Midnight Captive Read Online Free PDF Page A

Goddamn Sean for putting her in this position. Shewas sticking her neck out for him, and knowing him, he probably wouldn’t express an ounce of gratitude for what she was about to do.
    She hesitated for a beat, then dialed. Because hell, she was already in this deep.
    The call didn’t connect right away. Instead, a series of clicks met her ears, which told her the call was being rerouted several times before reaching her contact. She knew the drill, though. It was the same on her end, calls bouncing from tower to tower to make it impossible for anyone to trace her. She’d always received great satisfaction from the knowledge that nobody could pinpoint her location, not even her former employer, a man with endless resources. But now, thanks to Sean, she was practically waving a flag around and begging her past to find her.
    A moment later, a female voice came on the line. Absolutely delighted and more than a little smug. “Hey, stranger.”
    Bailey clenched her teeth. “Gwen. I need a favor.”
    The other woman’s peal of laughter only grated harder. “Really, Bailey? Two years without a word, without so much as a
postcard
, and this is what I get? No ‘How are ya?’ No ‘How’s the old gang doing?’”
    “There is no old gang,” she muttered. Gwen knew damn well that Bailey had been a loner during her time at the company. She worked solo. Period. Her only contact with the other operatives had come from occasionally bumping into them on the rare occasions she stopped by headquarters to be debriefed.
    “I don’t have much time,” she added tersely. “I’m cashing in on that favor you owe me. You know, the carte blanche you promised me when I rescued your ass from that hellhole in Uganda?”
    “I was hoping you’d forgotten about that.”
    Despite herself, Bailey smiled. “Do I ever forget anything?”
    “No. You don’t.” Gwen paused. “What can I do for you, honeybunch?”
    “Before I tell you, you have to promise that you’ll do it in a way that doesn’t put me on Daniels’s radar.”
    “Still playing cat and mouse with our boss, huh?” Gwen’s tone grew mocking, and Bailey could practically see the smirk on her face.
    “
Your
boss, Gwen. Not mine. And I mean it—this has to be on the DL. I don’t want Daniels to know I’m back on the grid.”
    “All right. Tell me what you need.”
    “A detailed layout of Dublin National Bank, Fleet Street branch. Interior and exterior, entry and exit points, ventilation system, anything you can get your hands on. I need to know every inch of the place.” She paused. “Also, any intel you might have on the hostage situation that’s going down there right now.”
    There was a pause, followed by another thoroughly amused laugh. “Since when do you get involved in local crime bullshit?”
    Bailey ignored the taunt. “You’ll have to go through black channels, Gwen. I mean it. There can’t be a paper trail.”
    “Sweetie, we both know I never leave a trail. I’m insulted you’d even suggest it.” Gwen chuckled again. “But I am flattered that you think my sources are superior to yours. You can easily find this information on your own.”
    “Not as fast as you can,” she said irritably. “Can you do it?”
    “I’ll see what I can do. Call you back in a jiffy.”
    Gwen hung up, and Bailey released a sigh. She hated that she’d been forced to reach out to that crazy bitch.
    Truth be told, Gwen scared the shit out of her. Thewoman was charming, highly skilled, and insanely dangerous. Her daredevil attitude reminded Bailey a lot of her colleague Juliet, but while Juliet was all about self-preservation, Gwen had never seemed to care whether she lived or died. The woman operated without a parachute. She lived and breathed danger, got off on the adrenaline of it, and that made her a massive liability.
    If Gwen told Daniels about Bailey’s call . . .
    No, she had to trust that her old colleague would hold up her end of the deal and refrain from