Savage Hunger(83)
The shower turned off and all three gazes swung toward the bathroom.
Warrick shook his head and lowered his voice. “Tell me. Now, before she gets out here. How bad is it?”
Quinton kept his voice low as well. “He’s alive.”
“Why’d they take him?”
“They’re using him as leverage. They want to make an exchange.”
Warrick’s gut clenched and a premonition swept through him, leaving a trail of sweat on the back of his neck. “And what’s the exchange?”
“They want Sienna to deliver the jump drive. Only then will they return her father.”
His stomach hit the ground. “No. Absolutely not. I don’t want Sienna anywhere near those bastards.”
The bathroom door had clicked open, but Warrick hadn’t look away from Quinton as he’d said the quiet, vehement words.
“Oh my God!” Sienna gasped and slammed the bathroom door again, yelling, “Warrick, next time a little warning that we’re not alone before you let me walk out in a towel, okay?”
Larson made a noise that was a cross between a snort and a laugh as Warrick grabbed the bag off the bed and walked it to the bathroom door. He dropped it on the ground and called out, “Clothes are outside the door, Sienna. We won’t look while you grab it.”
The door cracked open again and her arm shot out, snatching the bag and jerking it inside, before the door slammed shut again.
“I mean it,” Warrick repeated harshly when he returned to Quinton. “No deal. I’ll hand over the fucking jump drive myself, but I will not place her in danger tomorrow. Dammit, who the hell are these people? Do we have any clue yet?”
Quinton sighed. “We don’t know yet. A typed note was left on one of the vans. HQ did a check for fingerprints but it came up clean.”
“Of course it did.” Hell. “How do we know her dad’s still alive?”
“We don’t.” This time it was Larson who spoke up. “But we’ll demand proof of life before she meets up with them to make the exchange.”
“She’s not making the exchange,” Warrick snarled.
“What choice do we have, Warrick?” Quinton asked calmly. “We need her father if we want to give the ferals any chance of survival. We’ll keep Sienna safe—you know this. If it was any other woman you wouldn’t be protesting.”
He wanted to deny it, but the words evaporated in his mouth.
“On top of that, they’ll never see the jump drive,” Quinton continued. “Or at least not the one with the information.”
Warrick stilled, his eyes narrowing. “What do you mean? Are you saying you—”
“We’ve already switched it out for an identical blank one.”
Right. And the bastards would just fall for that? Warrick shook his head. “Whoever these people are, they’re not that stupid.”
“I don’t know. They were stupid enough to kidnap and torture shifters,” Larson replied with a light tone that showed a thread of steel beneath.
“And they were stupid enough to demand the jump drive for her father. Of course they’ll figure it out, but by then we’ll have Kevin Peters. And we’ll have our men there, hidden, if shit hits the fan.”
Warrick started to reply, but closed his mouth and glanced at the bathroom door as it opened again and Sienna stepped out.
Steam curled out into the hotel room and the scent of shampoo followed her as she made her way over to them.
Hair damp, the simple cotton clothes Quinton had bought still clinging to her damp body. The sight of her was a punch to his stomach, taking his breath away and calling forth the possessive, protective side within Warrick.
Send Sienna directly into the line of fire? Like hell.
Chapter Eighteen
“Thanks for the clothes.” Sienna tugged the neckline up on the cotton, thin-strapped dress and forced a slight smile, feeling ridiculously self-conscious in front of the men. Especially when all eyes went to the marks on her neck.
She knew what they were looking at now. Exactly what the connotations were. Was Larson as angry with Warrick as Quinton had been for what he’d done?
“How was the shower?” Warrick asked gruffly, as if to interrupt the thoughts of all the men in the room.
“Fine. It was a shower.” She cleared her throat and laced her fingers together. “Sorry I yelled at you a moment ago, but I didn’t realize you all were here. I heard voices for a minute, but assumed it was room service.”
“No problem. They’ll be leaving now anyway.”
Warrick’s curt words had her mouth opening in surprise. She looked at all three men, and became acutely aware of the tension in the room she’d missed when she first came out. Her smile faded and a heaviness gathered in her stomach.