I opened my eyes to the morning sunshine that was gleaming through the room's gauzy curtains, then rolled over to face my daughter's side of the bed only to find it empty. I frowned. Violet rarely rose before me, especially after a busy day like yesterday. I stilled and listened. The house was quiet except for the low whir of the central air conditioning. I sat up and listened again. Still nothing. My frown deepened.
"Violet!?" I called out as I flung the covers off myself.
There was no answer, and the first stirrings of panic began to flicker to life inside me. I glanced at the nightstand and saw that Violet's tablet wasn't there. Maybe she took it into the bathroom or downstairs and was so engrossed in it that she didn't hear me. Lord knew she could tune out just about anything when she had her nose buried it that damn thing. I jumped out of bed and hurried down the hall to the upstairs bathroom. The room was empty with the door wide open. I checked the other bedrooms, and didn't find her either.
"Violet?!" I called out again as my heart began to pound in my chest. There was still no reply. A feeling of foreboding fell over me, making my blood run cold.
I hurried downstairs and rushed from the living room, to the dining room, and finally to the kitchen searching for her, but my daughter was nowhere to be found. I clenched my fists as a wave of fear swept through me.
"Violet!" I yelled, my voice panicked and quavering now. "You answer me right now, young lady!" Nothing.
I took the hallway back toward the stairs and peered into the downstairs bathroom. It was empty too, but Violet's tablet was sitting abandoned on the vanity. I walked in and picked it up in a daze as my stomach roiled with fear. Where was my baby?
I whirled and went back into the kitchen and stopped in the middle of the room, my eyes darting frantically around the room. That was when I noticed that Violet's flip flops were missing from where they usually sat by the back door. Okay. Maybe she went outside. She knew better than to go outside without letting me know about it first, but she could be impulsive at times. I strode forward and reached out to unlock the door, but found that it was already unlocked. I felt even sicker.
I flew out the door in my pajamas onto the small deck on the back of the house, and looked out across the small fenced in lawn toward the alley that ran along the back of Evan's property line. My eyes widened, and my heart stopped when I focused on the chain-link fence at the back of the yard. The gate out into the alley was hanging wide open.
"Violet!" I hollered as I ran down the deck steps then across the grass to the gate. I rushed out into the middle of the alley and swept my gaze up and down the crumbling pavement stretching in both directions. "Violet!" I screamed out loudly. My only reply was the faint creaking sound of the gate swinging in the breeze behind me. "Where are you, baby?" I sobbed out in a raw and ragged voice as tears burned my eyes. They dripped down my cheeks as I clutched my baby's tablet to my chest in a death grip. A deep pit of agony opened up inside me, and I just knew something was horribly, horribly wrong. I needed to call the police. I had to find my baby. I turned and sprinted back across the yard and into the house, then hurried upstairs to find my phone.
I went into my room and flung the tablet onto the bed, then froze and stared at it. I had the sudden and inexplicable gut feeling that my answer might be right here in front of me. I picked it back up again, and woke it up to find a messaging app still open. I saw that a recent video call had come through late last night from someone I didn't recognize. What the hell? Who was Violet talking to?
I opened up her recent text messages and started scrolling through them. Whoever it was had been communicating back and forth with my daughter for weeks. As I scrolled through more messages, one word caught my eye and sent icy terror streaking through my body in a instant. Pumpkin. They called my daughter, pumpkin, and there was only one person on earth who had ever called Violet that, her father, Raymond Voss, my dead husband. The tablet dropped from my suddenly limp fingers and thumped onto the floor at my feet.
I couldn't breath. I couldn't even think. No. It couldn't be. It was impossible. Ray couldn't be alive. He just couldn't be. No, no, no. A strange keening noise came up out of me as I backed away from the vile tablet. The backs of my thighs hit the side of the bed, and I dropped down hard as my knees buckled. I squeezed my eyes shut as pure terrified panic swept through me, my heart racing and my body shaking. What do I do? What do I do? What do I do?
