by Robin Perini
“Another dead end?” he asked.
“Maybe not,” she said, filling him in. “The DNA’s worth a shot. I should have thought of it before.”
“You’re too hard on yourself,” Thayne said, pulling away from the curb. He had to stay alert and aware of anything out of sync.
Riley rubbed her neck, rolling her head from side to side.
“You need rest.”
“I wanted to find Cheyenne today.”
“So did I.”
Riley leaned against the headrest and closed her eyes. “Take me back to the sheriff’s office. I’ll work the boards tonight. Revisit every one of those abductions. There has to be something.”
Thayne put the car in gear. “I think you should sleep for a few hours. Your Unit 6 is working the Brian Anderson angle; DCI and the Denver FBI field officers are combing through the files. If we get a hit on the forensics, they’ll contact us.”
She shook her head. “Not going to happen. I should be there.”
“We both know the golden hours are gone. Losing sleep won’t save my sister.” He let out a controlled breath. “If Cheyenne is alive, it’s because whoever took her wants her alive.” He turned the car toward Fannie’s. “My family needs your intuition, your instincts, your ability to see what others can’t. You need to rest.”
She rubbed her eyes, wincing.
“You know I’m right.”
She scowled at him. “I don’t have to like it.”
He stayed silent, waiting for her to acknowledge the truth. He was right this time, and she knew it.
“Fine. Just a few hours.”
“Of course.”
She tucked her leg underneath her and turned toward him. She opened her mouth to say something, but then closed it.
“You can tell me anything, Riley. We’ve been through a lifetime together the last two days.”
“I don’t know how the investigation will end, but I have to say this before everything goes crazy. And it will. Your family is strong,” she said, her gaze boring into him. “Can I give you some advice?”
“Of course.”
“No matter what happens, fight to keep your family together.”
“Unlike yours?” he asked gently.
“It wasn’t anyone’s fault. Madison was the light of my mother’s life. When she was taken, something broke inside Mom. I couldn’t fix it. My dad didn’t know how to, either. I’m surprised they’re still together.” She let out a pained chuckle. “Actually, a divorce probably would have required too much energy and passion.”
He took her hand in his and threaded their fingers. “I’m sorry.”
“I’ve investigated a lot of cases over the years. Officially, the last three years; unofficially, long before that. More often than not, an abduction tears the family apart. I’d hate to see that happen to you. Your family, they have something special.”
“Well, I hated all that specialness when I was a teenager. It’s the reason I left and the reason I stayed away.”
“You’re back now.”
“I’ve come to reappreciate Singing River. And my family.”
He pulled up at the B&B. Riley started to open the door. He stopped her. “Wait for me.”
He exited and searched the area between the car and Fannie’s for any unusual movements or signs.
Finally, when he was satisfied, he yanked open the passenger side and escorted her quickly across the lawn and into the lodging.
Fannie hadn’t opened the curtains.
Riley faced him. “If you get a call—”
“I’ll let you know. It’ll be a quick trip, because I’m not leaving you alone tonight.”
Cheyenne sat at her patient’s bedside, nibbling on some of the food Ian had delivered, the small wooden stake she’d carved tucked in the waist of her scrubs. Bethany’s breathing had improved, but she still hadn’t awakened again. Instead of a feverish unconsciousness, though, she now slept easily.
A layman could tell the incision was no longer red with infection. The IV antibiotics had been administered, and Bethany would be awake soon. She’d be able to take oral antibiotics and eat and drink.
Cheyenne had become disposable, and Bethany would soon be again under the power of whoever had poisoned her.
A few hours ago Father had entered the room, forcing Cheyenne to show him Bethany’s healing wound. He’d given her a small, satisfied nod and left without so much as another word.
If she got a chance to escape, she’d have to take it.
The door to her cell slammed open, the sound echoing throughout her prison.
Father strode into the middle of the room. “Doctor Blackwood, you spoke with Ian. What did you say to him?”
