The Roman's Woman (A Singular Obsession Book 4)

by Lucy Leroux

  Another few minutes crawled by and his concern grew. What if something had happened? He knew his woman well enough to assume she had come here guns blazing. Richard had probably been on the defensive. As strong and capable as she was, Sophia was much smaller than him. What if he’d done something to her?

  A rush of adrenaline nearly propelled him out of his seat and up the steps of the house. It was only Sophia’s voice echoing in his head that stopped him. This was exactly the sort of thing they had been arguing about.

  What if they were just talking, somehow managing to work the situation out on their own?

  Drumming an indecisive beat on the steering wheel, he stared at the house. Minutes passed and he started to feel a little ridiculous. Everything was fine. Any minute now, Sophia was going to walk out that door and if she saw him out here, their relationship might be irreparably damaged.

  He was fingering the key in the ignition, contemplating driving away, when the garage door opened. While he watched a dark blue Chevrolet pulled out into the street. Leaning forward, he scanned the interior as it turned in front of him.

  The driver was Richard, but the passenger seat was empty. Peering closely, Gio caught a glimpse of something that turned his blood to ice. As the car was pulling away it passed under a streetlight—illuminating a bit of something dark pink sticking out from under the closed lid of the trunk.

  Sophia had a dress that shade. It was one of the outfits he’d made Gavin, his English buyer, present to her. He loved the way the color complemented her caramel skin.

  Panic flooded him. He needed to move. The car started to disappear down the street. With hands that trembled, he turned the key and started the car. Gunning the engine, he made the same left turn the Chevy had. He exhaled when he spotted Richard a bit ahead.

  He fumbled for for his phone and hit one on the speed dial just as the car pulled out onto the highway.

  The phone rang and rang, ratcheting up his tension. He could barely breathe when it connected and went to voicemail. “You’ve reached Sophia Márquez. I can’t come to the phone right now. Leave a message at the beep.”

  Crap, he’d forgotten he swapped out the number one position on his speedial. Hitting two, he waited impatiently for Enzo to answer.

  “Yes, Gio?”

  “Enzo! I’m following Richard Selwyn. He’s driving a blue Chevrolet, and I think he has Sophia in the trunk!”

  “Holy shit, are you sure?”

  Doubt assailed him. What if he was wrong and it was something totally innocent, like a rag?

  “Oh, God, I don’t know, but I see something sticking out of the trunk. I think it’s her pink dress, but I could be wrong. Am I being crazy?”

  There was a beat of silence and Enzo inhaled. “Doesn’t matter. We can’t take the chance that you’re right. Follow him. Make sure you stay at least three car lengths behind. Try to keep some cars between you, but not at the cost of losing him. Don’t lose him.”

  “I won’t,” Gio said, pressing hard on the accelerator and slipping into the same lane.

  If Richard looked behind him, it would be harder to identify the car with the lights blinding him. At least he hoped that was the case.

  “Okay,” Enzo said. “I’m calling the police now. Better safe than sorry. Can you tell me where you are?”

  “Um, we’re near the Banbury exit on highway M40.”

  “Can you see the license plate? Is it still BG38 RSL or did he change it after he bought the car from Sophia?”

  “I didn’t see it,” he said, swallowing in dismay. “I was too busy staring at the trunk, and I’m too far now.”

  “It’s all right. He probably didn’t change it. I’m going to call the police now from the house phone. I’m staying on the line. I’ll be with you the whole time.”

  Gripping the steering wheel, Gio nodded stupidly before remembering Enzo couldn’t see him. “What else should I do?”

  “Exactly what you’re doing. I’m tracking you on your cell by the way in case you need to leave the car. If you do, though, see if there’s anything in the car you can use as a weapon.”

  Gio twisted around quickly. “It looks pretty bare.”

  “I know,” Enzo said, exhaling quickly. “It’s a company car. Do your best. I’m gathering the rest of the team and they’re meeting me downstairs. We’ll get to you as soon as we can.”

  Gio swallowed hard, checking manically for the vehicle ahead. Sweat was trickling into his eyes. Hastily, he wiped at them. His worst fears were rising up, threatening to choke him.

  “Enzo, what if she’s already dead?”

  His heart was already hammering in his chest, but when Enzo didn’t answer it almost stopped.

  “She’s fine. It might not even be her in there. It might be some random cloth he slammed in the trunk link and this guy is going to be slapping you with a lawsuit for stalking or something.”

  “It’s fucked up that that’s the best case scenario, but I don’t care. If I’m wrong, let him sue.”

  “That’s it. Just think about your lawyers tearing him up…Have you tried calling her?”

  “No answer.”

  “Well, that doesn’t mean anything. She might be driving or her phone ran out of battery. I’ll leave instructions with the doorman to call me if she arrives here.” In the background, Gio could hear talking and hurried footsteps. “We’re leaving now.”

  Ahead of him, the Chevrolet changed lanes and drove toward an exit. No one else followed suit so Gio waited till the last minute and then pulled behind him. “He’s getting off. There’s no one between us now.”

  “Stay far enough away from him so he can’t make you out. Do you recognize where you are?”

