Dangerous Attraction

by Sidney Bristol

  “Shit!” Travis braced his hand on the dash and grabbed the door to keep from being hurled across the SUV.

  “Sorry, man, didn’t see him.”

  “Slow the fuck down.”

  “Buckle up.”

  “Are you trying to kill us?”

  “You Americans drive too slow.”

  “Another left, there.”

  They made two more turns and it was as if they entered an urban desert. No cars. No pedestrians. It was barren and desolate. Trash and refuse lay piled up in the gutters. The buildings were worn. Most had seen better days. A few company logos were painted or bolted to the structures, but few were recognizable.

  A police cruiser turned, heading toward them, flashing their red and whites at the SUV. Connor waved at the cops and kept going.

  “Right,” Travis said.

  Connor turned, and they rolled slowly down the street to the next intersection.

  “There. That’s Bliss’ car.” Travis pointed to their right.

  Another cruiser eased to a stop behind the car, followed by another SUV. In moments the place would be swarming with uniforms and guns.

  “You’ll have to stay here,” Connor said.

  “The fuck I am.”

  “Listen, I know she’s your girl and everything, but facts are you are not a law enforcement officer. You don’t have a vest. Right now, you are a liability to her. Stay here. Let us do our job and bring her back safe. Cool?”

  Travis ground his teeth together.

  “Fine,” he said.

  “Good man.”

  Connor left the SUV running and got out, dragging his heavy Kevlar vest with him.

  Travis waited for the feds to cluster before slipping out of the truck.

  If Connor was stupid enough to think he was staying put, Connor clearly had something coming to him.

  The police officers on scene paid him no mind. At this point, they might suspect him of being with the feds. All he needed was the badge and vest. He pulled out his phone and paused close enough to the cruiser he could listen to the radio. Ryan was on the horn, directing officers to spread out around a particularly beat-up warehouse. If Daniel was still around, he had to have a getaway car somewhere.

  Travis prayed the feds were right. That Bliss might still be here.

  He shoved his hands in his pockets and waited. Watching. They didn’t have long.

  The buildings all had slanted roofs. Bad for snipers or making a getaway. They knew Daniel had at least one leg wound, and his lingering handicaps from the accident years prior meant he probably didn’t move fast. Which was why he had to be smart. Daniel might have the physical strength to snap someone’s neck, but the rest of him wasn’t as mobile.

  Travis strode the width of the building, putting the cops and feds to his back.

  If Daniel was as smart as the feds thought he was, he’d probably know Bliss’ directions would lead her to that spot and that entrance. But where would Daniel park, and where would he enter the building?

  What would he do in Daniel’s place? Wasn’t that how Connor puzzled out the killer’s actions?

  Travis would go for something up high. A vantage point to watch for the arrival and entrance, and then he’d sneak up behind his target and take them out. But Daniel likely couldn’t do stairs.

  The cameras.

  That would make sense.

  Travis craned his neck and looked up.

  If Daniel’s hideout was here, then the chances of the area being covered with cameras was high. He could be watching them now on a mobile device. A camera would also eliminate the need for a vantage point because he could watch her from a blind.

  He jogged down the side of the building. A passing cruiser hailed him with a wave, and drove on past.

  Sixty feet down he found a door. An unlocked door.

  10.

  Get over here now,” Daniel said again.

  Bliss’ body shook. She had to take that step, but it was the snow and the motorhome all over again. Pure terror. She’d never known such fear. The kind that paralyzed her body and set her mind on a mental loop of those horrible hours she’d spent terrified for her life.

  Daniel took a step toward Wendy. She cried out and covered her head with her hands, but he reached past her into the shadows. Daniel dragged a small, kicking form out into the open and backhanded the boy.

  “No!” Bliss took a step.

  “Carlos!” Wendy reached for the child, but Daniel lifted the kid by his shirt until his toes barely touched the ground.

  Think.

  She had to be smart.

  Fear could not win. Not now.