His overly calm tone gave Cheyenne chills. That and Adelaide’s terrified expression as she followed him inside.
Cheyenne rose from her seat and faced the man who controlled her very life, but she said nothing.
His lips pursed. “I have no wish to punish you, but if you force me, I will not hesitate to protect my family. Answer me.”
“Nothing of importance,” she lied.
“You corrupted all my good work.” Father’s soft words belied the high color in his cheeks. “He was brilliant with electronics. Did you even consider what infecting his fragile mind with memories would force me to do?” Father paced back and forth, his hands behind his back. “Of course not. You live in a selfish world thinking only of yourself, never of the greater good.”
As he spoke, Cheyenne almost collapsed with disappointment. Ian hadn’t escaped. No one was coming to their rescue.
Her weapon dug into her side. She’d have only one chance to use it. She’d have to pick the perfect time.
She glanced over her shoulder at Bethany. She’d have to come back for her and pray her enemy didn’t get to her first.
Father’s brow furrowed. “I’d sincerely hoped this wouldn’t come to pass. Adelaide, we have a punishment to administer. To all of them.” He glared at Cheyenne. “Everything about to happen is your responsibility, Doctor. Ian was a good boy. Micah would have learned, and now . . .” He sighed. “Such a shame.”
Father turned his back and started out the door. “Bring her, Adelaide.”
Adelaide winced. I’m sorry, she mouthed and gripped Cheyenne’s arm.
The empty hallway beckoned. One chance. She had to take it.
She shoved Adelaide out of the way and launched herself at the door, weapon drawn.
“Close it!” Father said.
The iron slammed shut from the outside. Cheyenne careened into the metal, jarring her body. She whirled around, backed against the door, weapon drawn.
She had nowhere to go.
“Silly, stupid child.” Father rapped twice on the floor. Someone yanked the steel door open behind Cheyenne. She tumbled backward, and before she could move her arms, she was pinned to the floor, a familiar, sickly sweet odor permeating her nose and mouth.
Cheyenne tried to turn her head away from the sweet-smelling aroma. She held her breath and clenched her fists. If she could just . . .
She looked over at the woman whom she’d trusted. “Please. Adelaide. Help . . . escape.” Her words slurred.
Father looked down at Cheyenne and simply smiled. A sickly satisfied expression that made Cheyenne’s stomach roil.
“I’m sorry. I had no choice,” Adelaide said, her face full of regret.
“You will join Ian and Micah for punishment,” Father said.
Cheyenne blinked, tried to fight, but her mind lost focus.
“Ian,” she whispered.
Darkness descended around her. The room went blurry.
A handcuff snapped onto her wrist. She tried to resist, but she couldn’t move. She couldn’t open her eyes.
“Bring her,” Father said. “To the omega room.”
Several voices gasped. “Father?”
“I have no choice. Guard her closely. We will fetch Ian and Micah.”
Ian. I’m so very
sorry.
Someone tied a cord around her waist. They dragged her along the floor. A small sniffle came from above her.
“Shut up,” a female voice whispered. “Do you want to be punished, too?”
“N-no,” the fearful girl stuttered.
“Then just do it. And never forget what Father always says. Family is everything.”
Fannie’s B&B had never felt so small to Riley. Her heart skipped a beat at Thayne’s promise not to leave until morning. The last time Thayne had told her he was staying the night, he’d stayed all week. The world had been a different place then.
“After you,” he said, his face set in stone in a stubborn, don’t-argue-with-me, it’ll-never-work voice she’d come to know and hate during their Friday phone dates.
“I can still take care of myself,” she said, because she felt obligated to stand up for herself, her job, and her training. “I may not have my badge, but you gave me a gun.”
“We’re being followed. Until we identify the source of the threat, you’re stuck with me.”
“You’re being an overprotective alpha male, Thayne.”
“That’s my job.”
Her lips curved upward. The truth was, she’d already decided to give in. She could use the company. With each step, her body grew heavier and heavier with exhaustion—emotional and physical.
