In for the Win (Against the Cage Book 5)

by Melynda Price

  “Know what?” he snapped, but the tortured look in those stormy gray eyes told her he already suspected what she was about to say.

  “You haven’t even tried to call her, have you?” Pen’s pity quickly dissolved into anger. How could he just let Vi walk out of his life like that? She thought he loved her. And this was just another example of why men couldn’t be trusted. They say they love you and then the minute things get tough, they bail. Would Kyle be the same way if he ever discovered her secrets? She wasn’t going to give him the chance to find out.

  “You know, Nikko,” Pen lowered her voice so the patients in the waiting room wouldn’t hear her, “you’re a real asshole. Vi’s gone. She went back to Manhattan two weeks ago.”

  “What?” The barked question ricocheted through the waiting room.

  She came around the desk and took his arm, pulling him into Violet’s office to avoid the scene he was about to create. The moment she closed the door, he bombarded her with questions. “Why? When?”

  “After you two had that fight. She just packed up and took off. Something’s going on with her. It isn’t right, Nikko. But I couldn’t get her to talk to me and now her number is disconnected.”

  Exhaling a sigh, he tipped his head back and dragged his hands through his hair. “She went back to her ex, Pen.”

  If that was what he believed, then Nikko was not only an asshole, he was a clueless asshole. “Barry?” None of this made any sense. “She hates that bastard. She’d never go back to him—at least not willingly.”

  “She looked pretty willing when she was kissing him the night we fought.”

  “She did what?” No. There had to be some mistake. They’d planned his hypothetical murder together too many times for her to ever go back to him. “No way.” She shook her head hard in denial. “She’d never do that to you. She loves you, Nikko. Though I’m starting to wonder why.” That remark earned her a pained wince. Point taken. Maybe the guilt was finally getting to him for bailing on her. “There’s something else going on here that we don’t know about.”

  “Or there is the obvious scenario. We fought, we broke up, and she went back to her ex.”

  “She wouldn’t just leave like this. And never with Barry.”

  “But she did. Perhaps you have a little too much faith in your friend, Pen.”

  “Perhaps you don’t have enough,” she snapped, glaring daggers at him and poking him in the chest. “She walked away from everything. You, me, her career, her patients... That’s not like her. What if she’s in trouble?” And then a thought dawned on her that made Pen’s stomach knot. “What if Barry is somehow forcing her?” Shit. Why hadn’t she thought of that earlier? “I don’t know if she told you, but Barry was calling her almost every day for the last couple of months. It’s like he’s obsessed with her. And it wasn’t always like that. For the first three months she moved here, there was nothing. He never bothered her. What I don’t understand is why now, after all this time, would he suddenly want her back? And why show up out of the blue? It doesn’t make sense.”

  Nikko muttered a curse under his breath and scrubbed his palm over the back of his neck. “I’m going to New York. I’ll call you when I get there.” He didn’t wait for her to respond before storming out. She just hoped Violet was all right.

  Before Nikko reached the front door, he stopped as if just remembering. “Oh, hey. You don’t drive a silver Corolla do you?”

  “Yeah, why?”

  “Tire’s flat. You got Triple-A?”

  “No, but I’ll call Kyle. He’ll take care of it. You go ahead. I’ll be fine.”

  He didn’t take much convincing. Now his mind was made up to go to New York, it seemed he couldn’t leave fast enough.

  Pen sighed and grabbed her cell off the desk before heading outside to check her car. She’d driven through a construction site on the way here and likely picked up a nail. As she rounded the back of her car, she could see her rear passenger tire was flat. But when she neared the driver’s door, she found a note tucked under the blade of her windshield wiper. Slipping it free, she carefully unfolded the note.

  Four…five…six…

  Any hope she’d been holding onto that this would be over vanished. Whoever was doing this wanted Pen to know the game was just beginning.

  As she studied the note, the knot of dread fisting in her gut bottomed out. That paper—white with light gray scrollwork across the bottom of the page. It was her stationery. Pen’s hand shook as she called Kyle. He picked up after the first ring. “Hey. Miss me already?”

