Total pages in book: 142
Estimated words: 134725 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 674(@200wpm)___ 539(@250wpm)___ 449(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 134725 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 674(@200wpm)___ 539(@250wpm)___ 449(@300wpm)
Emotions flared in his gut, along with alarm at the large black gemstone on the rug.
“Zane!” she gasped with surprise as she caught sight of him on the screen.
Zane’s heart stuttered but he had no time to get caught up in what he was seeing or the sound of his name on her lips.
“Tanya! I’m on my way. There’s a security breach. I’ll be there as quick as possible. I’m going to stay on with you while I travel so you’re not alone.” He moved quickly down the hall toward the elevator, so he could get to his vehicle on the roof.
“What?” Her eyes went wide, and her smile vanished.
“I’m on the way, I’m only about ten or fifteen minutes…"
He heard the distinct sound of his doorbell just a second or two before the call ended abruptly. He redialed and got an error message.
Horror blanketed him as he opened the application to view the street. Four of those men moved toward the ground-level entrance of his home, and they moved with a menacing presence.
***
He’d run to his vehicle as fast as he’d run to her when the gates had opened that afternoon and put the machine into high-speed throttle immediately. It was a twelve-minute flight to his house from the office if he followed the speed and altitude guidelines set forth for the busy capital. He did not and slashed the time by almost a third.
En route, he could get nothing on screen inside or outside his home. She was in danger; he was sick about it. He contacted Spar, who immediately answered with laughter in his voice.
“I truly hope you have better news for me than Daxx. You’re not going to believe what he’s done.”
Zane gave his head a shake. “What? No, forget what – this is more important. There are several shifty characters at my home and Tanya’s there alone. My power and security systems are all cut, including the main generator. What the fuck is happening?”
He pushed the throttle harder, willing it to get him home before he lost her. Fuck. Before he and his son lost her. The look on that boy’s face when they’d arrived, when he threw himself into the arms of the beautiful tiny woman who might be the missing piece to completing their family? Zane’s rage levels increased. The fucking government really hadn’t thought this shit through, had they?
Sick at the thought of losing her, at the thought of someone hurting her, he tapped into the screen to see if he could get anything from his father’s system. Power was down for the whole street, but his father’s backup generators were still online. They were older systems, outdated technology, and that was probably why. It was something, at least. He tapped into exterior cameras and saw two vehicles on the ground, one the exact model of his own. He saw four men on the ground, two of them speaking into their communications devices. Zane hit some buttons to try to listen in on local frequencies, but there was nothing.
“Damn it. What the fuck, Spar?”
He could hear commotion in the background as Spar conversed with someone.
“Let me look into it,” Zane’s father-in-law said. “I’m just on my way back to my residence after a conversation with Daxx at the cottage. I’ll send authorities to help.”
“Lock down the area in case they have her already.” Acid bubbled in the back of Zane’s throat.
“Yes. Lockdown immediately. I’ll call you back,” Spar promised and ended the call.
Zane could see his house and had an instant “What the Fuck” thought as he saw a man on his goddamn roof, standing there, waving at him with a smile. He landed and barely got the machine shut off before he sprinted from the vehicle and grabbed the man by the throat. The man looked surprised and belatedly jammed his weapon into Zane’s ribs, trying to protest with difficulty because Zane was squeezing his throat. Zane was faster and wrenched the weapon out of the guy’s hand, pointed it at him, finger poised over the ‘engage’ key. Realization of the brand name on this particular weapon sank like a boulder in his gut as his finger grazed the maker’s mark. He shook the emotions off.
“What’s happening here? What are you doing on my fucking roof? What’s your mission?”
The man obviously expected Zane to be someone else when he landed. Zane’s vehicle type was, perhaps, his advantage in catching the guy off guard as it was the same as the one on the ground.
“You---you look just like ---.” He gave his head a shake, eyes on Zane and eyes looking wrong.
“Tell me,” Zane hissed.
“We all lost our women and yet we’re forced to compete and wait. When we know who’s responsible! It’s unacceptable. You were tracked, as was another who competed today. You live in a place we knew would be easy to infiltrate and we’re taking it.”