Lost Without You (The Lost Series Book 2)

by Tracie Douglas

  Mrs. Nelson, Oliver’s teacher, looks at me with a frown. I walk toward her.

  “Mrs. Nelson, was Oliver in school today?” I ask, thinking maybe Kingston kept them home from school today and forgot to tell me.

  “Yes, he was in class.” She nods her head and her eyes search the area for him. “Layla came to the classroom for him like she always does, and they walked out here with me. Maybe they didn’t see you?”

  “Maybe, but I was standing in the same spot I always stand in. They know to look for me there.” I bite my lower lip as panic boils in my stomach.

  “Maybe King made some other arrangements to have them picked up,” she suggests, but I know better. He would have called me if he had.

  “Yeah, maybe. I’ll call and find out.” I take my cell phone out of my purse and dial the office. Kingston never answers his cell phone when he’s in a meeting.

  “Cole Securities, Annabelle speaking, how may I help you?” Annabelle’s voice answers softly after only two rings.

  “Annabelle, it’s Missy. Did Kingston pick up the kids today?” I ask with my heart still stuck in my throat. Please say yes. Please say yes.

  “No, I believe he mentioned you were doing it today. He’s been in meetings all day; in fact, he’s in one now. Is everything okay?”

  “Anna...I need to talk to him. I need you to interrupt him. It’s really important.”

  “Sure, hold on a second, and I’ll get him,” she says without hesitation and puts me on hold, but I heard the concern and worry in her voice before she did. For me to ask her to interrupt Kingston during an important meeting is a serious thing. I know how important it is not to disturb him when he’s working, but this is out of my control. Seconds pass before he comes on the line.

  “Queenie, what’s wrong?”

  “Please tell me you made other arrangements for Layla and Oliver today?”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “I’m here to pick them up, and they never came out of the school.” I’m beginning to feel light-headed. “No one’s seen them since the bell let out.”

  “Fucking Tatum,” he growls. “Hold on a second, let me call Marna. I’m going to pass you back to Annabelle.”

  I hear him shuffle the phone and mumble something to Annabelle. Her voice comes over the line. “Missy, are you still there?”

  “Anna...”

  “It’s okay, doll, they’re going to be alright.”

  “What if—”

  “No, we aren’t going to go down that road.” She uses her stern, motherly voice with me. “I’m sure they’re fine. Did you check the library?”

  “No,” I say, robotically turning toward the school. Why didn’t I think of that? Didn’t Oliver say he had to return a book today? I hear Annabelle breathing on the line as I walk the quiet hallway, stopping in front of the library door to find it locked. “It’s locked up. There’s no one here.”

  “What about the front office? Or the playground?”

  I manage to check everywhere, while her suggestions and confident voice keep me calm.

  “Anna…”

  “Missy, I’m going to pass the phone back to Kingston now, okay?” I hear the phone being shuffled around again before Kingston once again comes onto the line.

  “Queenie, I need you to head back to the house and check it out. I’ll meet you there.”

  “Marna?” I hope like hell Tatum had something to do with this. At least then we’ll know where they are.

  “No, Tatum’s at the facility.”

  “King…” My head swims, but my legs move quickly out of the school, stopping beside my car. I get in and start the engine.

  “I’ve got Annabelle calling their friends and anyone else we can think of right now. They’re going to be alright, Queenie.” He tries to sound confident in his words, but even I hear the doubt in his voice. There’s something he isn’t telling me. “Just get to the house.”

  I nod to the phone before disconnecting the call. My brain runs in every direction, trying to figure out where they could have gone. It isn’t until I pull into the driveway of my house that the possibility of them being here even comes to mind.

  I run up the walk way and make quick work of the lock and alarm system, calling for them in the process.

  “Layla? Oliver? Are you guys here?” I head straight to my kitchen, finding no sign of them.

  I can’t shake the feeling something terrible has happened to them, and I spin in my spot trying to decide my next move. That’s when I see it. A piece of bright yellow paper stuck to my fridge, my name scrawled across it.

  I move tentatively toward it as my heart sinks. That note wasn’t there this morning, and I know I set my alarm and locked my doors when I left to pick the kids up from school. I reach up and pull the paper down before I open it to read the contents.

  My heart sinks as the words written in a dark scroll penetrate me. My stomach sinks as I move quickly out my front door, climbing back into my car and speeding away.

  I was right. It is bad.

  Layla and Oliver have been taken.

  And it is up to me to get them back.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Mine, Mine, Mine

  Anonymous

  She’s mine.

  No one will take her from me.

  Those green angelic eyes.

  They’ll see me soon.

  She’ll feel my love

  as her body twists on the sheets of my bed,

  pleasure only I can give her,

  rolling through her.

  And this time, she’ll be screaming my name.

  Over and over and over and over again.

  It’ll be my scent seeping from the pores of her body.

  It’ll be her scent smeared across my face.

  She’s mine.

  No one will take her from me.

  They’ll never find her. Find us.

  Mine,

  mine,

  mine,

  mine.

  And soon, she’ll know.

