Again, the knife to the heart. The hostage. The connection to him.
“I’m calling him back.” Ryan stared at his phone, waiting for permission.
Heath nodded, and Charles stopped him. “We should go over the plan first.”
“I’m a highly trained FBI agent,” he said, more so as a reminder to himself.
“That doesn’t mean you know how to handle a hostage situation.” Charles was right, and Ryan hated that about him. He didn’t have any reason not to like the field unit supervisor other than his questioning how easily Ryan slid into this position.
“Time isn’t on our side. Make the call,” Heath said.
Ryan didn’t hesitate and swiped the phone back.
“’Bout time.”
“I’m listening,” Ryan said.
“You think you’re a slick one, coming into the casino and getting information from me. Well, now you’re gonna pay, Agent Thorne.”
“Tell him we’re gonna beat the shit out of his whore,” came an angry voice in the background.
Bile threatened its way up his throat, and he swallowed it back down. The bastards would pay.
“Whatever condition our hostage is in when we find her, will be a hell of a lot worse for you two, and for your friends in prison. And trust me, they’ll know why they’re on the other end of a lead pipe. That Julian and Corey Nettles screwed up.”
“Maybe we’ll call your bluff.”
Ryan didn’t respond or play into the game of trash talk. He made his threat, which was the God’s honest truth, and waited for them to play their hand.
“Your whore here’s gotta big mouth. Maybe I’ll see what all it’s good for.”
“Prison gang rape’s a real thing.”
Charles scowled at him. Threatening to torture prisoners was against protocol.
He heard the Nettles arguing in the background and then finally returned to the phone.
“You’ll get your girl back when they’re free.”
“How do I know you even have her.”
“You saw the picture.”
“That could be from days ago. I want to know the hostage is alive and well.”
Hostage, that was who she was, not Mia. Not the woman he cared more about than his own life.
More cursing and scuffling, then the call ended.
“Shit.” Ryan resisted the urge to pound the table. A moment later his phone rang again.
They were Facetiming him. He spun his chair away from the men in the room and wheeled his chair in front of a blank white wall. He accepted the call and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Mia.
There were no obvious scratches or bruises on her face, and the same black gag was in her mouth. Her face remained stoic like his, not revealing any emotion. He gave her a quick, brief nod, hoping she could read the message behind it. Are you okay? A slight tug pulled at her lips, and he nodded again.
“You see her. Now meet us in an hour with Miller and Kaiser.”
“It doesn’t work that way.”
“Make it work.”
“Breaking them out of a high security cell will require some planning.” He never said he’d do it, just that it would take some time.
“Well, you’re gonna have to. And no police.”
Sutter covered his laugh with his hand. These guys were idiots. But that didn’t mean Mia would be safe.
Sutter waved his hand indicating he wanted Ryan to keep Nettles on the phone so it could be traced.
Damnit. He wasn’t thinking straight. Too caught up in the emotional loss if anything happened to Mia, he completely forgot he already had a tracker on her phone. This was why agents weren’t allowed to handle cases they were personally attached to.
If he swiped to a new screen and opened up his tracking device, they’d see he paused the video and get suspicious. He’d only used it to keep an eye on Lily’s friends and family. And maybe the other day when she’d called and hung up, scaring the shit out of him.
“I’ll get back to you.” Ryan hung up on Nettles. It was a risky move, but he wanted to keep the brothers on their toes.
He opened up his tracking app and located Mia. “She’s in Bangor.” He rattled off the address, and Sutter typed furiously across his keyboard.
“With your permission, sir, I’m going back to Maine.” Ryan pocketed his cell and stood.
“Easy now,” Charles said. “We don’t do Rambo missions here. Sutter, you have the location of the cell?”
“Got it during the FaceTime call.”
“Good. Sit, Thorne, and tell us what we need to know about the hostage.”
“Sir, with all due respect, it’s a two-hour flight to Bangor. We can strategize on the way.”
“Or we can come up with a plan now and send the local authorities in for the hostage.”
Shit. Again, he wasn’t thinking straight.
Heath asked, “Did you notice any weapons? Hear any distinctive noises in the background?”
“No.” Ryan returned to his chair and fumed. They were right. He didn’t have to be the one to swoop in and rescue Mia. There were plenty of well-trained officers and detectives in Maine who could get her safe faster than he could.
But none of them would be able to hold and comfort her afterward. None knew where she liked to be touched and held; not in a sexual way either, but in a tender way that relaxed her.
Ryan needed to be there to provide her with that. And the crux of it all, he was also the reason she was in this situation.
“What can you tell me about the location, Sutter?”
“Small two-bedroom duplex. A seventy-seven-year-old woman lives in the other unit. No known disturbances at the duplex. They’ve been renting it for ten months.”
“It’s where they were arrested. We did a sweep of the unit and only found a stash of weed, three hunting rifles, a 9mm revolver, and few knives. All confiscated.”
“Doesn’t mean they haven’t replaced them already,” Charles noted.
Not the obvious Ryan needed stated.
“We can get Bangor PD to have a tactical team set up in twenty minutes.” Heath stood. “Ryan, step outside with me for a minute.”