  “Kyle, my tire is flat and there’s a note on my windshield. I think we need to call Detective Paskel.”

  “Is Hendricks still at the office?”

  “Yes.”

  “Have him wait with you. I’ll be right there.”

  She briskly rubbed at the goose bumps prickling her arms and headed back to the office. At the door, she paused as the feeling of being watched niggled at her. Maybe it was just nerves, but she couldn’t discount the possibility it might be more. Her grip on the door tightened as she searched the parking lot. Finding nothing out of the ordinary, she returned to the office to wait for Kyle.

  She didn’t have to wait long. Kyle and Detective Paskel were there before Dr. Hendricks finished his appointment.

  The detective bagged the note as evidence. “Four…five...six… He’s playing a game with you.”

  “Hide and Seek,” she responded woodenly.

  “Any more text messages?”

  “Not since the one I forwarded you last week.”

  “He’s been silent for days. And now this? Why?” the detective mused.

  That was a great question. “Are you getting any closer to finding Peyton?” she asked hopefully. Pen had sent Peyton Sinclair’s file over to the detective as soon as the court order had reached her desk.

  The detective shook his head. “Not yet, but I’m working on it.”

  “He’s been in my house. That’s my stationary.”

  The detective muttered a curse. “Since the security system was installed?”

  “I don’t know. I haven’t been back there since then.”

  “As soon as we’re done here, I’ll head over and check the place out,” Kyle offered. “I’ll call you if it looks like it’s been messed with. Pen, why don’t you take my car home? I’ll change your tire and meet you there as soon as I can.”

  She nodded and he handed her his keys as he walked her to the car. “Will you let Dr. Hendricks know I had to leave and ask him to lock up? I don’t want to interrupt him. He’s still with a patient.”

  “I’ll make sure he knows.” Kyle opened the driver’s door for her and she climbed inside. Bracing his hand on the hood of the car, he leaned in and gave her a kiss. “Keep it under eighty, huh?”

  She smiled at his attempt at levity, but he couldn’t disguise the concern in his eyes. Pen knew he was worried about her, and not just her physical safety. He was worried about the emotional stress all of this was putting on her. More than once this week, he’d offered to take her away for a while. With Willow getting out of the hospital, and the appeal finally over, he said he was in a good place to focus on her. On them…

  She’d have been lying if she said she wasn’t tempted, but it felt too much like running. She couldn’t up and leave her job, especially with Violet gone. Dr. Hendricks needed her to run the office and she wasn’t willing to sacrifice her job because of some crazy asshole. But the look in Kyle’s eyes promised this was a discussion they’d soon be revisiting.

  “Under eighty. Got it.”

  He kissed her one last time and closed the door. After readjusting the seat, she fired up the muscle car and wasted no time getting out of there. All she wanted was to go home, pour herself a big glass of wine, and soak in a lavender sea-salt bath until her skin grew waterlogged and wrinkled. Funny how, even in her muses, she was starting to think of Kyle’s place as home.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  N
ow they were alone, Kyle had some questions for the detective he hadn’t wanted to ask in front of Pen. She was frightened enough. The last thing he wanted to do was make it worse with speculation—and that was all anyone had. Theories and a lot of speculation.

  “I’ve been thinking,” Kyle said, popping the Corolla’s trunk and pulling out the jack and spare tire. “What were the chances of Pen knowing Peyton?”

  “Slim to none.”

  “That’s what I thought. So, the guy who took Peyton has to be the same one after Pen.”

  “That’s my theory.”

  “And what’s the common denominator between them?”

  “This office. I’ve already connected those dots, Mr. Scott. Been searching Ms. Sinclair’s records for the mention of anyone who was harassing her, anyone she was dating, so I can cross-reference those names with Ms. Cantrel.”

  “Has the name Travis come up at all?”