Desperate worry for Cheyenne, a strange but surreal hope for finding answers about her sister and the other victims, and a gut-wrenching desire to make the bastard who had caused so much pain pay with his life had drained her energy dry.
“Come on, then.” She headed up the stairs just as Fannie, Norma, and Willow peeked out from the kitchen.
Thayne paused, frowning at them. “You can’t leave without an escort, ladies. The sniper is still on the loose. Understood?”
Eyes wide, they all nodded. Thayne put his phone to his ear. “Ladies, call when you want to leave. Deputy Ironcloud’s stationed outside. He’ll drive you home.”
Whispering excitedly, they disappeared into Fannie’s private quarters behind the registration desk.
“Do you think they’ll stay put?” she asked, her voice weary.
“They may be mischievous, but they know how serious the situation is. They’ll behave.”
At the top of the stairs, Riley fumbled for the key in her satchel. He pushed her hands aside and took it from her, unlocking the room and taking her inside before shutting and locking the door behind him.
Except for the made bed, the room was exactly as she’d left it, crime wall and all. She stood in the center of the room, never feeling quite so awkward.
“Take a shower,” he said softly.
Glad to escape, she headed to the bathroom, shucked her clothes, and stood beneath the water, letting the jets pulse into her back and neck. Steam rose, and by the time she was finished, she felt partly human again.
She slipped into a chemise and boxers and padded into the bedroom. Thayne had turned down the covers, and a cup of tea and a cinnamon roll sat beside the bed. She perched on the side of the bed and took a sip.
“Did you read my mind?” she asked.
“Nope, just got two of everything.” He waited expectantly in the center of the room.
“Oh good grief, you don’t have to ask. Hit the shower,” she said.
“I didn’t want to presume too much,” he said with a wink.
Her mouth dropped open. If she’d had something to throw at him, she would have. The sound of the water acted like white noise. Her mind seemed to have shut down. She bit into the cinnamon roll, and by the time Thayne strode into the room in a pair of sweats, she’d consumed the last bite.
“Before you ask, no, I didn’t bring a go bag. These are Kade’s,” he said, heading to the closet and grabbing an extra blanket.
Riley sat on the bed and tucked her knees to her chest. “Why does this feel so awkward?”
“Because a year ago, we burned hot and passionate for a week, without looking to the future. Now we know each other too well. And in some ways, not well enough.” Thayne stood beside the bed. “And the future isn’t so clear.”
“You should be a profiler.” Riley rubbed the base of her neck, groaning with the tightness.
“Let me,” Thayne said. He climbed on the bed, his fingers toying with the hair at the nape of her neck before brushing it aside. “Try to relax.”
She took a deep breath and closed her eyes.
He pressed against the tension that had settled at the base of her skull. His fingers unfurled magic on the knotted muscles. Riley groaned.
Immediately he removed his hands. “Did I hurt you?”
“Don’t stop.” She bowed her head forward.
He worked his way on either side of her vertebrae to a twisted pressure point, capturing the tangled nerves. They fired like sharp needles jabbing from the inside out. She gasped. He paused, but she didn’t ask him to quit, and so he kept pressing.
Riley didn’t know if she could stand the stabs any longer when suddenly they unfurled, relaxing in waves through her shoulders down to her ribs. A sigh escaped her.
“Lay down,” he whispered.
She couldn’t refuse. She sank into the mattress. Thayne rose and flipped off all the lights, except for the bathroom.
He’d remembered.
A few moments later, he climbed under the covers, pulling her back against his chest and the down comforter over them. For a moment, she stiffened.
“Don’t worry,” he whispered in her ear. “We both need sleep, but I love holding you, Riley. I always have.”
Warmth cocooned Riley. For a few moments, sleep banished the horror of the world, and her body sank into oblivion, secure in Thayne’s arms. She was home.
Fifteen Years Ago
“Time for bed, girls. I’ll be upstairs in five.”
