Page 52 of Fully Loaded

No! She backspaced again. This time, she hit the number three then the exclamation mark. Her middle finger hovered over the Enter key. Sweat trickled down her spine, lifting her hairs with apprehension.

Please, God. Please, let this be right.

She tapped the key and whirled around.

Ubrigg’s browser popped up, and she let out a chuckle on a breath. She’d done it. Twisting her hands as far to her side as she could, she grabbed the mouse and, watching the screen over her shoulder, moved the curser to the Facebook tab. Searching for Brock’s profile took an even greater amount of concentration, but she managed.

Seeing his profile picture, an image of Milo and him at Tasha’s bar, made her heart constrict. Memories of home and her family assailed her. She swallowed over the swelling in her throat. Crying wouldn’t do anyone any good. She had to get a message to Brock.

The clock ticked on the wall.

It would take forever to type a single message, and he’d surely have questions. She hit Add Friend and waited. If he was as frantic as she was right now, he’d be waiting anxiously by his phone. But would he pay attention to a social media notification?

Under normal circumstances, no. But Ubrigg Lichti’s name would likely get his attention. A soft ping sounded from the speaker.

Brock Wyler accepted your friend request.

She quickly tapped the notification. She had to hurry. If Ubrigg received notifications on his phone, he’d see the new-friend alert—unless she’d gotten to it soon enough. On Brock’s profile she selected the Message button and then tapped the Video Call icon.

Brock answered immediately. “Dani, is that you?” His face filled a window on the screen, and she leaned forward. He spoke softly, almost in a whisper.

“Yes,” she said. Tears filled her eyes. “I don’t have much time. Ubrigg took me.”

“Are you okay?”

She bobbed her head. “I’m fine.”

“You’re bleeding. They hit you.” The statement rolled out on a menacing sheet of ice.

The throbbing in her skull intensified, and she became aware of the dried blood crinkling the skin of her scalp. “It’s fine. Just a knock to my head.”

His mouth hardened and sparks flew from his eyes. “Where are you?”

She frowned. “I don’t know. He said we’re at his colleague’s lab. Did he call you?”

“Yeah, I’m going to meet him right now, but out of town. It’s a fifty-minute drive, so if he’s not with you now, he has no intention of bringing you.” A beat passed, and Brock’s hawklike eyes flashed across the room behind her. “You need to find out where you are. Get an address or something.”

She breathed through her nose and turned in her seat.

“Look for something personalized. The name of the lab, a stamp—anything.”

She swept her gaze over the desk. Blank notepad, pens, calendar. She shook her head. “There’s nothing,” she whispered hoarsely.

Dammit, she should have asked Ubrigg more questions.

“There has to be something. Does the desk have drawers?”

Pressure coiled up her neck. If Romy decided to check on her, she was screwed. She reached her fingers under the arm of the chair and tugged on the drawer handle. Then she spun the chair back around and lowered her face to the contents. A sealed letter sat on top of a stack of papers.

“I think I have something,” she whispered. Leaning forward, she picked up the envelope with her teeth and flipped it over. “Centre de Biologie Gagne Paris,” she read. She rattled off the address beneath it. Brock kept his gaze down but she saw his eyes jerking in small movements as he jotted down the information.

“I’ve got it. I’ll be there as soon as I can. Google Maps says I’m twelve minutes away. Hang in there, babe. Whatever you do, don’t draw attention to yourself. And if they try to take you anywhere, stall.”

Fear restricted her airway. “The shooter is stationed outside the lab room. He’s armed, Brock.”

Brock’s face turned to stone. “So am I. Those fuckers are going to be sorry they took you.”

She pressed her tongue to the roof of her mouth to prevent the tears from rolling down her cheeks. She had to stay strong. He was risking his life for her and she wouldn’t let him worry any more than he was.