novellas. A 2011 Carol Award winner, she was a double finalist in the 2016 Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense and a 2016 Carol Award finalist. Elizabeth graduated with a computer science degree and worked in high-level software sales before retiring to write full-time.
Books by Elizabeth Goddard
Love Inspired Suspense
Honor Protection Specialists
High-Risk Rescue
Mount Shasta Secrets
Deadly Evidence
Covert Cover-Up
Taken in the Night
High Stakes Escape
Coldwater Bay Intrigue
Thread of Revenge
Stormy Haven
Distress Signal
Running Target
Wilderness, Inc.
Targeted for Murder
Undercover Protector
False Security
Wilderness Reunion
Visit the Author Profile page at LoveInspired.com for more titles.
High-Risk Rescue
Elizabeth Goddard
The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.
—Proverbs 18:10
To Jesus. Thank you for being my strong tower.
Acknowledgments:
Special thanks to my wonderful editor, Shana Asaro, who believes in my stories and makes them shine brighter. Also, I couldn’t do this without the continual encouragement from my writing friends. You know who you are, and you’ve been there holding me up through the good times and the bad times for going on twenty years! Also, I owe so much to Steve Laube for believing in me early on and pushing me forward. It’s hard to believe that you signed me over ten years ago! The future is bright!
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Dear Reader
Excerpt from Abduction in the Dark by Jenna Night
ONE
Hannah Kahn had the strongest sense she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. She wasn’t ready to fulfill this role as personal assistant to Alfred Stevens, CEO of Greenco, so soon.
But she’d wanted this, hadn’t she? She’d worked hard to land this position and wanted to prove herself. Still, she hadn’t counted on Kristen Mayer—the assistant under whom Hannah had been training—to go on maternity leave early when her doctor ordered her to be put on bed rest for the remainder of her pregnancy.
Now Hannah almost felt like she was being set up for failure. Lifting her shoulders, she blew out a breath and banished the ill-timed self-doubts and worries. Forced confidence into her steps and hoped against hope that this newfound conviction would flood the rest of her body. And she needed it to happen soon...because as of right now, her clammy palms slicked against the tablet that held her notes and her heart was pounding wildly in her chest as she tried to wrap her mind around the fact that her title had abruptly changed from assistant-in-training to press secretary for this important event.
“A defining day in the life of my company,” Mr. Stevens had told her moments before they’d entered the hotel where they would make the announcement.
Yes, she was definitely in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Her heels clicked on the floor as she followed her boss down the hall of the posh convention center slash hotel and through a side door to make his big announcement to the press that Greenco was going public. He’d insisted making a big splash was important to set the stage for the future.
Shadowing them both, the bodyguard hovered near them like a wingman. Mr. Stevens had hired protection and apparently the founder of Honor Protection Specialists himself was providing services.
But of all the people on Planet Earth, why, oh why, did it have to be Ayden Honor? Even her fake confidence had faltered the moment her employer had “introduced” them. Oh, they already knew each other all right. They’d been together and madly in love until she’d broken things off for reasons that she could never tell him.
Ayden’s facial expression hadn’t changed, but she’d recognized the stunned look in his eyes. The shock and even...anger.
Why did he have to be here today, of all days?
He looked better today than when they’d been an item years ago. Maybe a little rougher around the edges—more experience reflected in his deep brown eyes. A tendril of attraction shivered through her. Were his shoulders broader now, or was she seeing things? She sighed inwardly. He still had that strong, stubbled jaw and devastatingly handsome profile, and as her eyes drifted up to take in his thick, dark hair, her heart skipped a beat. She remembered how much she’d loved weaving her fingers through it...
Enough!
Personally knowing the bodyguard didn’t do anything to help her feel better about the fact that her boss thought it necessary to hire protection. Protection? From what or whom?
The moment she’d been informed that he had employed a bodyguard, her anxiety had ramped up. But Hannah had ample practice in keeping her cool under pressure. Maybe it was like Mr. Stevens had said—one could never be too careful. This was their big day, after all. Hence, he’d recruited Ayden out of an abundance of caution.
