by Kylie Brant
Wait a minute. His mind stalled a sentence back. Her mother was in the hospital? Had he even known she had a mother around here? No. And that was probably only one in a multitude of things that Addie hadn’t shared with him.
Then the rest of the woman’s words registered. And when they did, Dare felt the first inkling of unease. “Wouldn’t she call if she had gotten delayed?”
“I think so, yes. She’s always very dependable about things like that.” Worry had crept into the woman’s voice. “Nothing like this has ever happened before.”
Something in his gut clenched. He pulled out the chair from the kitchen desk and sat. “You’d better tell me everything.”
A.J. had lost track of time. There was no way to tell if it was day or night, for the blindfold hadn’t been removed, not even when she was released from the chair to use the bathroom. The tape was taken away from her mouth only to give her water, and once to feed her a greasy hamburger.
The first man, the one who seemed to be in charge, had gone out several times, once bringing back food. From the rustling noises of the wrappers, she’d thought it must have come from a fast-food place. Right now he was gone again, and she was wishing that he’d return. He seemed to be a calming influence on his companion, who was getting bolder all the time.
Her captor’s fingers threaded through her hair, and her skin crawled with revulsion.
“Kinda boring, ain’t it? You and me could find a way to pass the time. No one would ever have to know.” She could feel his breath bounce off her face, knew he’d squatted down in front of her. Turning away, she swallowed hard against the surge of nausea. “Randy wouldn’t never find out. You sure can’t tell him, can you?” He seemed vastly amused by his witticism, giggling madly.
Logic warred with repugnance. Randy. That must be the name of the first man. She hoped she’d have a chance to use that knowledge. Then that thought fled when a hand touched her throat, slid down the front of her blouse.
A.J. exploded with a violence that shocked them both. Throwing her weight to the side, the chair tottered, fell over. The resulting crash mingled with the man’s curses and the shouts of another.
“What the hell is going on?”
The man called Randy had returned. She shuddered with a combination of reaction and relief. It was ridiculous to feel safer with the man who appeared to be the mastermind of her kidnapping. Ridiculous while she still had no clue to his motives.
There was a distinctive sound, fist meeting flesh. “I said, what’s going on? I told you to watch her.”
“I was! I did.” The second man’s voice was farther away now, sullen. “She just keeps doin’ that, knocking the chair over like that. Thinks she’s gonna make a racket someone will hear, probably.”
There were footsteps approaching, then a fist grabbed her hair. She could feel the kiss of cold steel against her face. “You’re wasting your time, lady.” The voice was as smooth and lethal as the blade. “There’s no one around to hear. No one who knows where you are. There’s just you. And there’s us.” The blade was removed, and the tip pressed beneath her chin. “But if you want to make trouble, there’ll just be us. Got it?”
He exerted enough pressure to break skin, and she drew in air sharply through her nose. Then after an interminable moment, the blade was removed. “Leave her like that. She got herself into that position, let her stay that way.”
She lay there, her face pressed against cool cement, the grit on the floor ground into her face. Concentrating fiercely, she tried to figure a way out of her predicament. She was used to taking care of herself. But for the life of her, she couldn’t think of a single way out of this mess. If she could convince them to take the tape off her mouth, she could at least try to reason with them. Bribe them. Threaten them. Whatever worked. But lying on the floor, trussed up like a Christmas package, she had little hope of coming up with a workable plan.
It was getting increasingly difficult to stem the tide of desolation. She couldn’t come up with one reasonable plan for getting herself out of this.
And she couldn’t think of a single person who would come looking for her.
Dare tried Addie’s house first, but got no answer to his knock. After considering his options, he entered the same way Leo had gained entry the last time Dare had been there. He hated to consider what she would have to say about another broken pane.
If there had been a measure of uneasiness at violating her privacy, it dissipated upon searching her home. She hadn’t been there last night. Her bed didn’t appear to have been slept in, and the tub held no hint of moisture.
The discoveries had the first hint of panic sprinting up his spine. If it were anyone else, he would assume she’d spent the night with a friend. A lover. Though the thought burned, he forced himself to consider it as he drove back downtown. And then rejected it with a vehemence that was only partly personal. He’d be willing to bet that Addie wasn’t involved with anyone else. She’d made it painfully clear how she felt about relationships.
Perhaps the most bizarre part of this whole story, Dare reflected, was the phone call Song had related to him. The woman had explained that she’d received a phone call from Joel Paquin and relayed the message to Addie that the other attorney wanted a meeting. But when Dare had called Paquin’s office, the man denied having made any such call.
Heading in the direction of the restaurant, he reached for his cell phone. He was getting a real bad feeling about this whole thing. It was time to find Connally.
“You comin’ back pretty soon?”
The words sent glaciers bumping through A.J.’s veins. She didn’t want to be left alone with the second man again. Even Randy’s cruelty was preferable.
“I’ll be back when I’m back.”
“Yeah, well bring me some comics or something. This is boring work, ya know.”