  “I’ll go with you, just leave him alone,” she said.

  Whatever he wanted to hear, she had to say it. She needed him to lower the gun enough so she could stun him. Then she had to hope her sister and Carlos could run.

  “It’s your fault I had to do that anyway.” Daniel shoved a whimpering Carlos away from Wendy. Her sobs were muffled, her figure shuddering.

  “I’m sorry, okay?” Bliss took another step toward them.

  Her eyes were adjusted better now. Bits of light filtered in here and there, making it easier to see her surroundings, gauge where the rows were.

  “Get over here.” Daniel pulled a long, flexible zip-tie from his pocket.

  He’d used one to bind her wrists until he could get the handcuffs on her. It was a vague, almost-memory stuck in the back of her head. She’d been drugged, passing in and out of consciousness for a bit. A passenger in her own body while he kidnapped her.

  Not this time.

  She took two more slow steps.

  Metal on metal screeched, echoing inside the warehouse.

  She glanced to her right, toward the noise.

  Were those voices?

  Was someone else in the warehouse?

  “Bliss, look out!” Wendy yelled.

  Bliss brought her arms up, one hand clenching the Taser. Daniel lunged at her, his hands grasping her body. She shoved at his shoulder and stumbled backward. Her thumb slid off the button and she nearly dropped the Taser, but she squeezed it for dear life. If she lost her hold on it, she didn’t think she’d be able to get out the mace or figure out the gun.

  Sparks of light lit up, crackling. For a second she could see Daniel’s face, slack in shock.

  She jammed the Taser at the only exposed flesh she could see.

  His neck.

  Bliss stepped toward him and gritted her teeth as the electrical charge leapt from his body to hers. Her muscles tensed, and she could feel the current deep in her bones. Daniel’s mouth moved, but she couldn’t hear his words.

  Finally he released his hold on her and stumbled back, bent over.

  “Bliss.” Wendy gripped her by her shoulders, dragging her away from Daniel.

  “Fuck,” he roared.

  “Over there,” someone yelled from across the warehouse.

  “I’m going to kill you.” Daniel’s voice and breathing was horse, heavy, and hard to place as human.

  “Run,” Bliss said. She shoved at Wendy and they each hooked an arm under Carlos’ shoulders, jogging and limping away from Daniel.

  “Are those the cops?” Wendy asked, her voice low.

  “Wifey, get back here.” Daniel’s voice was damaged, rasping and breathy in a way Bliss didn’t think could be fixed.

  “This way.” Bliss dragged them down an aisle then ducked under the lowest shelf, crawling over boxes.

  Daniel’s steps were heavy, thudding sounds right behind them. He tracked their movements through the shelves, while the other voices sounded as if they were getting farther away.

  Bliss pushed Wendy and Carlos back the way they’d come, up a dozen or so paces then into the six foot wide shelf space. If they had any luck, Daniel would keep going for a row or two before doubling back to find them.

  “Here, hide, hide, hide.” Wendy pulled Bliss down between stacks of—whatever they were hiding in.

  “We s
hould keep going,” Carlos’ voice rose.

  “Shh.” Bliss slapped her hand over both their mouths and held completely still.

  Doors banged and every so often she could see a slash of light.

  Help was there—but Daniel was closer. And he had a gun.

  Gun.

  Bliss felt at her back. The gun. This was what she brought it for, right?

  A scuff and scrape a few feet away froze her in place.

  She hunched lower, but caught a glimpse of two legs.

  What were the chances Daniel would leave without them? If they could hold on, hide just long enough to be found, they’d be safe. Right?

  Daniel plodded past them then paused.

  Was he listening for them? Or for the cops?

  Bliss held her breath. Travis was out there, looking for her. And she was going to live, damn it.

  Daniel turned and limped back the way he’d come, down the row and out of her direct line of sight. The boxes were piled too high for her to tell if he was gone.

  “Go.” Wendy pushed her, glancing pointedly toward the sounds of people.