When they were alone in the adjoining conference room, Ryan said, “I didn’t mean for this to happen.”
Heath squinted. “I’d sure as hell hope not. This hostage, it’s personal I take it.”
Ryan didn’t respond and kept his attention at the black and white photograph hanging on the wall behind Heath.
“That’s what I thought.” He put a fatherly hand on Ryan’s shoulder. “You can’t take the blame for what happened to Sharon and Alex. Those sick bastards killed thirteen women and children before them. And thanks to you, they’re rotting in Hell for the rest of their lives.”
The lump in his throat didn’t get any smaller with Heath’s words. “This is a twisted bit of fate. You can’t let it ruin you again, Ryan. You need to live your life. Fall in love. Get married. Have a normal life.”
“I don’t think that’s possible.”
“Sure as hell it is. Mary and I are celebrating our thirtieth this winter. The first fifteen years were the hardest with me working the field. I can’t say I regret taking a desk job, but one too many bullets in the leg will do that to you.”
“Seems like those bullets are aimed at those I love instead of at me.”
Those he loved. Shit. He did. He loved Mia. But he couldn’t love her and keep this job.
“I know what you’re thinking.” Ryan lowered his gaze to his boss. “You’re thinking the only way to keep the girl is to switch jobs again. You’re good at this, Thorne. It’s as safe as it gets in the FBI.”
“Not for her.”
“I hate to be the bearer of reality, but this could happen to her or to anyone at anytime. Hell, you don’t have to watch the news to see what’s happening out there. Innocent children are being shot in their classrooms. Mothers are being mugged and raped in grocery store parking lots. Evil lurks everywhere,
but we can’t live in fear. You deserve a second shot at life.”
So did Mia, which was why he needed to stay away from her, after making sure she was okay.
“With your permission, sir, I’m going to Maine.”
Heath squeezed his shoulder. “By the time you get to the airport, Marcy will have texted you your flight information.”
With a sharp nod, Ryan took off and raced down the hall, then down the streets of Manhattan.
To the woman he loved.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Mia was still trembling an hour later, even after her parents had crushed her with comforting hugs. Even after her friends and Ty and Lily and everyone she knew came to the police station to make sure she was really alive.
The first call she’d made after the local FBI stormed down the basement door where she’d been tied up was to her parents. For a fleeting moment she thought about calling Ryan, but she couldn’t handle the silence he’d bring on the other end of the line.
“The detectives said you’ll be here for a while longer. I’m going to bring Lily home and will be back to get you, okay?” Ty wrapped her in a hug.
“Thanks.” She leaned into him, appreciating his lack of questions. She knew he’d be firing them at her as soon as she got home.
Once her family had left, Detective Brooks came in with two bottles of water and a Snickers bar. “I sent someone out to grab a pizza. You said they didn’t feed you during the twenty-hours they held you hostage.”
“I’m not really hungry.”
“You need to eat.” Ryan’s low, familiar voice startled her. He loomed in the doorway, arms crossed, shoulder leaning against the jamb.
She licked her lips and slowly lifted her gaze to him with hungry eyes. The dark suit and tie didn’t mask the tired look behind his eyes, or the five o’clock shadow coating his face. Instead of the strong and domineering vibe he usually gave off, tonight he seemed ... exhausted. Wary. Apologetic.
While he’d mastered the indifferent expression in all their past encounters, this time the stress of his job wore through.
Detective Brooks stood and held out his hand, introducing himself.
“Agent Thorne.”
“I’ve heard about you. This is your case, so I’ll let you question the witness. You read the notes and saw the interrogation video we sent you?”
Ryan nodded, his gaze remaining fixed on Mia.
“I’ll be in to see the Nettles brothers when I’m done with Miss Parker.” He closed the door behind the detective and took the seat across the table from Mia.
The familiar silence filled the air. She wanted—needed—him to reach across the table and take her hand, to tell her it would be alright.
It would, she knew. She hoped. Detective Brooks hadn’t told her much about the men who held her hostage, but she learned from their conversation with Ryan on the phone that it had to do with a case he was working on.
“Are you okay?”
She nodded. “I am now.”
“Did they ... did they hurt you?”
She rubbed her wrists where she’d been tied up. They were red and raw but would heal. The trauma from being held captive, from not knowing if they’d rape or kill her, or if they were going after any of her family would take a long, long time to recover from.
At first, she thought they were involved with Gervais, Lily’s ex-husband who was locked up in a prison somewhere in Europe. When they didn’t mention her or him, she figured it was a random kidnapping. And then they searched through her phone and found Ryan’s contact information, lighting up like a freaking child on Christmas morning when they dialed his number.
“I’m okay.”
He took out his laptop and began typing. “I’ve read the reports, but I’d like you to run through every detail for me one more time.” He wasn’t cold and callous, but there wasn’t any tenderness in his voice either. It was as if they were complete strangers and he was an FBI agent doing his job.
He was hurting. She could tell by the added tenseness in his shoulders, the rigidity of his hands as he typed. Even the lines at the side of his mouth as if he was fighting a frown or a scowl.
