Edge Of Midnight (The Mccloud Series Book 4)

by Shannon McKenna

  And that he loved her, madly, till the end of time. Why hadn’t he said that last night, instead of all his macho, blustering bullshit?

  Strawberry Red discreetly turned her back so she wouldn’t have to see his apologetic smile. Classy chick. He appreciated her delicacy.

  He had his cell out before he was out the door. Liv’s phone rang, and rang, and rang. He got into Davy’s SUV, tossed the briefcase onto Con’s lap and ignored the questions while he pulled up Tam’s number.

  She picked up instantly. “Sean,” she said crisply. “Brace yourself.”

  “What?” he yelled. “What happened? Where is she?”

  “I have no idea. She deactivated my alarms, took the car and left.”

  “When? Oh, fuck. No. When?”

  “Stop yelling in my ear. My alarm was deactivated almost four hours ago. Leaving me wide open in my studio, wearing head phones. I’m going to have a talk with her about that.”

  “You were supposed to keep an eye on her!” he bellowed.

  Tam snorted. “I was her host, not her jailor. If you’d asked me to confine her, I would have told you to go fuck yourself.”

  “I do not have time for your crap, Tam—”

  “So don’t call this number. I bet you were oh-so-masterful last night, right? Put your foot down, did you? Liv’s a real woman, not a dance club sex doll. A real woman has her own agenda. Get used to it.”

  Sean hung up on her, tried Liv again. No luck. “Shit!” he hissed.

  “Don’t you just hate it when they do that?” Con slanted a sympathetic glance over his shoulder.

  Davy let out an eloquent grunt. “Tell me about it.”

  Sympathy was not what he needed. He needed to see Liv, scream at her for scaring the shit out of him, and kiss her until she passed out.

  “Is she wearing a beacon?” Davy inquired.

  “There’s one in her cell,” Sean said through his clenched teeth, drumming his fingers. “Where’s the nearest X-Ray Specs set-up?”

  “I’ve got an old Specs receiver Seth told me I could mess around with in my folk’s basement,” Miles offered. “I think I can make it work. I’ve got the software, too. I can install it.”

  “Good,” Sean said curtly. “Let’s go.”

  Chapter 25

  It went against her good girl instincts, leaving a car in a tow zone, but Daddy was on life support, a killer was hunting for her and she’d been running on fumes for miles. It was a miracle she’d arrived at all.

  She parked the car outside the sliding glass doors, and bolted. So she’d pay the fee if they hauled it away. Um, yeah. Right. With what?

  Ah, what a happy dream, to be capable of dealing with her own parking violations again. She scurried into the bustling lobby, looking for signs for the north wing. Wondering if Daddy was…no. Stop.

  One thing at a time. One thought at a time.

  She started out walking, but anxiety kicked her into a clumsy lope, and by the time she hit a straight stretch, it was a dead run.

  Everyone shrank away from the crazy blonde sprinting down the hall in spike heels and the scanty, sexy red halter dress. She was too anxious to wait for the elevator. She dove for the stairs. Screeched to a halt outside the nurse’s station when she saw Dr. Horst, her family doctor from Seattle. Oh, God. His being here could not be a good sign.

  “Dr. Horst?” she called out, gasping for breath.

  He frowned, no recognition in his eyes. She yanked off the diva sunglasses. “It’s me. Liv. How’s Daddy? Is he—is he—”

  “Liv. My dear.” He walked towards her, giving her a gingerly embrace. The grave look on his face terrified her.

  “Tell me quick,” she begged. “Say it, if it’s bad news.”

  “Come on in here,” he said. “Try to calm yourself. We have to talk.” He towed her towards the doorway of a small waiting room.

  “Please, just tell me if Daddy…” Her voice trailed off.

  Her father was standing right there. Fully clothed, looking very much as he always did. No life support, no IV drip, no oxygen mask. He looked fine, but for the nervous, hangdog look on his face.

  Her mother stood beside him. Her chest was puffed out, chin high, her face flushed. Blair stood there too. Wearing his pompous face.

  “Mother?” Liv looked around at them. “Daddy? What’s going on?”

  “Lord,” Amelia said. “You look like a hooker in that silly wig.”

  Her father mumbled something inaudible, and stared at his feet.

  “I’m sorry it came to this, Livvy, but you left me no alternative,” her mother said.