Madison threw on her pajamas and made it to her bed just in time. Her mother opened the door. Madison feigned sleep. She planned to make a paper fortune-teller before she really went to bed.
Her eyes grew heavy. She was almost asleep when the bathroom door cracked open. Her sister tiptoed in.
“Maddy?” Riley whispered.
Madison didn’t answer.
Instead of slipping into bed next to Madison, though, Riley tugged a pillow off the bed and lay down beside it.
Madison opened one eye. Riley had brought in her blanket. She was afraid of the dark, and Mom wouldn’t let her have a night-light.
Madison reached over the bed and plugged in the little night-light she’d rescued from the trash when her mom had tried to throw it away.
“Thanks, Maddy. I’m still mad at you,” Riley said with a yawn.
“Me, too.”
Madison closed her eyes. Little sisters sure were a pain.
A lone owl hooted, its eerie cry drawing Madison out of a sound sleep. A soft breeze blew across her cheek. She shivered and drew her blanket tighter around her.
A cricket chirped, its song loud and close, as if the insect had found its way into the bedroom.
Strange. Normally the night noises weren’t so loud.
A soft slide and faint click sounded from the window. Madison stilled, squeezing her eyes tight. Her heart pounded against her chest.
A whimper echoed from behind her bed.
Riley.
Madison’s eyes snapped open.
A large figure bent over her bed. He placed his finger over his lips. Madison opened her mouth to scream. The man shook his head. “If you scream, she dies.”
The man had Riley, one hand covering her mouth. Riley’s eyes were wide with fear.
The scream died in Madison’s throat. She nodded.
“Get out of bed. Put your shoes on.”
Madison shook at her very core. The man’s grip tightened on Riley’s neck. He bent down and whispered something in Riley’s ear.
Riley nodded.
Without a choice, Madison scurried across the room. She paused a few feet from the closed bedroo
m door.
“You’re too smart to make that kind of mistake,” the man hissed. “I’ve been watching you, Madison. IQ of one sixty. You try to fit in, but you don’t. You look out the window, crying, most every night. You had your first drink tonight. And your first kiss. You are headed down a destructive path, but you have been chosen.
“Your destiny awaits. Now put on your shoes.”
Madison could hardly tie her tennis shoes, her hands shook so much. Her half-heart sister bracelet tapped against her wrist as she finished tying the bow.
She looked over at Riley. Her sister was getting that angry look on her face. Madison wiped her eyes.
With her entire body trembling, she stood and faced the large man.
He smiled. She could see his white teeth. He wore a knit cap on his head. She couldn’t see his hair.
“Go to the window,” he said. He picked up Riley and sat her on the bed. He bent down to her ear. He whispered something, then pulled out a knife. He turned her hand over and ran the knife across her palm. She whimpered. He placed his hand over her mouth.
Madison wanted to jump onto his back, but she knew deep inside if she did, Riley would die.
“Lay down,” the man said.
Riley started crying.
“Do it, Riley,” Madison whispered. “Please. For me. I’ll be fine.”
She knew it was a lie.
The man smiled at her and stroked Madison’s cheek. “You are a very intelligent girl. I knew I wasn’t wrong about you.” He tightened his grip on Riley’s throat. “Close your eyes. Count to fifty. Don’t open your eyes until then.”
He leaned over the bed, his gaze meeting Madison’s. He whispered in Riley’s ear again.
She clenched her eyes tight.
He released his grip from around Riley’s neck. She didn’t move. Thank goodness.
The man opened the window. He held a sweet-smelling cloth to Madison’s nose. “Breathe.”
She took a deep breath. The world went fuzzy and tilted. Her knees gave way.
The man scooped her into his arms against his chest. His mouth touched her ear. “You belong to me. If you do exactly as I say, I won’t come back for your sister.” He nodded at Riley. “If you disobey, your punishment will be severe. And your sister will pay the price. Am I clear?”
