by Aliyah Burke
Her stress and concerns smoothed away as she allowed herself to get lost in the world of topology. This was her realm. This was her kingdom. She had confidence and assuredness here—there wasn’t any need for worry that someone didn’t want to be around her.
Sure, she knew some people didn’t want her in the field because of race or gender but hell, that was everywhere still in academia. People had their own misguided conceptions on how that should be filled. Even that didn’t bother her. She loved numbers and the way they created amazing pictures in her mind’s eye.
Her phone rang and she reached for it, still having a landline unlike most of her peers. Or even parents.
“Hello?”
“You wanted to know who was behind all this, I have information for you. But I won’t talk to anyone but you and only you. If you really want to know, you need to meet me at Carlotta’s in an hour.”
She drew back and looked at the phone. Shia wished she’d paid more attention to the caller ID when it had first come in. Shoving the receiver back to her ear, she cleared her throat, blood humming in a totally new way.
“Who is this?”
“My name isn’t important now. Carlotta’s in an hour. Don’t forget, I know there are cops watching you. Don’t alert them you’re meeting me.” The call ended and she sat there for a bit, continuing to frown at the call and the demand.
While she’d never been to Carlotta’s, she’d heard of it. A diner all the way across the Quad Cities for her. Not small and out of the way, it was a popular venue and from what she’d heard, always a good number of people there. That alone was a good thing, why would someone want to kill her if she was in the middle of a crowd?
Car bomb anyone? It’s not like that was just going to hurt you.
Unease began to grow but dammit, she wasn’t going to continue to sit here and allow someone else to control her life like this. She shoved to her feet and marched out of her office to change clothing.
What does one wear to a potential meet with the person who could very well be trying to kill them? This wasn’t at all in her wheelhouse. Eva watched the shows where the heroine did something stupid as she was about to do. Just so the hero could come riding in and save her at the last minute.
Well, I have no hero to save me. Even as she thought that, Derek’s image flashed through her mind and she shook her head with a scoff. No, he’s given up the right to be my hero.
She put on a pair of nice jeans, a long-sleeved dark purple shirt and found a pair of hiking boots in the back of her closet. After she had dressed, she ran a brush through her short hair then swiped her cell phone off the bed and sent a text to her sisters before heading to her car.
It wasn’t uncommon for her to head out a few times during the day and the uniforms never seemed to scramble to find her because they knew she would be back. Plus, nothing had happened so if she were to be honest—it was almost as if they were becoming complacent.
She loved her new car and backed it out of the garage. As she sat in the driveway waiting for the garage door to lower, she waved at her neighbor who was out in the front yard working on the hedges he had there. With a nod he returned it. Then she was on her way.
Cell phone off and on the passenger seat, she played Luther Vandross as she drove. Keeping an eye on the time, she pulled in five minutes early to Carlotta’s. Even now the place hummed like a busy hive. She parked and grabbed her phone before striding in through the front door.
As she hadn’t a clue who she was looking for, she took an empty small table to the side and sat. If this person knew enough to call her home number, she’d bet they knew what she looked like. They could come to her.
Chapter Thirteen
Nervous whispers moved through the bullpen and he looked up as they hit him. It wasn’t ever good when that kind of sound reverberated amongst the detectives. He skimmed the room and his breath hitched when he spied the woman who was causing the stir. And he knew it was her all without deciphering any of the murmurs.
For the most part the lawyers and cops had a decent working relationship but there were definite times that it was tested and they each had their own way of doing things. He didn’t believe for a moment that this was about any of the work on his desk before him, or any of the other detectives and what they had. Hell, he had no doubt this wasn’t even going to deal with his lieutenant. But him and him alone.
Part of him was still debating that because this woman, with the volatile temper and the hot pink streak in her otherwise black hair, hadn’t struck him as a woman who would air her grievances in a professional setting. And because of that tiny tidbit, unease grew within him.
He’d been put on administrative leave for attacking Lopez. Now I really have time off and can’t think of this as me slacking in trying to find out who is after Shai because LT did it to me.
She had zero expression as she drew to a halt before his desk. He paused in the act of grabbing the final items he was taking with him until he was allowed back and watched as she ran her gaze over him, then Lopez and back to him.
“I need a word with you, Detective Savvas.”
He shrugged. “I’m on administrative leave. You’ll have to take it up with another detective.”
“No. I require a word with you and if that means I have to wait to do it until you’re out of this precinct, I will do so. In here or out there, I don’t care.”
Ricardo Meeks showed up, his face still red from the exertion of the dressing down he’d given Derek.
“He’s not available, ADA Monroe. Lopez is taking over the cases solely until he’s back.”
“This isn’t for a new case, Lieutenant,” she said with a dismissive glance over the man. “I need a word with this man and I’m waiting for him to head out so we can talk.”
Sav shoved into his coat and pushed his hands into his pockets. It was odd to not have his badge clipped to his belt but he ignored it for the moment. He’d not lost it forever, so he hoped.
“I’m ready.”