  Soon, she’ll see me.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Unseen

  Missy

  The abandoned warehouse in front of me frightens me. The decrepit state doesn’t help the creep factor; it kicks it up a few notches. I sit staring at it. Everything that’s happened in the last two hours runs through my mind.

  Layla and Oliver. Whoever left me the note has them. They took two of the most precious people in my life to get to me.

  Kingston. I didn’t call him, but not because I didn’t want to. I couldn’t. The note told me not to, and with his children’s lives hanging in the balance, I couldn’t take the chance.

  Finding that note filled my body with absolute terror. How it got there, I can’t say. The alarm was set and the house was locked up tight. Still, someone has been able to get inside and plant the note. That fact alone sends my heart racing and my mind reeling. How is it possible?

  Taking a deep breath, trying to calm my churning stomach, I climb out of my car. Looking down at my cell phone one last time, I toss it on my seat, along with everything else. The note said to leave everything behind, only to bring with me the clothes I have on. I do what I’m told, because my plan is to play it smart and do what I need to do to get to them and protect them.

  Stepping toward the building, I glance around me, taking everything in. It feels like I am walking into the worst kind of haunted amusement. I expect a man dressed as some creepy paranormal entity to jump out at me, trying to scare the piss out of me.

  Shake it off, I tell myself. I need to concentrate and keep my head in the game. But with each passing step, I can’t help the churning in my stomach. Glancing back at my car, I can’t help wondering if I’m ever going to see it again.

  “Hello, Missy,” a deep voice says from behind, and my blood freezes in my veins. Instinctually, I want to spin and face him, but I can’t because my feet are stuck to the ground. “I’m surprised you came.”

&nb
sp; “Isn’t that what you wanted?” I ask trying to keep my voice from shaking. My heart beats wildly against my ribs; each thump resonates throughout my body.

  “I was sure you’d call for backup.” I hear his feet on the concrete behind me, moving closer. My stomach feels sick. The thought of him moving closer makes me want to vomit.

  Calm down, I chant, refusing to show him any kind of reaction.

  “I took your threat to heart.”

  “Yes, I can see that.” He chuckles, the sound like nails on a chalkboard. I keep my body stiff and rigid, hoping he doesn’t interpret it as fear. Fear gives him power. While I am afraid, I can’t let him know it. I need to appear confident and indifferent, for the time being at least. “You followed the instructions well enough, but I know better. You, Missy, are not a woman who easily bends to anyone’s will. Even now, with their lives at stake, you struggle.”

  I feel the tip of his finger graze the back of my arm, running down the length of it. Goosebumps prickle my skin in revulsion and I clench my hands into fists, fighting the urge to move away from his touch. He’s right. I don’t bend to the will of others, but I’m desperate to prove him wrong.

  At least I know I was right. He has Layla and Oliver, and he took them to get to me.

  “I’ve been watching you for a long time,” he whispers against my ear, both of his hands full on caressing my arms, stopping to grip my upper arms tightly.

  “Have you?” My question sounds robotic, and I feel a change within me, like a switch being flipped. My body relaxes and my mind numbs, tampering down my emotions.

  “I’m only sorry you got hurt.” His voice drops lower and his arms snake quickly around me. His front is pressed against my back, his spicy-citrus scent filling my nose. The smell of him triggers something, and I realize how familiar it is. The deep timbre of his voice fills my head, and it only takes a moment to realize I know who he is, but the dots are still too far away to connect them to a single person. I need to see his face.

  “When did I get hurt?”

  “Forgetting me so quickly? I’ll give you a hint.” His lips brush against my hair and his hands are flat against my stomach. He pulls me even tighter against him. “It wasn’t Erik in your house that night. It was me.”

  I feel my heart stop as the memory of that night plays once again in my head. After Alice was kidnapped, I was positive the intruder that night had been Erik. There was no one else it could have been. No one else came to mind and nothing happened afterwards to prove that it wasn’t him. Until now.

  His confession leaves me cold and feeling suddenly afraid.

  “It was you?”

  “I hope the bruise you got wasn’t too bad, although the idea of my mark on your gorgeous white skin...let’s just say I couldn’t touch my dick for days it was so sore. Not that I meant for you to hear me; that was the first time. Usually, you sleep like the dead.” I swallow hard, processing his words. He was in my house. More than once. Recent events prove he was there even after Kingston and the guys beefed up my security. “Do you know I watch that moment every night before I fall asleep? I can’t get over the look on your face. The way you scrambled up the stairs on all fours. The fear you felt as you locked yourself in the bathroom, waiting to be saved.”

  “I want to see your face. I want to know who you are.”

  “You’ve seen my face. You know who I am.” His words confirm what I already knew. This man, whoever he is, is a part of my life and has been for some time now. “Concentrate on my voice, Angel, let the sound of it pull you from the darkness. Just as yours did for me.”

  My heart stops, literally stops, as the dots finally connect. There is only one person in the world who’s ever said anything like that to me. He said it to me the day after he was supposed to die. The day he fought death and opened his eyes.