Somehow, I managed to hold on to my sanity, and eventually began sucking in deep breaths as I tried to keep it together. Losing it right now wasn't going to get my daughter back to me. I needed to calm down so I could think. Finally, my brain began to function again. I opened my eyes to see the tablet lying on the floor in front of me. I leaned down and snatched it up. I typed in a text message, then took a deep breath and hit send.
Where is Violet?
I stared at the screen for what felt like an eternity waiting for a reply, hoping this was all some horrible mistake or a nightmare that I'd wake from any second. Neither happened, and instead of a text reply, a notification for an incoming video call popped up. I answered the call with a trembling hand. I gasped when the video finally filled the screen, and gaped in horror at the face I thought I would never see again and now proved that this was indeed a nightmare, just a very very real one.
"Hello, my darling," Ray said, his familiar and intimidating voice smug and condescending.
I shivered as I took in every hard and cruel line of a face that I could never forget. I remembered how he'd hijacked my life and stole it from me. I remembered how much I hated him, and how long I lived in fear with my own daughter held over my head to control me. It all came rushing back. I thought I was finally free of all that, of him. I thought I would never feel any of this again, but now it all came pouring back in an instant and made me feel physically ill.
"Ray," I whispered as the bile churning in my empty stomach threatened to come up.
"Surprise," he said with a vile grin. "It seems that the report of my death was an exaggeration."
"Where's Violet?" I demanded fiercely, ignoring his poor attempt at humor and refusing to stroke his ego by asking how he'd somehow faked his death in that plane crash. It didn't matter. All that mattered was getting my Violet back.
"She's safe with her father, and away from the influence of her whore of a mother," he snarled out as he glared balefully at me. "My little girl told me all about your new boyfriend she saw you kissing, and how you spent the night with him and dragged my daughter along with you. Something tells me there was a whole hell of a lot more going on than just kissing. Am I right, Ella?"
"You cheated on me for years, Ray," I blurted out angrily. "How dare you-"
"Shut up!" he shouted with rage darkening his eyes. "I'm going to make this simple for you, you little fucking whore. I don't know who this man is you're seeing, but it stops now. If you ever want to see Violet again you will end things with him and come to me alone tonight at midnight. This is nonnegotiable. You are my wife. You belong to me." He leaned in closer to the camera. "Don't you ever forget that I own you," he added in a low threatening growl that made my heart stutter in my chest. "If you call the police or don't show up, you will never see Violet again." His intense dark-green eyes glittered with a dark and deadly malice that chilled me to the bone, and before I could even form a reply past the hard lump of fear in my throat, Ray's image winked out as the call abruptly ended.
I sat there in stunned and stupefied silence, until several seconds later when Ray sent me an address that I knew was deep in the worst part of The Armpit, a place I never wanted to set foot in again. A harsh and guttural sob tore up out of my chest as I slipped off the edge of the bed to the floor and curled up into a ball on my side, consumed by bitter pain and sorrow.
I don't know how long I stayed there crying hysterically, lost and afraid. How could I walk away from Calder again and have my heart and soul survive? How could he survive it at all? All I could picture was Calder turning to heroin a
gain after I left him a second time, and this time I knew it would kill him. I would kill him. I was torn between the two people I cared about most in this world, my child and the love of my life. Torn between the old pathetic me that always did whatever Ray said to keep the peace so I could protect Violet and myself, and the newer stronger me that didn't want to let that bastard control me anymore.
I couldn't let Ray have my daughter. I couldn't break the promise I made never to leave Calder again. There had to be a way to get Violet back without destroying Calder in the process or handing myself over to that horrible man. There had to be. I felt helplessly trapped and all alone, and I didn't know what to do, but then with sudden clarity, I realized that I wasn't alone like I had been these last twelve years. I wasn't without help. I had Calder now.
Though Ray might be powerful and ruthless, Calder was a powerful force in his own right. He was a survivor, a fighter. He'd been tempered into steel by the cruel and merciless environment of The Armpit. He fought his way out and overcame his addiction to become the strong successful man he was today. If anyone stood a chance of helping me against Raymond Voss, it was my Cal.
