Sickened to think what might be happening to her and how scared she must be, Sawyer stepped out of the doorway and looked up and down the road for the arrival of whomever would be picking him up. But no one came.
Trying to distract himself, he thought about the frank conversation he’d had with Amethyst earlier, replaying the part where she’d told him she believed him, that she didn’t hate him. And when he recalled how it had felt to kiss her and to hold her close, happiness buoyed him up. But when he considered that his situation had gotten her kidnapped, maybe even hurt, his happiness was replaced with a terrible sense of regret.
He had been foolish to believe he could keep her safe. Selfish to spend time with her when he knew the danger he was in. If anything happened to her…
He couldn’t finish the thought. The idea that something would happen to her was too much for him to consider. Too painful.
He wouldn’t let them hurt her. He didn’t know how, but he wouldn’t allow it.
A car pulled up to the curb, startling Sawyer, and the man he’d seen at the restaurant lowered his window. “Get in.”
“Where’s Amethyst?” Sawyer said, his gaze frantically going to the back seat, which appeared to be empty.
“Somewhere safe,” the man said. “Now get in. I’m not going to tell you again.”
Not knowing what else to do, and willing to risk his own safety for Amethyst, Sawyer walked around to the passenger side and climbed in.
“Let me have your hands,” the man said.
Sawyer held out his hands and the man wrapped his wrists with a zip tie. Then the man did a cursory search of Sawyer’s body.
“No phone,” he said with a smile. “Looks like you know how to follow instructions.”
“I need to know Amethyst is okay.” His voice was calm and sure, the complete opposite of what he was feeling.
The man laughed. “She’s fine. She’s just sleeping.”
“Sleeping?” Sawyer’s forehead creased with worry. “What’d you do to her?”
“I gave her a sleeping pill. Nothing dangerous.” He looked at Sawyer with a sideward glance. “Nothing like you’re gonna face.”
Fear radiated through Sawyer’s body.
“Put this on your head,” the man said as he held out a black cloth bag.
Though reluctant, Sawyer knew he couldn’t help Amethyst if he refused, so using his bound hands, he awkwardly pulled the bag over his head and found himself in complete darkness. A moment later he felt the car move forward.
They drove for what seemed like twenty minutes, and when they finally stopped, Sawyer waited for instructions. He heard the driver’s door open and close and a few moments later his door opened and a hand gripped his arm.
“Get out,” the man said.
Sawyer swung his legs to the ground and stood with the man’s hand still wrapped tightly around his arm. Blinded by the bag over his head, Sawyer tried to keep pace with the man, who tugged him along. He heard the sound of a lock being disengaged, and when the man yanked him forward, he nearly tripped on the threshold of the door.
The room they walked into sounded large—their footsteps echoed off of the walls and ceiling.
“Sit down,” the man said as he pushed Sawyer into a chair that creaked as it took his weight. Then the man yanked the bag off of Sawyer’s head. Blinking to adjust to the semi-bright light, he saw he was in a warehouse. Rows and rows of box-filled shelves occupied the room, and from where Sawyer sat in a corner of the warehouse, he saw a staircase that led to an office.
Maybe there was a phone in there so he could call the police. Or Yardley.
He wished he’d called Yardley before he’d left Amethyst’s house, but between being shaken up by the phone call and the instructions not to call the police, he hadn’t done it.
Maybe it was good he hadn’t. Until he knew Amethyst was safe, he couldn’t take a chance on making Tyler any angrier than he already was.
Trying to figure out his options, he asked the man, “Do you work for Tyler?”
The man stood in front of him and stared at him as if deciding how much to share. Finally, he nodded. “Yeah. And he’s been looking for you.” He slowly grinned. “You’re worth a lot of money.”
What? Then he understood. “Tyler put a bounty on me?”
The man laughed. “Yeah.”
How dangerous was this guy? “What do you do for him?”
The man stared at him again. “Let’s just say I’m one of his distributors in Northern California.”
