Cold Highway: Ellie Kline Series: Book Four

by Stone, Mary

  Oh god. Ellie’s knees went weak. She’d been right. She didn’t want to be right. Drawing on what she’d been taught about speaking to a victim, she schooled her voice, making sure nothing but calm came across to Nick. “Everything is going to be okay.”

  “I don’t know where I am.”

  She carefully used her voice she saved for scared little kids. “We’re going to find you. We’re tracing your watch. Can you tell me anything about where you are?” She put her phone on speaker so Clay could keep up.

  “Don’t know. I’m locked in a cage. No windows.”

  A cage? “Can you open the door?”

  He grunted, his breathing heavy through the phone. “No. I’m tied up. I can’t—”

  “We’re going to find you, Nick. How long did it take to get from Pinefield to where you are now?”

  “I-I may have passed out for a while.”

  Ellie’s teeth snapped together, and it was all she could do not to growl with rage. She held herself together for Nick’s benefit. “We’re going to catch Kingsley—”

  “It wasn’t Kingsley. It wasn’t a man.”

  That shocked her as much as anything had. “What?”

  “I said—”

  “I heard you.” She pressed her fingers to her forehead, confusion swirling as she forgot about remaining calm. “Nick, you spoke with this person on the phone. How did you not know it was a woman?”

  “She must have used a voice changer app. I should have listened to you. You were right, it was too good to be true.” He wheezed, and there was a long pause before he spoke again. “This wasn’t a random scam. She made it clear she targeted me because of my connection to you. She said she wants you to know that no one in your life is safe. You can’t protect us all.”

  Ellie gasped, her eyes widening in shock. Could it be? “Did you recognize the woman?”

  “Not her face, but her real voice. It’s the same woman who called to warn me Valerie was in danger.”

  Ellie glanced at Clay, her mouth dry as a Texas desert.

  His eyes darted to the phone and back to her. He nodded, and Ellie knew Clay had reached the same conclusion.

  “Nick, was it Katarina?”

  “Yes.”

  Ellie brought her closed fist to her mouth, forgetting she was a Charleston PD detective as the powerlessness of the situation chilled her blood. Her stomach clenched at the thought of him alone in a cold, dark room somewhere, injured and possibly dying because of her. To Clay, she mouthed about the trace, “What’s taking so long?”

  “They’re working on it,” Clay said in a low voice, watching her as if he might have to rescue her next.

  Wiping away hot tears, she shook her head vehemently, straightening her spine. “I’m so sorry, Nick.”

  “Not your fault. You have to understand that. These people are evil, and they’ll do anything to hurt you.”

  Something about the situation suddenly clicked. “Are you sure Kingsley wasn’t the one who called you and set up all the purchases? I don’t think Katarina has access to the funds Kingsley does.”

  Nick cleared his throat and groaned. “I’m so ashamed to admit this, but the property I thought I put the deposit on in Mount Pleasant wasn’t real.” He paused to catch his breath. “I woke up when the man she called Brutus was tying me up. Katarina stood over me, bragging about what she’d done. She fabricated the sale and posed as a real estate agent.”

  “You couldn’t have known. Just keep talking to me Nick, we’re tracing your smart watch.” She snapped her fingers at Clay.

  He gazed at her incredulously and whispered, “There must be some type of interference.”

  “I thought I was doing my due diligence…when I checked out the realtor, Patty Duncan, before I sent the money. But Katarina was masquerading as a real, reputable agent. You were right, Ellie. She scammed me.” Nick coughed, groaning in pain. When he finally stopped, his breath whistled with each inhalation.

  “It could’ve happened to anyone, Nick.”

  “Except you told me, and I still let it happen. Ellie, I’m sorry about the things I said to you.”

  “Don’t worry about that right now. Did she say anything else?”

  He paused for so long, Ellie’s stomach lurched. Had he lost consciousness? “She said she was saving me for the final sale, whatever that means.”

  Ellie’s knees went weak, his words knocking the air from her chest. Katarina was going to sell Nick. Clay’s phone rang, and she turned toward him, no longer trying to stop the tears streaking down her face.

