Read Dead By Nightfall for Free Online Page B

They had flown south.
    Once her feet hit solid ground, she was all but dragged away from the plane and to a waiting vehicle. Not a car or truck. As the driver, who hadn’t spoken a word, jerked the gearshift into reverse and backed up, Nic realized she was seated beside someone—probably Linden—inside a jeep. No seat belt restraint, just the tight grip of a large, hard hand manacled around the back of her neck. Keeping quiet and staying alert, she breathed in the scents and listened to the sounds. She might not be able to see where she was, but she could use her other senses.
    She knew only that they were south of the continental U.S., possibly in Mexico or even farther south in one of the Central American countries. She had no idea exactly where Linden was taking her or what awaited her upon their arrival. But she did know that she was a hostage, that she had been kidnapped because she was Griffin Powell’s wife, that she was soon to be the guest of a man who called himself Malcolm York. And she suspected that the odds of her coming out of this alive were slim to none.

Chapter 4
    Shortly before dawn, Griffin Powell emerged from his study, an unconscious Yvette in his arms. He had survived the past few hours and come through the darkest moments of his life solely because of Yvette’s sacrifice. After learning that Nicole was missing, probably kidnapped by Anthony Linden, Griff had gone mad. The magnitude of his anger and frustration, coupled with his guilt and anguish, could have destroyed him. He had been on the edge of the abyss, inches from taking an irrevocable plunge. He would have lost his mind had Yvette not used all the power of her unique psychic talents to absorb enough of his emotions to restore his equilibrium. Long ago, she had saved him in a similar manner. He owed her not only his life, then and now, but his sanity.
    If only he had explained everything to Nic. If only he had been completely honest with her from the very beginning.
    â€œSanders!” Griff shouted his best friend’s name. Sanders was far more than a good friend; he was Griff’s right-hand man and his most trusted confidant.
    Within seconds, four people appeared, each rushing toward him. Shaughnessy Hood’s hulking form moved with amazing speed and he reached Griff’s side before Sanders, Derek, and Maleah.
    Griff looked at Shaughnessy as he placed Yvette in the six-foot-six bodyguard’s huge arms. Then he turned to Sanders. “She needs someone with her until she regains consciousness. Send for Meredith Sinclair. Tell her it’s urgent. She’ll know how to help Yvette.”
    â€œMeredith is with Luke Sentell,” Sanders reminded him. “They’re en route from Paducah, Kentucky. She went with Luke straight from London to return Michelle Allen’s niece to her parents.”
    Griff grunted. He remembered now. The child, barely seven years old, would have needed a woman’s tender care after the ordeal she had been through recently. Abducted by Linden from the safety of her own bed, whisked off to England, and held hostage as a means of forcing her aunt to do a madman’s bidding, Jaelyn Allen had been rescued by Luke Sentell, with Yvette’s protégée, Meredith, assisting him.
    â€œYes, of course, I remember now. As soon as Meredith returns to Griffin’s Rest, send her directly to Yvette,” Griff said. “In the meantime, choose another of Yvette’s students to stay with her, preferably someone with the ability to soothe her.”
    Sanders nodded. “That would be Blythe Renshaw.”
    â€œThen send for her immediately and once that’s done, join me in the office. I assume you’ve already begun—”
    â€œAgents have been dispatched to the cabin and one to speak personally with Cully Redmond’s sister,” Sanders said. “All available personnel have been called in to headquarters in Knoxville and the wheels set in