Not able to tell if that made him dangerous or not, Sawyer asked, “So now what?”
“Now you’re gonna sit tight until Tyler gets here.”
He was coming here? Himself? Terror cascaded over him. “When’s he coming?”
Looking irritated to have to be a babysitter, the man shrugged and shook his head. “I don’t know. Later.” Then the grin was back. “Doesn’t matter. I know he’ll pay.”
“Where’s Amethyst?”
“Shut up.”
“Let her go.”
The man shook his head. “When Tyler gets here he’ll decide what happens to your little girlfriend.”
Desperate for him to release her, he said, “You have me. What do you need her for?”
“It’s not up to me.”
He had to get out of there. He had to get help.
His hands were still zip tied together.
Chapter 30
Amethyst’s eyes felt glued together. As hard as she tried, she couldn’t open them.
What was wrong with her?
Then it all came back to her—Sawyer’s confession about his true identity, escaping his house, the man at her door, being kidnapped, then drugged.
Using great effort, she finally dragged her eyes open. She was lying on a couch in a small office, her hands and feet tightly bound.
Where was she?
Having a hard time fully waking, she thought she heard voices. Straining to hear, she could have sworn she heard her name. And the voice sounded familiar.
Was that Sawyer?
Not sure if her ears were deceiving her—maybe it was just a deep hope that made her think it was his voice—she turned onto her side and faced the wall and let her eyes drift closed again.
Maybe it would be better if it wasn’t him, because if it was, he was in more danger than she was. He was the one they wanted. She was just bait.
Heart pounding in despair, she silently began a mantra.
Please, don’t let anything happen to him. Please, don’t let anything happen to him. Please, don’t let anything happen to him.
“How do you know Mitch?” Sawyer asked.
The man laughed. “Wouldn’t you know it? We have a friend in common. And what a delightful surprise it was when he recognized you at dinner. Tyler’s been hunting you for the past three weeks.”
Hunting him? A shiver of dread rolled up Sawyer’s spine.
“Imagine his happiness when I told him I’d found you.” He shook his head. “I just followed you home and you never even noticed.”
He had been too busy worrying about Amethyst and what to tell her. He’d let his guard down and now he was paying the price.
“And then when I wanted to have a place to watch you from while I waited for my next chance to grab you,” he said, “I knew your neighbor’s house would be the perfect place. Of course I had to make sure no one was home.” He laughed. “Although if someone had been, I wouldn’t have let that stop me.” He shook his head and grinned. “But when your little girlfriend answered? I knew it was my lucky night.” He mock-frowned. “And not so lucky for you.”
“You need to let Amethyst go,” Sawyer said.
The man glowered at him. “Or what?”
Sawyer knew he had no leverage. At all.
“You know what?” the man said. “I’m tired of talking to you.” He pulled a bottle of pills out of his coat pocket, shook out two pills, and held them out to Sawyer.
Sawyer looked a
t the pills, then looked at the man and shook his head.
“We can do this the easy way,” the man said. “Or the hard way.” He grinned. “Please tell me you’d prefer the hard way.”
Sawyer had an idea. “Fine. I’ll take the pills.”
“Pity.” The man stared at Sawyer. “Open up.”
With reluctance, he opened his mouth. The man placed the pills on Sawyer’s tongue, then he picked up a water bottle and twisted the cap off. Watching him as he lifted the water bottle to Sawyer’s lips, Sawyer leaned back slightly, forcing the man to move closer to him, and when the man leaned close enough, Sawyer head-butted him as hard as he could.
The man went down with a grunt.
Not sure how long the man would be out, Sawyer spit the pills onto the ground, then jumped to his feet and raced to the stairs.
Let there be a phone in the office.
Awkwardly climbing the stairs with his bound hands in front of him, when Sawyer reached the door to the office, his gaze went to the dusty window on the office door.
It couldn’t be.
Unbelieving, he stared at the woman lying on the couch. A woman with beautiful red hair, her hands and feet tied, facing the wall.