  “No. The exit said something quarry and it’s pretty isolated.”

  The area was disturbingly deserted. It was almost rural with a few buildings thinly spread out in the dark countryside. Praying that he was wrong, he continued to follow the car ahead, grateful that it was distinctive enough to see by moonlight alone because the street lights were sparse out here.

  Long minutes passed and the fear clawing at his stomach worsened. The buildings had disappeared, and he was the only other car on this road. There was no way Richard could have failed to spot him following.

  “Enzo, he has to know I’m behind him. What should I do?”

  He could try and run the car off the road, but he might end up hurting Sophia.

  There was no answer. “Enzo?”

  Snatching the phone up, he was dismayed to see the phone had dropped the call. He tried to redial, but there were no bars.

  “Shit!” He looked up and his blood ran cold.

  The car was gone. He was alone on the road.

  “No, no, no!”

  Breathing in and out slowly, he hit the gas. Richard must have accelerated and possibly made a turn somewhere up ahead.

  Please, oh please, he thought. There was no way that stuffed shirt Richard was driving in these backwoods for pleasure. He had Sophia in that trunk. Gio knew it in his heart. He had to find them.

  He almost missed the turnoff. It was hidden by a tree. Hitting the brake, he stopped and made sure there wasn’t another exit up ahead.

  If there was, he couldn’t see it. Turning the wheel sharply, he shot down the street.

  The dark road flew past him. It seemed endless and he was about to start howling in rage when the road suddenly forked. He slammed on the brakes.

  Oh fuck, which way had they gone?

  Chapter 25

  Sophia groaned and tried to open her eyes. Something was wrong with them. She blinked but it was still dark, and her head was killing her. Her brain wasn’t working. Thoughts skittered in and out of her head with little connecting them.

  She took several deep fortifying breaths, fighting the confusion of her muddled mind. What the hell had happened? And where was she?

  The space was dark and the air had an oily metallic smell.
Reaching around her fingers grazed rough carpet underneath her.

  Her dizziness was swiftly replaced by fear. Reaching up she felt cold metal as her body finally registered the sensation of movement.

  She was in the trunk of a car. Oh, holy hell. She was in her father’s Chevette. Richard had hit her—he’d tried to kill her.

  Bile rose up in her throat as she frantically scrabbled at the trunk lid above her. Little broken sobs escaped her while she pushed futilely at the barrier. It didn’t give a millimeter, and furthermore her dress appeared to be trapped in the catch of the lock. She tugged at the skirt until it ripped free.

  “Let me out! Somebody help me!” she yelled, banging on the lid.

  There was no answer and no sounds of traffic. Where was Richard taking her?

  Dread pooled in her stomach, but she kept yelling, trying to make as much of a racket as possible. In the front of the car, music started to play loudly.

  He was trying to drown her out. Knocking even louder, she screamed at him. “Richard! Let me out!”

  The music turned up again and she swore violently. Her fear turned to anger. That shit! How could he do this to her after all she had done for him?

  For two years, she had swallowed her pride and done her best to support him and his career. And in return she’d been taken for granted, denigrated, and most likely cheated on. By rights, she should have kicked his teeth in. Instead, she had made a clean break and tried to be civil whenever she had to deal with him afterward. If he hadn’t kept hounding her, she might have been able to stay on that high road.

  Okay, think, think. He was going to have to stop the car somewhere. She would have to reason with him, promise to lie and back up his story about her father’s research.

  He will never buy it!

  But she didn’t have a choice. She had to make him believe it.

  ****

  Gio tripped climbing out of the car. Pain shot up his knee as he fell hard, but he ignored it and scrambled up. Breathing hard, he stood and ran in front of the hood to where the headlights lit the forked dirt road.

  There has to be something here, he thought, running around looking for a sign of which path the car had gone. He pulled out his phone. There were still no bars, but he turned on the bright flashlight and used it to scan for evidence.

  Was that a tire track?

  The hard packed road didn’t reveal much, but the dirt on the shoulder did have a tire impression and it appeared to be a recent one. Running across the grass to the other side, he looked for more tracks. There were some but they were all on top of each other, and they weren’t as defined as the set on the left side of the fork.

  But what if he was wrong? Fuck, fuck, fuck. Breathe.

  He had to calm down and act rationally. Bringing up his phone, he texted Enzo, telling him to send people down the right path as soon as they caught up. He needed a plan B in case he was making a mistake. The phone still had no bars, but he might drive close enough to a cell tower long enough for the message to go through.

  Sprinting back to the car, he climbed behind the wheel and sped down the left road.

  Please, God, don’t let me be too late.

  Chapter 26

  They had stopped. Outside, a car door slammed and Sophia heard Richard climb out and start walking around.

  “Richard, please! Think about what you’re doing. You have to let me out of here!”

  Except for footsteps, there was silence.

  “I won’t tell anyone what you did, I promise! Just let me out of here.”

  That finally caught his attention. “I don’t believe you.” His voice was low, a little above a whisper and it was coming from right above her.

  “I swear on my father’s grave,” she said, flinching at the lie. “No one has to know.”

  He didn’t answer for a long time. “You should have taken me back. Everything would have been fine. You would have done what I said. You always did what I said.”

