Free Untouchable (The Blankenships Book 8) by Evelyn Glass Page A

they weren’t going to survive to make it better.
     
    He stared around the room, searching for anything that he might turn into a weapon. A chair, perhaps, but they were nowhere near thick enough to stop bullets. He was no weapons expert, but the roar the guns had made outside the door had been huge and dramatic.
     
    Hiding just meant they’d be dragged out and tortured before they were killed. There was nowhere else to go. If they were going to be killed, it would be on their own terms, close together, even if nothing else went their way.
     
    A heavy fist fell on the door. For some crazy reason, Alex found himself taking a step towards the door before shaking himself. Let the bastards break it down; he wasn’t going to open it and admit his killers.
     
    But the voice that called out—it was one he knew, just as well as he knew Tanaka’s. He knew it from conference calls and meetings and who knew what else.
     
    “Mr. Blankenship,” it called out. “Ms. Gardener. I apologize for disturbing your evening. This is Nicholas Zhu. My men have dispatched the—ah—associates of Mr. Akimoto, but unless you wish to continue to enjoy the comforts of Mr. Akimoto’s attention, perhaps you would be willing to come with me? I assure you that I will see you quickly back to the United States.”
     
    Alex glanced down. Zoey was staring at him with wide eyes. “Is it him?” She asked. He nodded. “You’re positive?”
     
    “Yes. Frying pan or fire?”
     
    “What the hell,” she said. She squeezed his hand, and they walked together to the door.
     
    Nicholas Zhu was standing on the other side, the skin under his eyes discolored and puffy as if he hadn’t slept for some time. He glanced back and forth between Alex and Zoey for a moment, and Alex could almost swear that the man’s expression was relieved.
     
    “I am glad that you are well,” Zhu said in a formal tone. He reached out his hand, and after a moment, Alex clasped it with the hand Zoey wasn’t holding. “Is there anything you need from here?”
     
    Alex glanced back at the luxurious prison that Tanaka had meant to hold them in. There was nothing he needed; God, he’d barely been in the room. He looked at Zoey, who shook her head no. “Thank you, but no. We’d love to be on our way.”
     
    “This way, then,” he said. He led them down a long hallway, moving at a brisk pace. There were several men around them, some Western and some not, all holding handguns that were pointed professionally at the floor. Zhu moved as if he were totally unaware of them.
     
    They were ushered out of what seemed like the more luxurious section of the floor, down towards rooms that Alex guessed would stock linens, toiletries, and the small things they’d use to repair a room after guests had left. They arrived at an elevator much older than the one that had been used to bring him up here in the first place. It was boxier and much larger, more like a cargo elevator than a passenger one. Zhu stepped into it first, standing almost perfectly in the center. Alex followed him, Zoey still holding his hand tightly. The armed men stayed outside as the elevator doors closed. The elevator moved jerkily into motion.
     
    “Where are we going?” Alex asked. Zoey was pressed against his side, and he wanted nothing more than to put his arm around her and tell her that everything would be all right, but every single piece of that felt like the worst sort of lie he could tell.
     
    “Not yet,” Zhu said, shaking his head.
     
    They were silent for the rest of the ride. The elevator deposited them on a loading dock, where two more men had been standing silently, weapons at their sides. Zhu walked past them without acknowledgment, heading towards a car down the alley in front of them. Two more men ghosted out of the shadows, taking up a position in front of them. The men guarding the elevator took up space behind them.
     
    They were ushered into a big SUV in a a deep shade of emerald