The sex had been real.
Ellie allowed herself a smile at the memory of Connor’s kiss downstairs. Not even Viola could fabricate the spark that ignited between her and Connor with a look, a touch, or a kiss. Their mutual attraction was real, but was it enough to keep them together when the truth of Viola’s deception came out?
A sound came at the door to the ballroom, interrupting her thoughts. Ellie spun toward the sound. “Connor, you’re right. We need to talk.”
It wasn’t Connor who stood in the doorway. It was Amanda Frost.
“How did you get in here?”
Amanda’s smile turned sinister. “Your husband left in such a hurry he forgot to set the alarm.”
Comprehension dawned over Ellie. “That was you who broke into the lab?”
“No. Just a distraction in order to get what I really wanted.”
She stepped slowly forward with her hand in the pocket of her dark coat—a dark coat that looked very similar to the one Ellie had seen on the person jumping over the fence after the house break-in.
“I want you to leave.”
Amanda’s face tightened. “We don’t always get what we want.”
Ellie stood, knocking her chair over in the process. She desperately tried to think of what to do, how she could take control of this situation. The longer she kept Amanda talking, the more chance she had of Connor returning home. “What can you possibly hope to accomplish by threatening me?”
Connor’s ex-girlfriend stopped before her. “It’s not you I want.”
“Then what?”
She sucked in a breath, then in a controlled voice replied, “Your husband’s research and his prototype. I figure if I take the thing he loves most, he’ll hand it over willingly.”
Ellie couldn’t help it. She laughed. “That was a big assumption on your part.”
Amanda frowned. “Why is that?”
“Because he’ll never trade me for his research or his car. You might as well end whatever this is now before you’re looking at more serious charges than breaking and entering. Twice.”
Amanda murmured close to her ear, “I’m sure you underestimate yourself . . .”
A chill slid through her as Amanda’s fingers clamped around her elbow.
Ellie swung her other arm, connecting with Amanda’s chin.
She lurched back but only tightened her grip on Ellie’s arm. Damn, the woman is strong! But if Amanda meant to take her somewhere, Ellie wasn’t going to make it easy. She kicked Amanda’s knee and wrestled out of her grasp. With her heart in her throat, Ellie raced for the door. She had finally found a purpose for the handcuffs Jordan had given her, except they were upstairs in her room.
Ellie had scarcely cleared the door frame of the ballroom when Amanda caught up to her. Ellie felt a sharp pinprick bite into her neck.
Her body went limp, and she watched Amanda smile. A heartbeat later, Ellie melted to the ground. Her last thought before darkness engulfed her was of Connor and how much she would miss him when she never saw him again.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Ellie’s eyelids fluttered open. Too heavy to hold them in that position, she let them drift closed. It had all been a dream . . . a dream that smelled like dead fish.
Ellie forced her eyes open and found herself in a dark room. She could see nothing that gave her any clue to her whereabouts. There was a concrete floor beneath her. The air was cool, but not as cool as outside.
A wave of nausea rolled over her. The drug Amanda had given her was slowly wearing off, but not fast enough. With a groan, she rolled onto her side. It was then she realized her hands and feet were tied. Not wanting the fish smell to make her nausea worse, she took shallow, even breaths in an effort to clear her head.
Once the nausea was under control, she remained still and listened. When nothing came to her, she squeezed her eyes shut and focused, trying to make her addled brain work. Gulls squawked overhead. There was a sound of water as it slapped against wooden pylons.
The Seattle waterfront. If she put those clues together with the fish smell, then she could be nowhere else but at a fish-processing factory. There were several along Alaskan Way where someone could be held unnoticed for a long period of time.
A more terrifying thought occurred to her—was she simply here waiting for Amanda to put her on a boat? A boat made sense. It would be so easy to dispose of her body in the depths of Puget Sound once Connor refused her captor’s demands.
Ellie drew a deep, steadying breath. Her new goal for the evening: avoid being killed.
If death did find her, she had only one regret—that she hadn’t taken the chance to be honest with Connor and tell him what was in her heart. Because she knew he was the one for her.
Silently, in case Amanda was near, she tested the knots that bound her by straightening her legs. They were tied tightly together, making it impossible for her to walk. Her hands were tied tightly together in front of her. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she could see the hazy outline of the knot at her hands, and she smiled.
Obviously Amanda hadn’t been a Girl Scout. She’d tied the rope together in the center of Ellie’s hands with a figure-eight knot instead of a square knot. She could get out of her bindings in time.
Ellie brought her hands to her mouth and started working the knot loose with her teeth. The fact that she could do something to help herself, and hopefully ruin Amanda’s plans, gave her courage—however false it might be. But at least she was doing something besides waiting to be fish bait.
A sound grated in the distance. “I hope you’re not too groggy,” a female voice said from the darkness.
Ellie stopped her gnawing, praying that if she couldn’t see Amanda, Amanda couldn’t see her. And if Amanda couldn’t see her, maybe Ellie could rattle her. “Connor told me you were smart. But obviously not smart enough to find a way to abduct me without using sedatives.”