She didn’t hear the other man’s answer. But her ears did pick up the sound of a door closing. The small sound seemed prophetic.
She waited, her breathing choppy. After several moments footsteps shuffled toward her. Then she experienced a sense of disorientation, as her captor righted her chair.
“You got dirt on your face.” A rough thumb smudged it away. “You oughta be grateful. Randy woulda left you like that. You’re grateful, right?”
It seemed politic to nod.
“You sure musta pissed someone off,” her captor continued conversationally. His hand rested on her shoulder, and she tried to shrug it away. His fingers tightened, squeezing. “You oughta be nicer, ya know? Way I see it, I might be the only one makes sure you get out of here alive.”
She fairly shook with the effort it took to remain motionless. A moment later she was certain the effort had paid off. His grip loosened, fell away.”
“That’s better. Whaddya say you and me play a game?”
She could hear him moving, wished desperately to see. Not knowing what was going on around her made her helplessness that much more terrifying. She felt the tip of a knife pricking her collarbone. Anger and fear made a huge hard ball in her throat, impossible to swallow around.
“You like games?”
She shook her head violently and the knife shifted, popped the top button off her blouse. The sound of it hitting the floor, rolling, seemed abnormally loud in the stillness.
“Wrong answer, doll face. Let’s try again. You wanna play with me, right?”
She remained still. Her lack of response, however, didn’t seem to please him any more than her last one had. The tip of the knife traced down an inch, removed another button.
“This is gettin’ fun.” The glee in her captor’s voice couldn’t quite disguise the growing thickness in his tone. His breathing quickened, and she swallowed hard against a surge of sickness that threatened to swamp her. “You and me are gonna have a lotta fun, doll face.” Another button was popped away from her blouse, the tiny sound of it hitting the floor punctuating his words. “We’ve gots lots of time before Randy gets back.”
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By the time Connally and Madison had arrived, Dare had already searched four nearby buildings and found nothing. After conferring for a few moments, the men split the surrounding area and fanned out.
“Remember, if you find something, call me on the cell phone.”
Anxious to restart the search, Dare merely nodded, started away.
“I mean it, McKay.” Gabe’s voice followed him. “Don’t do anything stupid.”
That gem of advice, Dare reflected grimly, as he peered into windows of nearby abandoned buildings, came a bit too late. He could have used it before he slept with Addie two years ago. Before this case had drawn them together again. Or even before he damn near made love to her a couple of nights ago. Stupid didn’t even begin to describe a man who got so wrapped up in a woman that the thought of her in danger tied his insides in knots. Especially when that woman had made her disinterest so clear.
Not content just to look into some of the buildings, he went around the back to investigate. The detectives would probably prefer not to know how he was getting into them. It helped that most had fallen into such disrepair that many windows were shattered. All it took was a little more help and they broke completely out, allowing him entry.
Although there were plenty of signs that some of the buildings had been occupied recently, it appeared most likely that the occupants had been vagrants or teenagers looking for a place to score.
Moving on to another building, however, he heard a sound and stopped to listen. It sounded like someone was in the old warehouse before him. Given the sound of the laugh he heard, Dare figured it was a teen. He rubbed at one grimy pane, attempting to see inside. When he was unable to make anything out, he moved around the corner. He pulled some old barrels over, stacked them precariously and climb atop them to peer into the window. The scene he witnessed stopped his heart.
A man wielding a knife stood before a figure tied to a chair. Wildly, Dare craned his head, attempting to see around the man’s shoulders. Recognition was difficult, as the captive’s face was nearly covered by a blindfold and tape. But he’d seen that gray suit before.
Later he would be amazed at how quickly reason could be swamped by emotion. There was nothing civilized about the red haze that swam across his vision, the violent primal emotions that engulfed him. He was overwhelmed with a raw fierce rage, the kind that burned through the veins and fired the blood. The kind that spelled certain death for the man inside.
Nimbly, he jumped down from his perch and rounded the corner to the street side of the building, rang Connally. “Yeah, I’ve found her.” He read off the building’s address.
“Okay, wait for us to arrive. Do you hear me, McKay?” The detective’s voice was adamant. “Don’t even think about going in there before we—”
The command was cut off when Dare broke the connection, replaced the phone in his pocket. Waiting wasn’t an option. Addie was inside, alone, defenseless. She wasn’t going to be alone much longer.
The air inside the dark building was cool, but it was revulsion rather than the temperature that was responsible for the iciness of A.J.’s skin. She could feel her blouse gaping open, felt the flat edge of the knife smooth across her chest. “I’m gonna untie you from the chair now. You gonna behave?” She could feel the ropes loosen, although her wrists were still tied securely together. She wasted no time. Launching herself forward, she tried to use her head to ram into where she thought the man’s chest would be.
She wound up face first on the concrete, struggling for a breath. Dimly, she was aware of the man laughing, before she was roughly grabbed and turned over.
“Eager, aren’t you? Well, good. That’s the way I like ’em.”
Her arms came up, and her bound wrists caught him in the jaw.