“Amethyst?” he whispered.
Smiling with fresh hope, he grabbed the doorknob and turned. It didn’t budge. Using all of his strength, he slammed his shoulder against the door and it flew inward.
He raced to Amethyst’s side. “Amethyst? Are you okay?”
She heard her name and it sounded like Sawyer’s voice, but she had a hard time believing her ears. Struggling to swim into full wakefulness, she wished with all her heart that it was really him.
“Amethyst?” he said again.
It was him. It was.
Elation pounded through her, and finally starting to feel fully awake, she rolled over to face him. “Sawyer?” She couldn’t believe he was there. He was there. He was really there.
“We’ve gotta get out of here,” he said, his voice tight with strain.
He helped her slowly sit on the edge of the couch. That’s when she saw that his hands were also bound.
“Is there a phone?” he asked, his gaze frantically shooting around the room. “There.” A moment later he picked up the old phone that sat on the desk and pressed it to his ear, but when he looked at her, the hope had drained from his face. “It’s dead.”
Fear burned within her like a virus, but she forced herself to focus on the moment. She held up her zip tied wrists. “Can you get these things off?”
Sawyer went to a window that overlooked the warehouse and saw the man starting to stir. Spinning around to face Amethyst, he whispered, “He’s waking up. We’ve got to hurry.” His gaze shot around the room as he searched for another way out, but the only door was the one he’d come through.
Amethyst held her hands out, and as he gazed into her emerald-green eyes and saw the fear etched there, he knelt in front of her. Keeping his voice just above a whisper, he said, “It’s going to be all right.”
She smiled at him. “I know.”
Eyes locked on hers, he wanted to tell her he loved her, but the time wasn’t right. They had to get moving, and confessing his feelings would only slow them down. Instead, he leaned forward and kissed her in a way that he hoped conveyed his feelings.
Amethyst’s eyes fluttered closed as Sawyer’s lips pressed against hers. The need to wrap her arms around him was strong, but until her wrists were freed, all she could do was focus on the feel of his mouth on hers and the emotion that overpowered her. Love. She loved him.
Surprised, she let it sweep over her and settle into her heart, and when Sawyer pulled away from her, his gaze tender, she had no doubt that he felt the same.
He pushed to his feet with a soft smile. “Let me see if I can find something sharp to get these things off.”
Nodding, Amethyst watched as he pulled open drawers on the desk, and when he looked at her with a smile of triumph and held up a pair of scissors, she wanted to let out a cheer. Instead, her smile grew, and though it was awkward with his hands still bound, within a few moments he’d managed to snip the zip ties from her wrists.
“Let me,” she said as she took the scissors and freed his wrists, then cut the zip ties from her ankles. “Now what?”
Sawyer went to the window that overlooked the warehouse.
He was gone! The man was gone! Where was he?
Frantically looking down into the warehouse, his gaze probing every corner it could reach, Sawyer tried to catch movement, but there was none.
“What’s wrong?” Amethyst asked as she came to stand beside him.
“I don’t know where he is,” he said. “And the only way out is down there.”
He felt her hand slip into his, and he knew it was up to him to get her out safely. No matter what. He turned to her with a grim expression. “Where are those scissors?”
Moments later, scissors in one hand, Amethyst’s hand held in his other, Sawyer led them down the stairs and into the belly of the warehouse. Ears straining to hear any sound, eyes searching, searching, Sawyer walked as quietly as he could. Amethyst stayed beside him, just as silent as he was.
At the end of the first row they reached they pressed their backs against the boxes stacked on the shelf.
Did the man have a gun? Sawyer had no idea.
Heart pounding, Sawyer peered around the end of the row, and when he didn’t see the man, he led Amethyst down the aisle, stopping when they reached the other end.
“I see the door,” Sawyer said directly into Amethyst’s ear. Hope surged through him. They were going to make it.