Ayden had watched the earlier exchange and Hannah thought she’d read suspicion in his eyes. He wasn’t quite buying into Mr. Stevens’s explanation, either. Something about his deep piercing eyes that seemed to see right through her left her unnerved, as if he could tell that she wasn’t qualified to be working with this emerging tech company. At least not yet. But worse, her skin crawled with the thought that her ex might be able to see right through her to know what she’d done years ago.
Just breathe... Ayden can’t know.
No one knew about what happened except for one other person.
But she shouldn’t be wasting precious moments thinking about what she couldn’t change. All her focus needed to be on the next few moments of her life that could make or break her future.
She mentally ran through her list of responses to possible questions she could be asked as impromptu press secretary then concentrated on the platform that Mr. Stevens slowly approached. In his midforties, he was a man at the top of his game. Rich and successful. Handsome and happily married. This morning, he cut a striking figure in his black tailored Italian suit and a red power tie. Which seemed fitting for the occasion since he’d made no secret of the fact that he’d been dreaming of and planning for this day for months. Yet while she hadn’t known him long, she got the feeling that even Mr. Stevens had a crack in his own confidence. Did the sweat beading at his temples—something she’d never seen on him before—have something to do with the reason he’d hired Ayden? None of that was reassuring.
At the podium, Hannah stood just behind her boss’s left shoulder.
Bright lights shined in her eyes, but she resisted the urge to squint and frown, and instead, kept a small curve in her lips. No big smiles just yet. She projected the required confident, quiet professional look and focused on everything the CEO said.
Or tried to...
Her mouth grew dry and her throat tight as nerves fluttered through her once again. She’d wanted an important job... But behind the scenes. Not front and center in the midst of the main event.
Alfred Stevens was a charismatic man, and a dynamic speaker. Greenco—a geographic information system software company that would change the future by helping design energy efficient cities, clean water systems and more—was
That she would be standing next to him seemed surreal. Flicking her eyes to the left, she risked a glimpse at Ayden, who stood in the shadows and out of the limelight, but close enough to act if required. His cool eyes stared at her, measuring her. But she had to be mistaken. Of course he wasn’t looking at her specifically. He was looking at everyone. Waiting and watching for possible danger. She obviously happened to glance his way at the same moment he looked at her.
As Mr. Stevens droned on about the path he’d taken to build the company, Hannah directed her attention on the group of invited reporters, as well as the gathered crowd of company employees and public spectators, which appeared larger than she would have expected. But what did she know about press conferences? She was about to get serious on-the-job experience. At least the expressions told her the crowd was congenial rather than antagonistic.
Still... Hannah struggled to shake the sense that she was out of her league.
That voice from the past crept in out of nowhere.
“You’re not good enough...”
Why now? God, please help me!
This was her moment to prove herself, and she had to shut down the self-doubt. She had to make her mother proud. After all, she was doing this for Momma as much as herself.
She recalled her mother’s words, meant to instill confidence. You’re braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think...
Hannah could do this. She was here for a reason. She’d worked hard and she was putting her best professional foot forward.
She should just imagine everyone in the audience wearing clown noses.
Mr. Stevens cleared his throat.
Hannah focused intently on his next words, in which he would announce the company was going public. What came next would be the most challenging part. She would hear question upon question and Mr. Stevens would likely call on her to answer them. She had notes to which she could refer, but she wasn’t sure why he’d prepped her for this, since he was here and could respond to those same questions himself. Maybe to generate more buzz and add texture to his news. Or...did he plan to walk out and leave her to deal with the reporters all by herself? At the thought, her heart jumped to her throat.
She was supposed to be an assistant, not a press secretary. But somehow she would make it through this day.
“And now for the reason I gathered you here this morning. It has been my greatest privilege to build Greenco to what it is today, my greatest honor to work with so many brilliant employees, many of whom I’ve called friends. But it is with great regret that I...”
Wait. What was he going to say? What could he regret? Uncertainty lodged in her gut, churning up her anxiety.
“I’m...resigning as CEO.” His voice croaked out the words as if he hadn’t intended them.
The room fell silent.
Cameras flashed, breaking through the bright spotlights shining on Mr. Stevens. Shining on them both.
Panic engulfed Hannah. What? He was...resigning? That wasn’t what he was supposed to say! She wasn’t prepared to answer questions about his resignation.
He turned to look at her, gesturing it was her turn at the podium. His eyes pled with her, and she might have imagined an apology there. Regardless, she remained frozen in place where his words had immobilized her.
