by Rebecca Deel
“This is police business, Davenport. You need to stand down.”
“If our positions were reversed, would you?”
Jones uttered a muffled curse, then said, “At least call in Torres. The case is his, and he needs to be on scene to make the arrest.”
If there was an arrest. The way Jake felt at the moment, he couldn’t guarantee Holt would be alive to face a trial. “I’ll call him as soon as I get off the phone with you. You’ll find Beckett secured to his bed.”
“You’re sure he’s the shooter?”
“Security and traffic cams don’t lie.”
“Fortress hacked the cameras?”
Jake remained mute.
“Fine. Have your tech person send the footage to my email from an anonymous source.”
“Copy that.”
“You better be right about this, Jake, or my career in Winston is toast.”
“Later.” He ended the call.
“Turn right at the next intersection,” Cade said.
Jake followed the instruction, skidding around the corner and racing up the entrance ramp to State Route 1. He activated the Bluetooth again and called the FBI agent.
“Torres.”
“It’s Jake Davenport. I think Noah Holt has Lacey.”
“Tell me everything.”
He summarized what they knew and the events of the past twelve hours. “I put a tracker on Lacey’s watch. Cade and I are in pursuit.”
“Send me the link. I’ll be leaving the hotel in two minutes.”
“Copy that.”
“Jake, I need this clown alive. His victims deserve justice, and their families need to see him behind bars. Don’t go vigilante on me. I don’t want to toss one of the good guys in jail. You hear me?”
“I got it.” But he couldn’t make any guarantees. Jake would do whatever was necessary to protect the woman who owned his heart.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
Lacey woke in darkness. For some reason, the bed was uncomfortable. Frowning, she tried to find a more comfortable position and failed.
At that moment, she woke enough to realize she wasn’t in the hotel in bed. The rocking motion clued Lacey in that she was in a vehicle. Memories of following Jake and Cade into Will’s house sparked. She’d been listening to Jake’s interrogation of Will. How had she ended up in a vehicle? Maybe she passed out and Jake carried her to his SUV. That would be embarrassing, if true.
Then she remembered a hard hand clamped over her mouth and the sting of pain in her neck. After that, nothing. Her heart rate zoomed into the stratosphere. She didn’t pass out. Someone injected a drug in her neck and knocked her out. How long had she been unconscious? Shouldn’t the sun have risen by now?
She strained to see in the darkness and realized her eyes were covered by a black cloth. When she tried to raise her hands and remove the blindfold, she couldn’t. Her wrists were tied behind her back.
Lacey wrestled down the panic threatening to overwhelm her and explored her surroundings by feel. Carpet covered the floor and a hump dug into her side and hip. Whoever grabbed her tossed her in the floorboard of the backseat. More exploration convinced her nothing was on the floor to use in freeing herself from the bonds.
She considered whether to let her abductor know she was awake and decided against it. If Jake managed to find her in time to save her life, she would insist the medic give her lessons on escaping bonds. No, when Jake found her, not if.
She thought back through the seconds before she blacked out and couldn’t come up with an identity. She had been inside Will Beckett’s house at the time. Is it possible her abductor was the police chief?
Probably not, she decided. Taking Lacey from his own house would be stupid. Jake would confront the police chief in his quest to find her. Had Jake and Cade missed someone in the house in their search? She rejected that idea, too. No way. They’d been almost soundless in their search. Lacey doubted anyone would have heard them soon enough to hide from the two operatives.
The only logical conclusion was the kidnapper had been watching the house. The possibilities were endless, but in that neighborhood, her bet was on Noah Holt. He was tight with Will, had been since they were kids. Noah had enough money that she wouldn’t be the least surprised if he lived in this exclusive area.
As she thought about the long-standing connections between Will and Noah, Lacey wiggled her wrists, hoping to loosen the bonds enough to slip her hands free. At this point, she was helpless to defend herself except with her feet. If Noah had taken her from Will’s house, she would need more than luck to defeat such a big, muscle-bound man.