  His voice was monotonic and distant. She could picture him standing out there with his hands on the lid, looking down on her the way he always had.

  “You have to let me out of here. People know I went to see you and why.”

  “By that I guess you mean the Italian. Kelly, too. Doesn’t matter,” he said in the same remote tone. “I have a plan.”

  This was bad. He was starting to disassociate, justifying his actions and planning his next steps after he got rid of her.

  “Whatever it is, it won’t work,” she said, raising her voice, refusing to accept that her situation was going from bad to worse.

  “It will work!” Richard yelled, hitting the lid for emphasis. “I’m going away for a while. I’ll tell the University someone died. When I come back, I’ll have a paper trail proving that research is mine. If anyone comes looking for you, I’ll show them my evidence and tell them you saw it. You even apologized for suspecting me of doing anything wrong. And then you drove off to meet your billionaire boyfriend. I have no idea what happened to you after that. Maybe his crazy ex-wife did something to you. You were complaining about her to me while we shared a convivial cup of tea.”

  Holy fuck. That sounded totally plausible. “No one will believe that, least of all Gio. He’ll never stop looking for me. He’s probably searching for me right now.”

  The words were out before she could think about them, but she instantly knew they were true. Gio loved her and he would move heaven and earth to find her.

  There was no response. More footsteps sounded and the car door creaked. Then there was movement and a splash.

  “What are you doing, Richard?” she asked in a panic.

  The only noise was the sound of water. In less than a minute it was seeping in from underneath her. Oh, God. He was dumping the car in a lake or something, letting her drown. This trunk was going to be her coffin.

  “Richard! Richard! Please, I won’t tell!” she screamed.

  But he didn’t answer. She could hear more splashing, but the sound grew progressively fainter as Richard abandoned her. Water continued to pour inside. It was half-way up her torso and seemed to be coming in faster now.

  Shit. I’m going to die in here.

  Chapter 27

  Nothing. There was nothing. Just more road and a bunch of fucking trees. I’ve gone the wrong way, Gio thought with a sickening pang. Should he turn around?

  Indecision kept him going until he spotted a sign up ahead. He floored the car, shooting towards the sign and then slowing down to read it.

  Old Anderson Quarry 1.2 km ahead. Could that be it? Nothing else was near.

  Driving faster than he ever had in his life, he raced the remaining distance to the quarry entrance.

  There was a gate, but it looked old and was standing open. At first, he couldn’t see anything else. Slowing down so he could maneuver the tight turns of the path, he rounded a curve. Moonlight reflected off something shining up ahead. Was this one of those unused quarries that had been filled in with water? Why had Richard driven here?

  The realization that he came here to dump the body followed instantly. Don’t think about it. Find them, he ordered himself.

  His blood was throbbing in his ears. Reaching inside for the control his friends teased him about, he forced his chest to pump up and down evenly until the panic dissipated enough for him to think. They had to be along the water. If Richard was trying to get rid of the car there he’d want to be as isolated as possible. Which meant he would drive to the other side of the quarry.

  Gio topped a rise in the road and saw something that would give him nightmares for the rest of his life.

  The Chevrolet was half-submerged. Richard was at the open passenger door pushing it deeper into the water. Throwing his own car in park, Gio leaped out and ran into the lake. He barely registered its freezing cold temperature as he splashed toward them.

  Richard saw him right away. Desperate panic twisted his face. He lifted something an
d there was a popping sound. Gio’s left arm stung, but he ignored it, putting his head down and charging like a bull at his enemy. The coward broke away from the car, streaking to the right away from him.

  But the skinny Englishman was no match for the rage powering him. His opponent may have been a little taller, but Gio outweighed him with an additional twenty pounds of sheer muscle.

  Using a move he’d only seen on television, he clotheslined the asshole, wrapping his right arm around Richard’s scrawny neck.

  They fell in the shallow water near the shore. The rat underneath him twisted viciously, breaking his hold and scrambling away. Throwing himself forward, Gio leaped on him, punching and trying to shove his head under the surface of the water. Richard put up his hands to protect his face, using his legs to push him away.

  In the distance, Sophia screamed, sending a shaft of pain down his chest. Roaring, he slammed his fist down onto Richard’s head with all his weight behind it. The force knocked the taller man backward toward the shore. Gio didn’t wait to see if he got back up again. He spun around and waded to the car.

  Chapter 28

  In the distance, Sophia could hear Richard shouting something and the distant sounds of splashing. Was there someone else out there?

  “Help! Help me!” she screamed, craning to keep her head above the freezing water. The level had risen to cover most of her torso, but it wasn’t rising as fast anymore.

  Wait, wait. This was her father’s car. It had some kind of pass-through, where the backseat folded down, allowing access to the trunk. Sophia stopped beating the lid and started pushing at the back panel.

  It gave very slightly. Scrabbling at the edges of the seat, she searched for the catch mechanism, praying she would be able to reach it from the wrong side of the seat. In the darkness she couldn’t find it, but her movements rocked the seat back and forth. Twisting around and curling up her upper body to give her legs as much room as possible, she started kicking as hard as she could.