  Clay answered on the first ring. “Lockwood.” He listened carefully before tilting the mouthpiece away. “There’s an auction starting in an hour. ACTeam has a line on the video feed that’s already up to get the bidders excited.”

  The final sale. She covered the mouthpiece of the phone with her hand so Nick couldn’t hear. “Oh my god. Katarina is going to auction Nick. She said she’s saving him for last.”

  “We have to find her before we lose these people. Once they leave the auction site, it’s much harder.”

  “They could be anywhere.” Ellie’s heart was racing, and she tried not to panic at the thought of an auction happening in real time while they were powerless to stop it. She couldn’t bear it. “Can’t your team track where the video is coming from?”

  “Not on the dark web. You know as well as I do they have rolling IP addresses to prevent tracking.”

  Ellie took her hand off the mouthpiece, dread churning in her stomach. “Nick, she’s got to be holding you at one of the properties. You said she sent you links when she was posing as Paul Strong, right?”

  “Yes, but I have no way of knowing if they were real.”

  Clay stepped forward so Nick could hear him. “But for the scam to work, at least one or two would’ve had to be legitimate. Hold on.” He put his phone on speaker, holding it close to Ellie’s phone so Nick could hear. “Okay, Lance, you’re on speakerphone. Describe what you see on the auction video feed to Nick.”

  “There are pictures of each captive on the listings. They’re in cages. It’s dark, but I can make out concrete floors with what appears to be drains in the centers. There is chain-link dividing the captives into small groups. I’m thinking they’re kennel runs. Like a veterinarian’s office or—”

  “Shady Acres Canine Center.” Nick coughed, moaning softly. “The second property we bought. For the land, not the facility. We planned to tear the cursed place down. They were shut down for operating an illegal puppy mill years ago.”

  Ellie grimaced, hoping someone demolished the place after they got to Nick and the others.

  “Checking the property sales now.” The tapping of keys came over the speaker of Clay’s phone as Lance typed rapidly, followed by a whoop of delight. “I’ve found it. Sold to LPM just recently.”

  “Lupine Property Management.” Ellie’s eyes narrowed, and she slammed a palm to her face. “I should’ve known.”

  “Known what?” Clay’s intelligent brown eyes zeroed in on her.

  “Lupine is a wolf reference.” Ellie threw a hand up in frustration as the puzzle pieces clicked together. “Katarina’s surname, Volkov, means wolf.”

  Clay raised an eyebrow. “Is that her real name?”

  “I don’t know. Her fingerprints weren’t in the system, after the botched kidnapping of Harmony Jackson. The district attorney cut her a deal, which is why she’s free now.”

  Clay’s frown deepened, his eyes going out of focus as he held his phone in his hand, the click of Lance’s lightning fast fingers on the keyboard as clear as if Lance was in the room with them. When their gazes met, Clay’s jaw tightened. “She’s been taunting you.”

  “I can’t believe I missed it.”

  Lance broke in. “Sending the address to your phone now, Agent Lockwood. The team has the intel already.” By the time Lance hung up, Ellie was already halfway to the door.

  “Nick, we’re coming for you.” Ellie ran out the door that C
lay held open. When there was no answer from Nick, she pulled the phone away from her ear to check the screen. The timer was still running, which meant the call hadn’t disconnected. “Nick!” Tossing Clay the keys, she jumped into the passenger seat. “Nick, answer me!”

  Clay revved the engine, throwing it into drive. “He knows you’re coming. He’s going to be okay.”

  “Nick, please.”

  A loud click signaled that the call had dropped. She sat there, stunned, staring at the display. They’d been on the phone only a few minutes. What if this was the last time she’d ever talk to Nick? Did he know she loved him, no matter what? She’d made such a mess of things.

  From the driver’s seat, Clay reached out and took her hand. “He’ll make it.”

  She took a deep breath and narrowed her eyes, focusing on the road Clay was navigating. “Katarina is going to regret this. And this time, I’ll make sure she spends the rest of her life behind bars where she belongs.”