A lantern flared on her left, flooding the room with pale, golden light. Amanda strode toward her until she stood above Ellie, her face expressionless. “Keep insulting me, Ellie, and something might happen to you before I can return you to Connor.”
Ellie looked around her. She was definitely in a warehouse, one with high windows all along the side and a door on the far end to her left. Too high for her to climb up to and escape. “Where am I?” she asked, not really expecting Amanda to reveal anything useful.
“Haven’t you guessed?”
“A warehouse along Alaskan Way.”
“You’re very good at this game.” Amanda smiled. “Want to play another game?”
“Such as?”
“Guess how long it’ll be before that husband of yours notices you’re gone?” Her smile turned cruel.
“I already told you—he won’t care.”
Amanda pulled a knife from her pocket, and the blade clicked open.
Ellie tried to keep her expression from revealing the terror that skittered across her nerves.
Amanda bent down and stroked the side of her cheek with the ice-cold blade. She lifted strands of Ellie’s hair and hacked off a hunk.
Ellie flinched but held back a gasp.
“He’ll care when I deliver this to him along with my demands.”
Ellie swallowed roughly as the overwhelming scent of fish merged with her own fear. “What are you after, Amanda? Why do you want Connor’s research so badly?”
Amanda’s smile faded. “I’ll get billions of dollars for all the technology his car will reveal.”
“And a prison sentence.”
Amanda shook her head as she stood, sending her long, dark hair cascading about her shoulders. The woman looked more like a supermodel than she did a supervillain. But it would be wise not to underestimate her. “I’ll be long gone to some foreign country before the officials realize what I’ve done.”
That Amanda was telling her all this didn’t make her own prospects for survival look great. Despite a shiver that racked her, Ellie continued with her questio
ns. “Why couldn’t you simply do the research yourself instead of stealing from Connor? First in college, now this? Don’t you have any morals?”
“I’ll let that insult pass. Why not? I’m feeling generous. I’ll soon have all the money I could ever want.” Amanda turned off the lantern, pitching the room into darkness once more.
“What a way to start your new life, as a thief and a murderer.”
“I’m not going to kill you. At least not right away. That wouldn’t be very exciting. Besides, I still have faith that your husband will come around to seeing our demands. I mean, why love a car when you can love a woman instead?”
Ellie drew a steadying breath, trying not to let Amanda’s words undermine what little bravery she still possessed. She had faith in Connor as well, but when it came to his car, he was unpredictable. She’d had to compete for his attention from the moment they married.
Amanda moved away from her, toward the doorway off to her left. The metal door screeched open, then closed.
Ellie’s heart fell at the sound of a dead bolt sliding into place.
Instantly she brought her hands back up and, doubling her efforts, chewed at the knot, all the while cursing Amanda for the darkness.
A shiver went through Ellie, but she forced her fear away. Instead of allowing the darkness to close in around her, she closed her eyes and imagined the ballroom and all the thousands of twinkle lights she’d woven into the trees and around the room.
Viola and mystery Elvis’s wedding was not one she intended to miss.
When Connor arrived at the lab, his project lead was waiting for him at the door. In the distance Connor could see two medics near his office, moving someone to a gurney. A pool of blood darkened the concrete floor. “Who’s hurt?” Connor’s brain fired in all directions as he took in the scene.
“Alex Ferrara. I found him sprawled on the floor. Someone bashed him in the head,” Mike Mulligan replied, looking more haggard and distraught than he ever had in the five years they’d been working together.
Alex was the lead researcher he’d hired only one month ago. The fifty-year-old robotics genius had been a critical part of the progress they’d recently made. “He’s alive?”
Mike nodded. “Unconscious.”
“Have the medics said anything?”
“He’s breathing, and he’s lost a lot of blood, but they were able to stabilize him,” Mike said, his voice thin, watching as the medics rolled Alex out the door. “They’re taking him to Harborview now.”
Connor was relieved to hear that. “And the prototypes?”
“They’re fine.” Mike drew a breath and held it a moment before continuing. “The original is in the research lab, exactly where we left it, and the alarm is still set. The second one is safely locked in the basement.”
“Then what happened here?”
“The alarm to your office tripped.”
Concern flashed through Connor. “The safe?”
“Untouched.”
Connor breathed a thankful sigh. “Have you checked the security video?”
“Disabled.” Mike nodded toward Connor’s office. “I need you to check your office to make sure nothing else is gone.”
After a quick search, Connor agreed everything was where he’d left it. Turning to Mike, he threw up his hands. “I don’t understand. Why go to all the trouble of a break-in and possibly risk assault or murder charges when they didn’t take a thing?”
“I have two theories,” Mike said as he leaned against the doorjamb.
“Let’s hear them.”
“All our security precautions stopped whoever broke in from getting the original white prototype or your research. Maybe they were after those things all along, and Alex just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Nodding, Connor asked, “And your second theory?”
Mike frowned. “I suspect the burglar knew he’d never get close to either of those things and needed a distraction to grab something else that might induce you to hand it all over.”
Connor went still. Ellie or his grandmother.
The two women were his greatest weaknesses. Connor grabbed his cell phone and dialed Ellie.
No answer.
