Page 9 of The Norcross Rescue

“Ms. Stewart here tells me that she can’t complete the money transfer I’ve requested.”

Shit. They were trying to steal money.

A young man stepped forward. “It’s true.” His voice was shaky. “All transactions from company accounts require authorization to go through our sister office in London. As a security precaution. To…uh, prevent unauthorized transfers.”

“Fuck!” a man in a horse mask yelled.

Wolf glared at the man, then at Carolyn. “There has to be a way.”

The CEO swallowed. “There isn’t. I’m sorry, but⁠—”

Wolf slammed the butt of his gun into the side of the woman’s head. Carolyn fell to the carpet with a sharp cry.

“Caro!” a man called out.

Blood oozed down the side of Carolyn’s head. She pressed a hand to it. “I’m okay, David.”

“I was hoping to do this the easy way, but I guess it’s going to be the hard way.” Wolf straightened, gaze running over the room. “I want one hundred million dollars transferred into an offshore account. And I want it done within the next hour.”

Gasps broke out across the guests.

From the floor, Carolyn spluttered. “That’s impossible, it⁠—”

Wolf took two steps and dragged over the man who’d called out Carolyn’s name. Brynn guessed he was her husband.

Then Wolf pressed the barrel of his gun to the side of the man’s head.

“David.” Carolyn blanched, her voice a whisper. “Please, don’t hurt him.”

All the color drained from David’s face.

“Bear,” Wolf barked. “Get in that office. Hack the system.”

A slim Black man in a bear mask shouldered forward, carrying a black bag. He strode into the glass-walled office and sat at the desk. He started pulling out gear and plugging it into the computer.

“You better hope he gets in.” Wolf’s voice was as hard as steel. “If the transfer doesn’t happen within the hour, I will start killing people.”

Brynn’s stomach did an uncomfortable twist.

“After one hour, I will kill one person every ten minutes. Starting with him.” He shook the terrified David. “Understand?”

Carolyn nodded.

“Now, Ms. Stewart, what can you do to help Bear get what he needs?”

Carolyn swallowed hard. “I need Ben. He’s my systems guy.”

“No,” Kristine whispered.

“It’ll be okay.” Ben kissed her cheek, then stepped forward. “I’m Ben.”

Pig strode over and shoved Ben toward Wolf.

“Get in that office and get to work.” Wolf’s voice was Arctic cold. “Get my guy in.”

“You won’t get away with this,” an older man blustered. “I hope you like cold, dank cells, because the only place you’ll end up is in jail.”

Fox appeared and backhanded the man. The older man fell down on one knee, his lip split. Cries broke out.