The Billionaire's Secret: Billionaire Obsession (Tycoon Billionaires Book 5) (17 page)

A couple of hours later, Jake and Astrid met Daniel down the street from the mansion where the kidnapper’s calls had been coming from. Daniel had brought along some surveillance equipment in his car, and he seemed to be playing along as requested – at least at the moment. Jake knew he was only helping because he was thinking about the treasure. He probably planned to demand Jake hand over the map after they’d gotten Emma back. But that wasn’t going to happen. Jake wasn’t going to be blackmailed by the likes of Daniel. Especially not after he’d stabbed him in the back like that in the NYPD.

Jake pushed away his fuming desire for revenge on that particular stunt, and stared at the mansion that stood at the end of a gravel driveway like a house in a horror movie. The gray stone bricks were sturdier than time, and the pitched black roof that pointed up to the blue sky seemed to threaten the surrounding peaceful atmosphere with its spiky turrets and steel girders. It was inherently creepy – standing there by the river, looking like it belonged in an age of ghost stories and superstition.

Jake found a good place for them to hide – a grassy incline that overlooked the house and obscured them. They all gathered around Daniel’s car and gazed at the mansion – safe from observation by anyone inside. With any luck, this would be a surprise ambush on the kidnapper.
If
he was in there.

“All right,” Jake said to Astrid and Daniel. “You two stay here. I’ll go inside and look around.”

Astrid grabbed his shirt. “I’m worried about you, Jake. What if he’s in there? I don’t want you to get hurt.”

He caressed her cheek. “I’ll be okay. I can take care of myself. We’ve got to think of Emma’s safety now. My only desire is to ensure she’s back with you by the end of all this.”

“Thank you.” She lowered her voice, not wanting Daniel to overhear. “But I’m so scared to lose you now I’ve only just found you.”

“Hey, sweetheart, I’m not going anywhere. Not now I’ve finally found something to live for.”

Her eyes welled with tears as she pressed herself against him. “Please don’t let anything happen to you.”

He wrapped his arms around her. “Astrid, darling, I’ve already been shot twice and survived. Someone up there’s looking out for me. And I can assure you, it won’t be third time lucky – I’m not ready to die yet.”

She buried her face in his strong chest. “Just don’t do anything stupid.”

“I’ll get your sister back. And then we’ve got the rest of our lives to worry about each other. Okay?”

Daniel cleared his throat. “Shouldn’t we be getting on with this?”

Astrid stepped back and composed herself. “Yeah.”

Jake gazed at her. Somehow she seemed braver; stronger. He was so proud of how far she’d come in the last few days – facing danger
and
facing her own inner demons. And she’d helped him face his too. But right now, he needed to harden his heart and keep his mind focused on the job.

“The kidnapper doesn’t know who
I
am,” Jake said. “Presumably not anyway. So I should be able to go in there and take a look around without raising too much suspicion.”

“All right,” Astrid said, steeling herself. “We’ll monitor you from back here.”

Her demeanor hardened as she stood tall and called on her inner-marine. She grabbed a couple of two-way radio mics and earpieces from Daniel’s car. “Here, Jake, you take one of these. We’ll stay in contact with you at all times and keep on an eye on things from back here.”

Impressed with how she was suddenly taking the lead, Jake took the earpiece and mic and put it on. The earpiece fitted snugly into his ear, and the mic clipped onto his shirt, which hopefully wouldn’t look too conspicuous if and when he confronted Graves… or Simon… or whoever was controlling this whole thing. Whoever it was, Jake was ready to fight them for Emma’s safe return.

Daniel took the other earpiece and mic and fitted them to his person, then he gazed directly into Jake’s eyes, as if to assure him he could be trusted. Somehow, Jake would’ve preferred to stay in communication with Astrid, but he figured Daniel was a cop with a lot of training – surely he wouldn’t allow his personal vendettas get in the way of justice. No disrespect to Astrid, but perhaps Daniel
would
be more useful in a surveillance situation than a health-and-safety officer. Especially one related to the victim.

He grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze. “I’ll be right back. See you on the other side.”

She smiled. “Just get my sister for me.”

“I will.”

“And don’t let anything happen to you.”

He kissed her on the lips, no longer caring about their audience. “Not while I’ve got you out here waiting for me.”

“Come on, Astrid,” Daniel said, getting into position. “We can monitor him from back here.”

Jake strode away from them, driven by his desire to rescue Emma then get back to Astrid as soon as possible. He crept down the long gravel driveway toward the house, and halted on the doorstep, resting his hand on his gun for reassurance. He gazed at the gothic front door, wondering how best to break in quietly and subtly, but then he realized the door was ajar, so he pushed it. It creaked open slowly. Wary tingles prickled the back of his neck. Why the hell was the front door unlocked? No one was expecting him... Were they?

He shook away his doubts and stepped inside. The front door led directly to the main reception room, which was eerily quiet, dimly lit, and clearly not lived in. Or if it
was
lived in, it appeared to be occupied by Count Dracula. The old oil paintings on the dusty stone walls seemed to be watching him. The couch and furnishings were antique, heavy, and gothic, and the ancient hunting trophies gave him the creeps.

His earpiece crackled. “You there, Jake?” Daniel asked.

“Yeah,” he whispered. “I’m inside…”

He gripped his gun and walked further in, stepping on a creaky floorboard and trying to remain as quiet as possible. He glanced around for any clues, then spotted a cell phone, which looked out of place on the mahogany writing desk. He crept over to it, wondering whether this was the phone the kidnapper had been using to communicate with Astrid. He reached out to pick it up, and jumped with surprise as it rang. A ringing phone would draw attention to anyone else here – and he knew he should just end the call. But something in his gut told him to answer it… perhaps whoever this was might give him a clue…

He spoke quietly, so as not to draw attention. “Hello?”

