Once You're Mine

by Barbara Freethy

  A chill crept down her spine. There could be city contracts on the line. Getting rid of those blighted structures would open up new financial opportunities.

  She pulled up a map on her computer. She knew what street the hotel that she'd gone into was on. And after searching for pawn shops in the area, she had a good feeling she knew where the second fire had occurred. They were only a few blocks apart.

  She opened up another search window and went to the city records database. She put in the address for the pawn shop and within minutes pulled up the deed. The owner was Viceroy Ventures. They had acquired the building three years earlier from Lundgren Real Estate Development. Another shiver shot down her spine.

  Nibbling on her bottom lip, she spent the next thirty minutes trying to figure out what else Galaxy, Viceroy, Litton, and Lundgren owned, especially around the neighborhood of the previous two fires. The fires her dad had investigated had all been within three to five miles of each other, too. Was a similar pattern developing?

  Litton owned another building around the corner from the pawn shop that housed a printer on the first floor and a marketing agency upstairs. More checking revealed that the print shop was actually closed. She tried calling the number for the marketing agency, but it went to voicemail. If the businesses were closed down, was the building empty?

  She printed out a map of the neighborhood, circling the residential hotel, the pawn shop, and the third building she'd just found. Could it be a potential target?

  She needed to figure out if there were any other buildings owned by any of the four companies that she'd linked together so far. Although, the scam might involve even more people. This could be just the tip of a very big iceberg.

  Grabbing her phone, she called Dylan. They'd touched base around lunchtime, and she knew he'd gone to help his uncle on a construction job. But hopefully after work they could get together and go over what she'd come up with.

  He answered on the first ring. "Hi, Tori."

  "I have a theory," she said. "Do you have a minute?"

  "Yes. I'm actually on my way to meet Emma. She said Kruger left early so she's going to go into his office and see if she can find anything that she doesn't have access to on the computer."

  "That's great."

  "Where are you?"

  "Still at work. Do you want me to tell you my theory now?"

  "Absolutely," he said.

  "Okay, it's going to sound crazy, but hear me out. There was a movie awhile back where two strangers conspire to kill each other's wives. They figure since there's no known connection between them, and no known motive for either to kill the other person, that it's the perfect crime."

  "I remember the movie. What does it have to do with anything?"

  "Just think about how smart it would be to hide one crime by getting someone less obviously suspicious to commit it. What if Lundgren hired Robert Walker to burn down the residential hotel owned by Galaxy Ventures, but he did it for someone else?"

  "You have to be talking about Litton Capital?"

  "I am," she said, happy he was keeping up with her. "I found out that Litton and Lundgren have worked on numerous projects together. One of the fires my dad was looking into took place in Lundgren's building. His insurance company paid off, and he hired a subsidiary company of Litton Capital to rebuild it."

  "That's interesting."

  "So going back to the hotel fire. What if Galaxy collects the insurance money, which goes into Litton's pockets? He hires one of Lundgren's companies to construct a new building. Maybe he even hires them to sell the building."

  "So it goes in a circle," Dylan said.

  "Exactly. The owner of the building would always be the first suspect in an arson case, but this way that person's hands are so clean that insurance has to pay out. When they collect the money, the other guys get rich on the back end."

  "That makes sense to me."

  "Good, because I also learned that the pawn shop that you went to the other day is owned by a company called Viceroy Ventures and the acquired from Lundgren three years earlier. I know it's going to take some time to figure this out, and I have to be as meticulous and thorough as my dad was in order to get concrete proof, but I think I'm on to something, Dylan." She couldn't hide the excitement in her voice.

  "I think you might be, too," he said. "I'll run all this by Emma. And then I'll come and meet you. When are you leaving work?"

  "I'm going to head home in a few minutes."

  "You're taking a taxi, right?"

  "Of course, but it's been quiet the last few days. Really, nothing has happened since we saw Hawkins at the reception on Saturday night."

  "I still want you to be careful. I'll come by your place after I talk to Emma."

  "I'll see you then."

  After she hung up the phone, she shut down her computer, stashed it in her bag along with the map she'd printed out and the other notes she'd made, and left for home.

  She took a taxi to her building and went upstairs to her apartment without running into anyone. She washed up, changed her top, and fixed her makeup, then walked into the kitchen to grab a bottle of water out of the fridge. Seeing her empty shelves, she thought it might be a good idea to order in some food. Or maybe she'd just wait for Dylan.

  As if on cue, her phone rang, and Dylan's number flashed across the screen.

  "That was fast," she said. "Are you already done with Emma?"

  "Emma was attacked," he said tersely.

  "What?" she asked, shocked by his words.

  "A security guard found her in the stairwell. She was hit from behind and she fell down some stairs. She's on her way to the hospital."

  "Oh my God! Did you see her?"

  "Yeah, but she was going in and out of consciousness," he said heavily.

  She could feel his fear through the phone. "She's going to be all right."

  "This is my fault. I got her involved."

  She suddenly realized what he was saying. Emma had been knocked out because she'd gone up to Kruger's office to look for information on the fires. "What about Kruger? Where is he?"