  Hot anger flooded through her. “No alternative but what? To put me in danger for nothing? To put me through hours of hell thinking that Daddy was dying? You think you can actually justify that?”

  “Try to calm yourself, Liv,” Dr. Horst soothed. “Your mother truly does have your best interests at heart.”

  “As if.” Liv looked around. “I don’t see any policemen here. You didn’t take me seriously. Why am I not surprised?”

  “Liv, please,” Dr. Horst said gently. “I promise that you will be absolutely and completely safe where we are taking you.”

  “Taking me?” Alarm bells jangled in her head. She backed away. “No way. You’re not taking me anywhere.”

  “I know you’ve had a terrible ordeal, Livvy, but it’s over now. And we’re going to see that you get the help you need,” her mother said. She grabbed Liv’s wrist, her long red nails digging in with nervous strength.

  “You haven’t heard a word I’ve been saying!” Liv wailed. “I was attacked four days ago! A man tried to kill me! Sean saved me!”

  “You see?” Her mother fixed Dr. Horst with big, imploring eyes. “It’s something like Stockholm Syndrome. She’s so broken down, she’s actually bonded and identified with her abuser. God, Livvy, just look at you. Bruises on your arms, your face. You’ve been beaten!”

  “Mother, I told you—hey! What are you doing?”

  “You’re right.” Dr. Horst had grabbed her arm, and was frowning at it. “Rope burns, knife cuts, hematomas. It will be necessary to document all signs of sexual violence for when you press charges.”

  “Oh, dear God.” Her mother let out a theatrical sob of anguish.

  “Press charges? Against who?” Liv stared wildly around herself.

  “Oh, please, honey,” her mother said. “Don’t tell me you really believe these silly stories about an attacker. It’s just a fantasy, to justify your unhealthy obsession with that horrible man.”

  Her jaw dropped. “You mean, you still think the bad guy is Sean? But I’m telling you right now that it wasn’t! Mother, listen to me—”

  “What is this?” Her mother lifted the blond curls off her neck, and gasped. “Oh! God! Livvy? What has that person done to you?”

  “A human bite.” Horst’s mouth tightened with distaste. “You did the right thing, Mrs. Endicott. We probably got her back just in time.”

  “No. Wait. That wasn’t Sean. He didn’t do that. You’re all crazy.” Liv backed towards the door. “To hell with this bullshit. I’m leaving.”

  She bumped into Blair, who had sidled around behind her. He looped his beefy arms around her waist, pinning her arms.

  “Livvy,” Amelia said. “The police searched McCloud’s apartment, and guess what they found? Look at this. Just look, honey.”

  “Let go of me!” she shrieked, struggling, but Blair’s arms were strong. Her mother came over with a folder, and opened it up.

  “Look,” she said triumphantly. “Hundreds of photos of you, Livvy. They span years! This man has been stalking you for over a decade!”

  Liv stared at the folder. Her mother leafed through the photos, displaying them in quick succession. Liv in college. In New York. Outside the library where she’d worked in Baltimore. Outside the apartment where she’d lived in Madison. She stared at them, stunned.

  “See?” her mother said. “He’s obsessed, Livvy. Face the facts.�
�

  Not. The pictures were startling, but she was almost immune to shock by now. Sean’s passionate interest in her was intense and unusual, but not criminally violent. Not crazy. Not T-Rex. She knew the difference.

  She shook her head. “The man who attacked me was not Sean, Mother. You have to believe me. I’m not crazy. And neither is he.”

  Her mother looked sadly up at Dr. Horst. Shook her head.

  Blair’s arms tightened. “Sorry, Liv. Remember, I am your friend.”

  She struggled, panicked. “Like hell you are. You guys can’t do this to me! It’s not legal!”

  “I’m afraid you’re wrong about that.” Amelia’s voice had a taunting tone. “We can prove you’ve been kidnapped and brainwashed. That you’ve been physically and sexually abused. You are a danger to yourself and to those around you. The paperwork is drawn up. It’s incredibly painful for us, but we have to do what’s best for you, honey. All that remains is to get that person behind bars, where he belongs.”

  “You idiots!” she shrieked. “Sean didn’t kidnap me! He saved me! Let go!” She flailed, stomped, tried to knee Blair in the groin.

