Dangerous Times

by Moira Callahan

  Not ready to panic yet, he went back into the hall and called Robyn. “Is she with you?” he asked when she picked up.

  “Tamara?” she asked. “No. I thought you were meeting her in the hall?”

  “So did I,” he muttered pacing around. Stopping suddenly, he crouched and pulled out what had caught his eye. It was her clutch. “I want everyone to scour this place, top to bottom. I have her purse,” he said, his voice breaking.

  “Fuck!” Robyn said, before she obviously grabbed someone and started to shout out orders.

  What he next saw had him grabbing for the wall. Swallowing hard, he pressed his fingers to the droplets and lifted his hand, rubbing the sticky liquid between his fingers. “She’s wounded,” he whispered. “I have blood.”

  “I’m coming to you, Shawn. Don’t do anything and don’t assume the worst. It could be anyone’s blood,” she said.

  “She’s not here, Robyn. It’s still wet without any sort of skin. It’s hers, I know it’s hers.”

  Hanging up, he put his back to the wall and slid down to sit on the floor. Rubbing a hand through his hair, Shawn licked his lips. Dialing another number, he waited for the line to be picked up. “Rhonda, where the hell is that scumbag of an ex?” he growled.

  “Uh, we’re not entirely sure,” she said.

  “What?” he yelled. “What do you mean, you don’t know?”

  “Wait, why are you asking?” she demanded.

  “Tamara’s been taken in the last five minutes. We’re sealing everything off, but I have a feeling she’s already gone. Where the fuck is Damien?”

  “We don’t know. He missed his last meeting with his parole officer, but the parole guy’s been sick, so it didn’t hit the radar until this morning when the next meeting was missed. We went by his house and the cuff is there, but no Damien. From the looks of things, he’s been gone for at least two weeks.”

  “Son of a bitch!” He looked up at Robyn as she and Vincent came running his way. “We need to find him. He’s got Tamara, I just know it. Anything?” he asked his friends.

  “Nothing,” Robyn said softly. “One of the gallery staff cars is gone, though.”

  Taking the sheet of paper from Robyn, he passed it all along to Rhonda. “You find that car, Rhonda, and you call me. This is fucking going to end and now, we clear?”

  There was a long silence on the other end. “I’ll keep you updated, and Shawn?”

  “Yeah?” he asked.

  “Do what you need to do to protect our girl.”

  “Damned straight.”

  ****

  Tamara’s head was killing her, her face throbbed, and she couldn’t open her right eye. Her left was blurry, so she couldn’t even see where she was. All Tamara knew for sure was she was tied to a chair and it was damned cold in the room.

  Brushing her tongue over dry lips, she tried not to move too much. One, it hurt, and two, she knew from Shawn that she needed to evaluate the situation first. Controlling her breathing was harder. Trying to keep it slow and relaxed was a serious issue given the pain in her head.

  Running her tongue around her mouth, she swallowed a couple of times. Then she slid her tongue over her lips again with much better results.

  Blinking her one good eye, Tamara got a little more of her vision back. It wasn’t great, and it kept going double on her. Peeking through her lashes, she took in what she could. It looked like a basement of some sort. One she didn’t recognize in the least.

  There was no noise of any sort so, slowly, she lifted her head. It weighed a ton and a half. Biting her lip to hold in the whimper that wanted to escape, she looked around. Her poor battered skull was protesting even the small movements she was making.

  It was definitely a basement. She could see stairs leading up. The floor was concrete and there wasn’t much down there except for a furnace, a water heater, and a washer and dryer. In one corner, it looked there might be a work table of some sort but she couldn’t focus enough to be sure.

  Taking stock of herself, she could move her legs. They weren’t strapped down. But her wrists were bound to the chair by what felt like duct tape. Again, she could be wrong. She just couldn’t contort enough to see.

  A creak overhead had her flinching. Dropping her head back into position, Tamara got her legs back into place and closed her eyes. Slowing her breathing, she listened to footsteps on the floorboards above. A door, she guessed the one at the top of the stairs, creaked open.

