Ransom (Benson Security 4)

east wasn’t even sure what she was talking about. She was so focused on making the fake kidnapping fun for them both that she was weaving incredible stories. He’d seen photos of the real John Favreau. The guy did not look like he worked out ten hours a day. All their captors had to do was Google the name and they’d know Belinda was lying.

“Stuntman?” The leader was clearly sceptical.

“Oh yes.” She nodded, all wide-eyed and breathy with conviction. It was hard to believe she’d been nominated for an Oscar. She looked better suited for the type of acting you found in a porn movie. A comparison that must have occurred to their kidnappers too. They were looking at her as though they were starving and she was steak.

“After a few years getting knocked around doing stunts,” Belinda carried on, oblivious to the hole she dug deeper with each crazy word, “John decided he knew more about making action movies than the guys ordering him around, and he made one to prove it. The rest is box office history. Now he makes the best action movies on the planet.”

He also made Elf. Another fact the kidnappers would find out when they Googled the real John Favreau.

There was a moment’s silence before the leader spoke. “I think the big director can make his own phone call.”

Yeah, that hole was even deeper now.

“You first.” The leader motioned to the phone.

Beast kept his eyes on the men as she dialled. “Dad, it’s me, Belinda.”

There was silence. Belinda smiled. “I knew you were in on this too! Tell Daniel I’m going to get him back for this.” She actually winked at her captor before getting back into character. “Dad, listen, the men who’ve taken us want me to give you a message.” Her voice broke on the last word, and if Beast didn’t know she was hamming it up, he’d have thought she was genuinely scared. “John Favreau has been kidnapped too. We’re together. John is going to call his agent, Michael Carter, and tell him he needs to pay the ransom. I’m telling you the same thing. Everything will be okay if you pay. The—”

She didn’t get to finish, as the phone was snatched from her hand.

“Señor Collins,” the leader said to her father, his eyes still on hers and a smirk in place, “I have left a letter for you at reception. Follow the instructions in it and you’ll get your daughter back in one piece.” He hung up. “Well done, Señorita, we are going be good friends—this I know.”

The leader handed the phone to Beast. “Your turn, big director.”

Beast had no choice but to play along. He had absolutely no doubt that if he didn’t, there would be a bullet lodged between his eyes before he could take another breath. He stabbed Harvard’s number into the phone, his eyes never leaving their captor. With bound hands, he held it to his ear. “I’ve been kidnapped. Pay the ransom.” He tossed the phone to the leader, who narrowed his eyes.

The man held the phone up. “Is this the director’s agent?” There was a pause. “That depends on you. I didn’t plan for two captives. You will follow the instructions given to Señor Collins or your client will die.”

Belinda shrank behind Beast and started to sob. Crocodile tears. Great.

“You’re going to regret this,” Beast told the leader when he’d finished the call. His voice lacked emotion of any kind. He was imparting fact. Nothing more.

The man stood and turned his back on them. A clear message that the man didn’t fear Beast. His threat meant nothing to him. “What’s he going to do?” he said to his men. “Go on TV and complain about me? Americans! Always complaining about something.”

No, Beast thought, I’m going to hold your head and twist until I hear your neck crack. That’s how I’m going to make my complaint.

“Rest,” the kidnapper said. “This will be over in the morning.” He turned towards the door but looked over his shoulder with a chilling smile. “I wouldn’t try to escape. We’re in the middle of the jungle. There are no towns for miles. Your chances of making it out alive are non-existent. Trust me, you are better off dealing with me than the jaguar who prowl this area. And to prove I am a businessman and not a monster.” He ordered one of his men to give them provisions.

The man reached outside the hut and came back with two bottles of water. He tossed them on the mattress beside Belinda.

“We will bring more in the morning. Now rest. You have had a stressful day, no?” And with that, he was gone.

Beast turned to find Belinda grinning at him, her eyes dry. She reached for the bottles and handed one to Beast. He ignored it.

“You need to drink,” she said. “You dehydrate fast in this humidity.”

He felt his eye begin to twitch. There was a good chance that if the kidnappers didn’t rid the world of Belinda Collins, he might do it himself.

“What the hell did you think you were doing?” he demanded.

She blinked at him with confusion and twisted the lid back onto the bottle. “I was establishing your role. It will be much more fun for you if you’re a famous victim too.”

Beast was pretty sure a vein popped at his temple. “This. Is. Not. A. Game. This is a real kidnapping. Those were real guns. You are in real danger.”

She rolled her eyes. Dramatically. “I’ll admit, for a second there, I doubted. That guy was such a good actor. He totally gives me the creeps. Like De Niro in Cape Fear. He’s wasted in the jungle. He should be in Hollywood; he’d make a fortune. Anyway, I thought it through, and really, this couldn’t be anything but fake. Think about it logically. There was too much security at the hotel, Brian would never betray me, and my brother threatened to arrange this experience for me. I’m sorry your friends roped you in too, but you should suck it up and make the best of it. Think of this as training for when you take the job with Benson Security. They do a lot of hostage retrieval work. This way, you get to see things from the victim’s side, and it will help you become a more sensitive security specialist.”

A rumbling growl was the only answer Beast could give her.