  Or in a grave.

  But Ellie didn’t say that last part out loud.

  26

  Lying on his side on the concrete floor, pretending like he was sleeping, Matt Loomis squinted at a commotion taking place outside his cage.

  A young woman with hair the color of peaches struggled to stay on her feet as Brutus dragged her down the aisle, her choking sobs making Matt’s ears ring. Instead of putting her back in the cage with the other women, Brutus shoved her into the empty run next to his and locked the gate.

  Arms wrapped around herself, the young woman slid to the floor and stared off into space, tears still spilling down her cheeks. She’d marred her creamy skin with tattoos all the way down her arm, useless ones that depicted cartoon characters, as if she couldn’t leave them behind in her childhood.

  He could fix that.

  Matt waited until Brutus left, and moved to their shared fence, sitting so he was facing her. She was so close, he could touch her. She was obviously terrified, but he needed answers. “Hey, what happened out there?”

  She jumped, blinking him into focus as if she was just now seeing him.

  He gave her a reassuring smile, turning his palms upward. “I’m not going to hurt you. I’m trapped here, like you. We’re all scared, you know?”

  She nodded, wiping at the tears and snot running down her face.

  “You’re strong. Take a deep breath.” She obeyed, drawing air into her lungs. “That’s it. What’s your name? People call me Lucky.” He looked around at the cage that imprisoned him before turning back to her with a shrug. “I’m not feeling all that lucky right now, to be honest.”

  She half snorted, half hiccupped. “Me either. I’m Noelle.” The name was lyrical on her tongue.

  He fought to tamp down the pleasure that coursed through his body at the sound of her voice. He could smell the fear on her. Despite his own predicament, the scent of sheer terror swirling in the air between them had his body reacting. Thankfully, it was dim, and sweet Noelle was so distracted by her fear she didn’t notice his nostrils flaring or the part of him that was really in control pressing against his zipper.

  “Noelle is such a beautiful name. Tell me, Noelle, what happened out there?”

  She shuddered, wrapping her arms tighter around herself. “They sold me.”

  “I don’t understand. You’re still here.”

  Shaking her head, she choked on a fresh sob, no longer bothering to wipe her tears away as they streamed down her face, leaving trails that shown in the dim light. “They sell everything online now. Why not people?” Hysterical laughter bubbled up from her chest. “They have an auction block, and they made me stand there with the lights pointed on me. There was a man making a live video. There were people bidding on me from the safety of their computer. It’s so sick. Someone just bought me like I’m an object.” Her chest rose and fell rapidly as panic overtook her. “I can’t do this. I can’t. I can’t.” With each repetition, her pitch rose until she was whining like a frightened child.

  The sound at once grated on his nerves and excited him.

  If only I was on the other side of this.

  His own thoughts disturbed him. There he was, trapped like an animal in a literal cage, and all he could think about was possessing the terrified woman in the neighboring cage.

  “Noelle, look at me.” He stuck his fingers through the chain-link as far as he could. When her fingers touched his, it was all he could do not to lose his mind right then. She was so close, he could almost taste her sweetness.

  How cruel of the universe to deliver absolute perfection to him when he couldn’t have her.

  The irony wasn’t lost on him.

  He’d spent half of the years he’d been on this earth traveling the country and leaving bodies in his wake, and now he was set to become a victim to someone just like himself. A woman, no less.

  He’d been foolish to believe the sky had opened up and dropped a woman as perfect as Katarina on his path. Instead, maybe Katarina had been sent to give him a taste of his own medicine; a sort of karma that he’d earned, and earned well. Surprisingly, the thought didn’t frighten him. But it did leave him wondering if hell was real.

  He turned his attention back to Noelle, her light blue eyes watching him—exactly like he’d told her to—as she tried her best to calm herself. He smiled at her, and her lips quivered at the corners in an attempted smile. Not much, but it was a start, and proof his words were working.

  Men had domination over women, they just had to know when to use force and when to coerce. If a man treated a woman like a princess at first, she would do anything for him, and then she was right where he’d wanted her in the first place.

