Page 35 of Stunts and Sparks

The kidnappers dragged Heather to a second chair that sat right next to Cole’s. Then they taped her to it with her back to the same concrete pillar his own back was against. “Don’t try anything stupid,” one of the kidnappers told her.

Jay spoke up when he heard that. “She won’t take that advice.” He laughed, and Heather clenched her teeth and growled at him. “Stupid stuff is her favorite stuff to try.”

To Heather’s shock, Cole actually laughed at that. Then he said, “You can say that again,” and if Heather’s feet weren’t taped to a chair, she would have kicked him for it. At the same time, she couldn’t help admitting he was right. She had endangered him twice, and it was at least partly her fault he was currently taped to a chair in a warehouse just outside of Los Angeles.

Heather muttered, “Sorry.”

But Cole wasn’t having it. “Don’t be,” he said under his breath. “I’m glad I’m here. We’re getting out of this together, and now, we can take all of them down so they can never do this to anyone else.”

CHAPTER 18

COLE

Maybe Cole was at a disadvantage this time, but he was convinced there was still hope. He didn’t believe in coincidences. So, to Cole, there was a reason he was the person who happened to be on a date with Heather the first time she was taken. And there was a reason, this time, he had been taken along with her. There was a reason that a person who was trained in combat was the one who just happened to be taken and placed beside her in the kidnappers’ den.

The kidnappers were busy, meeting in the office space to talk amongst themselves, but they were still too aware of what Heather and Cole were doing. Heather and Cole would have to wait to make their move. In the meantime, Cole couldn’t help himself. Getting under Heather’s skin was a sport he was beginning to truly enjoy. Not only that, though, he needed her riled up for what was coming next. He needed her angry and brave.

“Just so we’re clear,” he said to her. “I was right, and…”

She turned to look at him with the harshest look he’d ever received from her.Good. But she didn’t stay mad, and thatwas the opposite of what Cole wanted. “I said I was sorry,” she muttered.

“I don’t care that you’re sorry,” he said. “I just want an acknowledgment that I was right, and you were…” He held on the last syllable for a bit to emphasize that he wanted her to finish his sentence for him.

She bowed her head and closed her eyes for a moment. He thought maybe she’d finally been brought down too low. As cautious as she was, she had always seemed like a hopeful, feisty person, and he’d loved that about her, which was probably why he loved the fact that she finally finished his sentence with, “Moreright.”

Cole burst out laughing, and that unfortunately drew the attention of the kidnappers. He cursed under his breath, waiting for them to go back to what they were doing before he’d given himself away. When the kidnappers were finally satisfied that Cole hadn’t escaped or anything, he muttered back at her, “There’s my girl. Thought I’d lost you for a second there. Hang tight now. I’m working on getting us out of here.”

That wasn’t a lie. He’d been working at the binds on his wrists the entire time he’d been sitting there. He’d almost worked his way out of the tape when the kidnappers noticed and handcuffed him instead. He could have told him that was the wrong choice, because Cole knew how to get out of handcuffs better than he knew how to get out of duct tape. Usually, duct tape required some force and momentum, which required some range of motion, or a blade of some kind. He had neither. But the second they switched the tape for handcuffs, his life got a whole lot easier.

Now, he didn’t need momentum or a blade. He just had to work his thumbs out of their sockets and back in again, which was something he’d actually done before. The kidnappers couldn’t have known that Cole had this very specific skill, but they had played right into it, and now, he felt overconfident in his ability to escape. Taking Heather with him was going to be the tricky part.

Quietly, he worked his hands out of the cuffs but kept them behind his back. To take Heather, he was going to need time to release her, and the men in the office glanced their way about every thirty seconds or so. There wasn’t going to be a way for him to leave his seat and cut the tape around her wrists and ankles before they noticed him. Somehow, he needed to get the upper hand.

“I need to get you out of that chair,” he whispered.

She leaned back and whispered, “How?”

“That’s what I’m trying to figure out. We don’t have a lot of time. The second I get over there and start taking the tape off, they’re going to notice.”

She took a deep breath, and he knew, without her having to say anything, that she understood him.

“I need your help,” he said, watching the men behind the office windows glance his way again. “You spent some time with these people. Which member of the gang is the most valuable here? Who would be the most useful hostage?”

“Oh,” she said. She thought for a moment before answering. “The leader is a guy named Stan. He has a nephew, the guy in the nice suit. I imagine either one of them would be a good option.”

Cole deliberated between the two options and decided on the leader. After all, his affection for his nephew might not really exist. But the rest of them? Their loyalty to their leader was one hundred percent real. “Which one is he?” he asked.

“The one with the receding hairline,” she said. “Not the bald one. The other one.”

“Can you get him over here?”

“I can try.”

He winked at her. “I leave it to you then. Get him over here, and tell him I’ve gotten out of my handcuffs.”

“Why?”

“You’ll see. Just try to trust me.”

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