“You said you wanted a trade.” She tried not to flinch as Sean carelessly waved the gun in the air before retraining it toward her and Zane. She kept Zane’s back to Sean while she faced him, her body beside Zane’s chair. If Sean was going to shoot Zane, he’d have to come through her first.
“Surely you aren’t that ignorant, Ellie,” Sean answered. “If I let you go, then what? I’d be on the run for the rest of my life. That’s not the way I have things planned. I kill both of you, and by the time they find your bodies, I’ll be on my way out of the country. I have a charter waiting, and I can sell scientific discoveries anywhere. A million dollars can go a long way to setting me up where I’ll be safe.”
“Zane’s family will hunt you down like a hound dog on the scent of a rabbit. They’d chase your ass to the end of the Earth if they had to,” Ellie hissed.
“There are places that even the Colters can’t reach. Besides, they can’t prove that you two didn’t have a little domestic dispute and ended up with a murder/suicide situation. I can make it look that way.”
“They already know you have him as a hostage.”
“They’d have to prove I killed you both. Believe me, I’ll cover my tracks.”
Sean raised the gun to follow through on his murderous intentions. Then, everything happened at once.
Ellie slammed into Zane’s chair with her body, pushing it so hard that they both landed on the other side of the room as Sean’s gunshot exploded, hitting the area where she and Zane had just been positioned, shattering the glass in the office window in the process.
From her vantage point on the floor, Ellie tried to take in the situation. Evidently, Marcus must have let go of the heavy metal grille to the vent system, the hit to the head disorientating Sean, before Marcus came down right on top of him and subdued him. Tate followed, dropping into the fray. Lara swung off to the side, landing on her feet on the carpeted floor, and drew her handgun.
Not having a single doubt that Marcus, Tate, and Lara could handle Sean, Ellie turned her attention to Zane, finding some scissors and a pocket knife in Sean’s desk drawers to start cutting the bindings.
She pulled the tape off his mouth first, which, in hindsight, was a big mistake.
“What in the fuck did you think you were doing? I told you to call the police. You had to have known he wasn’t likely to let either one of us go. Why did you do this, Ellie? I asked you not to do it.” Zane was furious, but there was also fear in his eyes.
Ellie had cut through the substantial twine and rope around Zane’s body and worked through some of the knots. “I swear if you say another word, I’ll put the tape back on your mouth again,” she warned as she put some muscle into cutting one of his ties.
Out of the corner of her eye, she could see that Marcus and Tate had easily subdued Sean. Police officers barreled through the door, and she heard Tate mumble, “Right on time,” as the officers took over custody of the struggling madman.
“Just tell me why? I could fucking handle that asshole killing me, but not you,” Zane growled.
Ellie sawed and jerked on a particularly tight piece of rope as she answered, “Well, I couldn’t handle him killing you. It would have been like he killed me, too. Even though you aren’t being particularly pleasant right now, I love your stubborn ass, Zane Colter, and I wasn’t about to give up on you. You never gave up on me.” Ellie spoke her mantra again, hoping it would be the last time she needed to say it.
The rope finally gave, and she was able to finally free Zane from his prison. He had to be sore. He hadn’t been able to move all night.
Marcus, Tate, and Lara ran over to Zane the moment the police took Sean out of the office in handcuffs.
“You okay?” Marcus asked, frowning as he saw the blood coming from Zane’s head and the bruises on his face.
“Did you just tell me that you love me?” Zane questioned, his gaze focused on Ellie.
“Yes. I’m tired of not saying it, so I’ll say it again. I love you, Zane Colter, and you couldn’t expect me to sit and do nothing.”
“I love you, too,” Zane replied huskily. “Not telling you that was my only regret.”
Ellie’s heart soared as she looked at him. “Marcus asked if you were okay?” she reminded him, since he’d completely ignored his brother. “Can you stand?”
“Of course,” Zane said arrogantly as he started to rise from his chair.
Luckily, Tate and Marcus were there to catch Zane’s body as he fell, the two of them laying him gently on the ground.
“Sorry. I guess I got dizzy,” Zane mumbled, his eyes closed.
Marcus probed Zane’s injuries. “He has some pretty bad gashes and lumps. I think we need an ambulance. He probably has a concussion.”
“Already on the way,” Lara answered as she stuffed her phone back in her pocket, obviously having already called for help.
“I’m going to be so pissed when I’m not so damn dizzy,” Zane muttered. “Ellie and Lara definitely shouldn’t have been here, and neither should any of my family. You should have just called the police. And how in the hell did you get my laptop?”
“You have one brother who was Special Forces, another who is a CIA operative, and a sister-in-law who is an ex-FBI agent. If none of us could get to your laptop, it would have been pretty damn sad,” Lara told Zane in a gently joking tone.
Zane scowled without opening his eyes, which made Ellie smile. She knew it probably annoyed him that his security wasn’t completely foolproof.