“Bitch!” Stars exploded behind her eyes, and her face rocked back with the force of his blow. “You’re gonna be—”
She was aware of his stillness first. It took another moment to realize the cause. Then the sound came again, a pounding from somewhere outside. Her captor’s weight was off her, and she could hear him moving away. She lost no time raising her secured hands to her face, trying to pull off the tape. But her fingers were numb, clumsy from lack of circulation, and she cursed futilely as she fumbled with the task. The noise had stopped as quickly as it had begun. Her moment of opportunity was rapidly fading.
She managed to loosen a portion of the tape, filled her lungs and tried to yell. “Help.” The word was more a croak than a shout, and she swallowed, tried again. “Help me.”
Swift footsteps approached, and the tape was refastened. “You’re costing me some energy, doll face. You better be worth it.”
Although she fought wildly, she was restrained again. “Now where were we?”
A crash sounded, and her captor rose. She heard curses, the sounds of a struggle. Wildly she attempted to loosen her blindfold. Not knowing what was going on around her was as frightening as the situation itself. Then there was a final thwack and a groan, the sound of a body crumpling.
Hearing footsteps, she rolled to her knees and raised her bound hands in an unmistakably combative stance.
She heard a low chuckle, one filled with relief, and something else not easily identified. “A fighter to the bitter end, aren’t you? It’s all right, baby,” the voice soothed, “it’s over.”
Disbelieving, she stilled as gentle hands went to her blindfold, pulled it way. It took several moments for her eyes to adjust, but she didn’t need to depend on vision to identify that touch, that voice.
And when Dare McKay wrapped his arms around her, A.J. sagged against him and wished with all her might that she could hug him back.
Chapter 10
Dare removed the tape and bonds. Without her conscious permission, her arms twined around his neck, clung tight. “Those childhood brawls of yours came in kind of handy. Not everyone would have the experience to come in and kick ass.” Her words were muffled against his chest.
His voice sounded strangled. “Well my motto has always been to walk softly and carry a helluva big board.”
A laugh shuddered out of her, and his arms tightened. “Did he hurt you?”
She shook her head, not wanting to consider what her captor had had in mind. “I’m all right. A few scratches.”
He crooked a finger beneath her chin, raised it so her gaze met hers. “Did he hurt you?”
Belatedly, his meaning registered, but it was a moment before she could answer. She was too entranced by the thread of lethal danger underlying the words. “No.” Tension seeped from his muscles, an infinitesimal bit at a time. “You have impeccable timing.”
Then he gathered her back to his chest, held her close. “Hardly.” His mouth brushed her hair as he spoke. “You must have been here for close to twenty-four hours already.” Just the thought had the power to send alarm sprinting anew. He could hear the detectives approaching through the back door. He’d rung Connally to update him, cut the detective’s rebukes short.
He didn’t want to think about what could have happened during Addie’s captivity. Didn’t want to consider what he would have done to the man who was still out cold on the floor if he’d found her injured. The savage rage had receded, but he was left with a confusing jumble of feelings. He didn’t have the first clue how to identify any of them.
It was a guilty pleasure to stay like this, holding Addie close. And far, far too tempting. But he forced himself to gently untangle himself from her arms. With one swift movement he pulled his jacket off and handed it to her. Then he stepped between her and the detectives to offer her a modicum of privacy while she switched the garment for her ruined blouse.
“Is she all right?” Connally’s voice was terse, and beneath the words was a hidden meaning Dare understood all too well.
“She’s fine.”
Madison had gone to examine the figure on the floor who was just beginning to stir. “Bet he’s gonna have a helluva headache,” he observed, deftly slipping cuffs on
the man’s wrists.
“He’s lucky to be waking up at all.” Dare’s flat tone had both detectives eyeing him carefully.
“Who said there’s never a cop around when you need one?” A.J. was determined to keep the shakiness from her knees, to keep a smile pasted to her face. The weakness in her limbs must have spread to her mind. That could be the only explanation for the way she’d clung to Dare a moment ago, unwilling to let go. That same weakness had her longing to be back in his arms again.
“Do you have any idea who this man is, Ms. Jacobs?”
She turned at Madison’s voice to look at her former captor. “I’d never seen him before. There’s another one who seemed to be the mastermind of this whole mess. This one,” she nodded toward the man Cal was pulling to his feet, “called him Randy.”
“I think the lady’s had enough for one day, don’t you, detectives?”
Although Gabe opened his mouth to answer, one look at Dare’s face seemed to change his mind. “Of course. A.J. can come by tomorrow, and we’ll take her statement then.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” She rubbed her hands together to rid them of some of the grime, hoping the friction would lend some warmth to her chilled blood. Because she could feel the disapproval radiating from Dare in waves, she meticulously avoided looking at him. “There’s no reason we can’t get this taken care of right now.”
Dare caught Gabe’s sideways glance, as if the man expected him to object. He turned away, silent. Experience had taught him the futility of trying to look out for Addie. It was a lesson he’d been clubbed with often enough. She didn’t need him to protect her. She didn’t need anyone.
