by Cara Summers
HOME. It was the foremost thought in Mac’s mind as she paid the taxi driver and climbed the porch steps of her duplex. She knew where Sophie was, and she was safe. Just as soon as she got inside, she would face the task of calling Lucas’s office to let him know. He wouldn’t take the call though. She’d convinced herself of that. He wouldn’t want to speak with her ever again, so she wouldn’t have to hear his voice. All she’d have to do was leave the information with his secretary.
Setting her bag down, she fished in her purse for her keys. All she’d had to do was call the 800 number on her credit card and ask for the latest posted charges. It was all there—an airline ticket to San Francisco and another charge to the Châfateau Mirabeau in the Napa Valley. Sophie hadn’t answered the phone when she’d called, but the desk clerk had promised to give her the message.
She swept her hand one last time across the bottom of her purse. Where were her keys? Then it hit her. She didn’t have them because Sophie had her purse. Moving quickly to her neighbor’s door, she knocked but without much hope. The stockbroker who shared the Georgetown duplex with her wasn’t likely to be home from the office yet.
After a few moments, she dropped her bag on the porch and hurried around the side of the house. She was going to have to break in, and one of the basement windows was her best bet. Dropping to her knees, she picked up a good-size rock. Then, just to make sure, she leaned close and peered through the glass. The latch was secure.
“Ma’am?”
Startled, Mac whirled to face the man standing directly behind her. “Who are you?”
“Detective Ramsey, District of Columbia Police Department.” He showed her the badge he’d removed from his pocket. “Now, why don’t you tell me who you are?”
“I’m MacKenzie Lloyd. I live here.”
“And the rock in your hand is for…?”
Mac quickly put the rock down on the ground. “I don’t have my key, and my neighbor isn’t home to give me the spare.”
The detective studied her for a moment. “You have some ID?”
“Yes.” She was reaching into her purse when she realized that she didn’t. “No. My friend and I switched purses. Her name is Sophie Wainright and I have her ID.” She handed the detective her wallet.
After glancing through it briefly, he said, “According to the security people at the university, MacKenzie Lloyd has red hair. Yours is blond.”
Mac lifted off the wig. “I had to wear it so that I could get on the plane. All I had was Sophie’s ID.” Running her hands through her hair, she glanced up at him. “Isn’t this where you advise me that I have the right to remain silent?”
Fishing a photo out of his pocket, he glanced at it, then at her. “I don’t think that will be necessary. You look a lot like the picture I have of Dr. Lloyd. We’ve been trying very hard to get ahold of you, Doctor. Don’t you ever answer your cell phone?”
“Yes, of course.” She pulled it out of her bag and then stared at it. It just hadn’t been her cell phone she’d been answering. “My friend has mine.”
Detective Ramsey nodded. “Well, she’s not answering it either. Where have you been, Dr. Lloyd?”
“I took a few days off and went down to the Florida Keys.”
He nodded. “That fits with what the university told us. But they were worried when they couldn’t get hold of you. I have some bad news for you. Sometime on Wednesday, your apartment was broken into. One of your neighbors called it in, and then tried to reach you at the university. Somebody high up at the college is very concerned about you and your research and they called us. They think the break-in here and the one at the university are related. They also said you’d planned to take a few days off, but no one at the lab, not even your colleague Dr. Stafford, knew where you were. The timing of this break-in made them worry that perhaps…you hadn’t gone away voluntarily.”
Mac’s eyes widened. “They thought I was kidnapped?”
“They wanted to file a missing persons report. Officially, we can’t let anyone do that for forty-eight hours. In the meantime, the commissioner assigned me to keep an eye on your place. A lot of people are going to be relieved that you’re back.”
Mac stared at him. “I just went to the Florida Keys for a little…vacation. I’m fine.”
“Well, the bad news is your apartment isn’t. Whoever broke in was looking for something and they were pretty thorough. If you feel up to it, I’d like you to take a look and tell me what’s missing, or what they might have been after.”