  “Nolan,” I whisper as the blood rushes to my head, making me feel light-headed and dizzy. The boy whose life I saved. The boy who’s visited me time and time again in the emergency room, faking illnesses so he would have the opportunity to ask me on a date. The boy who I introduced the children to just days ago, when we were out together as a family. He’s the last person I would’ve guessed to be behind this. But here he is, standing behind me, his arms wrapped around me, his very evident erection pressed against my ass, proud of what he’s done.

  I lift my hands to his and pull away gently, carefully. He lets me remove them from their spot on my stomach, and I slowly turn until we are face-to-face.

  “Hello, Angel,” he says, lifting his hand to cup my cheek. “Are you surprised? Be honest. I’ll know if you’re lying.”

  “Yes, I’m surprised.” It isn’t a lie.

  “I know.” He smiles down at me. His nearly black eyes are bright with excitement. “Do you know how much of a relief this is to me? I’ve wanted to tell you for so long. I didn’t want it to be like this, though. I wanted to make a grand gesture, something romantic.”

  “You did?”

  “Yes, I planned to save you that day in the rain, but your beefcake of a boyfriend arrived. I was late getting out of work and miscalculated the timing.”

  “Wait? Do you mean the day I got a flat tire?”

  “It would have been so romantic. I wanted to be your knight in shining armor. Although I had to make sure your spare was toast, too. Couldn’t chance you changing the tire before I got there.”

  “I could have wrecked,” I murmur, thinking about the way I almost lost control of my car on the wet road.

  “Perhaps, but then I would have been the one to save you. I would have been the real hero. If everything had gone to plan, I wouldn’t have had to resort to kidnapping to get your attention. Speaking of which, don’t worry about the children. They’re safe.”

  His question sobers me immediately and I nod. The children. Layla and Oliver.

  “Are they here?”

  “No, but they’re safe and will soon be reunited with their father.” He takes my hand and turns. “I’m not a monster, Angel. I had no intention of hurting them. They were simply a means to an end for me.”

  I let him pull me along, not that I have much of a choice. His grip is hard and unforgiving on my hand. I stumble forward, trying to keep up with his large strides.

  “Nolan, can we slow down a bit?” I ask. The last thing I need to do is fall and injure myself, not when there is too much at stake. Either he doesn’t hear me, or he ignores me, because he rounds the corner of the decrepit building, pulling me in the direction opposite of my car. A black Nova is parked nearby, and I gasp. That car, I’ve seen it before, driving up and down my road.

  “I told you I’ve been watching you for a long time,” he says, and I realize we’ve stopped. The look on my face must have given away my thoughts. He lets go of my hand, opens the passenger door, and pulls out a stack of clothing. “You need to change. Leave your clothing here.”

  “Nolan...” I start to protest, but his face darkens and he cuts me off.

  “I will not ask much of you, Angel, but I’m not taking any chances. You could have bugged yourself for all I know. Can’t risk it. Now, be a good girl and strip.”

  Not wanting to anger him anymore, I pick up the clothing and turn to head into the building.

  “Where are you going?” he asks, freezing me in place before I get too far. I look back at him and swallow hard.

  “I’m going to step inside and change,” I explain softly.

  “You’re cute.” He smiles darkly. “There isn’t anything I haven’t seen already. You don’t have to hide from me, Angel. You have a glorious body. Do it here, in front of me. You can put on a little show for me if you’d like.”

  I swallow hard, temporarily curbing the sick feeling in my stomach. I stare into his eyes and begin to strip. There is no way in hell I’m going to put on a show for him. I keep my back to him.

  I look around trying to find something around to use as a weapon against him. Something I could easily conceal until the time is right,
but there’s nothing. He picked a good spot for this to happen in. I reach for the hem of my shirt and begin pulling it up over my head, but I don’t get very far, because the world suddenly goes black.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Missy is Missing

  Kingston

  “Queenie, I don’t know where you are, but please call me back as soon as you get this.” I sigh into the phone, a sick feeling settling in my body. This is the third message I’ve left in two hours. I’m beginning to worry about her, too.

  I stand from my spot at my desk, the office around me buzzing with commotion as everyone sits somewhere in the room talking on one phone or another. Zero, Bear, Charlie, and Annabelle are calling in every favor they have, looking for any kind of lead to help locate Layla and Oliver. Even Hudson and Alice joined the team as soon as their plane landed.

  Although Hudson had a few choices words with me about my intentions with his sister, we’ve managed to come together to find her. He knows I love her and I always have; that much didn’t need explaining. And I’m sure after witnessing the absolute fear running through my body, a fear he, too, felt with Alice’s disappearance, he knows I’ll do anything to bring her home safe.

  The only person I believe might have taken my kids can’t have done it. Tatum’s pimp. He is still behind bars, and according to my contacts, he doesn’t know who turned on him. Every lead or idea has turned bust.

  The air around me feels thick as my pride once again proves to be my downfall. The idea I’ve let another person in my life down because I didn’t listen has started to pull emotions and memories to the forefront I’ve spent three years trying to overcome. I push them aside and look around me, trying to get my bearings.

  “Anna, have you been able to reach Missy?” I ask, meeting her gaze across the room. She pales before crossing the room, stopping in front of my desk.