  He’d learned that from his father before he left for the last time. His father had ruled the roost, and no one dared go against his demands. But he knew it hadn’t always been that way, from the photobooks and the whining of his mother when she was dumb enough to argue with her husband. He’d be proud of the man Matt was today.

  “You can do this, Noelle. Breathe, and let’s think this through. How many people were on the block?”

  “They’re only taking one at a time. I heard one of the men mention it. We’re all for sale, but they’ll bring out one at a time so there’s a bidding frenzy.” She rested her forehead on their entwined hands. “Why did I walk through that alley? I knew better than that.”

  “Don’t blame yourself. It’s not your fault. The fault lies with these people. They have no respect for life.” And he would bet the buyers wouldn’t worship her body in detail like he would.

  “I could see the auctioneer looking through the listings on the website.” Noelle cowered in her cage, pulling her knees against her chest as murmuring came from the other captives.

  Matt glanced at the women crammed together, separate from the men. They were watching Noelle, hanging on her every word. One very young woman rocked in the corner, staring at the wall as she mumbled to herself. He swallowed hard, forcing his attention back to Noelle. “You could see the listings? Did you count them?”

  She nodded. “There were sixteen people for sale.”

  As one, Noelle and Matt turned to count the people in the other cages. Ten women plus Noelle, and four men plus Matt. Sixteen of them. Which meant that every last one of them in this kennel was in the auction. Matt’s luck had run out, and he was about to find out what it was like to experience life from the other side. The victim’s side.

  Suddenly sick with fear and rage, Matt yanked his hand from Noelle’s as if he’d been burned.

  Frantic, she turned left and right, trying to spot what had affected him so badly. When she found nothing beyond the cages of miserable captives that had been their only view, she tilted her head in question. Her lips parted as if she was about to speak, but a door opened at the end of the room, and sixteen heads turned at once.

  Katarina strode down the aisle with Brutus on one side and an equally huge man on the other that Matt had never seen.

  “Lucky.” Kata
rina waved to him with a grin. “The day is finally here, and I for one cannot wait to see how much you fetch at auction.”

  Matt was horrified to realize he was trembling, that her boisterous greeting had filled him with dread. Matt moved to his knees with his hands folded together, wishing the floor would open up and swallow him whole. If hell did exist, it had to be better than this.

  “I don’t want to die.” The words came out unbidden, not directed at Katarina so much as the fates themselves. Matt had never feared death before, but now that he was facing unspeakable horrors, he was not sure which option was worse—life, or death with the possibility of eternal damnation. One face after another flashed before his eyes, all young women, and he thought he still might take his chances on the devil.

  “You might not die.” Katarina’s tone was reassuring yet flippant as she shrugged one shoulder. Gaze running over his kneeling stance, her upper lip curled up. “Prayer doesn’t help. If it did, no one would ever suffer, and what fun would that be?”

  Prayer? It was then he realized he knelt, his hands together, as if praying or…begging her.

  A sob drew his attention to the other cage. The women were huddled together, eyes wide with horror as they listened to this beautiful bitch.

  His breath quickened, heart pounding in his chest. Oh, how he would love to take her down, be the hero to these women, then one by one make them see how wrong they were. He thought he might actually enjoy killing Katarina more than he had his little sister, his very first kill.

  “Look at you,” Katarina purred. Arms crossed over her chest, one hip tilted outward, she was the picture of cockiness. She smiled when their eyes met. “Terrified one moment, enthralled the next.”

  He gritted his teeth, tearing his gaze from the women to glare at Katarina through the chain-link. This time when he spoke, his voice was strong. “I refuse to be some sick bastard’s sex slave.”

  “You might not be. So many of my clients have eclectic tastes. There’s no telling where you could end up. Anything from a full-time butler to a dirty little secret cemented in the basement floor. The possibilities really are endless, Lucky.” She dragged each syllable of his name out and licked her lips. “You’ll survive. I did. If you don’t know how to work a tragedy in your favor, you won’t make it far.”