Lacey scowled, anger building at the man who was attempting to steal her future. She had plans and dreams, big ones, and she wouldn’t give up without a fight. All she had to do was survive long enough for Jake and Cade to find her.
The vehicle turned onto a rough road. At the speed they were traveling, the rutted track strained the suspension system and repeatedly slammed Lacey’s already bruised ribs into the hump on the floor.
She rolled onto her stomach. The beating she took wasn’t any better, but at least the position gave her ribs a break. Lacey didn’t know how many miles they traveled or how much time had passed when the driver slowed to a stop. The driver turned off the engine. A door opened, then slammed shut again. A moment later, the door at her back opened.
Hard hands yanked her backward out of the vehicle, then she was tossed over a muscular shoulder. After the pounding she’d already taken thanks to the lousy road, this latest insult to her body hurt.
The man carried her a couple minutes, then stopped. Keys jangled, then a door was unlocked and she was carried inside. The scent of wood filled her nostrils. The man carried her further inside the dwelling before dragging Lacey off his shoulder and tossing her onto a bed.
She tried to scramble away with no success. Having her hands secured behind her back hampered her efforts. A moment later, the blindfold was removed. Blinking against the sudden glare of light, Lacey’s eyes took several seconds to adjust.
She scanned her surroundings. A cabin. Log walls. Wood floor. A colorful quilt on the bed. One window. If Lacey freed her hands, she could escape through the window.
“Don’t even think about it,” a male voice growled. “You wouldn’t get ten feet before I captured you again, and I wouldn’t be happy with you.”
Lacey’s attention shifted to the man who stood feet away from her, arms crossed over his chest. Dread coiled in her gut. “Let me go, Noah.”
“Not a chance, sweetheart. I’ve waited six long years for you to come to me. Now that I finally have you, I’m not letting you walk away.”
She needed to keep Noah talking to delay the inevitable. “I don’t understand.”
“You left me.” He edged closer, a glower on his face, anger glittering in his eyes. “After all we meant to each other, you ran away from me.”
Cold chills surged up Lacey’s spine. He thought they had some kind of relationship before she left Winston? Nothing could be further from the truth. In the best interest of her health, however, she shouldn’t enlighten him. Noah had created a relationship out of nothing, and pointing out he was wrong would end in disaster for her.
“I’m sorry, Noah. I didn’t think you noticed me.”
His eyebrows rose. “How could you not know? You talked to me all the time in school and when we ran into each other in town. I asked you out, but you always turned me down. You shouldn’t have done that.” His voice rose on those last words.
“I was underage until the day before I graduated from high school. I was protecting you, Noah. Please, don’t be angry with me.”
“Why did you leave me? We could have been together then.”
Oh, man. This guy was seriously looney. What was the safest thing to say to that? “I wasn’t strong enough for you six years ago. I needed to stand on my own before I would be worthy of someone like you.” Spouting such nonsense made her want to throw up. But if it kept her alive, she
’d tell Noah Holt anything his demented mind wanted to hear.
His expression softened as a satisfied smile curved his lips. “I knew there was an explanation for your behavior. However, I’m not pleased about Davenport. I’ll have to punish you for spending time with him.”
Was he serious? One look at Noah’s face, and Lacey had to conclude he was. Time to nudge his thoughts in a different direction. “Where are we?”
“My cabin. I work hard and need a place to unwind.” His eyes narrowed. “Of course, you would know that if you’d stayed where you belong.”
“Why did you bring me here?”
“We need to be alone. Too many people would interfere.”
“Interfere in what, Noah?”
“Training you to be my wife. I’m from an important family, Lacey. You’ll be on the world stage from the moment we leave here. My father is going to be the president, you know. Your conduct and etiquette will have to be perfect to make up for your faulty genetics.”
“Faulty genetics.”