With my decision made, I was finally able to pull myself back together. I took a deep fortifying breath and stood up on my own two feet. Then I picked up my phone off the nightstand to call the one man I knew I could trust completely with my daughter's life, and my own.
CHAPTER
THIRTY-THREE
____________________
Calder
An easy contentment was in my eyes as I stood in front of the mirror in my bathroom getting ready for the day. I felt rested again after my second night of uninterrupted sleep since Ella and I got back together. My workout this morning had been especially good. I felt strong, powerful, and on top of my game, like I could take on the world and have a guaranteed win. What would it be like when I finally got to sleep next to Ella? I snorted out a laugh and grinned. Well, for one, I wouldn't have to jerk off in the shower to thoughts of my hands all over her body while I told her all the filthy things I wanted to do to her.
The Indigo Room was closed today, so I didn't have to work late tonight. I planned on visiting her afterwords, and bringing the two of them dinner. Maybe she and I could fool around a little after Violet went to sleep. Tomorrow night I hoped to convince her to stay after work so I could take advantage of her in my office before she went home. Maybe I could tie her to my desk for a little erotic torture session.
My grin widened. I didn't think it would take much convincing. Ella wanted me as much as I wanted her. It had been excruciating dropping her off at her brother's house last night and going home alone. She belonged in my home, in my bed, but we'd agreed that Violet wasn't ready for that. I had to be patient. The last thing I wanted was to hurt that kid in any way. I left the bathroom and sighed as I glanced toward the guest room across the hall where Violet had slept the night before. I missed that little girl. She belonged here too.
I walked out of the bathroom and went into the closet to get dressed. I flicked through my suits trying to find the one that fit me the best, wanting to look good for Ella and stack the deck in my favor, so I could get laid tonight. My phone started ringing on the nightstand. I groaned and hurried to answer it, thinking Gwen was already calling about some crisis. I saw Ella's name on the screen as I picked it up and smiled.
"Good morning, my lovely," I greeted her warmly. "Did you miss me as much as I missed you last night?"
"He took her," came Ella's unexpected reply in a wavering voice. "He...he took her, Cal."
"What?" I asked as icy dread streaked up my spine.
"Violet," she said frantically. "He took her last night. I woke up, and she was gone. I have to get her back. I have to." Her babbling voice was panicked now, her breathing erratic and all over the place. What the hell was she talking about?
"Ella," I barked out to jolt her out of it. "Calm down and tell me what's going on," I demanded sharply, feeling the first stirrings of panic myself.
"Ray's alive," she answered between sobs. "He's...he's alive, and he took my Violet."
The dread turned to stark fear, paralyzing me where I stood.
"Are you sure?" I asked hoarsely, not wanting to believe it was true. It couldn't be.
"Yes," she said. "He video called me, and he told me to leave you and come to him tonight if I ever want to see my baby again."
"How?" I asked incredulously. "How is he alive?"
"I...I don't know," she gasped out between harsh ragged breaths. "I don't know what to do, Cal. Help me. Help me, please. I...I have to get her back."
She began sobbing hysterically now, and it tore my heart in two and enraged me. I latched onto the anger, using it to burn away the panic that threatened to overwhelm me. I didn't have the luxury of losing it right now. Ella needed me. Violet needed me. I wouldn't let them down.
"I'm on my way, baby," I told her as I rushed back into the closet to grab some clothes. "I'm coming to you, and we'll figure it out. We'll get her back. I promise you that we'll get her back."
"Okay," she whispered dejectedly.
"I'm hanging up now," I said in as calm a voice as I could muster. "Just stay put and hold on until I get there. Can you do that for me?"
"Okay."
"Good," I said firmly. "I'll see you soon, baby."
It pained me to end the call, but I couldn't do this alone. I needed help, and I knew just the person I needed. I quickly threw on some clothes, then pulled up the number I needed and placed the call as I rushed downstairs to head for the garage.
Scott answered on the first ring. "What's up?"
"Voss is alive, and he took Violet," I explained succinctly as I hurried through the house.
