When Evangeline came to, her eyes were covered. The world was a nket of ck.


    She felt the bumpy motion of a vehicle and smelled a pungent odor, with the faint, unmistakable scent of fish. This wasn''t her car. She''d been moved.


    She tried to piece together what had happened. Just before she was drugged, she''d heard men talking, and one of them had mentioned the name "Soren." Were they after her because of him?


    Before she could work it out, a man''s voice broke the silence.


    "You think Soren will really show up for this woman?"


    "I heard the Fawkes family are all cold-blooded and only care about profit. You think one of them would risk his life for a woman?"


    A second man replied, "Why are you thinking so much? Our client tells us what to do, we do it. We get the money, we leave. It''s not our problem after that."


    Hearing this, Evangeline''s tightly wound nerves rxed slightly. She had feared this was Victor''s doing, or perhaps an enemy of hers or another of Poppy''s schemes, aimed at killing her or worse. In that case, her chances would have been slim.


    But if they were only using her to lure Soren, that changed things. It meant she was, for the moment, rtively safe.


    "Gentlemen," Evangeline said, her voice steady.


    The car fell silent. Though she couldn''t see them, she could feel their attention turn to her.


    She kept her tone as calm as possible. "Soren and I are divorced. He has no feelings for me. Using me is pointless."


    "I know you''re doing this for money. Let me go, and whatever you want, I can give it to you."


    "If you don''t believe me, give me my phone. I can call my boyfriend, and he''ll deliver the money to any location you choose."


    "I haven''t seen any of your faces. I won''t go to the police, and I won''t seek revenge."


    She had no idea what time it was, and the blindfold made it impossible to tell if it was day or night. But she guessed she had been unconscious for a while Finn would be worrie


    sick by now.


    When no one responded, she pressed on. "My boyfriend is very wealthy. Whatever


    your employer is paying you, he can double it."


    Her words were followed by the sound of hushed, urgent whispers.


    One man said excitedly, "She''s right I just looked it up online. Her boyfriend is fini kridge seem close. The Lockridges would definitely pay a high price."


    Before Evangeline could feel a flicker of relief, she heard a sharp thud, as if someone had been hit on the head.


    "Are you trying to get us all killed? Asking the Lockridges for money?" another man hissed angrily.


    "If we piss off the Fawkes family, we can take the money and leave the country. We''d still have a chance."


    "But if we add the Lockridges to the mix, we won''t even make it out of the city, let alone the country. We''ll be dead before we can spend a dime."


    "Besides," he added grimly, "we''ve already angered the Fawkes family."


    A few minutester, Evangeline understood what he meant by thatst sentence.


    The vehicle stopped, and she was forcefully pushed out and into a building Someone tore the blindfold from her eyes. In the center of the dim warehouse, tied to a chair with her hands and feet bound, sat a teary-eyed, red-faced Poppy. Cóntent


    They had kidnapped Poppy, too?