“Don’t play dumb, sweetheart. It’s not becoming of a lady. Your parents are less than desirable contributors to the gene pool. The only thing they did well was create you. I expect you to avoid any contact with your mother from now on. I won’t tolerate her influence in our lives. No prostitute should ever step foot in the White House. If you defy me, I will take care of Yvonne permanently.”
“Did you kidnap my mother?”
“I did it for you.”
“How do you figure that?”
“The public would love you even more if you were in mourning over your mother’s death.” He shrugged. “I’ll adjust the plan unless you want me to go ahead and take care of her now.”
“No, you don’t have to do that. Mom won’t be a problem.” Not once Noah was behind bars where he couldn’t hurt anyone else. “Were you the one who sent Mom the money?”
He grinned. “You liked that gift?”
“Yes.”
“I did it for you. You work too hard taking care of yourself and your mother. I saw how tired you were each time you came home to me. I had to do something to help you.”
She had to get free before Noah decided to punish her for running out on him. “I appreciate that, Noah.” She rolled to her side. “Would you untie me, please? The binding is too tight and my hands are going numb.”
“The front door is locked with a deadbolt and I have the only key. You won’t escape me, Lacey. If you try, I will punish you.”
The same threat. “I understand.” A deadbolt lock meant her only avenue for escape if Jake and Cade didn’t arrive was the window. As long as she was still breathing, she had a chance.
Noah left the room and returned a moment later with a knife in his hand. “Turn onto your stomach.”
The idea of him at her back with a knife made her skin crawl as much as the idea of him touching her in any capacity, even to cut her bonds. Praying she wasn’t making the biggest and last mistake of her life, Lacey maneuvered herself onto her stomach and waited for either her hands to be freed or for Noah to plunge the blade deep into her body.
Hard hands grasped hers. The cold steel of the blade caressed her skin as it slid beneath the binding. A quick jerk, and her hands were free.
Although her first inclination was to run for the window or the door, instinct told Lacey that Noah was ready for any attempt to escape, eager for the chance to exact punishment as he’d threatened several times already.
Instead of running, Lacey turned over to face her demented schoolmate once more. She scooted toward the headboard on the side of the bed nearest the window. A small lamp sat on the nightstand. She could use the lamp as a weapon if nothing else came to mind. “Did you hurt all those missing women, Noah?”
“They weren’t you. They acted like they were for a while, coming on to me and confusing me. But I soon learned the truth. They were fakes, hoping to cash in on my family fortune.”
“That was clever of you to figure out their scheme so fast.” She caught a shadow of movement beyond the door. Was it her imagination or had Jake and Cade found them this fast? “What now? We can’t stay here a long time, you know.”
A scowl. “Why not? You don’t have anything else more important than satisfying my needs and desires. No one else matters in your life anymore, Lacey.” He grabbed her ankles and jerked her down flat on her back. In the next instant, he was on top of her, holding her down with his considerable weight.
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
“No.” Lacey turned her face away from his seeking mouth, body bucking to throw him off balance without much success. Noah outweighed her by a good 80 pounds.
Noah sat up and slapped her. A moment later, his hands were around her throat, squeezing. “No woman defies me, especially not you. You will learn to obey me. Anything and everything I want.”
Lacey dug her nails into his hands and scored his skin. He bellowed in pain and rage, ripping his hands from her throat to shake them. She twisted and fought with a determined focus. With one hand, she fumbled on the nightstand for the lamp, grasped the neck, and swung it at Noah’s head. She hit him with a glancing blow and managed to dislodge his body enough to bring her feet up between them. When Noah came back at her, hands aiming for her throat again, Lacey used both feet to shove him away from her. He flew back and hit the wall. Stunned, he slid to the floor.
In a flash, she leapt from the bed and lunged toward the window. Noah moaned as Lacey fumbled with the lock. When it finally gave way, she shoved up the window, hoisted herself over the sill, and slid to the ground.