She flicked a peek at him and nodded. Behind him, a chair squeaked and he knew that Lopez had lifted his bulk from the seat.
“If this is involving the case for Ms. Monroe, I need to hear it.”
He ground his jaw but didn’t turn because without a doubt he would plant a fist in the man’s face once more. He couldn’t unhear him talking about her like she wasn’t anything more than a whore and a cook for men to enjoy. Within his pocket, he fisted a hand but remained locked on the petite woman before him.
She, however, reacted. Condemnation dripped along her expression as it grew arctic. She shifted to be able to see him, Lopez and Meeks.
“She is Dr. Monroe, like my other sister. Everyone in my family has the title of Doctor before their name, except for me. Perhaps if you spent more time at your job she wouldn’t still be in danger. Surely, if you don’t have the capacity to properly know and acknowledge her name, you’re not going to do me any good in finding her stalker.” She turned on her stilettos and walked off.
Without making her ask him if he was coming, he struck out. It took a lot for him to keep the smile hidden. It never got old, he loved watching this woman in action. Granted, it wouldn’t be as fun in a few moments when he figured she’d be lighting into him but he’d take it. Because he could use this as an opportunity to find out how Shai was doing.
She didn’t pause on the steps just outside the door, but led him across the parking lot to where her vehicle waited. There, she whirled around and pinned flashing black eyes on him.
He held up his hands. “I know, I fucked up.”
She slashed her own hand, adorned with her wedding ring, through the air. “She’s missing.”
He went ice cold. “What?” His stomach rolled and acidity built in his mouth. The world shifted and not in a good way.
“I got this text from her a little over three hours ago and nothing since. She’s not responding, she’s not picking up. Nothing. The ones on her said they saw her going int
o this place but she never came out.”
His heart thundered so hard he was certain it was going to punch through like the alien did in the movie. “You checked her house?”
“Yes. More proof something isn’t right.”
“How so?”
God, he longed to run and find her but going off right now wouldn’t do anything but put her in more danger. He needed all the facts he could pull together.
“She didn’t lock her computer down. Shai is a stickler for making it damn near impossible for someone to get into her things but when I went to her house, she’d been in her office working. I could see that because the information was still on the screen.” Tara shoved a hand through her hair which was uncharacteristically unbound.
“Can I see the text?”
He took her phone when she handed it over, his palm slick with sweat as he brought it close enough to read. Shit, he wanted to do whatever it took to get her back. If he had to make a deal with the devil, he’d do so.
Got a call to meet someone at Carlotta’s in an hour. Said they knew who was behind this. Talk soon and let you know how it went.
He checked the time it had come to her and swore. Tara was spot on, a few hours ago.
“Would she seriously go to this meet without telling anyone?”
“She did tell someone. She told us. And yes, she would.”
Shame blasted him. Had he not been an ass, there was a good change he would have been with her when it arrived and could have stopped her from going. Could have prevented this from occurring.
“Stop it,” Tara said, shaking her head. “She would have found a way to ditch you too.”
Words he knew were to be comforting but in truth offered zero in that realm at all.
“Don’t think this absolves you of the hurt you put on her by your actions but right now, all I give a damn about is getting her home safe. So while I may want to bury this heel between your legs for what you did to her, I want you to find her and bring her back to us.”
“Why me and not the others who are still on the case?”
She stared at him, black eyes shrewd and assessing. “Because you’re emotionally invested. Unless you can tell me right now that you don’t love her.”
He couldn’t.
“That’s what I thought.” She propped her hands on her hips and opened the door to her SUV. “Bring my sister home.” Then she drove away, leaving him alone and as if he’d just been dressed down by one of the city’s top ADAs.
As he headed for his Acadia a few cops called out to him, offering their sympathies not only for being on administrative leave, but also for being singled out by the ADA. He let them say what they did, not pausing to engage in conversation.
Behind the wheel, he took a deep breath and started the engine. Better to start where she was last seen. So he headed for Carlotta’s.
In the lot, he climbed out and entered after parking. A quick look told him her Outback wasn’t anywhere in the area. Claiming a booth in the back where he could still overlook the parking lot, patrons, yet have his back protected, he waited for the waitress to come by and take his order.
His gaze narrowed when he spied the black Crown Vic pull into the lot after his meal had been delivered.
They’re tailing me. It shouldn’t have shocked him and while it had a bit, it more pissed him off than anything.
Wasting resources tracking him instead of being out there doing their job when his woman was in danger didn’t sit well with him. He curved his fingers around the coffee mug in his hand and waited for whoever it was to get out. They didn’t. Instead, they backed into a space where they would be able to see him when he left but if he’d not been seated where he was and hadn’t noticed them come in, he wouldn’t have seen them at all.
“Are you Derek?”
He glanced up as the waitress stopped back by.
“Yes, ma’am. Can I help you with something?”
She gave him a smile. “No. I am actually supposed to give you something.” She tucked a blonde curl behind her ear and gestured to the seat across from him. “May I?”