With his gaze shifting from side to side and with Amethyst’s hand in his, he took a tentative step forward, then another, then another.
“Don’t move,” a voice said. The man stepped in front of them, a gun in his hand pointed directly at Sawyer.
Chapter 31
Amethyst gasped as her eyes widened. No! Terror crashed over her, and when Sawyer released her hand and shoved her behind him, her fear for him quintupled.
Don’t hurt him! She wanted to scream the words out loud, but it was as if her throat had closed up.
“You can have me,” Sawyer said, his voice calm. “Just let her go.”
Amethyst closed her eyes and knew without a doubt that Sawyer meant it—he was willing to die for her. “No, Sawyer,” she whispered as her eyes opened and she watched the man over Sawyer’s shoulder.
“No,” the man stated flatly. “She stays.”
When Sawyer had shoved Amethyst behind his back, he’d used the moment to jam the scissors into his back pocket.
“Let me see your hands,” the man said.
Making sure Amethyst was behind him, Sawyer slowly raised his hands.
The man used the gun to gesture to the chair where Sawyer had been sitting before. “Sit down.”
Deciding Amethyst would be safer away from him, he gently pushed her in the other direction, then shuffled over to the chair, never turning his back on the man.
“Place your hands on the arms of the chair,” the man demanded, his gun still aimed at Sawyer’s chest.
Sawyer did as he was told, his gaze steady on the man. Then his gaze flicked to Amethyst and his eyebrows rose a fraction of an inch. She must have understood, because she let out a wail. The man’s head jerked in her direction, and Sawyer used the distraction to take the scissors out of his pocket and slide them under his right hand, blade out.
“Shut up,” the man yelled at Amethyst, who began to sob.
“Please,” she said. “Please let us go.”
Her tears seemed genuine, which only deepened Sawyer’s guilt.
The man sneered at her. “Shut up or I’ll shut you up.”
“I’m sorry,” Amethyst murmured, then took a shuddering breath.
“Stand over there,” the man said, gesturing with his gun to a spot not far from Sawyer. “I want to keep an eye on you.”
Amethyst didn
’t reply, instead she trudged over to the spot he’d indicated.
The man nodded, apparently satisfied with where they both were. Then, while still pointing the gun at Sawyer, he went to a nearby table and reached into a backpack. A moment later he had several unused zip ties in his hand.
The man took a step in Sawyer’s direction, and Sawyer could see a red mark on the man’s forehead from where he’d head-butted him earlier.
“Don’t try anything stupid,” he said as he approached Sawyer.
Sawyer couldn’t make any promises.
The man stopped several feet away from Sawyer and paused. Sawyer immediately saw the dilemma. The man couldn’t hold the gun on Sawyer and put the zip ties on him at the same time. Wanting to smile, Sawyer kept his expression neutral. And then the man pointed his gun at Amethyst.
“Get over here,” he said to her and she jumped a bit.
“Leave her alone,” Sawyer said, panicked that the man was aiming the gun at her.
“You,” the man said as his gun swung back to Sawyer. “Keep your mouth shut.”
Tension radiated inside Sawyer, but at least the gun wasn’t pointing at Amethyst.
“Put the zip ties on him,” the man said to Amethyst. When she hesitated, he gritted his teeth. “Do it now.”
Wishing she was anywhere but there, Amethyst looked at Sawyer, hoping he’d give her some direction.
“It’s okay,” he said after a moment, his voice soft.
Nodding, she walked toward him.
“Take these,” the man said as he stepped in front of her. He held out a handful of zip ties, which Amethyst took. “Now, secure his wrists to the arms of the chair.”
Hating the man with every fiber of her being, she turned away from him and walked over to Sawyer.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered as she stood in front of him, blocking the man’s view of him.
He smiled at her, and she thought back to earlier that evening when they’d snuggled on his couch. She’d been so happy in that moment. Why did this have to happen?
Dangerous Lies: Sawyer and Amethyst (An Emerald Falls Romance, Book Two) Page 13