  Footsteps coming down the wooden staircase gave testament to that. They hit the concrete and moved to her. Peeking she could see the high polished black shoes.

  “Seriously? I didn’t think I hit you that hard,” a man’s voice muttered. He heaved a sigh and then cursed. “Well, I guess you’re on your own for a while. I need to get going.” His shoes moved away and up the stairs. She could hear him making a call as he eased the door shut, but she didn’t get any of the words.

  Only when she heard another door close did she lift her head again. The faint sound of a car starting, and then pulling away, had her letting out a breath. She was alone. For all the good that was doing her.

  She hadn’t recognized the voice, but that didn’t mean much with her head throbbing. It could have been someone she knew and she likely didn’t recognize it.

  Licking her lips again, Tamara let out a breath. Now what?

  ****

  “The car was found three blocks away from the gallery,” Rhonda said. “Traffic camera’s in the area show that the driver was male and that he took a female passenger with him into a secondary car. Tech’s are working on cleaning up the license plate from the video feed now, but its slow going, the camera’s in that area are the older stationary ones.”

  “I sent a couple of our guys over to lend a hand. Hopefully they can help narrow it down faster,” Robyn said softly.

  “Yeah, I got word about them being there,” Rhonda said. “The Captain was a little bitchy, but since you guys do so much for us all the time, he’s letting this slightly unorthodox turnaround go.”

  Shawn was only listening with half an ear. Pacing around his house wasn’t doing anyone any good, but he couldn’t sit still and wait for news. That wasn’t him. He needed action, fast and hard.

  Besides that, this was Tamara, the woman he loved and hadn’t even told yet about his feelings. He was going to tell her, as soon as he saw her, no delays and no interruptions. There was no fucking way he was letting her go another day without knowing.

  “He’s getting agitated again,” Grant said quietly.

  “Wouldn’t you be as well, if this was Robyn?” Rhonda asked.

  “Of course,” he agreed. “Though I’d likely be more worried about the idiots that took her than about her personally. She’s damned scary when you mess with her. Trust me. I learned that the hard way early on.”

  “What did you do to him?” Rhonda asked with a smile in her voice.

  “He got between her and her morning coffee,” Shawn said. “Even the newbies at the office are warned about that shit. If she’s aimed at the coffee pot, you dive for cover and stay there until she’s had at least two cups.”

  “I made him terminally afraid of me before coffee,” Robyn said with a sigh. “It was just a bad morning. I’m not normally that bad.”

  Shawn and Grant both snorted at that.

  “I’m not,” Robyn said, sounding mighty defensive.

  “It’s okay, Robyn, I still love you,” Grant said. There were some kissing noises and then a phone rang.

  Stopping, Shawn spun to face Rhonda as she answered the call. “Delacour,” she snapped. She frowned and got up to pace. “Uh-huh. Uh-huh. When? Where? How long? Okay, shit, no, that’s not fucking good, you idiot. Fuck me,” she muttered. “What about the plates?” she asked.

  Shooting a look to Robyn, Shawn cocked a brow.

  “Okay, good, good. Do we have an address?” she asked. She spun to look at him and gave him a thumbs up. “Got it. Get SWAT there ASAP. Yes, damn it
! Now!” she yelled. Hanging up the phone, she looked at him. “We know where the guy lives.”

  “Let’s go,” he said.

  Rhonda slid in front of him and put a hand to his chest.

  Glaring down at her, he barely held onto his temper. “What?” he asked.

  “No busting in there. We do this by the books and SWAT clears the place first. Who the fuck knows what will be waiting for us. We are going to get her back, but we’re going to do this safely so no one, you or her, are hurt. We clear? Or should I just handcuff you here while we go and get her?”

  “Try it,” he dared her.

  “I will, Shawn. Don’t test me,” Rhonda snapped at him.

  “I’ll keep an eye on him,” Robyn said. “He’s testy right now, but he’ll listen to me. Let’s just go before he snaps his last wheel. And, given some of the training he has, its best we don’t add assaulting a police officer to his sheet.”

  Rhonda finally dropped her hand and nodded. “Let’s go. You will follow me, because I’m not fucking giving you the address.”

