Whispers in the Dark - Maya Banks [110]
But that wasn’t going to help her now.
Her eyes rolled back into her head and still she fought to remain conscious.
Nathan.
It was weak. A mere whisper. A plea for him to hear her.
But all that awaited her was suffocating darkness that closed in from every direction.
CHAPTER 34
FEAR and panic blew over Nathan like a tornado. And then it was gone just as quickly, leaving him unsettled and dizzy. His mouth went dry. He dropped the plank of wood he’d gotten to show Shea and ran back to the front of the house, clawing at the plastic, ripping an entire sheet from the frame as he stumbled to where he’d left Shea.
She wasn’t there. He turned in a rapid circle. She wasn’t anywhere.
“Shea! Shea!” he yelled. Shea, where are you, damn it? Talk to me. Tell me where you are, baby. Help me help you. I feel your fear. What’s happened?
Nothing.
The sound of a helicopter sent him sprinting down the path toward the edge of the cliff. He topped the slight rise in front of the house and then stared down just in time to see the unbelievable.
Some motherfucker with Shea tossed over his shoulder leaped from the edge of the cliff toward a helicopter hovering a few feet away.
Time stopped. He couldn’t breathe. Oh God, what if he didn’t make it?
When both landed inside the helicopter, Nathan nearly went to his knees in relief. But then he bolted into action and ran along the path paralleling the lake, keeping his eye on the rapidly fading helicopter.
Fuck it all, the goddamn thing had already become a blip on the horizon. It wasn’t a helicopter he recognized and he’d flown plenty. He knew every helicopter flown by the military whether it was the army or another branch of the service. This was none of those.
He’d never seen an aircraft like this one. He hadn’t heard it until it was literally on top of them. Which meant some goddamn top-secret prototype had just snatched Shea literally out of the air.
“Nathan! Nathan!”
He pulled up, nearly gutted by the cramp in his side, and turned to see Garrett hauling ass over the uneven terrain in his SUV. He braked hard when he reached Nathan, sending dust flying in all directions.
Donovan leaped out, Sam right on his heels.
“What the hell happened?” Donovan demanded.
“Shea,” Nathan gasped. “The bastards took her. I was in the house for only a minute and they had a helicopter waiting. Crazy bastard threw her over his shoulder and jumped from the edge of the drop-off into the chopper.”
Garrett’s expression was fierce. “We didn’t hear a fucking chopper.”
Nathan shook his head. “This wasn’t a typical military helicopter. I’ve never seen anything like it. I only heard it when it got damn close. I’ve heard…I mean I’ve heard shit about prototypes for super stealth choppers that can’t be heard over a couple hundred yards away. Just didn’t think they existed yet.”
“Talk to her, man,” Van urged. “Find out what’s going on with her. Get her to give you any information she can.”
“Don’t you think I’ve tried?” Nathan yelled. “I’ve got nothing but this yawning black hole in my mind. She’s not there!”
Garrett put his hand on Nathan’s arm. “We know where to find her.”
Nathan looked at his brother in confusion, sure that he hadn’t heard correctly. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
“Resnick’s boys were behind the break-in at Shea’s house,” Donovan said grimly. “The bastard has been tightlipped with us because he’s behind it or at least he has a big hand in it. He must have loved me coming to him for information. Fuck me. I all but gave him a detailed map of how to find her. I’m going to kill him.”
Nathan tried to clear the haze of rage and confusion that was clouding his mind. “Wait a minute. Resnick has her?”
“Yeah, or at least he knows who does,” Sam said. “Come on. We’ve got a house call to make. That little son of a bitch is going to regret this.”
“If he so much as touches a hair on her head, I’m going to gut him and leave him for the vultures,” Nathan hissed.
“And we won’t do a goddamn thing to stop you,” Garrett promised.