It was the code word for the back-up rescue plan he and Brom had put together in case all hell broke loose and I’d be separated from everyone else.

I knew that there was a souped-up motorbike nearby that Jack could jump into, and that there were at least two SUVs that Brom had arranged to be brought in from LA that were idling near where I was. They would be able to follow me because I had a tracking device embedded into the wristwatch Jack had given me to wear, another one in the inner lining of my bra, and another one in my phone. Jack said there was another one with limited range in the headband I wore.

If the plan was activated, as what had now happened, a number of things would be triggered: the main things included all my accounts would be shut down and only Harley would be able to re-open them and an alert would go out to all of nearby law enforcement that I’d been taken.

I knew that I needed to regain my cool, because I had to conserve my energy, but I couldn’t stop screaming.

I heard someone grunt, “shut up!” before my mouth was taped over. A hood followed that quickly and covered my head completely. Someone tied my hands together also with something that cut into my wrists. Everything was happening so quickly, and I could still hear SSA Black shouting instructions and giving us updates while Olivia, Bai, and Jack grunted and shouted as they fought with people.

“Lower your head,” I heard a rough voice grunt next, and I instinctively obeyed, tucking my head down as low as I could. The last thing I needed now was to be knocked unconscious by banging my head against something while I was being tossed about!

Harley! I called out to her in my mind.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Harley, three hours prior

“I think you should wear the baggette with a long multi-chain strap that I lent to you, baby,” I told Aerin. I knew she was trying to distract me with silly arguments about what shoes and bag she should wear. Every time I asked her details about the main plan, the back-up plan, and then about something called “Serpico,” she gave me some of the headlines, and then she’d asked me about what lipstick to wear or some other nonsense.