  “No.” Bliss shook her head. They didn’t know that Daniel wasn’t waiting for them. He’d gone to all of this effort to get them, now was he going to let them go this easily?

  “I’m going.” Wendy wiggled past.

  Bliss grabbed her elbow and jerked back.

  If anyone was going to stick their neck out first, it was her.

  She slithered past the boxes, scraping her back against the shelves. She squeezed through the space between two pallets, caught her foot on the wood and rolled into the aisle, sprawling on her back.

  A footstep near her head froze her in place.

  She stared up at the barrel of a gun, and behind it—Daniel.

  Bliss didn’t think. She couldn’t. She lifted the gun she’d stolen from Travis and squeezed the trigger.

  Click.

  Nothing.

  Daniel grinned.

  “No,” Wendy wailed.

  “Fuck—”

  Bam.

  Bam.

  Bliss cringed and waited for the pain.

  Wheezing.

  Her eyes snapped open.

  Daniel stared down at his chest. It was too dark to see more than a glistening, spreading spot.

  He pitched forward, landing heavily on his knees. His gun clattered to the floor.

  She heaved, and focused on the figure behind Daniel.

  The one in a black leather jacket and jeans.

  Travis.

  He didn’t look at her. Instead, he closed the distance in a smooth, silent stride and kicked the gun farther away.

  Voices yelling and the drum of footsteps were all around them.

  “Here,” Travis called out.

  He went to a knee, gun still aimed at Daniel, and felt his neck.

  “Travis? God damn it.” She knew that voice. That was Connor.

  Bliss pushed up, squinting at the lights. A dozen or more people clustered around them.

  “Is he dead?” someone asked.

  “He’s gone.” Travis slid his gun into his waistband and then looked at her.

  She’d have known the weight of his gaze if she were blind.

  “Where’s Wendy? Bliss?” Connor knelt next to her.

  “Here.” Wendy climbed over and through the shelved stuff, bumping into Bliss.

  Hands wrapped around Bliss shoulders and hauled to her feet. Her legs were rubber, and she wasn’t quite sure which way was up or down.

  “Is he really dead?” She kept staring over her shoulder, down at the body.

  Travis’ hands clutched her closer.

  “He’d better be dead,” he said for her ears alone.

  She rested her cheek against his shoulder.

  Daniel was dead. Did that mean the nightmare was over? Were they free?

  “I THINK THE POOR bastards just want to sweep this under the rug.”

  Travis nodded at Connor, but he never looked away from the ambulance. The EMTs were going over Carlos while Wendy and Bliss hovered around the kid.

  “You listening to me?” Connor waved his hand in front of Travis’ face.

  “I’m lucky they aren’t arresting me.”

  “Damn straight.”

  “I was doing what I had to do to protect my client.”

  “We both know you don’t have a contract on Bliss.”

  “No, but I will have one post-dated by the end of the day.” Travis tore his gaze away from Bliss to stare at Connor. “Considering the circumstances, there wasn’t time to draft a contract, sign it, and have it notarized.”

  “I’m not arguing with you. If you hadn’t been there they might all be dead. Good work, mate. Go see your girl.” Connor slapped Travis on his shoulder and thumbed toward Bliss.

  He didn’t need an invitation.

  Nearly an hour going over the details with the cops while they sorted it all out, and he was ready to knock a few heads together. Christ, this was why he worked for Aegis, so they could handle the tedious bits.

  Bliss glanced up, the haunted look back in her eyes. He’d made sure to never be out of sight, but it wasn’t good enough. He needed to feel her. Hold her. Shake some goddamned sense into her.

  She took a couple steps toward him and stopped. He closed the distance until he was so close her hair swept across his jacket.

  “You good to go home?” he asked.

  “Yeah, they said someone’s going to take us back to Wendy’s.”

  “Connor, probably. Come on.” He turned and placed his hand at the small of her back, propelling her forward. She had that brittle, about-to-cry look. Chances were, she wouldn’t let it out until her sister wasn’t there. “Wendy all right?”

