Free Hard to Trust by Wendy Byrne Page A

off innocent victims. As you can see, we've done this before, and we will have no qualms about doing it again.
    Her mind raced while her heart thumped. The gun in her bag would be useless with innocent people shuffled into the mix. They had her. And they knew it. She had no choice but to follow where they led and hope for the best.
     
    *  *  *
     
    Jake watched from outside the window as one of them handed her an envelope. When she opened it up and glanced at the contents, she nodded. Even from this distance he spotted the slight hitch to her jaw, which could be interpreted as fear, anger, or even frustration. Any one of those emotions would play into the scenarios that were on replay inside his head. Before Jake could think through any options he might have, she left with the men out the back door. From his angle he couldn't determine if she left willingly or not.
    Crap.
    This could be about a scheduled meeting after she committed murder, and the envelope included her payoff—or it could be a simple case of taking her somewhere to kill her. Either scenario fit into the realm of possibilities.
    He pulled down his baseball cap and traipsed through the cafe, hesitating at the back door for a second or two before slowly pushing it open. At first he didn't see them, but eventually he spied the group at the end of the block.
    Knowing her type, she wouldn't have gone without a fight, so he had to assume she'd gone with them willingly. Either that, or they had a gun somewhere ensuring her cooperation.
    Unless, of course, his original assumption about the envelope being payment for offing Nick was correct. He shook off the assumptions, even if that had been the first thought. Jennings had reiterated during their phone conversation that he shouldn't trust her. Jake didn't know if that was more about his history than anything relative to her possibly being a double agent. But they wanted him to protect her as well. From these guys? Or from herself? This whole assignment was much more than he'd bargained for.
    Before he could formulate any kind of plan, the men shoved her into a waiting car and took off. There was no mistaking the body language and the roughness with which she was forced. Another layer to the puzzle for him to analyze.
    But the good news was that they hadn't discarded her backpack. That gave him a fighting chance, even if the odds—considering the three men plus the driver—were four, possibly five against one, depending on which side she fell in the equation.
    He glanced at his phone and picked up the tracking signal, following its green beacon through the streets of Manhattan, giving silent kudos to The Alliance for having developed such an accurate device. Going back to retrieve his car wasn't an option. He sensed he didn't have that kind of time. Flagging down a taxi became a necessary evil.
    "I know this sounds really corny, but I'm following somebody, and I need you to keep enough distance so you're not spotted."
    "No problem." The man turned and gave him an encouraging smile. "You chasing after a cheating girlfriend?"
    Jake gave him a tight smile. "Something like that."
     
    *  *  *
     
    Tessa knew she was in trouble. A whole lot of trouble. Despite the rough handling and the unmistakable sense that she had no option, it was the words they used that sent chills down her spine.
    Russian? Were these the same guys from her home in Virginia? She hadn't heard them speak, so it was impossible to know. If that were true, had they found Jake as well? Disabling his alarm the way she did made him easy prey for the likes of these men.
    One of them put something on his hand and hit her across the face. Stars bounced around her head. She felt the skin across her cheek break open as blood dribbled down her face. Even though she saw it coming, she didn't have time to recover before he used the same hand to punch her in the gut. The wind escaped her lungs as she struggled for breath.
    "You will tell us what we want to