He was silent for a beat, then asked, "When?" His tone was sharp and focused now. That was what I needed. No one could stay calm and level headed in a crisis like my best friend.
"Last night," I replied. "I don't know the details, but I'm on my way to Ella's house now."
"Text me the address," he demanded. "I'll meet you there." The call ended.
I sighed in relief as I climbed into my Tesla, then sent him the address. I knew Scott would drop everything and come to my aid. He was my blood brother, and I could always count on him.
I drove to my Ella like a madman, weaving around slower cars and cutting people off as I left a trail of blaring horns and middle fingers behind me. I didn't care. When I finally skidded to a halt in front of her brother's house and flew out of the car, Ella came bursting out through the front door and was running to meet me with the most heart-wrenching expression of anguish on her face I'd ever seen. I pulled her into my arms halfway up the sidewalk, and clutched her to my chest as she began to sob.
"I'm here now, baby," I murmured into her hair. "I'm here."
I just held her for a while, trying to will my strength and love into her. We were still standing there when an old gray Buick Le Sabre pulled up behind my Tesla. I breathed a sigh of relief as Scott climbed out and strode toward us with a laptop under one arm and a gym bag in his other hand. His eyes narrowed slightly as he took in the sight of Ella in my arms, but he said nothing about it as he approached.
He came up beside us and stopped. "We should go inside," he said, his tone even and business-like, then he moved on toward the front door.
Ella stiffened as she watched Scott disappear into the house. "Cal?" she asked worriedly as she twisted in my arms and met my eyes with an anxious expression.
"I trust Scott with my life." Hell, he'd saved my life when I almost died from an overdose. "He's our best bet to get Violet back." I reached up to cup her face tenderly. "Trust me," I added sincerely as I tried to remain calm and not let on that the fear and despair in her eyes gutted me. It was killing me to see her like this, but she needed my strength right now, not my tears.
"Okay," she whispered with a subtle nod.
I gave her a quick kiss, before ushering her back into the house. We walked in to find Scot
t already sitting on the sofa and setting his laptop on the coffee table. I led Ella to the love seat that sat catty-cornered to Scott, and pulled her down next to me with my arm wrapped around her shoulders reassuringly.
Scott opened and powered up the computer then looked at Ella with a calm expression. "Walk me through everything," he said to her in a reassuring voice.
She took a shaking breath and began speaking, telling Scott how she woke up alone, and frantically searched for her daughter, before finally looking at Violet's tablet. She began to tremble as she told him about the video call with Ray, and the horrible things he said to her. I could tell how much seeing him alive had shaken and upset her. My blood was boiling by the time she was through, and it was all I could do not to start pacing or punching a few fucking holes in the wall.
Scott nodded as she finished, his expression grim now. "I'll need to see that tablet."
"Okay," Ella replied and stood to hurry toward the stairs.
Scott's sharp and calculating blue eyes narrowed in on me as soon as Ella disappeared upstairs.
"You're not just playing house are you?" he asked in a pointed, yet thoughtful tone with his head cocked slightly.
I shook my head.
"You love her?" he asked in a softer tone.
"I've always loved her, Scott. She's mine."
"And the little girl?"
"She's mine now too," I said vehemently. "That bastard can't have either of them."
He nodded once in understanding, then turned to reach into his duffel bag. A second later, he pulled out a Glock 9mm pistol in a black leather belt holster and wordlessly held it out to me. I glanced at the weapon and recoiled away from it, then looked back up at Scott. I hadn't touched a gun in a very long time, and was loath to do it again. It brought up memories from when I was a desperate addict living in the darkest and most dangerous parts of The Armpit where I was never really safe.
"Raymond Voss is a violent and ruthless killer," Scott said grimly. "Don't think for a second that fucker will hesitate to eliminate anyone he sees as a threat to his agenda, you, me, Ella, or even his own child." He pulled open one side of the button-down shirt he was wearing over his T-shirt to show me his Smith and Wesson 9mm in a shoulder holster. Then he leaned forward and pressed the Glock into my reluctant hands. "We need to stack the deck in our favor."
Taming Rough Waters Page 24
