Unnerved, she shivered. “Ranch?” That was worse than she could have imagined, and fresh panic set in. “I demand to talk to Hawkeye this instant.”
“Demand all you want, little lady.”
She refused to leave town, the pub, and be somewhere remote for an indeterminate amount of time with the cowboy shadowing her twenty-four seven. “No. No.” She shook her head. “It’s impossible. I’m needed here. And Hawkeye knows it.” Struggling for breath, she pushed back against him. “We can work something out, I’m sure.”
“You can take it up with him.”
“Now we’re getting somewhere. Let me get my phone out of my purse.” And figure out how to get in my car and drive like hell.
“Not until we’re on the road.” He looped his massive hands around her much smaller wrists and drew them behind her.
“Ouch! Release me immediately!”
Though he didn’t hurt her, his grip was uncompromising. “As soon as you agree to get in my truck without struggling.”
“Look, Mr.—” God. I don’t know your name. And like the asshole he was, he didn’t fill in the missing information.
“We’re done talking.”
She stamped her foot on his instep, and he didn’t even grunt, frustrating the hell out of her.
“Please get in my truck, Elissa.”
Since he was immovable, she tried another approach, pleading with his better self. “I’m begging you. Don’t do this. Let me go home.” Elissa turned her head, trying to see him over her shoulder. Because of his hat and the darkness of the moonless and cloud-filled sky, his expression was unreadable. “You can follow me to my place.” The lie easily rolled off her tongue. Anything to get away.
“Within the next five seconds, you’ll be given two options, Ms. Conroy. One, you can come with me willingly.”
“And the other?”
“You can come with me unwillingly.”
“Option C. None of the above.” With all her might, she shoved back, but he tightened his grip to the point of hurting her.
As if on cue, a big black truck—his, no doubt—pulled into view. Since he didn’t react, it obviously meant Hawkeye had sent more than one person to deal with her. “This is absurd.”
The vehicle, with no lights on, pulled to a stop nearby.
“I’ll need your keys, Ms. Conroy.”
She shook her head in defiance.
“Always going to do things the hard way?”
Since he was still holding her wrists, it was ridiculously easy for him to pry apart her fingers and take the fob from her.
“Has anyone ever told you that you’re annoying as hell?”
A woman slid from the cab of the still-running pickup and left the driver’s side door open a crack. A gentle chime echoed around them, while light spilled from the interior, allowing Elissa to make out a few of the new arrival’s features.
Dressed all in black, she was about the same height and build as Elissa. She even had long dark hair.
“Perimeter is still clear.” Then in a cheery voice, she went on. “I see you haven’t lost your way with the ladies, Commander.”
He growled, all alpha male and frustration. “You’re here to help, Fagan.”
“That’s exactly what I’m doing.”
The cowboy eased his hold a little.
“Sorry for the caveman’s actions, ma’am. I’m Agent Kayla Fagan. And I’m afraid Commander Walker needs a remedial training class in diplomacy.”
Walker. First name? Or last? “Diplomacy? Is that what you call an abduction?”
He remained implacable. “I have my orders, and Ms. Conroy wasn’t interested in talking.”
Bastard. “His behavior needs to be reported to Hawkeye.”
“I’ll let you do that yourself,” Kayla replied. “But honestly, I’d like to listen in.”
“Get out of here, Fagan.” He kept his body against hers while somehow managing to toss her keys to Kayla.
“Wait! You look so much like me you could be my double.”
“That’s the plan. Fagan will make it appear as if you’re following your normal routine this evening while we get away. When we’re on the road, you can talk to Hawkeye and make a strategic plan for opening the bar.” Walker’s tone was uncompromising.
The infuriating men had planned out everything.
Kayla opened the car door and slid into the driver’s seat.
“Time’s up, ma’am.”
“Could you be any more condescending?”
“As I said, we can do this the hard way or the easy way. Your choice.”
Determinedly Elissa set her chin. “I’m not going with you.”
In a move so calculated and fast that she had no time to react, he took her purse from her, then yanked her around to face him. As if he’d done it a million times, he swept her off her feet, then hauled her into the air.
The Neanderthal tossed her over his shoulder, and she landed against his rigid body with so much force that breath rushed out of her lungs, stunning her into silence.
“The hard way it is.”
Chapter Two
“Go buy yourself a one-way ticket straight to hell.” In the darkness of the truck’s interior, Elissa glared at her captor. A minute ago, they’d pulled into a twenty-four-hour fuel stop, and he’d parked away from security cameras, in the shadows from the lights. Then he’d outlined his rules—rules she had no intention of following. “I mean it. There’s no way—no fucking way—that you’re going into the bathroom with me.”
As implacable as usual, he regarded her. “In that case, we’ll continue on. You can pee on the side of the road, but that won’t be happening until we leave I-70.” He lifted a shoulder in a small shrug, indicating he didn’t give a damn whichever decision she made. “Hawkeye would prefer we limit law enforcement contact, and that’s always a possibility if I pull over onto the side of the road. We should have our story straight. Could always say you’re my pregnant wife who couldn’t wait for the next town.”
With a gasp, she folded her arms across her middle.
During the twenty minutes they’d been driving, he remained mostly silent, responding to her questions with irritating-as-hell half answers. He refused to let her have her purse or her phone. Other than saying that they were driving toward his ranch and that it was located in Colorado, he hadn’t provided any further details.
“I don’t want to lose time. Make a decision.”
Commander Walker had already proven he was a hard-ass. Things were going to be his way or his way. Maddening.
While she didn’t need the facilities right away, it was only a matter of time. And this place, on the far western side of the city, was the last reliably clean restroom for miles. “Fine.”
With a tight nod, he reached into the back to grab a duffel bag. “There’s some clothes in there for you.”
“I’m not—”
“If you want to get out of this truck, you are.”
She wasn’t sure which one of them to kill first. Her kidnapper or Hawkeye. Either way, the act was going to be joyful.