She was failing her first test miserably. But it wasn’t fair. He hadn’t prepared her for this news that clearly stunned everyone.
A shout pulled her out of her dumbfounded state as screams erupted.
“Bomb! There’s a bomb!”
* * *
Ayden Honor didn’t have to think. His experience as a special agent with the US Diplomatic Security Service had primed him to deal with just about anything, but he couldn’t deny his shock when someone had shouted that there was a bomb. Or his complete and utter surprise when Hannah Kahn had entered the office and his new client, Alfred Stevens, had introduced his right-hand “man.” But Ayden would have to deal with his reaction to seeing Hannah later. Much later. All his attention tunneled in around what was happening at this very moment, while his mind scrambled for answers. Had Stevens expected something like a bomb threat to go down? If so, he should have given Ayden a heads-up and been totally honest about the risk factors.
Regardless, his instincts had kicked in even as these unsettling thoughts whirled through his brain.
The crowd of reporters and employees erupted in screams and utter chaos. Gripped with fear and panic, each person was out to save his or her own life and dashed toward one of two exits.
Ayden focused on protecting Mr. Stevens. The man hadn’t hired him to specifically protect Hannah, but that came without saying, as far as Ayden was concerned.
Time seemed to slow as he rushed forward to grab Hannah and Mr. Stevens. Bright green eyes that he’d never forgotten had grown huge and Hannah’s mouth hung open. She appeared shell-shocked and just stood there, unmoving, with her long, auburn, perfectly curled hair cascading around her shoulders, as people swelled around her toward the exits at the front and the back of the room. But Stevens had reacted the same—like he was too stunned to move.
The man suddenly snapped out of it and took in the scene as if preparing his escape. Ayden cut across the dais, weaving through those who’d surged toward the exit on this side of the room—the private entrance onto the platform.
He had wanted to stand much closer during the announcement, but the CEO wouldn’t have it. The man’s decision had now resulted in people swarming around Stevens and Hannah before Ayden could. That would never happen again on his watch. Before Ayden was able to reach them, Stevens turned and grabbed Hannah’s hand, showing in that moment that he cared for someone other than himself. But an instant later, Ayden was on them both, seizing their arms and shielding them in a protective stance. He urged them toward the back of the room where, unfortunately, a choke point had formed.
The crowd bottlenecked at the doors, rushing them, pushing them forward toward the same exit. This was the closest one, and nothing could be gained by trying to go against the grain and head for the other, equally crammed exit across the room.
The bodies crushed around them, even in a crowd of maybe two hundred people or less.
Ayden didn’t like being in this position. Not one bit. But he continued to rush Stevens and Hannah forward, while also keeping an eye out for those around him. Someone could have shouted bomb to create exactly this kind of scenario and that could put the offender close enough to Stevens to cause bodily harm.
The CEO had to have suspected something like this might transpire.
But Ayden would save his ire for later. Right now, lives were at stake.
The press of bodies was uncomfortable, but worse was not knowing if there was actually a bomb and if there was, when it would go off.
Though he wanted to protect everyone surrounding them, he’d been hired to protect Stevens.
Lord, help me protect others. Guide me!
People pressed in around them, moving toward the door. Hotel alarms blared, ramping up the fear and congestion. Ahead in the hallway, he could see people pouring out of the hotel. Patrons and employees. Some environmental conference was also in play, and those attendees fled as well.
Unfortunately, this was an optimal place to plant a bomb if maximum impact was desired.
A woman fell near the door and cried out for help.
His gut clenched when those behind her didn’t stop but instead rushed over her.
“Help her. What’s the matter with you?” Ayden barked out to those up ahead.
“We can’t stop for her,” Stevens said. “I hired you to protect me.”
“We aren’t leaving her.” If Ayden stopped to help her, he could risk them all getting hurt, but he couldn’t leave her. “We’re almost there. I’m going to scoop her up as we go, but we stick together. You hear me?”
Hannah nodded, her terrified eyes focused on the young woman as others continued to disregard her fallen form. Fortunately, she wouldn’t have to endure more abuse.
“You’re here to shield me, not everyone else!” Stevens growled at Ayden, desperation and fear in his voice.
