Best Man for the Job. Meredith Fletcher

Callan nodded. “Yeah. I hear you.”

      Before Daniel could recover from the rough treatment he’d received, the man turned him around. A second man joined the first. After the first man thrust his machine pistol under the second man’s arm for safekeeping, he reached into one of the large coverall pockets and took out a roll of gray duct tape. He grabbed Daniel’s arms and wound tape around his wrists.

      Another strip of tape covered Daniel’s bloody mouth. The next one covered his eyes.

      Jenny’s voice played in the back of Callan’s mind. Callan, I know this party isn’t your kind of thing, but do it for me. I just want to make sure Daniel stays safe. Those guys can get kind of crazy, but they’re fun crazy. Not bad guys.

      Callan clenched his hands into fists. Work through it. Learn what you can. They’re a unit. Seven guys that you see, gotta be more working support and extraction. They’re smart, efficient. They knew about the bachelor party. They knew who would be here. They knew about me.

      Knowing about him was the biggest surprise. The work he did was kept off the grid. Not even Jenny knew everything. He’d kept that from her, not wanting his world to touch hers because he wanted her safe.

      But he wasn’t sure how many people Jenny had told about her big brother being a soldier. Daniel and Toby had known. Others at the party probably. The info wasn’t secret, though Callan hadn’t spent much time around his sister.

      “Everybody listen.” One of the invaders stepped into the center of the room. Although Callan couldn’t see the man’s mocking smile under the mask, he heard it in the man’s voice. “Staying alive is really simple. You stay in this room after we leave, you live.”

      Callan’s mind raced. He didn’t want to lose sight of Daniel. Getting Daniel back would be harder if his location was unknown. Callan forced himself not to think that Daniel might not be coming back at all.

      The man standing nearest the dancer gestured to her. “I want to take her.”

      A protective urge spread over Callan as he looked at the woman. She looked frozen, wide-eyed with fear, but she watched everything going on.

      She should be more afraid. Callan seized that and kept hold of the thought, turning it around in his mind. Was she a potential victim? Or a partner getting double-crossed? She didn’t cower at all and watched everything.

      The invader that had addressed the room shook his head. “She stays.”

      “She won’t be a problem.”

      “If we’re talking about her in the middle of this, she’s already a problem.”

      The man cursed vehemently and shifted his attention to the dancer. “Sorry, baby. Gotta take a rain check on that. Woulda been fun.”

      Instantly Callan’s suspicions cemented. The woman was part of the kidnapping. She’d changed places with the other performer and set off the flash-bangs.

      “Let’s move.” The speaker waved toward the door and the exit began. A single man went first, followed by Daniel with two men flanking him. The other four followed in quick succession.

      Callan shoved himself to his feet as soon as the door closed.

      “Hey!” Toby waved at him wildly, never moving from the floor. “Get down! You heard what they said!”

      Knowing fear was riding the man hard, Callan ignored him. The clock was in motion and every tick took Daniel farther away from him. Jenny loved Daniel and Callan didn’t want to see his sister hurt.

      The other guests had cell phones and were placing frantic calls to loved ones and to the police. Fearful conversations swelled and filled the room.

      In four quick strides, Callan reached the booby-trapped cake. The woman was already on her feet. God, she was beautiful, seductive. Too bad Callan knew treachery always came in packages like that.

      The woman looked far too calm and collected. That angered Callan.

      She looked at him. “I need a phone. I left mine with my bags.”

      “You don’t need a phone.” Callan clamped a big hand on her wrist. “You’re coming with me.”

      Her eyes blazed. “Coming with you where?”

      “We’re going to get your friends and I’m going to get Daniel back.” Callan started for the door and yanked her after him.

      Eryn couldn’t pull free from Callan’s greater size and strength. His hand felt like an iron band around her wrist. Her hearing still rang from the explosions, and adrenaline fueled her fight or flight instinct till she was just barely able to remain in control.

      Your friends.

      She couldn’t believe that Callan could possibly think she was associated with the men who had just taken Daniel Steadman. Where was the line of logic for that? The man was out of his mind.

      Then she remembered the kidnapper’s efforts to get her to come with them. At the time, she’d been repulsed and afraid the answer would have been yes. She’d had no doubts about what the man intended.

      Evidently Callan hadn’t seen things the same way.

      “I need a phone.” Eryn tried to fight against him, but he dragged her after him like a rag doll without responding. She wanted to scream. She wanted to kick the back of his leg, trip him, then plant a roundhouse kick right into his head. Except that she felt certain the effort wouldn’t have done any good. Callan was big and strong, and all she could do was delay both of them. For the moment, Daniel Steadman was in danger. “I can help if I get a phone.”

      Still on the move, his grip almost tight enough to cut off circulation, Callan pulled her in his wake. His long legs ate up the ground.

      Like most of the members of the bachelor party, Toby still lay on the floor. He had his cell out now and unlocked the screen. Eryn leaned down and plucked the phone from his hands.

      “Hey!” Toby grabbed at her frantically, but she was already out of his reach.

      Even if Eryn had wanted to explain, there wasn’t time. Callan was crossing the room in gigantic strides that caused her to take two to his every one. She had a hard time keeping up in the spike heels, but she managed.

      She clutched the borrowed phone in her hand, then glanced at it briefly to make certain it was one she was familiar with. Knowing that the other guests would be calling the police and, hopefully, hotel security, she pulled up the phone’s camera function.

      Callan barreled through the door and out into the hallway. Eryn hesitated, thinking the gunmen would make good on their promise and leave someone out in the hallway. Irritably, like a cranky parent pulling at a stubborn child, Callan yanked her into motion again.

      “Where are they taking Daniel?” His voice echoed like quiet thunder in the hallway.

      “I don’t know.”

      “They didn’t tell you that part of the plan?”

      She couldn’t believe it and didn’t even want to dignify the question with an answer, but she hoped he would listen. “They didn’t tell me any part of the plan. I’m not—”

      “You just climbed in the cake, set off the flash-bangs?”

      Eryn cursed him inside her mind but kept her verbal anger inside because she knew voicing her observations wouldn’t do any good. Callan was reacting emotionally, obviously worried about the kidnap victim. She remembered what Toby had told her about Callan being overly protective of his sister and how that spread to other people in her life.

      She tried again. “I’m not part of this.”

      Callan shot her a hard-eyed look filled with determination and resolve. That look cut right through her. “You can lie to the police. Not me.”

      “I’m not lying.”

      Switching