Mia laughed, husky and beautiful, but the sound grated on Addie’s nerves. “Like you can do anything right now. Besides, Finn has always loved me.”
“Yeah, he must’ve loved you so much that he came to me. Told me he wanted to move in with me, love me. Did he ever do that for you?”
Mia backhanded her and Addie's head jerked to the side. Her eyes were manic as she held Addie’s cheeks in a vice like grip. “He has only loved me. Me! I gave him time to grieve for his stupid friend, and let him move here. I am what he needs, and will be the only one he loves. Not his fucking sisters, not you.” She roughly let go and took a deep breath.
Addie watched the transformation with wide eyes. One minute the bitch was crazy, the other calm. No wonder Finn was hesitant to get into a relationship with someone else. Addie’s stomach clenched. She wouldn’t let this crazy hooker near him again. She just had to find a way out of this.
“It would’ve worked out perfectly if Aaron did his part. But no, he had to get caught, had to get himself shot. At least I don’t have to put up with his roaming hands anymore.” Mia sighed. “He was my stepbrother, a long time ago. He was easy to seduce, easy to get him to work with me. To hate Finn. Anything to get me to sleep with him.”
Addie shut her eyes against the hate rolling off of this woman. She said she loved Finn, but wanted to hurt him any way she could. Didn’t she know that definitely wasn't love? That it was twisted and depraved? And her stepbrother? Wasn’t there some unspoken rule about sleeping with a step-anything?
“I knew that Finn would eventually move near his sisters here, so I had Aaron get a job with the fire department. I didn't expect Finn to join the fire department, so that was a nice surprise.” Mia pursed red covered lips. “I didn’t count on him getting to know you.”
Addie shuddered at the venom in that one word. For the first time real fear consumed her. This crazy bitch saw Addie as a roadblock in her delusion of getting Finn all to herself. There had to be some way that she could get out of here, if not whole, then alive.
"Soon it won't matter, you'll be dead and no one will stand in my way." The nonchalant way Mia said it freaked Addie out more than if she'd screamed it in her face.
Mia stepped forward and Addie only just stopped herself from flinching. The psycho didn't seem to notice, only jerked the gag into place with hard movements. Mia turned back to the door, flicking the light off as she left, plunging Addie back into darkness.
Jesus Christ, how did she get into this situation? Addie's shoulders sagged. She couldn't get out of the restraints, they were too tight, and she wondered if anyone knew she was missing yet. There was no way to tell time, so she had no idea if it'd been a few days or a few hours. God, she wanted to go home, wanted to see her sisters, her nieces, her parents. Wanted to kiss Finn and have him hold her.
The dripping seemed to get louder with each passing minute. Fire spread on the nerves of her hands and feet and numbness through her feet and legs. Her butt and lower back ached from sitting in one position in the hard chair for so long. She knew if she could get out of the chair she could take the bitch down, but getting out of the zip ties seemed impossible.
As her eyes adjusted to the darkness again she tried to see if there was anything she could do to get out of this. Mia had made sure there was nothing in the bare cement room for Addie to use. As far as Addie could tell, she was fucked.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Finn
He knew he drove everyone crazy with his pacing, but if he sat still he might explode. Addie's family and friends gathered in Victoria's living room, all following his movements. Nick and Luke had identical expressions of fury and worry, and Addie's family all looked sick.
How had he allowed it to happen? Had he put Addie in danger by becoming closer to him? From finally opening up and living, did he cause her death? He cursed and looked out the window, staring at nothing in the darkness. He didn't cause this. He couldn't blame himself for this.
Sergeant-Major and the FBI agent were searching for a connection between Aaron and Finn. Detective Krakowski was in the kitchen, talking low and furious. He fucking hoped something broke soon. The thought of Addie scared and hurt raked agony through him.
"Finn, would you like some coffee?" Halle stopped beside him, a steaming mug in her hand.
He looked at her and saw the expression on her face. It stopped him from snapping. "I look that bad?"
The smile didn't reach her eyes. "I think we all do." She pressed the mug into his hands.
Luke's and Nick's stares burned into his back. He didn't blame him, even though he knew they couldn't make him feel any more guilty than he already did. The waiting was shredding his emotions. He had to find Addie soon.
Questions swam in Halle's eyes but he saw she held them back with an iron will. After explaining for the fiftieth time what happened when he'd gotten off this morning, Addie's family had finally subsided with the questions. Nothing new had come to light and he hated it. Hating waiting, wondering what was happening to her.
His fingers curled in on his palm, and the pain from his nails cutting into his skin centered him a little. Facing losing Addie was dredging up memories of Isaac dying. It was almost too much but he knew he had to hold on for Addie.
When his cell rang on a nearby table he snatched it off and answered it.
"We've got a connection, but it's faint. I'm not sure it's much to go on." Sergeant-Major's voice came over the line.
"Tell me." Finn's fingers tightened around the phone.
"Aaron had a step-sister about ten years ago. By the name of Mia Hanna."