He picked up two fries and gestured with them. “By all means.”
“Thanks.” As she slid over, he cast another look around the establishment. No one was paying them any mind. “I know this is a bit unorthodox, but we figured it would be the only way.”
He cocked an eyebrow. “We?”
“More just me, she didn’t really know this was going to happen. Dr. Monroe was one of my professors at university. When I got pregnant and had to leave for complications, she helped me. So when she came in looking completely unnerved, which isn’t like her, I paid attention.” She dug for her cell phone and placed it on the table between them.
“I filmed the one who was with her and the other one who’d been with him at first and took her vehicle. I wanted to call the cops but I didn’t think that would be the best.”
“How did you know I was Derek?” His suspicion ramped up but he wanted that video.
“I saw a picture of the two of you from my sister.”
He couldn’t keep up with this. Taking her phone, he waited then prompted her. “Who is your sister?”
“Connie. She’s in your cooking class.”
“Can I see the video?”
“Of course, sorry.” She put in her code and turned it toward him only to pause. “Maybe I should send it to you. There is audio but I’m not sure you want that in here.” She shrugged. “Send it to yourself.”
He didn’t waste any time in doing so.
“Lisanne, get back to work.”
“I’m on break, Chaz. I have five more minutes,” she hollered back without looking away from him.
His phone buzzed, letting him know the video had been received, and he pushed her phone back to her. “Thank you for this.”
“She’s good people. I didn’t like the look of the one who had her.”
“So you didn’t recognize him?”
“No, sorry. I should go. Nice to meet you.” She inched to the edge of the seat then got out of the booth and left him there.
He swore at not having his ear buds in for his phone and pulled up the video and queued it to play as soon as he’d finished in here. A meal that took him very little time to complete. Dropping money on the table, he finished up his coffee and got to his feet.
As he watched the video in his SUV, he shook his head as he recognized the one sitting across from her at the small table. “Hang on, baby, I’m coming.”
* * * *
Pain owned every inch of her physical form. Shai shifted to her left, only to gasp as more splintered through her.
What happened? Was I in a car accident?
Her muddled mind wouldn’t help her sort anything out and as she lay there on the hard, cold floor, all she could do was struggle to breathe and wait for her thoughts to slow and align themselves. No sound reached her either, which amped up her fear again, and she fought to control that.
I have to stay calm. If they gave me something, I don’t need it pushing through my system faster. If I’m not kidnapped and just lying somewhere after an accident, I don’t need the blood being pumped even faster to spill on the ground.
It didn’t feel like she was bleeding, but hey, what the fuck did she know? The beads of sweat on her lip and forehead were cold. There were adrenaline spikes shooting through her.
With extremely deliberate action, she closed her eyes and reminded herself what she did have control over. Her breathing. Fear.
I can figure out what is going on.
Her sense of time was skewed and that was another thing to concern herself with. How long had she been wherever she was, and were there people out looking for her?
I sent my sisters a text. I remember that. But then what?
Nothing made sense. At all, like her entire short-term memory had been wiped.
Drugged? A roofie would be logical but that would assume I went somewhere with someone and they would have had ac
cess to my drink.
She didn’t do things like that. Did she?
Berating herself for pushing too hard, she took a deep breath and shivered from the cold all around her. Even the air had a bite to it that she could have done without. Part of the reason she hurt so much was she was freezing. That she didn’t need more time to sort out, she had that figured.
Falling asleep wasn’t a good idea—even in her addled state, she had that much awareness. She needed to stay awake. Struggling and biting back the stream of painful whimpers, she forced herself to a seated position. No wall behind her, she found that out as she tried to lean against one and found herself once more lying on the floor.
Had to be a floor and not the ground. Felt like cement. Cold, hard and unforgiving. She’d just made it back upright once more when a door opened, sending splinters of light into the darkness, piercing it and her eyes. Squinting, she swallowed the nausea that raced up.
“You’re up. Good.”
Whoever it was stood there in the light and she couldn’t make out any features as the light obscured everything. Combined with the pain in her head, it wasn’t pretty. However, the voice itself she recognized.
But from where?
Again, her muddled mind wasn’t of any assistance as she struggled to make heads or tails of what she was now faced with. Car accident was out of the question. This was a kidnapping. Correction, she had been kidnapped. As in they weren’t in progress of doing it but they’d already done so.
“Where am I?” She forced the question by her busted lips and dry mouth.
“Doesn’t matter. You’re not going home again.”
That doesn’t sound good.
The pounding in her head took over everything else and she dropped her chin toward her chest, allowing the pain to run its course as she sat there. Her ass was frozen but she didn’t move. She barely stirred from her breathing and she knew her body was ready to shut down.
“Get up,” the man barked before a bag was pulled down over her head.
Or a pillowcase.
It didn’t matter, she didn’t have any energy to fight them and her cold limbs weren’t cooperating with her. She struggled with, not against, her captor to get to her feet. Even as she managed to get her feet beneath her, she tripped over them so it became more of him carrying her toward their end destination.