  She felt a sting in her arm. Horst was pushing down the plunger of a hypodermic. The effect was instantaneous, cutting her loose from her frantic desperation. She floated, detached. She couldn’t remember why it was so important to keep her knees locked, so she let them sag.

  Blair hoisted her up against his chest, with considerable effort.

  “Put her into this wheelchair,” Dr. Horst directed. “We’ll let her rest in the examining room while I go over some details on this paperwork with you. I want to get her settled into Belvedere by evening.”

  Belvedere? The mental health clinic for depressed, drug-addicted socialites? The rich bitch looney bin? Part of her wanted to shriek with laughter, but it wasn’t a part of her that had any motor control.

  Blair tucked her into the wheelchair, straightening her lolling head. She stared into his eyes, in silent pleading. He lifted her fake blond hair, looked at T-Rex’s bite. He shook his head, and left.

  Under the influence, she watched the wall grow wider, until it was as big as the sky.

  She floated in the blue, longing for someone whose name she couldn’t remember. She remembered his face, though. How he shone.

  The door to the main corridor opened, letting in a slice of light and noise from outside. A large cart with big canvas linen bags creaked in. She saw its bulk approaching. She could barely keep her eyes open, or her mouth shut. Let alone turn her head to look at it.

  And then she smelled him—T-Rex. That bitter, awful stench.

  Fear bloomed inside her, faraway but terribly real. So was the grief. Sean. The name came to her. She clutched at it, desperately.

  So sad. That all of Sean’s heroic efforts should come to nothing, because she’d been so stupid, so credulous. The monster had come, and she’d never even thanked Sean for what he’d done. For his bravery, his passion, his sweetness. The lovely, shining truth of him.

  The monster bent over her, dressed in hospital scrubs. His foul breath washed over her face. He bent close, gave her face a sloppy lick with his meaty red tongue. She was paralyzed, unable to flinch away.

  “Oh, Olivia. I’m so glad to see you.” His voice was a raspy whisper.

  He scooped her out of the wheelchair. Dumped her headfirst into the canvas bin, half full of dirty sheets. Wrenched one over her body.

  The sound of the wheels creak-creaking below her head was the last thing she heard as she faded away, buried alive in the airless dark.

  Miles’s Specs revealed that Liv’s phone was in the Chamberlain Clinic. Sean was baffled, but glad that it was a public building where she would be relatively safe. At least the icon wasn’t blinking forlornly in a ditch somewhere. “Give me your keys,” he said to Davy.

  Davy looked dubious. “If things go the way they usually do, you’ll get hauled off by the cops, and I’ll have to bail your useless ass out before I can retrieve my car keys. Don’t you want to see the tapes?”

  “I’ve waited fifteen years to see the tapes. I can wait another half hour. Hand ’em over.” He waggled his fingers imperiously.

  Davy sighed, flung the keys at him. Sean caught them, and bolted up the stairs and through Miles’s mom’s kitchen, deftly evading her as she tried to flag him down and stuff a sandwich into his face.

  He called Liv’s phone repeatedly, as he speeded through town. His nerves were crawling so bad, he could barely keep from screaming.

  Answer it, he willed her. For Christ’s sake. Have mercy on me.

  He was so startled when a voice answered, he practically rearended the vehicle ahead of him. He screeched to a stop just in time.

  “Liv?” he bellowed. “Where in holy hell are you?”

  After a moment, an acid voice replied, “She’s right where she should be, Mr. McCloud. Safe with her family, and away from you.”

  “Who is this?” he roared, and then realization hit, like an anvil in his face. “Oh, Christ, no. Don’t tell me. Is this Liv’s mom?”

  “I am Olivia’s mother, yes. Please do not try to get anywhere near my daughter, ever again. The police are ready to intercept you.”

  “I cannot believe this,” Sean hissed. “What did you do? Lure her in by saying that one of you was sick? Is that why she’s at the clinic?”

  “My husband’s frail health is none of your business.”

  “Frail health, my ass. I can’t believe she fell for it, but then, she always cared more about you guys than either of you ever deserved. Put Liv on the line. Let me talk to her.”

  “No,” the woman said, her voice triumphant. “She is resting. She’s had a terrible experience. I will not let her talk to you. Ever again.”

  “How do you intend to stop her?” Sean asked. “She’s thirty-two.”

  “Yes, and very fragile. Easily led by a dominating personality.”