Next he tried Grayson House.
No answer.
His heart pulsing in his ears, he tried his grandmother. He breathed a sigh of relief when she picked up on the second ring and assured him she was fine. He promised to call later and share more of the details when he knew what they were. Hanging up, he turned back to Mike. “Can you handle things here?”
“Of course. Are you headed home?”
He nodded. “I need to find Ellie. Call me with any updates on Alex.”
“Will do. Good luck.”
Connor placed one more call on his way back to the parking garage. “Trevor?”
“What’s up? Are you calling to make sure I’m not going to back out of your invite to Thanksgiving dinner? I promised I’d be there.”
“I need your help.”
“With what?” Trevor asked.
“I’m not entirely sure yet, but I have a bad feeling something terrible has happened. Can you meet me at Grayson House?”
“Is this official police business?” Trevor asked.
“It might be.”
“Be there in ten minutes.”
Connor jumped into his fuel-efficient car. He drove faster than he normally would, leaving curses in his wake when lights slowed him down, until finally he pulled up in front of the house.
Trevor was already there, waiting outside. “What’s up?”
“Nothing, I hope,” he said as he strode up the front stairs. The door was ajar.
A sliver of apprehension moved through Connor.
“Behind me,” Trevor said, pulling his gun. With his foot he moved the door open and entered the house, with Connor in his wake.
Instantly voices came at them from the hallway, the parlor, and the stairs. At the sight of Viola, Lenny, George, Ernie, and Aaron, as well as his father and Julie and James Hawthorne, Trevor holstered his gun. The din of their voices assailed Connor and Trevor all at once, the sound increasing until Connor released a shrill whistle, as though calling the troops to order.
A sudden silence fell over the grim-faced crowd.
“Why is everyone here?” Connor asked in frustration.
Viola leveled him with a frosty glare. “I called everyone after you called me and asked them all to meet here. If Ellie’s in trouble, then it’s up to her family to help get her out of it. Is Ellie in trouble? We searched the house and couldn’t find her.”
Connor looked at the people crowding the doorway, and despite his desperation to find Ellie, a sense of rightness came over him. Both he and Ellie had felt so alone all their lives, yet now that they’d found each other, they’d also found themselves surrounded by people who cared about them. “Yes, I believe Ellie is in trouble.”
A collective gasp filled the room.
“We’re going to find her. We’ll bring her home, where she belongs,” Connor said with determination.
“Are there any signs of a break-in? A struggle? Did you notice anything odd?” Trevor asked.
They all started talking at once.
Trevor moved up two stairs and turned. He raised his hands and said, “Quiet!”
They all stared at him, wide-eyed. Even without his uniform, Trevor had a commanding presence.
“Viola, tell me what you know so far,” Trevor demanded.
“We arrived only moments before you. The front door was unlocked and partially open. We made an initial search of the house. The only thing I saw out of place was upstairs in the ballroom.” Viola’s face softened, and her gaze strayed to Lenny and Aaron, where they stood together. “Ellie did such a beautiful job with the decorations. It would be heartbreaking to let them go to waste.” Her voice wavered.
“Don’t worry, Grandmother. There will be a wedding on Friday with Ellie in attendance even if it takes me
that long to find her,” Connor vowed, then turned to Trevor. “I want to see what’s upstairs.”
Connor and Trevor climbed the grand staircase, taking two stairs at a time while the others followed more slowly. They entered the ballroom. Instead of seeing the beauty Ellie had created, Connor focused on the one out-of-place chair. “She was here, and she was taken.”
Trevor frowned. “How can you be certain? All I see is a tipped-over chair.”
“I’ve come to know her in the past five weeks, and she never would have left one chair askew. Look at the others. They’re all perfectly aligned—to the millimeter. But not this one.” Connor bent down and studied the chair more closely. “This would have driven Ellie crazy.”
In his mind, Connor re-created the scene. “She was waiting for me to come home after a break-in was reported at the lab. We needed to talk.” He stood, studying the chair from the top. “She sat in this chair, waiting.”
Connor slowly walked to the door. “Something happened, maybe startling her. She got up, tipping the chair over as she moved to the door.”
Trevor narrowed his gaze, mulling over Connor’s theory. “You really think that’s what—”
“Over here,” Connor interrupted as he moved to the last row of chairs and bent down. Lying on the polished wooden floor was an abandoned syringe and hypodermic needle. He glanced back at Trevor as he tempered both panic and anger.
Trevor pulled an evidence bag from the pocket of his coat and scooped up the syringe, careful not to disturb any evidence that might be left behind. He sniffed the contents of the bag. “Smells like propofol. The anesthesia would have knocked her out instantly.” To the others he said, “I’ve called for backup, but until the detectives arrive, I could use your help if you’re willing to follow my directions.”
“We’ll do anything to help find our girl,” James Hawthorne said, his voice deep with emotion.
Trevor took charge. “Search the room for other clues, but be careful not to touch anything. Call me if you see anything.”
To James and Julie Hawthorne, Trevor said, “Would the two of you go downstairs and make a sweep for anything we missed?”
“What are we looking for?” James asked.
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