  “Fine,” he snarled. Anything to just fucking get out of this house and to Tamara.

  Nodding again, Rhonda spun on her heel and headed for the front door.

  Grabbing up his jacket, Shawn followed after her with Robyn and Grant on his heels. Hold on, baby. I’m coming to get you.

  Chapter Sixteen

  “Neighbors report that the sole occupant of the house left at his regular time today,” one of the SWAT officers was telling Rhonda. Stepping up next to her, Shawn fought the urge to fire off questions.

  “Any sign of Ms. Phillips?” Rhonda asked.

  “Negative, detective. We’re doing our inspection of the front entrance now and project we’ll be entering the premises shortly.”

  “Go to it,” Rhonda said. Folding her arms, she cocked a hip and watched the SWAT guys do their thing.

  Turning his attention to the SWAT crew, Shawn stuck his hands in his pockets and waited. He so fucking sucked at waiting. He hated surprises, hated to wait around for anything, and just generally had been in a rush his entire life. Unless he was with Tamara.

  It was the only time he truly wished that time would slow down. Or that he could stop time and just enjoy everything in slow motion.

  “Nothing on the door. We’re entering the premises,” SWAT reported.

  Straightening, Shawn shifted his weight. He felt Rhonda shoot him a look, but his focus was on the house and the SWAT teams voices coming from the radio in her hand.

  “Kitchen, clear.”

  “Living room, clear.”

  “Bathroom, clear.”

  “Bedroom one, clear.”

  “Bedroom two, clear.”

  “Proceeding to basement entry.”

  The radio fell silent for a few minutes. “We have a female,” a voice reported.

  Rhonda’s hand landed on his chest. “Wait,” she said.

  Grinding his teeth, Shawn stepped back and clenched his hands into fists in his pockets. It was taking too long, way too long.

  “Female is alive and coherent. Has identified herself as Tamara Phillips.”

  Shawn shot Rhonda a warning look and took off for the house.

  “Son of a bitch, Shawn!” She yelled behind him before he could hear her warning the SWAT team that he was coming into the house.

  Thankfully, the SWAT team didn’t attempt to stop him, either. They just pointed toward the basement door. Thundering down the stairs, he pushed through the SWAT team members there.

  And there she was, rubbing her wrists, her hair down over her face.

  “Tamara,” he whispered, relief making him lightheaded.

  Her head snapped up, and then she winced. He saw the bruising on her face and then he saw red. Someone was going to be in a world of hurt.

  Moving to her, he took her hands in his and pulled her to her feet. Gathering her in his arms he wrapped her up close, being very careful not to squeeze her too tight.

  She burst into tears as soon as her arms went around his waist.

  “Shh, I have you, love,” he whispered. Cupping her head, he rocked her in his arms gently. “I have you, Tamara. And I’m not fucking letting go, I promise.”

  “Get me out of here, Shawn,” she said, hiccupping through the sentence.

  “Of course,” he whispered. Shifting his hold, he took one of her hands in his and helped her toward the stairs. “Nice and slow,” he said softly.

  She was shaking hard in his arms, but her arm and her hand tightly gripped him.

  When they made it outside, the EMT’s were right there, but she cringed away from them. “Back off and give her a few minutes,” he snapped. He’d definitely have them check her out, but not yet.

  Leading her to his truck, he pulled open the door and boosted her into the passenger seat. Then he followed her inside, shut the door, and got her in his lap. Tucking her head under his chin, he let her curl into a ball and held her.

  Letting out a slow breath, he closed his eyes and rested his cheek to her hair.

  “I was terrified when I couldn’t find you.” They’d been sitting in silence for a long time. Her shivers had abated and she’d even relaxed into him more.

  “I was pretty damn terrified you wouldn’t find me,” she said. Her words had a bit of a roughness to them.

  Lifting his head, Shawn shifted Tamara a little and tipped her head back. With great care, he brushed her hair from her face. Getting his first really good look at the shiner she had, he felt anger kicking up again. Her entire right side was a massive bruise with major swelling around the eye and over the cheekbone.