“Hello, Jake.”

His muscles tensed – someone knew he was here. “Who’s this?”

His voice was gravelly – disguised. “I’m with Emma. I knew you’d trace my calls back to here. I wasn’t sure if you’d fall into my trap… but here you are.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“I’ve baited you – imagine that, the great detective being baited by
me
.”

A chill tingled down Jake’s spine as he realized without a doubt who he was speaking to. “What do you want, Graves? Why are you holding Emma?”

“I want my technology approved. I don’t like being told I’m wrong.”

“Is
that
all you want? That’s why you’ve taken Emma hostage?”

“Yes. That and fifty thousand dollars ransom.

“What’s Simon got to do with all this?”

“Money. Revenge. You name it, he’s into it. But I did make it clear I wanted to only deal with Astrid. So now you’ll have to die.”

Jake’s heart thumped hard in his chest, unable to believe he’d just walked straight into Graves’ trap. He knew Daniel would be hearing his side of the conversation over the radio, but what could
he
do? Something in Jake’s gut told him to leave right now. But if Emma was
here
with Graves, he wasn’t going to abandon her. He hung up the phone and crept further inside.

****

The exhilaration of this situation was making Astrid’s foot jiggle of its own volition. She felt like a soldier as she lay on her front on the grass overlooking the mansion, propped up by the elbows, watching through her binoculars. Her hands were shaking, but she wasn’t sure whether it was because of fear or excitement. She glanced at Daniel who was strewn on his elbows next to her.

“What’s happening now?” she asked, frustrated that she was unable to hear what was going on inside. 

Daniel stared through his binoculars, listening intently. “Jesus, I think Graves is on the phone.”

Dread surged into Astrid’s heart. “Graves? So he
is
involved. What’s he saying?”

“I don’t know, I can only hear Jake’s side of the call.”

“Well, what’s Jake saying?”

“He’s gone quiet.”

“For god’s sake, Daniel. What was Jake saying when he
was
talking?”

Daniel ignored her and muttered to himself – gaze fixed straight ahead. Astrid watched the house through her binoculars, waiting to see what was going to happen next. A movement by the side of the house seized her attention, and she gasped as she realized two tough-looking guys were jogging toward the building with their guns drawn. They disappeared behind the back of the house.

“Shit, Daniel, who are those guys?”

His binoculars were fixed on the other side of the house. “I didn’t see any guys.”

She punched him in the arm. “You asshole, have you set Jake up?”

Daniel lowered his binoculars and glared at her. “Of course not. You’re seeing things –
I
didn’t see any men.”

Astrid wasn’t sure whether to believe him, but suddenly that didn’t matter. All she knew was that she needed to get Jake out of there, so she leaned over and shouted into Daniel’s mic. “Jake, you’ve been busted! A couple of guys have just disappeared around the back of the house. I think you’re in trouble!”

Daniel leaned away from her and spoke calmly into the mic himself. “No, it’s fine, Jake, she’s seeing things. You carry on.”

Astrid’s stomach churned with worry. “What did he say?”

“He asked why you’re making so much noise. Shut the fuck up will you?”

“No, I know I saw two guys disappearing around the back – I may not be a cop like you, but I’m not blind or stupid. If they catch Jake they’ll kill him. Tell him to get out of there now!”

Daniel’s tone was condescending. “Astrid, leave this to the experts, will you? Your fear’s making you hallucinate.”

Astrid raised her binoculars. Her heart pounded hard as she saw the two guys re-appear from behind the house and speed back the way they’d come – as if they were expecting something bad to happen. “They know – they know he’s in there. This is a trap! Tell him to get out.”

Daniel’s face had gone pale. “Oh shit…”

“You saw them that time, right?”

He covered his mic. “I saw them. “But… let’s just give him a minute. Jake might find your sister. We can’t pull out now.”

“But what about those two guys? We can’t just
not
tell him about them.”

“They’re gone now, right? We can’t pull him out now – this might be his last chance.”

Astrid’s mind became crystal clear and all her fear dissipated. For the first time in years, she could sense
true
danger – not just her trigger-fears – but suddenly she wasn’t afraid. “Daniel, there’s something wrong…”

“I said leave it to the experts.”

Astrid’s frustration broke and she punched him on the arm. “Tell him to pull back, you asshole. Your quest for glory isn’t worth Jake’s life.”

“Just a little bit longer.”

Infuriated, she grabbed the earpiece from Daniel’s ear and the mic from his shirt. Daniel wrestled with her, but Astrid refused to let him beat her. She pried the mic from Daniel’s grip, and shouted, “Jake, pull back! Get out of there now. They know about you. It’s a trap! Do you read me? Pull back.”

Jake’s voice crackled. “I read you, Astrid. Pulling back now.”

She glued her gaze to the house desperately waiting for him to appear before anything terrible happened. Time melted around her, and the seconds were sliced up by the sound of her heart pounding in her ears.

“You’ve just fucked everything up,” Daniel said, sulkily.

“Shut up, Daniel. You only care about yourself.”

“Astrid, you –”

“There he is!” Her heart squeezed with relief as she saw Jake at the front door, creeping away from the house, trying to be stealthy.

She exhaled – realizing she’d been holding her breath. She was disappointed they hadn’t rescued Emma, but she was so glad to see her love, heading toward them, almost halfway back up the driveway. She opened her mouth to speak, but the startling sound of a window smashing made her flinch – seizing every inch of her attention. Her blood froze in terror as she realized the mansion was exploding – those guys had planted a bomb! Time slowed to a slur, stretching seconds to infinity, as her thoughts wrapped around Jake and his well-being. But she was helpless and could only watch as he propelled himself away from the ear-splitting explosion – fleeing for his life, rushing back to the safety of their hiding place.