“Of course.” She could hardly refuse. But she wanted to. During the short time it took the detective to lead her back to the front porch and open the door, she tried to prepare, to steel herself for the sight. She still remembered what it had felt like when she’d first learned about the break-in at the lab. Her head pounded, her stomach clutched at the memory. This would be easier, she told herself as Ramsey led her inside.
It wasn’t. The place was in a shambles—sofas and chairs overturned, lamps shattered, pictures torn out of their frames. In the kitchen, the cupboards and even the refrigerator had been emptied. Shards of glass and china lay over everything.
Drawing in a deep breath, she tried to reach for control. Lucas had weakened it, but it still had to be there. If she could just reach deep enough.
“Is there any way to tell if they found your research?”
Mac shook her head. “It’s not here. Why would they do this?”
“They were angry,” Detective Ramsey said. “Probably because they couldn’t find what they were after.”
“All they did at the lab was break into the safe and search through my file drawers.”
“There are some very influential people at the university who think they might have been after more than the formulas here,” Ramsey said as he led her back out to the porch.
“What then?”
“According to the university security people, you usually work in your lab on Sundays. The Sunday of the break-in, you didn’t. Then you should have been home on Wednesday. Your voice mail on campus was letting all callers know that’s where you were.”
Mac drew in another breath. “What exactly are you saying, Detective?”
“It’s possible that whoever did this to your lab and your apartment might have been looking for you. When you weren’t here, they got upset and trashed the place.”
She didn’t want to believe it, not for a moment.
Then she thought of Sophie who’d been using MacKenzie Lloyd’s name and traveling with her ID. And it was Sophie who’d disappeared. If there was any chance that what Ramsey was saying was true, she’d just learned how easy it was to find out where MacKenzie Lloyd was staying.
“Detective, if you’re right, there’s someone I have to get in touch with right away.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
SOPHIE DRIFTED in that gray world, halfway between wakefulness and sleep. Once or twice, she’d nearly reached consciousness only to slip back under. But gradually, moment by moment, awareness was creeping in. The throbbing in her head grew more intense. As did the light, growing steadily brighter beyond her eyelids. And she was lying on a rock—a hard and lumpy one.
It was only when she tried to shift to a more comfortable position that she realized she couldn’t move her arms or legs. A quick spurt of alarm shot through her.
It had to be a dream. That had to be why she felt paralyzed. Clinging hard to consciousness, she struggled to wake up.
The memories came then—in bits and pieces. California, that’s where she was. And Sonny… As his face appeared in her mind, she tried to focus. She’d come to California to see him…to teach Lucas and his security chief a lesson. The flash of satisfaction was short-lived, erased by a wave of fear.
She couldn’t move her hands and feet because they were bound. She couldn’t see or move her lips. They were covered by something. What? How? Why?
Even as the questions poured into her mind, she turned over to one side and ran into a solid
wall. A quick, panicked roll in the other direction led her smack into another wall.
Where was she?
This time she took her time, but she reached the opposite wall in three rolls. A small room. A cell? She fought against the fear even as it clawed its way to her throat. Breathe, she told herself. The air was fresh, warm. There had to be an open window nearby. Drawing in another breath, she felt the sharpness of her fear fading. And her mind was clearing.
Think, she told herself. She was in California—where?
And then she remembered—running into Sonny, slipping out of the restaurant, the sharp sting in her arm.
Someone had drugged her. Who?
“You gave her too much of that stuff, I tell you.”
The voice came from close by. Acting purely on instinct, Sophie curled into her original position.
“You wanted it quick and clean. You got exactly what you asked for.”
“The boss wants to talk to her.”
There was a sound nearby, and Sophie could have sworn that the floor she was lying on shook as if someone had jumped on it.
“Relax. She’s probably coming around right now.”
The voice came from over her head, then the same noise she’d heard before, and the floor shook again. She braced herself. If they wanted her to come around, it was the last thing she was going to do.
“She’s still out. She hasn’t moved since the last time we checked her.”