  “I guess. She’s either crying about Priscilla or...just crying.”

  He opened the backseat of the SUV, held the door open for her, and then climbed in after her.

  “What’s going—”

  He wrapped his arms around her and dragged Bliss into his lap. Besides the few minutes just after shooting Daniel, he hadn’t touched or spoken to her. He squeezed her to his chest and buried his face in her hair.

  Bliss was alive.

  The icy grip on his heart relaxed.

  And Daniel was really dead. It wouldn’t chase the nightmares away, but at least she wasn’t in danger.

  “What the hell were you thinking, taking that gun?”

  “I thought—I don’t know what I thought. It wasn’t good, anyway.”

  He blew out a breath and closed his eyes.

  “Next week I’m taking you to the gun range and you’re learning how to load a damn gun. Fuck. Bliss, you could have died.”

  “I know.”

  She unzipped his jacket and wiggled her hands in under the leather. For several long moments they sat like that, no words, just the communion of their souls. He knew her darkness, the things that haunted her thoughts and dreams. He also knew she could overcome them in time. And he intended to be right there with her through all of it.

  “Cops said you fried his brains.” He chuckled, recalling the baffled expression on the officer’s faces.

  “Did they find the Taser?”

  “Yeah, but it’s in evidence. I’d just as soon get you a new one.”

  “I’d like that.”

  “Promise not to use it on me?”

  “Don’t piss me off.”

  She peeked up at him and smiled.

  God, she did things to him. Scary, big things that fucked with his head and screwed his emotions up into a tight, hot ball of need.

  “Why didn’t you call me?” he asked.

  “I didn’t have your number in my new phone.”

  “If you ever do something like that again...” He shook his head. The simmering anger made it hard to form words. He wasn’t pissed at her, though hell yes, she should have called him. He was pissed at Daniel. At the cops for not watching her. At himself for going out, thinking he could help, when his d
uty was to protect Bliss.

  “I won’t. I’m going to memorize your phone number. I swear.”

  “The others are coming.” He patted her thigh.

  Bliss groaned and slid to the middle of the seat.

  “I don’t want to go back to Wendy’s. Mom, Dad, and everyone else are just going to make a big deal out of this, and I just want to...not.”

  “I know.” He reached for her hand and wrapped his fingers around it. “We aren’t done, yet.”

  “No, we aren’t.”

  They squeezed together as everyone piled into the SUV. Wendy immediately buried her face on Bliss’ shoulder, crying and leaning heavily on her older sister.

  He’d never had that with Emma. He didn’t know what it was like to have family lean on him. His had been glad to see him go.

  There was no question he wanted Bliss, from now until forever, but what did that life look like? Any other man would have options. In order to provide for Bliss, he had to stay his course. Keep putting himself in danger. And hope she understood. They’d have weekends here and there, a couple of weeks sometimes. Was it enough? Once the dust settled, would she want to be with him?

  11.

  Bliss was ready to hurl her fancy wine glass full of punch in Wendy’s neighbor’s face.

  The entire neighborhood was crammed into the house. At some point between being rescued and their convoy arriving home, Mom had begun cooking all the Christmas food they hadn’t consumed during her abduction. There was easily enough to feed everyone and then some.

  And where the hell was Travis?

  She made another noncommittal sound to whatever the neighbor was saying and glanced around for the shadow-shaped man sticking to the edge of the room. It hadn’t taken more than a minute to realize how uncomfortable the large gathering made him. Travis had an amazing ability to belong in any high-stakes situation, but stick him in a social group, and he was immediately lost.

  There he was. Chatting with Jade in the corner with the curtains about to swallow them up. They both looked ready to bolt. She chuckled and sipped her drink.

  Travis caught her eye. She lifted her eyebrows and canted her head toward the crazy, racist neighbor. Some people just made her sick.

  A little help here?

  “Bliss, there you are.” Wendy grabbed her arm.

  Oh, fun, more family drama!