Following his orders, she replayed the sequence of events and watched him type her words into his computer, his gaze never once lifting to hers. The only time he’d looked directly at her was when he first entered the room.
The wall was up again. This time she wasn’t mad at him. She understood. He felt responsible for her kidnapping since she was used as a hostage against him.
She described the dark room she found herself in once she woke up. The naked light bulb in the center of the basement like you’d see in a horror movie. The rope around her wrists.
The empty beer bottles. The trash lined up alongside the wall. The lack of a bathroom. The lack of privacy.
“Did they touch you?”
It was a loaded question. Still, Ryan’s gaze remained on his laptop’s screen. Did they touch her in any physical way or sexually, was what he wanted to know? His fingers stopped moving while he waited for her response. The longer she paused, the tighter he clenched his jaw.
“No. Not that way. I was out of it when they carried me into their house, but I don’t think... A doctor examined me.” He would have read that in Detective Brooks’ report. The standard rape kit since she was unconscious for an unknown amount of time. “They kicked at my chair and feet a lot. They didn’t let me use ... use the bathroom and then yelled at me for...” She’d peed herself three times. After that she was so dehydrated she didn’t have anything left in her.
They’d mocked her, swore at her, called her Agent Thorne’s dirty little whore and a whole lot worse, but their words didn’t need to make it into the police report. It would make Ryan feel even worse for what happened. A female detective on duty had given her a pair of yoga pants to wear; her running shorts were god knows where. Back with the doctor, probably.
Mia reached for her water bottle on instinct, the cold water coating her dry throat. A knock on the door had them both looking up.
“Pizza.” The detective set it on the table between them as well as a stack of paper plates and napkins. “Let me know if you need anything else.” He closed the door behind him, leaving Mia and Ryan alone once again.
Her body was too weak and numb to reach for the pizza, but she needed to eat. Ryan opened the box and put a slice on her plate and handed her a napkin.
“Thank you.”
“Be sure to drink a lot of water as well.”
She bit into the hot, cheesy pizza and almost moaned. Her stomach viciously attacked it and begged for more. In a matter of seconds, she finished the piece and reached for a second and caught Ryan staring at her.
“Would you like one?”
He rested his elbow on the table and cupped his chin in his hand as if deep in thought over the question. Knowing Ryan, he was deep in thought whether or not he should say anything at all to her.
Words were something he kept close to his chest.
“No thank you,” he finally said, closing his laptop.
“Am I free to go?”
He put his computer in his bag and stood. “I’ll bring you home.”
“Ty said he would come back for me.”
“I’ll bring you home,” he said again.
“It’s an hour and a half away, and you still need to talk to—”
“Let’s go.” He opened the door for her and waited for her to walk through. A moment later he was behind her, the pizza box in hand.
“I’m bringing Miss Parker home and will be back later to speak with the Nettles brothers,” he told the detective.
Without waiting for a response, he ushered past her down a long corridor. She followed him—and the smell of the heavenly pizza—out a back door. He set the box on top of a black sedan, not his Lexus, and opened the passenger door for her. Once she was in and buckled, he put the pizza on her lap.
“Eat,” he ordered before closing her door.
They didn’t talk during the entire car ride. Mia was too tired to replay the story anyway. She hadn’t slept in over thirty-six hours and couldn’t keep her eyes open for much longer. Before she knew it, the quiet vibration of the car and the soft buttery leather seats put her to sleep.
The interior lights woke her, and she blinked back its brightness. It was completely dark outside, and she had no concept of the day or time. All was lost in the dungeon of the basement.
She was slow moving, and Ryan had her door open before she could even reach for the handle. He took the pizza box from her, setting it on the car roof, helped her to her feet, and quickly dropped her hand from his.
“I didn’t mean to doze off.” She picked up the pizza and started the trek down the path to the house and stopped. “I forgot to call Ty. He was coming back to get me.”
“I sent him a text when we left.”
Headlights rounded the corner near the house, and Ty pulled his truck up alongside Ryan’s car. He got out and slammed the door.
“You have no right.” He poked his finger into Ryan’s chest, sending him back a few steps. “Because of you my sister was kidnapped and tortured.”
She wasn’t exactly tortured, but correcting Ty right now wasn’t high on her list of priorities. Ryan kept his hands to his side as her brother leaned into him.
“You were supposed to keep my wife safe. Keep her friends and family safe, and because of you, Mia nearly lost her life.”
Again, she didn’t, but she could have. That same fear ran through her mind every second while she was tied up.
“You should have told me the second you knew she was missing. I could have gotten to her, saved her from spending one more minute in that shit hole.” He pounded into Ryan’s chest. It was a cross between a hard poke and a light punch.
Setting the pizza down in the walkway, she pleaded with her brother. “Ty. Please.” She couldn’t handle the anger right now. All she wanted was a bath, a change of clothes, and her bed.
Her brother dropped his fist from Ryan’s chest and pulled Mia into a hug. “I’ve got you.” He turned her so they both walked toward the house, but Ryan’s voice stopped them.
Something More (A Well Paired Novel) Page 17