“Let’s just see.”
She had just enough time to steel herself before she felt the sharp slap on her cheek.
“I told you. You gave her too much.”
Fingers gripped her pulse. “If you don’t shut up I’ll give you a dose.”
“It’s not me you have to worry about. He’s not going to tolerate any more mistakes.”
“Will you relax?” The voice sharpened even as her wrist was freed. “Her pulse is steady. She’s fine. Besides, he won’t be out here to see her until tomorrow.”
“I don’t like it.”
Sophie barely let herself breathe until she was sure the two men had gone. Wherever she was, it was a place the men had entered from above. There had been no sound of a door.
Was she on some sort of truck bed?
And who wanted to see her? Sonny? Had he recognized her in the bar after all?
But that didn’t make any sense. Why would Sonny Falcone kidnap her? The motive for that was money. And he didn’t even know who she really was.
When the headache behind her eyes began to throb, Sophie pushed the questions aside. The answers wouldn’t get her out of her present predicament. Rolling over, she drew her legs up until she could touch her ankles.
Tape. That’s what was binding her legs and hands. Moving to the wall, she wiggled and pushed herself into a sitting position. The first thing she was going to do was see if she could find anything to cut herself loose.
LUCAS PACED back and forth in his office listening to Tracker’s report over his cell phone. They’d been in constant contact all day.
“So you’re telling me that you know where Sophie is staying but she’s disappeared?”
“What I’m saying is that she’s not here right now. Last Wednesday, she registered as MacKenzie Lloyd at the Châfateau Mirabeau in the Napa Valley. I’ve questioned nearly everyone who works here. The clerk says that she went out last night. No one has seen her this morning and the maid claims her bed hasn’t been slept in.”
“Have you notified the police?”
“No. I don’t think we should do that just yet. We may be overreacting.”
Lucas began to pace again. “My sister has been missing all night and you think we’re overreacting if we notify the police?”
“Just hear me out. The tail that I had on Sonny Falcone says that a blond woman matching Sophie’s description had lunch with him on Thursday.”
“Are you suggesting that she may have flown out there on purpose just to be with Sonny, and she may be with him now?”
“I’m not liking it, but that’s what I’m saying. You told me yourself that she doesn’t know anything about what goes on at Wainright. She wouldn’t even know the name Falcone, let alone about Vincent’s other less legitimate business dealings. And Sonny has a reputation for being a real ladies’ man.”
Lucas stopped pacing in front of his window. The heat of the day still clung in a misty shroud around the Washington Monument. For the first time in his life he questioned his decision to keep his family isolated from all the problems at Wainright Enterprises.
Maybe Tracker was right and he was overreacting. He’d been letting fear and anger cloud his mind ever since he’d realized Sophie was missing. He had to start thinking clearly if he was going to help his sister. More than that, he had to stop thinking about Mac. He was hundreds of miles away, and he still couldn’t get her out of his mind.
“Boss, you still there?”
“Yeah. I don’t like what you’re saying, but you may be right.”
“I don’t like it myself, but I want to check it out. I have someone finding out whether or not she stayed at Falcone’s villa last night. It will take a little time, but I should know something soon. In the meantime, I’m going to personally check out the list of places that the concierge recommended to Sophie last night. Have you heard anything from Vincent Falcone yet?”
“No.”
“For what it’s worth, I don’t think he had anything to do with your sister’s disappearance. I know you don’t trust him, but think about it. If he wants to reestablish a business connection with you, kidnapping your sister is not his best move.”
Lucas sat on the edge of his desk. “He might be planning to use her as a pawn to blackmail me into investing with him again.”
“Thought of that. But you always said he’s a shrewd businessman. After threatening your sister, he’d have to figure it wouldn’t be long before you got your revenge.”
Everything Tracker was saying made sense. As much as he didn’t like it, he’d much rather imagine his sister dating Sonny Falcone than being at the mercy of Sonny’s father.