  “No. Not yet, but I’ll keep an eye out. Without breaking confidentiality, her records are quite extensive, and it’s taking me some time to get through them. She was a very troubled young woman. I’ve been trying to reach Dr. Summers but—”

  “She’s in New York. Up and left a few weeks ago. Pen’s been trying to reach her but she hasn’t had any luck.”

  The detective’s gaze locked on him, brows drawing tight in a concerned scowl. “Are you sure she’s not missing?”

  “Shit.” The thought hadn’t occurred to him. “Well, now I’m not.”

  “Has anyone spoken to her since she left?”

  “I’m sure Nikko has. I’ll call him.” Kyle pulled out his cell.

  “Who’s Nikko?”

  “Nikko Del Toro. He and Dr. Summers were dating, but I think they broke up. I assumed that’s why she left, but I don’t know that for sure.” Kyle selected Del Toro’s contact. After six or seven rings, the call rolled over to voicemail. “Hey, man, it’s me. I’m checking to see if you’ve heard from Violet in the last couple of weeks. There’s a detective trying to reach her about one of her patients, and now we’re worried she’s missing. Call me back as soon as you get this.”

  “When I get to the station I’ll make a query with the NYPD and have someone locate her and make sure she’s all right. I’ll keep working on things from my end. Let me know if anything else happens with Ms. Cantrel.” The detective paused, seeming hesitant to say more and yet compelled to speak his mind. “He’s toying with her right now. Just like with Ms. Sinclair. I’m worried about what’s going to happen when he decides the game is over. Hopefully, we’ll catch this bastard before then. God knows I’m trying, but I don’t have a lot to work with. Keep a close eye on your girl, Mr. Scott.”

  Pen had the tub filling, the scent of lavender wafting down the stairs as she headed to the kitchen to pour a glass of merlot. She’d just popped the cork when her cell started to ring. The dreaded weight in the pit of her stomach was back. She grabbed her phone off the table, and after glancing at the caller ID, she exhaled a sigh of relief.

  “Hey, you.”

  “Hi. Just thought I’d check in and make sure you got to the house all right. Whatcha doin’?”

  Kyle’s deep baritone rumbled across the line, making her wish he was there right now. She could sure have used the distraction. “I was just about to pour a glass of wine and climb into the tub. You on your way home?” There it was again, her loose use of that word...home.

  “Baby, I wish. I’m standing outside your front door wondering how long you’ve had that fake rock in the bushes.”

  “Long enough that I forgot I had it. Why?”

  “Was there a key in it?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Well, not anymore. At least now we know how he’s been getting into your place. I’m going to have to change the locks. Can you grab my tool bag out of the garage and bring it over?”

  The rush of water filling the tub called to her. She glanced longingly at the ceiling and nearly whimpered in disappointment. Grasping the cork, she began untwisting it from the screw. “Sure. Just give me a few minutes to get dressed.”

  A groan echoed across the line. “Hey, think of it this way. If you wait for me, I can scrub your back.”

  They both knew he’d be doing a hell of a lot more than that. “You’re so selfless,” she teased, shoving the cork back into the bottle then heading for the stairs to turn off her bath water.

  “Yeah, well, you know me. Always a giver.”

  She cranked the faucet counter-clockwise and then flipped the lever on the drain. “I’m going to let you prove that tonight.”

  “My pleasure. Does that mean you’re finally going to give up the control?”

  “What? I can’t hear you… I think—shhhh—we have—shhhh—a bad connection.” Pen disconnected the call before Kyle could press the hot topic further. She exchanged his bathrobe for her clothes, and was heading for the stairs when her cell alerted her to an incoming message.

  Nice fake static. I almost believed it. Not. Just for that, you can scrub my back tonight.

  That wouldn’t be a hardship. Touching anything on Kyle’s rock-hard body was tactile foreplay. She shoved her feet in her flip-flops and exited through the service door to the garage before pausing to text him back.

  My hands + your hot body = zero punishment #tryagain! Where is your tool bag? It’s a mess in here.

  It’s organized clutter. Look under the bottom shelf.