  An image of Liv charging through the forest topless, screaming bloody murder as she emptied the clip of the Beretta at T-Rex, came to him. “Uh, yeah. Right,” he muttered.

  “Wait. Just a moment, Dr. Horst, I’m on the phone with that person, and I’ll be with you in a…what? She’s what?”

  Crack. The phone had dropped to the ground.

  A hole of fear yawned open in his belly. He listened to the still open line. People were yelling in the distance. Amelia was screaming.

  Already. He’d fucked up. He should have stuck to Liv like glue.

  “Mr. McCloud?” Amelia shrieked into the phone. “What have you done with my daughter? Where is she?”

  Relief made him giddy. T-Rex had nabbed her, had not simply murdered her. There was still a chance. He laid on the gas.

  “Nothing,” he said. “Don’t tell me. She’s disappeared, right? Someone abducted her. You mean you’re surprised? Where have you been for the past four weeks? Jesus, lady! Hello! Wake up!”

  “It’s not possible! She wasn’t—you’re not—”

  “I’m not the one!” Sean yelled. “Bet she tried to tell you, huh? Bet you didn’t listen. You’ve never listened to her in her entire life.”

  Her incoherent response suddenly diminished in volume. “Mr. McCloud?” said a gruff male voice. “Where did you take my daughter?”

  “Nowhere,” he snarled. “I’m trying to keep her alive, and you and your stupid wife are making it hard. How long ago did she disappear?”

  “We saw her just fifteen minutes ago—”

  “Tell the cops to block all the roads leading to the clinic. Stop everyone from leaving.” He hung up the phone, and gunned the engine.

  The cops would be all over his ass in no time. He had to catch up with T-Rex before they caught up to him. Think, goddamnit. Think.

  He pounded the steering wheel. If he were a kidnapper sneaking a drugged woman out of a hospital and into a vehicle…

  Basement. Laundry. Back entrance. Definitely.

  He slewed the vehicle around just in time
to take the lefthand road that looped up and around to the back service entrance and the employee parking garage. He jerked to a stop outside the garage, and left the SVU running as he sidled along the wall towards the entrance.

  He definitely couldn’t count on those brain-dead Endicotts to tell the cops to block the exit roads, so he yanked out his phone and dialed 911 as he peered into the entrance, sidling down. A pair of headlights flicked on in there. His heart kicked up a notch, his stomach did a no-hands cartwheel. The lights came slowly towards him.

  He pulled out the SIG Con had brought him, held it discreetly behind his thigh. He couldn’t make out who was in the driver’s seat. He was still in the chute that led up to the outside lot. It was a white van, stenciling on the side, hospital supplies or something. His nerve endings prickled. The engine roared. Was it T-Rex? Fuck.

  The dispatcher spoke into his ear. “Endicott Falls Police.”

  If that was T-Rex, the only solution was to shoot the driver right now, head-on. But he couldn’t see who was driving. Couldn’t risk it.

  The van picked up speed, swerved. The door swung open. Sean leaped back, turning so that the spine-snapping lethal blow was downgraded to mere searing white-hot pain. The ground swooped up and slapped his body sidewise, knocking out his wind.

  A bulky, familiar body dressed in hospital scrubs leaped out of the van. Sean lifted the gun that was still, miraculously, in his hand.

  Pfft, a flash of light, a hard, shocking pressure to his upper arm. That cold, sinking feeling that he knew too well. He’d sprung a leak.

  T-Rex scooped up the SIG Sean had dropped into his latex-gloved hand, and slammed his boot into Sean’s kidney. A fireburst of pain.

  “I thought you’d be more of a challenge.” The guy crouched, fixing piglike eyes upon Sean. “It’s pussy does it to you, you know? Makes a guy weak. You’ve been at her night and day, right? Made yourself as weak as a limp, floppy dick. Lucky I’m here to take over, huh?”

  It would take too much energy to reply. He gathered himself in stillness, waited for his chance.

  “I’m supposed to keep your brain in one piece until Chris is done playing with it,” T-Rex went on. “But if there’s anything left, I get to take you home, to play. Olivia, too. Chris promised I could have her for a toy if I brought you in. “He grinned. “I’ve got a meathook in my garage. When I’m bored with fucking her, I’ll slide the point between her ribs, hoist her up. Use her for a punching bag. You can watch.”