The staff car was parked haphazardly in the middle. Cat had taken it out last night to visit her sister, who worked almost around the clock at a local hospital. Part of the puppies’ pen was under the front bumper.
Taylor could picture it in her head.
Cat coming home late and in a hurry, whipping into the garage so fast she didn’t stop in time.
Oh, God...
She’d hit the puppy pen.
What if...?
How many puppies were there?
Taylor waded through the garbage, counting them off.
Doc, Grumpy, Happy—where were the other three?
Under the car Sleepy and Dopey were curled up in a puppy pile, asleep.
Where was Sneezy?
“Puppies? Here, puppies? Where are you?” She held her breath, bent forward and walked toward the front of the car.
No puppy pancake.
“Come on, Sneezy, where did you go?”
Taylor dragged the puppy pen out from under the front bumper.
Cat owed her. If Stacey came down for her morning puppy visit and saw this, she’d freak out, and then it would be all of their asses on the line.
One by one, Taylor scooped up the six puppies she’d found, but where was the seventh?
This was eating into her morning prep time by a lot, but someone had to get stuck on clean up duty. At least Ian hadn’t kept her up too late last night.
She was going to miss him when he left.
Taylor’s plans to split were delayed. Her contact for a new ID wasn’t answering, so she’d had to source a new one and that always took time. Which meant she needed to make do here for a little while longer.
“Sneezy? Where are you?”
She peered under George’s car, hoping to spot a blob of white, but no such luck.
A pair of boots cast long shadows along the other side of George’s car.
Taylor blinked at them.
Had those been there a few moments ago?
She couldn’t remember.
She held still, drawing in a deep breath.
“Sneezy, come out, come out, wherever you are,” she muttered.
The hair on the back of her neck rose and goose bumps broke out along her arms.
The closest door was on the other side of George’s car, but whoever was wearing the boots was between her and that exit.
Which left the utility room door.
She’d have to vault the staff car.
What if it was Josh? Or one of the other security guys?
Yeah, that didn’t give her one bit of comfort.
Where was her phone? Was it possible Ian was awake?
“Sneezy, where did you go?”
Taylor pulled out her phone, swiping her finger across the screen.
The sound of a boot tapping concrete froze her hands.
Get out. Now. Run.
All of her senses screamed at her that danger was near.
Taylor launched herself toward the back of the staff car. It didn’t matter who it was or what they wanted, she knew the feel of danger.
She propelled herself up and onto the trunk of the staff car, sliding awkwardly across the surface.
A man she didn’t recognize bolted around the front of both cars, but the puppy pen was in his way.
Taylor scrambled to the ground, sprinting for the door, sucking in a deep breath.
The yelp of at least one puppy stabbed at her heart, but she couldn’t stop.
She slipped and tripped over the garbage, landing shoulder first on the concrete floor. All the breath rushed out of her the moment her skull bounced off the ground. Lights blossomed behind her eyelids. She blinked them away and pushed to her feet, only to be shoved back down.
Taylor sucked down a deep breath, pushing it all back out in a scream that was cut off all too soon.
Her attacker covered her mouth, and shoved a thick, plastic bag over her head.
She sucked down another breath, inhaling all the oxygen left in her prison. She kicked and struck out with her one arm, but he had her pinned. He put his fist to her neck, constricting her ability to breathe.
Taylor bucked and thrashed, but he was too strong.
Was this it?
12.
Ian’s feet hit the cold kitchen tile. He glanced around, looking for Taylor, but everything was in order.
“Taylor?”
He hadn’t thought to grab anything on his mad dash downstairs. He wasn’t even wearing clothes, just his boxers, but that scream... it’s come from just below him.
The garage.
Ian crossed to the utility room. Adrenaline and the urge to get to Taylor had made him careless and unprepared. He peered into the dim garage and his blood went cold.
A man hunched over Taylor’s prone form.
Ian lunged. The man glanced up and twisted, but Ian hit him first, a strong right hook in the face.
The man sprawled backward.
Plastic rustled.
Ian glanced at Taylor, but she wasn’t moving.
The man scrambled to his feet, bolting for the side door that was slightly ajar.
In that split second, the need to catch the perpetrator warred with the need to ensure Taylor was still alive.
Taylor won. She’d always win.
Ian went to his knees, yanking the plastic bag off her head.
Ugly purple marks marred her neck.
Her eyes didn’t open.
She didn’t gasp for air.
Fuck.
Ian tipped her head back and felt the faint stir of breath.
She was alive at least.
He opened her mouth, but nothing obstructed her throat. He sealed his lips over hers, pinched her nose and blew breath into her lungs.
“What the hell’s going on in here?” Josh, the head of George’s security, stepped into view. He was dressed, but his clothes were rumpled and his hair stuck up, as though he’d just woken up.
Ian sat up, watching Taylor’s face. It was his turn to stop breathing.
“Someone was choking Taylor. He ran that way.” Ian pointed at the door. He could do chest compressions...
Taylor made a strangled, wheezing sound and rolled to her side, curling up on herself.
Oh, thank God...
“What the hell are you talking about?” Josh asked.
