His father hesitated on the threshold, and Nate had the strangest impression he was trying to convey some kind of silent message with his eyes. It was no doubt a ploy of some sort, but it didn’t work, since Nate didn’t get whatever it was his father was trying to communicate.
“Are you coming in, or aren’t you?” he prodded. The gun was surprisingly heavy, and Nate’s muscles already felt a little shaky holding it up. Of course, holding a gun to your father’s head was somewhat unnerving, even when you hated the bastard.
With a look of resignation, the Chairman crossed the threshold.
Nadia heaved the door shut the moment the Chairman was clear, but she wasn’t fast enough. Another figure darted in behind Nate’s father. A tall, auburn-haired beauty Nate belatedly recognized as Dorothy, the impostor.
Nate was startled enough that he almost pulled the trigger by reflex as he jumped backward, trying to stay out of reach of the attack he was sure was coming. But as the door slammed shut behind Dorothy, he saw something that made his blood run cold and that turned his understanding of the situation sideways.
Dorothy had a gun. And it was digging into the small of his father’s back.
When she saw an unfamiliar woman push her way into the room behind the Chairman, Nadia had a split second to decide what to do. She went with locking the door to make sure no one else came in, even though that left her with danger at her back. She slid the last lock home as quickly as possible, then pulled her gun and whirled.
She and Nate had discussed a lot of potential scenarios as they’d talked over their strategy for this morning. This was not one of them.
The woman who’d forced her way in had a firm grip on the back collar of the Chairman’s shirt and jacket, fingers pulling the fabric tight enough to make him bend his head backward. She also had a small pistol in her other hand and was pointing that pistol at the Chairman’s back.
Nate had backed off several steps, but was still pointing his gun at his father. Nadia supposed she could point hers as well, but it would most likely be redundant.
“I’d advise you to put down the gun, Nathaniel,” the woman said, smiling smugly. “Daddy has already declared me the new Chairman Heir after you went and kidnapped a foreign Chairman’s daughter. You don’t want to make me Chairman so soon, do you?”
“Dorothy,” Nadia muttered under her breath, realizing who the mysterious woman had to be even though they had never met.
“You’ll want to put down your weapon, too, Miss Lake,” Dorothy said without taking her attention away from Nate. “You’ve been quite the thorn in my side, and my first act as Chairman of Paxco would be to order your death.”
Nate had not lowered his weapon. His eyes swam with confusion, and there was a fine sheen of sweat on his brow, and yet he still gave the impression he had no intention of backing down.
“This is some kind of trick the two of you cooked up together,” he said. “You think if you pretend to hold my father hostage, I’ll go from hating his guts and wanting him dead to giving myself up to save his worthless life. Well, it won’t work.”
The explanation sounded plausible, but it seemed rather more extreme than necessary. Surely the Chairman wasn’t afraid to confront the two of them, even though they were armed. He was arrogant enough to think he could talk his way out of any problem.
Dorothy shrugged. “If you think it’s a trick, then call my bluff. Shoot him.”
The Chairman tried to say something, but Dorothy tightened her grip on his collar and choked the sound off. Nate wavered, sending a quick glance Nadia’s way. Asking for her help figuring things out, no doubt, but Nadia didn’t have a clue.
“What is it you want, Dorothy?” Nadia asked, because it seemed like a reasonable question.
“That’s ‘Miss Hayes’ to you,” Dorothy corrected. “I don’t suppose we are destined to become friends.” She paused as though expecting Nadia to rephrase her question more politely. She had a long wait ahead of her.
The look on Dorothy’s face hardened, her eyes going cold with malice as she stared Nadia down. There was hatred in those eyes, but why would Dorothy hate someone she had never met? Come to think of it, why had she said Nadia had been a thorn in her side? What had Nadia ever done to her? She’d been imprisoned in a retreat since before Dorothy’s existence had even been made public.
“I want both you and Nathaniel to put down your guns and back away,” Dorothy said through gritted teeth. “Do it now, or Chairman Hayes will regret it.”
“I fail to see how putting our guns down is going to improve the situation for Nate and me,” Nadia said. “I presume the next step after that is arrest and execution, and that doesn’t sound so good.”
Dorothy smiled broadly. “What if I told you I had every intention of allowing you both to walk out of here unharmed?”
“I’d say you’re full of shit,” Nate snarled. He was still pointing his gun, but his arm was shaking from the strain.
Once again, Chairman Hayes tried to say something, but Dorothy shook him by the collar. “Hush now, Daddy. You don’t have a speaking role in this little drama of ours.” She returned her attention to Nate and Nadia. “You will serve my purposes better if you’re on the loose, wanted for the possible kidnapping of Agnes Belinski, than if you’re in prison awaiting trial—or even awaiting one of those unfortunate accidents that tend to occur in prison.”
“And what purposes would those be?” Nadia asked.
“Put down your guns, and I’ll tell you.”
Nate and Nadia shared a look of confusion. None of this was making any sense. Nadia could understand why Dorothy wanted them to put down their guns, of course, but obviously she wanted something more than that. Nadia just had no clue what it was.
“Let’s put an end to your concern that Daddy and I are just trying to fake you out, shall we?” Dorothy said. In a lightning-fast motion, she lowered her gun from the small of the Chairman’s back, angled it toward his butt, and fired.
The shot made so little noise, Nadia thought it was a bluff of some kind. Except the Chairman’s face squinched up with pain and he tried to force a scream past Dorothy’s choke hold. Then there was the blood that was pooling on the seat of his pants. His legs seemed to go weak, but Dorothy held him up by the collar, displaying a strength that seemed incongruous with her delicate build.
Nate had gone pale, and he’d lowered his gun, though he hadn’t dropped it.
“Shall I have Daddy turn the other cheek?” Dorothy asked with a predatory grin. “Or are you going to be good little children and put those nasty guns down so we can have a civilized conversation?”
Nadia didn’t like the idea of putting the gun down, not one bit. However, as much as she hated the Chairman, she couldn’t stomach standing there and watching Dorothy torture him before her eyes—and before Nate’s. Nate’s skin had gone from pale to a sickly green, and Nadia couldn’t even imagine the riot of emotions he must be sorting through.
Moving slowly so as not to startle Dorothy, Nadia shifted her grip so she was holding her gun by the muzzle, then slowly bent and put it on the floor. She still had Lily’s gun in her uniform pocket, as well as the canister of knockout gas, though it was perilously close to empty. Nate wouldn’t be disarmed if he put his gun down, either, so Nadia hoped he’d follow her lead—and that Dorothy would think the guns they’d taken from the guards were the only weapons they had.
Still looking almost sick to his stomach, Nate put his own gun down. The bloodstain on the Chairman’s pants was spreading, and his face was bathed with sweat as he gasped for air.
“How about you loosen your hold enough so the Chairman can breathe?” Nadia suggested as she stood up.