  Got it.

  Leaving now to get new locks. See you soon.

  Pen was heading out the side door when she heard screeching tires out front and a car door slam. She peeked through the garage door window just in time to see a man charging up the driveway. Her glimpse was too brief to get a good look at his face. She’d just stepped outside when the guy began pounding on the front door.

  “Open the fucking door, Kyle! I know you’re in there!”

  Pen startled at the outburst and peeked around the garage. A guy who was nearly an identical version of Kyle—minus the blond hair—was standing on the top step, peering in through the prism glass.

  “Kyle!” He hammer-fisted the door some more, unconcerned he was making a scene.

  She glanced across the street to see several neighbors standing on their lawns, gawking at him. She didn’t think this guy meant her any harm, it was Kyle he was looking for. But still, it was always nice to have witnesses, not to mention her handy dandy pepper spray.

  “I’m not leaving until you open this goddamn door!”

  “Then you’re going to be waiting a while.” Pen closed the service door behind her and headed for Kyle’s car. The guy spun around, and now that she got a good look at his face, she immediately recognized the fighter. He looked surprised to see her, and not in the friendly, hey, how’re you doin’ sort of way. After the day she’d had, a pissy cage-fighter was the last thing she wanted to deal with. Pen opened the rear passenger door and set Kyle’s tool bag inside before rounding the car.

  Regan turned from the house and headed down the stairs. Pen shoved her hand inside her pocket and palmed her bottle of don’t get any closer. Didn’t this guy know you don’t go marching up to a woman like that? It’d serve him right if she’d mace him. Kyle’s best friend or not, the guy was being an asshole. She opened the driver’s door, putting the piece of metal between them and her finger on the trigger of the small canister.

  “Who the hell are you and where’s Kyle?”

  Pen met the fighter’s glare, refusing to cow to this muscle-bound ‘roid case. His attitude was nothing a squirt in the eye and a well-placed Hapkido kick wouldn’t fix. “My name is Penelope.” She flashed him a polite smile—because he was Kyle’s friend—and reached across the door with her free hand. They were making first impressions here. And so far, she was not impressed. All the while her eyes were warning this guy to back off.

  “Regan.”

  As he introduced himself and took her hand, he seemed to be a little less…snarly.

  “I know who you are, R
apscallion Matthews. I watch Unchained.”

  He gave her a surprised look—perhaps caught off guard that they were having this conversation. She laughed, not in amusement but more in annoyance. “Why are you looking at me like that?” Yeah, she was liking this guy less and less by the minute.

  He scowled at her question. “Like what?”

  “Like I’m about to fleece your friend’s car.”

  “Because you probably are. Kyle doesn’t let his…acquaintances drive his car around.”

  “Well, he didn’t have much choice since my tire was flat.” She arched her brow and continued to study him. His suspicion was slowly starting to make sense to her. “You think I’m a cage-banger?”

  “Aren’t you?” he challenged, crossing his muscular arms over his chest.

  Now she really wanted to spray him. How mad would Kyle be if she maced his friend? Refusing to let him see her offense, she studied him a moment then gave a negligent shrug. “Maybe. Maybe not.”

  “Have I seen you somewhere before?”

  “I suppose that depends on where you’ve been, big guy.” Was she intentionally being obtuse? You bet. This guy was a Grade-A asshole.

  “Do you know where Kyle is?”

  “I sure do. But seeing as you’re about ready to break down his front door, and I’m not particularly keen on the same thing happening to mine, how about I tell him you’re looking for him?”

  Penelope didn’t give him a chance to respond before sliding into the driver’s seat and pulling the door closed. Just for good measure, she hit the locks before turning the key in the ignition. She revved the engine and the rumbling growl drowned out his curse. Pen gave the fighter a cheeky grin and a finger-fluttering wave then backed out of the driveway.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Kyle was on the porch, opening a plastic package and laying out the parts to the new lock and deadbolt when he heard a car pull into the driveway. As the door shut, he glanced over his shoulder.