“Taylor? Taylor, are you okay?” Ian leaned forward, feeling of her face.
Taylor’s eyes cracked open and she peered up at him.
“Hey, there you are.” He tried to smile, but fuck. How could he after that?
“What’s all that noise?” a woman’s voice asked.
“Taylor? Taylor!”
“Stand back, Stacey. Give her some room.” Ian caught a still pajama-wearing Stacey around the waist before she could mob Taylor.
“Who made this mess?” Cat pushed past Josh and scowled at the garbage strewn around the space.
“What’s wrong with Taylor?” Stacey asked.
“That screaming woke everyone up. What were you doing?” Cat cast an accusatory glare his way. “Stacey, go upstairs and put some clothes on.”
“Everyone, quiet,” Ian bellowed.
Stacey stumbled back, hands over her ears.
He only felt a little guilty for yelling.
Ian turned and offered Taylor his hand.
“Someone needs to call an ambulance and the cops,” he said.
“No,” Taylor said her voice raw and rough.
“What for?” Josh asked.
“Someone broke in and attacked Taylor, that’s why.” Ian grasped Taylor’s hands. They were cold as ice.
“No, Ian. I’m fine.” She pulled herself upright. Half her hair had come out of her braid. A bit of something smeared on her face. She glanced around. “Where’s Sneezy? I was looking for him earlier.”
Ian just stared at her.
She’d been attacked.
Nearly choked to death.
And she was looking for the damn dog?
Taylor pushed herself upright.
“Nothing, just an accident,” she said.
“Sir, this was not an accident.” Ian glared at the back of Taylor’s head. “Someone broke in and attacked Taylor.”
“She looks fine to me. Where’s the guy?”
“He got away.”
“You didn’t chase him?”
“Taylor was unconscious.” Ian wrapped an arm around Taylor’s waist. She looked ready to collapse.
“You’re telling me you can’t do the job I hired you to do?” George scowled at Ian, then Josh. “What do I pay you all for? What if he’d gotten upstairs to me? Or Stacey?”
He seemed to add the last as an afterthought.
“There was nothing on the security cameras. I didn’t see anyone running away.” Josh glared at Ian. What, upset he got caught sleeping on the job?
“I saw him. Maybe we got a good visual of his face? He wasn’t wearing a mask.” Ian hoped so, because when he found the person who laid a finger on Taylor...
“I’m telling you, no one was here.”
“Let’s just see about this. Josh, pull up the footage in my office. Ian, come with me.”
“Taylor needs medical attention.”
“No, I’m fine. Really. Everything’s fine.” Taylor stood straighter, but he felt the tremor shaking her body. “Go.”
Stacey bolted forward, wrapping her arms around Taylor’s waist.
Cat made a disgusted sound and stalked back inside.
“Go upstairs. Lay down. I’ll call someone,” Ian said.
“Seriously. I’m fine. There’s no need to call an ambulance or anything.” Yet Taylor glanced over her shoulder like she expected the shadows to lash out at her. “Besides, I need to find Sneezy.”
“Fine. Whatever.” Ian tossed his hands up.
If Taylor wanted to pretend like nothing had happened, he couldn’t force her to see a doctor. But maybe he could give Kade a call. As an EMT, Kade had the necessary medical training to tend to a lot of injuries. Chances were, he’d come over as a favor and not say anything. Ian still needed to get to the bottom of Taylor’s history and forcing her to do something she clearly didn’t want to do would only put that plan further back. But still. This was her life here. She could have died.
Ian stalked into the house, down the hall and into George’s office. Josh already had the security footage up and rolling on the flat screen TV.
“See? Nothing at all.” Josh fast forwarded through the security camera outside the house.
“Yeah, but this door was open, remember?” Ian pointed at the point of entry and exit for the suspect.
“This is from earlier,” Josh said with a sneer.
“Okay, then fast forward to now.” Ian crossed his hands over his chest. He didn’t give two fucks that he was standing around in his underwear either.
“Nothing.” Josh gestured at the TV as the footage caught up with the current time.
“The door’s still closed.” Ian frowned.
“You closed it,” Josh said.
“No, I didn’t. That door never opened.”
“You must have shut it.”
“You’re arguing over a door being shut when the real issue is that someone broke into the garage and was choking Taylor to death?” Ian gestured at the TV and turned to face Josh and George.
“It’s not on the cameras. It didn’t happen,” Josh insisted.
“Who else saw it?” George asked.
“Taylor and me.”
“I’m still trying to understand why you didn’t catch this person.” George turned his beady glare on Ian. “I hired you to find out who was threatening me.”
“He could have killed Taylor.”
“I didn’t hire you to protect her. I hired you to—”
“I’m not goin’ to let someone die.”
“He’s fucking her,” Josh said.
Ian pressed his lips together. He and Taylor had been careful to not be too friendly in front of the others, but it was a fact that he’d expected would come out eventually.
“Since when?” George’s gaze bounced between them.
Ian didn’t offer an answer. “All due respect, we can examine my relationship with Taylor all we want, but it doesn’t change the fact that someone has tampered with the security cameras.” Ian gestured to the screen.