A howl of fury from Noah sent Lacey into a dead run. No use going for the SUV she saw parked in the driveway. She didn’t have a key and, unlike the Fortress people, couldn’t hot wire the ignition. Another skill to have Jake teach her.
She veered to the left toward the woods. Hoping the regular forest inhabitants were still asleep, she sprinted into the tree cover.
“Lacey, if you don’t come to me, I’ll go to the hospital and kill your mother.”
Did he think that would stop her headlong flight to safety? Not a chance. Jake’s teammates would never allow Noah near her mother. Him threatening her again did give an indication of his position and it was too close for comfort.
Lacey pushed herself to run faster, stumbling over exposed tree roots and skirting a fallen log. She had no idea where she was going. She just knew she had to run from Noah before he hurt her more than he already had.
“You’ll never get away from me,” Noah bellowed.
This time he sounded closer. Lacey scowled. How could that be? Her old schoolmate was not a jackrabbit. Of course, he was about six inches taller than her. His stride had to be longer which meant he covered more ground with every step.
Not daring to run faster for fear of twisting her ankle or knee and becoming a sitting duck, Lacey angled toward the sound of the water she heard nearby.
“Lacey!”
A gun fired behind her. Bark flew off the tree to her right, sending splinters of wood into her cheek and neck. Lacey darted into a thicker stand of trees and continued her dash toward the water.
She got a stitch in her side, clamped a hand over it, and kept running. She had plans for a future that didn’t include Noah Holt.
Lacey shoved through a pair of bushes and skidded to a stop at the edge of a river. She scanned for a place to cross and couldn’t find one. Fantastic. Guess she was getting wet this morning. Didn’t matter as long as the dunking got her away from Noah.
She took two steps toward the water and a hard body slammed into her from the side. Before she got her breath back, strong hands wrapped around her throat. An infinity tattoo was on one wrist.
Noah’s face was above her, his face twisted with rage. “You’re like the others. You will learn to obey me if you want to live. Otherwise, I’ll end you like I did all of them.”
Lacey’s vision began to darken around the edges as she continued to fight to free herself. In the recesses
of her mind, Lacey recognized that she was losing the battle to stay alive until Jake arrived. Despair filled her. She wanted a life with her medic, one filled with laughter and love, maybe children. She couldn’t let Noah steal that from her.
She got a sense of movement from her right, and then a shadow hurtled across the open space and dove for Noah, knocking his body off hers. As soon as his hands were away from Lacey’s throat, she dragged in much needed air.
The sounds of grunts, curses, and fists pummeling flesh filled the area as Lacey shook her head to clear the fog of shock and oxygen deprivation. She turned her head in time to see Jake land a punch, flinging Noah against a tree.
Noah shoved off the trunk and came at Jake again, determination mixing with a kind of madness in his expression. The momentum threw both men onto the grass near her feet.
Lacey scrambled away from the fighting men.
“Get her out of here,” Jake ordered as his punch snapped Noah’s head to the right.
Cade scooped her up from the ground and carried her to the shelter of a tree farther from the action. He set her on the ground, pushing her hair back from her face. “You okay?”
She nodded. “Go help Jake.” Her voice sounded raspy. “I’m fine.”
“He doesn’t need help taking down this clown.”
“Then make sure he doesn’t kill Noah. I don’t want to visit my husband in prison. Go!”
“You stay right here. I’ll be back in a minute.” The operative raced back to the riverside as flashing lights came into view in the distance. Sirens screamed, growing louder as law enforcement vehicles moved closer. She wanted to help Jake, but knew she would only get in the way. Besides, Jake wouldn’t want her near Noah. If he grabbed Lacey and used her as a hostage, he might get away and come after her and her mother again as well as other blond women who crossed his path. That outcome was unacceptable. No, far better for everyone involved if she stayed far away from the fray.
The fight continued for another minute with Cade looking on until Jake landed one last punch to Noah’s face. Her kidnapper flew backward into a tree and slid to the ground with a groan. He didn’t get up.