  "I don't know. The police are here. I told them that she was looking for information that he had on a fire investigation. They're going to try to find him. The offices were empty when it happened. Everyone had gone home. I'm not sure why Emma was in the stairwell. If someone grabbed her and pushed her inside, or if she'd decided to take the stairs for some other reason."

  "What about Max?"

  "The police called him. I haven't spoken to him, but he's meeting her at the hospital."

  "He must be terrified."

  "I can't even imagine." He drew in a breath. "What if she's hurt really bad, Tori? What if she loses the baby? She's been so happy. She just got Shannon. That kid needs a mother."

  "Then she has to be all right," she said, trying to infuse as much confidence into her voice as she could.

  "I have to make some calls to my family, and then I'm going to the hospital."

  "Of course. I'd like to join you, unless you'd rather I didn't."

  "No, I'd like you to come, Tori. I need you," he said on a husky note. "If you don't mind."

  "Of course I don't mind." She was thrilled he would let her be there for him.

  "St. Mary's on Fulton Street."

  "I'll see you soon. Keep the faith, Dylan."

  "I can't do anything else."

  She set her phone down on her kitchen table, feeling the same guilt Dylan was experiencing. If they hadn't brought their problems to Emma, if they hadn't involved her in the case, she'd be home with her husband and her child and her baby-to-be.

  Who on earth would attack a pregnant woman?

  Would Gary Kruger really do such a thing? They were coworkers. They'd traveled the same path from firefighting to arson investigation. They both had followed in the footsteps of parents who had set the bar high for them.

  Maybe that didn't matter. If Kruger had something that could get him into real trouble, he might
not have cared who he hurt to get away with it. She really needed to finish connecting the dots. But right now she had to get to Dylan. The fact that he'd admitted to needing her made her heart ache. She just wished she could fix this for him.

  Grabbing her bag, she left her apartment. She was just about to shut the door when she felt a presence to her right.

  Before she could see who it was, she was tackled from behind.

  Strong, beefy arms pulled her against an iron chest. Her bag was ripped off her shoulder. Something dark and thick came over her head. She kicked out her legs and threw her fists at anything she could reach, but she couldn't get out of the man's grip.

  She was blinded by the material covering her eyes, and air was getting harder to find. Gasping, she tried to scream, but even she could barely hear her voice.

  She was thrown over someone's shoulder and being upside down made her even dizzier. She had the terrifying feeling she was losing consciousness. She had to get away now. She wouldn't have a chance later. But her struggling did nothing, and when her head smashed against something hard, fireworks exploded in front of her eyes.

  Moments later, she was tossed onto her back and felt a sharp, stabbing pain in her back from some sort of metal.

  A door slammed. She was in a trunk and the car was moving. Where the hell were they taking her?

  Nineteen

  When Dylan got to the ER waiting room at St. Mary's Hospital, he was told that Emma had been taken up to Labor and Delivery on the fourth floor. His heart pounded at the implications of that piece of information. She must have gone into labor. But it was too early. She wasn't even on maternity leave yet. And what about her head injury? How would that factor into anything?

  When he got to the fourth floor, he looked around for Max but was told he was in with his wife and there wasn't any news yet.

  He paced around the small waiting room for almost five minutes and then he heard his Uncle Jack's loud, booming voice at the nurse's station, so he walked into the hall.

  Jack Callaway had pepper gray hair and blue eyes and was a big stocky man with a big presence. His wife Lynda was blonde with a softer, quieter personality, but there was no doubt she could be as determined and stubborn as any other Callaway.

  Lynda saw him and hurried over. "Dylan, what's happened? Do you know anything?"

  "Not much," he said shortly, wishing he had better news for Emma's mother. "She was hit over the head, and it looks like she fell or was shoved down the stairs."

  "I can't believe this is happening." Lynda put a hand to her mouth as if she might be sick. "This was at her work? It's a government building. Isn't there security?"

  "Max will get to the bottom of it," he said, hoping that would reassure her.

  "Where is Max?"

  "He's with Emma."

  Lynda let out a breath. "Okay, good. What about Shannon?"

  He didn't know where Shannon was. "Sorry, I don't know."

  "She must be at daycare. I need to call them." As Lynda took out her phone, it vibrated. "Nicole? You got my message?" She paused. "Oh, thank goodness. I was worried about Shannon. You stay with the kids. I'll let you know what's happening." She bit down her lip. "Yes, we're all going to be strong, because Emma is fierce, and she's a fighter."

  Lynda blinked back tears as she put her phone into her purse. "Nicole is taking care of Shannon, and she's calling the rest of the family."

  "I already told Burke," he said. "And my parents are on their way."

  Jack came over and put his arm around his wife. "She's hanging in there. She has a concussion, and she's gone into early labor, but the doctors are doing everything they can to make sure that both Emma and her baby are going to be fine."

  "I can't believe this, Jack," Lynda said with a confused shake of her head. "Everything was going so well for Emma. She had all those miscarriages, and she didn't think she could have her own child, and then she got Shannon and found out she was pregnant at the same time. It was a miracle. It was amazing. She can't lose her baby, and I—I can't lose her."