“If Falcone is aware that Sonny and Sophie are an item, that could be the reason he told you that his connection with Wainright Enterprises isn’t finished yet. That could also be the reason he’s invited you out to his vineyard. Dr. Lloyd’s pretty smart, and she knows Sophie. Why don’t you run my theory by her and see what she thinks?”
“She’s not here. I didn’t bring her back to D.C.”
Tracker didn’t reply.
Restless, Lucas began to pace again, until he caught himself. He never paced. Since MacKenzie Lloyd had come into his life, he’d done a lot of things he’d never done before.
“Aren’t you going to ask me why I left her there?”
“None of my business.”
“She lied to me.” Lucas listened to the words as they hung on the air. He’d needed to say them out loud. But they didn’t ease the hurt. They only made it grow.
“Women are known for that. Pretending they want one thing when they’re really after something else. The best way to handle that problem is to nip the relationship in the bud.”
“Exactly.”
“No offense, but I think your sister wins the prize when it comes to lies. If I’m right about what’s going on, that is.”
“Yeah.” Lucas rubbed his free hand over his face. How long was it going to be before he could get rid of the image of Mac standing there on the balcony as he left their suite? The whole time he’d packed his things, she’d just remained at the railing, staring out to sea. “Do you have a contact in Key West, someone who could check on her and see that she’s all right?”
“Dr. Lloyd? Sure thing, boss. I’ll get right on it.”
Tracker had no sooner cut the connection when the intercom on his desk buzzed.
Lucas pressed a button. “Yes?”
“There’s someone— Miss, you can’t go in there.”
The door to the office opened, a
nd Lucas started forward the moment he saw his sister framed there.
“Sophie—” He stopped short the moment she pulled off the wig.
It was Mac. No, he corrected himself again. It wasn’t Mac either. It was the doc. She was wearing her hair pulled back and she was dressed in jeans and a T-shirt. And she looked vulnerable. He took a step toward her before he stopped, reminding himself that he couldn’t trust anything he thought or felt about her.
“Mr. Wainright?”
It was only then that he noticed the man standing behind her.
“Who are you?” he asked.
“I’m Detective Ramsey.”
Lucas glanced at the badge the man produced.
“I just want to make sure that Dr. Lloyd is in good hands. She can’t stay at her apartment tonight, and she shouldn’t be alone.”
Just seeing Mac had so many feelings tumbling through him. Guilt, desire, bitterness. He tried to hold on to the last one.
“I’m sorry about the wig,” she said. “I had to wear it on the plane, and I just forgot to take it off.”
“Why are you here?” he asked as he took another step forward. For a moment he thought she would turn and run, but she held her ground.
He knew in that moment that he might not have let her run.
“I may know where Sophie is staying. Or was staying. And she may be in danger.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
TAKING A LONG SWALLOW of the water that Lucas had poured for her, Mac tried to focus her attention on Detective Ramsey as he summarized what they’d discussed at her apartment. It hadn’t been until she’d said the words out loud to Lucas that the fear had struck her full force. Sophie might be in real danger because of her. Setting her water on a low table, she saw her hand was shaking and curled her fingers into a fist.
“So, you believe that there’s someone so desperate to get control of Dr. Lloyd’s research that they would kidnap her?” Lucas said.
“More importantly, there are some higher-ups at the university who believe it,” Detective Ramsey said. “According to them, there are a lot of pharmaceutical and biotech companies who’ve been showing some interest and offering money. Greed is a big motivator when it comes to crime. And someone has enough power to get my bosses to pay attention. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be here. My usual job is to investigate robberies, murders and rapes—crimes that have already happened. In D.C., we don’t have much time or manpower for prevention. I came over here at Dr. Lloyd’s insistence. She seems much more concerned about Miss Wainright’s safety than about her own. She says that your sister has been traveling as MacKenzie Lloyd, using that ID instead of her own, and now she’s missing. She’s afraid that Ms. Wainright’s disappearance might be related to the incidents at her lab and her home. How long has your sister been missing?”