  “That son of a bitch hit you hard,” he said quietly.

  “All I remember is leaving the bathroom and deciding to wait on you to finish the countdown and come for me. I heard footsteps and thought it was you. I turned and then—” She flinched.

  “He hit you,” he whispered. Stroking his fingers over her uninjured cheek, he brushed a kiss to her lips. “I’m so sorry, love.”

  Tamara shook her head slightly. “Not your fault.”

  “Damn straight it is. We were supposed to be protecting you. This,” he waved a hand to the scene outside the truck. “This is not exactly what I would call protecting you.”

  She cupped his cheek and smiled, sort of. “You found me, that’s all that matters. Well, that and knowing who the fuck did this.”

  That, he couldn’t answer. Rhonda hadn’t told him, now that he thought about it. He’d been so focused on getting to Tamara that he hadn’t even bothered to ask. “Actually,” he said with a cough. “I, uh, I really don’t know, to be honest.”

  “What do you mean, you don’t know?” she asked looking stunned.

  “Rhonda knows, I think, but I was more worried about getting to you than finding out who I have to kill.” Shawn shrugged and sighed. “Sorry.”

  “Don’t be, we’ll find out, and then I’ll help you kill the fucker. My face is killing me.”

  “Which is the cue to let the EMT’s get a look at you. We’ll get you something for the pain, and then we’re going to the hospital. Yes,” he said when she went to protest. “You need an x-ray at the very least to ensure your cheekbone isn’t broken. With all the swelling, there’s no way to tell what damage is going on under there.”

  “Not in an ambulance,” she said. “And you stay with me the entire time,” she demanded.

  “All the way,” he promised. “I love you, Tamara Phillips, and I’m not leaving your side again for a very, very long time.”

  She blinked her one eye at him and sat up to stare at him. “You love me?”

  “Of course, I love you,” he said. “More than anything in this world, Tamara.”

  Tamara was blinking faster now, tears gathering. “I love you, too,” she choked out before throwing her arms around his neck.

  For a second, Shawn’s entire chest seized right up. But her words had him holding her tight and pressing kisses to her good cheek in relief. “I
should have said something before,” he whispered. “I have no idea why I waited to tell you.”

  Tamara let out a small laugh as she squeezed his neck tighter. “I should have as well.”

  Rubbing her back, he gave her another squeeze. “Come on. Let’s have the EMT’s give you something for the headache and pain. We’ll grab an ice pack and then I’ll take you to the hospital for x-rays. Okay?”

  She gave a slow nod and leaned back. “Okay.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  She was lucky, nothing broken, just some serious bruising. Staring into the mirror, Tamara wasn’t feeling overly lucky. She looked like she’d gone into the ring with Tyson. And lost. Badly.

  Poking at her cheek, Tamara winced. “Ugh.”

  Grabbing her pills, she downed them with some water and then, picking up her ice pack, headed into the bedroom. Smiling when she saw Shawn on the bed, an arm over his eyes, she moved closer and poked the leg sticking out from under the blankets.

  He lifted his arm enough to shoot her a look, and then pushed up to a sitting position. “Hi,” he said softly. “Feeling any better?”

  “Much. I so needed a hot bath,” she said. Passing him her ice pack, Tamara dumped the robe and climbed into bed next to him. She had on one of his t-shirts, mainly because she was still a little chilled, but also because she liked having his sandalwood scent wrapped around her.

  Settling on her left side, she took the ice pack from him and set it gently on her face.

  As soon as she was in place, his arms wrapped around her and he spooned up to her back. “I talked to Rhonda,” he said softly.

  “And?” she asked, tensing up a little.

  “They are sitting on the house but so far, he hasn’t come home. She also finally broke down and told me his name, since I knew where he lived and could find it out myself. That and the fact that my tech guys had helped the cops clean up the license plate footage.”

  “Okay. Who is it?” she demanded. Putting the ice pack down, she flipped onto her back to look at him. “It wasn’t Damien down there. That much I know. He was a loafer guy and hated hard shoes of any sort. This guy wore the hard, formed, dress type of shoe.”