  "You won't lose her," Jack said firmly. "Emma will never quit. We all know that."

  "That's what I'm hoping."

  Jack turned to him. "Do you know what's going on? The police told me you were there."

  "I got there after she was hurt. She was looking into some suspicious fires that Gary Kruger was handling."

  "Wait, this is about a fire investigation?" Jack demanded.

  His uncle wasn't just Emma's father; he was also second in charge of the SFFD. "Yes," he said. "Emma was helping me look into a fire at a residential hotel last week as well as some other suspicious fires, most of which were handled either by Gary Kruger or his father Wallace."

  "What are you saying?" Jack asked. "Kruger is the one who hurt Emma?"

  "I don't know, but the police need to find him. He was being extremely secretive about his work, and Emma was attacked in the hall or at the top of the stairs by his office."

  "I'm going to make some calls." Jack turned to Lynda. "You'll be okay?"

  "Of course. You do whatever you need to do to find out who did this to Emma."

  As Lynda finished speaking, more Callaways poured off the elevator: Burke and his wife Maddie, and Emma's younger brothers Sean and Colton. His parents followed along with Ian and his girlfriend Grace. He was surprised to see them.

  Explanations followed, but everyone seemed to share the same sense of bewilderment and fear.

  "When did you get into town?" he asked Ian, pulling his brother aside.

  "Grace had an interview this morning, so we drove down last night. We were at the house when you called Dad," Ian replied. "I can't believe this has happened to Emma." He saw the worry in Ian's eyes, and he knew that Ian and Emma had gotten close during a trip to Ireland the previous summer.

  "She's tough. She'll make it."

  "She better."

  Turning to Grace, he added, "It's good to see you again."

  The red-haired Grace smiled back at him with a concerned gaze. "You, too, Dylan. I wish these weren't the circumstances."

  "Me, too. So how did the job interview go?"

  "Very well. I really liked the school. If I get the job, we'll be officially living in San Francisco this summer."

  "That's great news."

  Ian was lucky to have found a woman willing to relocate her life because it was more important for Ian's work to be in San Francisco than for Grace to be in Tahoe. But he also knew that Ian was so madly in love with Grace that he would have found a way to make Tahoe work if he'd had to. He'd been commuting back and forth since Christmas, spending every second he could with Grace, and Dylan had never seen his brother so happy.

  He felt an odd ping of jealousy. He'd chosen to stay single, to stay out of committed relationships. Now he wondered why. Because it seemed like he might be missing out on something wonderful.

  The waiting room got busier as Emma's brother Drew and his wife Ria showed up, followed by Shayla, whose presence brought a hush to the room. Shayla was a doctor and while she didn't work at St. Mary's apparently she knew enough people there to get better information.

  "They're delivering the baby by cesarean section," Shayla said somberly. "Emma has suffered a concussion. She also has a broken arm and some cracked ribs."

  "What about the baby?" Lynda asked. "Emma wasn't due for another seven weeks."

  "It's early, so we'll have to see what challenges are ahead," Shayla said. "But there's a good chance they'll both be fine."

  Seeing the shadows in Shayla's eyes, Dylan wondered if that was true, or if Shayla was trying to put a good spin on it, but for now, he wanted to believe in a good outcome.

  As Shayla went to check on Emma's progress, small groups broke out, and quiet chatter filled the room. He suddenly realized that Tori hadn't shown up yet, and he wondered why.

  Glancing at his watch, he realized it had been almost an hour since he'd spoken to her.

  He moved into the hall and toward a ven
ding machine area as he called her phone. It rang eight times and then her voicemail picked up. His gut tightened, his instincts going on alert. He wasn't one to panic, but with everything that was going on, he really wanted her to pick up her phone.

  He left a message asking her to call him. Then he texted her as a backup. He waited five minutes, then went back to the waiting room. He made small talk with his family for another fifteen minutes, then tried Tori again. There was still no answer and his gut was screaming at him that something was wrong.

  She'd told him she would meet him at the hospital. There was no way it would take her an hour and a half to do that, and he didn't think she'd do something else without texting him back.

  Burke came over to him, giving him a hard look. "What's going on?"

  "Tori was heading over here an hour ago, and now she's not answering her phone. I need to find her." He hesitated. "I hate to leave, but—"

  "Go. Find Tori. There's nothing you can do here. And call me if you need help."

  "I'll let you know," he said, slipping out the door before anyone else could ask where he was going.

  * * *

  After being pulled out of the trunk, Tori was tossed over someone's shoulder.

  He smelled like beer and cigarettes, and as she struggled, he ordered her to be still or he'd knock her out. With some sort of sack tied around her neck preventing her from seeing or getting much air, and an iron grip around her body, she decided to save her energy and stop moving.

  Doors opened and closed. She felt like they went down some stairs. She strained her ears, trying to figure out where she was, who might have her. The man carrying her was strong, and she didn't have the feeling she would recognize him even if she could see him. Certainly, his voice hadn't sounded familiar.

  A moment later, he tossed her onto the floor like a big bag of flour. She yelped as her hip hit something hard, and her head bounced backward against what was probably the floor.