“We don’t know that,” Josh said.
Ian crossed to the window and pulled it back, letting in the early morning light.
“Then why are the cameras still showin’ it dark out?”
“What the fuck were you thinking?” Ciro bellowed, his voice echoing through the house.
“You know it was an opportunity. I had to take advantage of it.” Angelo hunched his shoulders. The guy smelled like garbage and shit.
“God damn it.” Ciro picked up a vase off a side table and hurled it across the room. The smash and tinkling of glass scattering across the hardwood did nothing to improve his mood. “You were supposed to get a look around. If you got a chance to kill her—kill her.”
“She saw me. What was I supposed to do? Run away? This was our best opening, and its almost been a week!” Angelo tossed his hands up.
“Now she knows we’re here. Did she see your face at all?”
“No. Maybe. I don’t know.”
Ciro paced the room, cursing under his breath. He could hope that Taylor didn’t recognize Angelo. It wasn’t like the guy had been hugely instrumental in the days when she’d still been around. But Ciro wasn’t about to underestimate Taylor.
She was still Maria Colombo’s daughter.
The bitch who’d nearly sank them all.
It was in Taylor’s blood to be a slippery, lying rat. All the more reason to put her out of their misery.
“They haven’t called the cops.” Angelo said it like it was a good thing.
“You’re damn right they haven’t.” Ciro paced the house.
George couldn’t afford to have people snooping around his house. With eyes on the place for the better part of a week, Ciro knew what came and went. He’d noticed the food delivery truck make one delivery into the house, and the other through the back into the basement.
He was willing to bet George was hiding product down there, and he wouldn’t want cops nosing about.
“We have to get her. Tonight.” Ciro glared over his shoulder at Angelo. “You’re going to get one chance to make this right or I’m telling the boss what you did.”
Either way, if Angelo got Taylor or Taylor got him, Ciro needed this cleaned up and in the bag. It was time to work on a contingency plan. Something to fall back on if or when Angelo failed. The guy was worthless.
Ciro stalked over to the laptop and brought up the list of contacts.
Julia had people outside New York that’d been interested in working with her. His luck, there were a few right here in Seattle, but it would take a bit of time to organize working with them. For the right price, he was pretty sure he could cut a deal and wrap this up, but it might cost more than money.
Ciro was going to see this through, because the stakes were too high to lose. He was going to be a made man, one way or another, and if that meant hanging Angelo out to dry, he’d do it. That was just the way of things.
Taylor finally found Sneezy whimpering and lost in the backyard. She breathed a sigh of relief.
Stacey stuck to Taylor’s side for the whole search.
Every so often, they had to pause so she could cough. The burn off of all the adrenaline left Taylor feeling a bit numb inside. It was shock of one kind or another.
They’d found her.
Her stepmother’s goons.
It was the only reason why someone might lay in wait to try to kill her.
Taylor got Sneezy back with her brothers and sisters. She rechecked the pen to
ensure they were all safe.
“I want to go upstairs.” Stacey tugged on Taylor’s hands.
“Okay.”
She let the little girl lead her upstairs to her play room.
Stacey sat Taylor on the window seat like it was her job to watch after Taylor, not the other way around.
Taylor had to get out of here.
That’s all there was to it.
There was always the chance the guy had a beef with George, that he’d been after something in the house. But Taylor couldn’t afford to take chances. She’d already bided her time, passing up her ideal window for moving on—and what for? To save a few bucks? To spend a few nights with someone who made her heart beat a little faster?
She’d been stupid and careless.
It didn’t matter one bit that she’d paid the guys who got her this far to keep quiet. They could always be swayed to give her up. The kind of men she’d trusted were the kind of men who had a price tag. For the right amount of money, they’d sell their souls.
The tea kettle began to whistle on the hot plate.
Stacey used the potholder to lift and pour the water into a mug.
“You aren’t supposed to use that.” Taylor’s voice was ragged, sore, raw.
The little girl ignored her.
She could push the issue, but Stacey was being careful, and soon enough, Taylor wouldn’t be around to do these things for her. Stacey would have to fend for herself.
She brought Taylor a mug of tea and the bottle of honey. Just what Taylor brought Stacey when she wasn’t feeling well.
“Next time, don’t wait for the kettle to whistle. It’ll still be hot enough, but no one will hear it, and you won’t get in trouble.” Taylor blew across the surface of the water.
Stacey perched on the bench next to her, watching Taylor with eyes far older than her years.
What had happened to Stacey’s mother? People whispered, but no one talked about it. There were a lot of side-eye and head shakes when Taylor wanted to know more.
She hadn’t known about Stacey until she was a few years old. Taylor had always wondered about her.
“Prince Ian will find the bad man,” Stacey whispered. She drew her legs up to her chest and laid her head on her knees.
Taylor’s heart broke a little more.
Ian was just a man. A tenacious man with a nose for danger, but still human. He had no idea what was going on, or what she was involved with. She’d be gone before her step-mother’s people came back. That was how it had to be.
Alpha Prince (Twisted Royals, #1) Page 11