Ice cold fingers of dread slid down Finn's spine. He couldn’t process what he'd just heard, even though he wasn't surprised that Mia would pull something like this.
"Son? Did you hear me?"
"Yeah." Finn cleared his throat. "Do you have an idea where she is?"
"We're looking now. It shouldn't be long."
He hung up the phone and ran a shaking hand through his hair. Fuck, fuck, fuck. He'd known Mia was crazy but murder had seemed out of her league. But if she was attacking his sister and Addie, that meant she wanted to see him. She would have to give him a clue to do that. What was he missing?
"What did he say?" Krakowski moved into the living room. Deep blue circles sat under his eyes and fatigue lined his mouth.
"It's my fucking ex-girlfriend, Mia." Finn spit out. He shot a look of apology toward Victoria and her girls, but Victoria waved it off.
"Where is she?" Nick stood from the couch, Luke following a second later. Both were as tense as Finn, and he knew that if he had to go find Mia, they were coming with him. The detective would just have to face it, none of them were staying behind. There was no telling if Mia had other guys seduced into doing her bidding, and he'd need their MMA training. Knowing he wasn't going to face this alone gave him more confidence, a steadiness he desperately needed.
"They don't know yet. But she wouldn't do all this without wanting to see me, to show me that she was doing this. In her twisted mind, she's making sure we'll be together and that I know it's her. There's a clue somewhere that I'm missing, I just don't know what it means."
"Psychopaths usually go to a place that has some deeper meaning to them. If she's focusing on you, it could be somewhere meaningful to the two of you."
Finn turned at the soft spoken voice and saw Helena sitting on the couch, cheeks red. He walked over and crouched down in front of her. "They do?"
She nodded shyly. "I'm taking psychology and I'm interested in Criminology. I've been studying."
"Thank you." Finn took her hand in his and said it with all the thankfulness he could. He stood, racking his brain to figure out what place could be meaningful for them. This time they let him pace unheeded, and he let the memories of his time with Mia flood his mind. There was so much, it had been quick and heated, but there had to be another connection.
"What about the tattoo?" Krakowski asked. "Maybe it wasn't just to get your a
ttention."
"She was with us when we got it. It was in an old warehouse that the owner had redone to fit his business. But how does that help?" Finn stared at the group, barely holding on to his temper. He wanted to find Addie now.
"There are four abandoned warehouses in the farm country south of Sanctuary Bay. I inspected them a few years back for a client. Wanted to know if I would work for them, redo it." Addie's dad told them. "If that's the connection, that's where they would be."
"I say we go now," Luke said. "There's four of us, we can search them and find the bitch."
"Let's go." Finn grabbed his phone and keys without looking back. He got in his truck and Luke slid into the passenger seat.
"We're going in pairs. Krakowski said it would be safer. We'll each search two of the properties. Wes is texting us the addresses." Luke buckled his seat belt. "Go."
Finn didn’t waste any more time. In his rearview mirror he saw Nick and Krakowski in the police car behind him. He slowed down, letting Krakowski pass. A few seconds later the siren and lights came on and Finn sped up. His hands shook around the steering wheel and he tried to get control. He had to handle this, had to be at the top of his game to help her. Nothing could happen to her. He wouldn't survive it.
Glancing at the almost-set sun, Finn knew that the longer it took to find Addie, the worse her situation could be. He remembered search and rescue teams in Afghanistan and what they sometimes found. The blood, the headless, the sand.
Fuck.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Addie
Her mind reeled with the possibilities of what Mia was going to do to her. Mia's voice filtered through the door, and by the answering replies, she had two guys with her. Addie figured her chances of survival had seriously dwindled since the two goons arrived.
Hearing them talk so calmly, voices reasonable, about her being in the chair and apparently in the middle of nowhere, left her spirits flagged. She couldn’t face the three by herself. Maybe Mia on her own, but not with a group that size. Nick and Luke had taught her minimal self defense training, but she’d always laughed it off. Sanctuary Bay was a small town with a very low crime rate and she hadn’t thought she’d need it.
Playing the waiting game was seriously starting to unravel what little was left of her sanity. When would Mia come back, and would she attack Addie then? Was she really not going to see her family again? Or Finn? Was this her last day of life?
Those questions ripped through her mind and she tried hard not to focus on them. To try and be positive the entire time. She laughed mirthlessly. How could she be positive at a time like this?
Finn would find her. He would. Eventually they would connect Mia to Aaron and from there, he would find her. She just hoped it wasn’t after what Mia had planned for her.
The minutes ticked by extra slow. The drip, drip, drip continued, edging her closer to insanity. Musk and mildew scented the air as Addie tried to figure out a way to survive. Damn, she wanted to just move her arms. Her shoulders were past the point of sore and moved toward outright agony.
A few minutes later the latch scraped and the door swung open. Light flooded into the room and then Addie saw Mia standing in front of the two guys. A sour taste swam in her mouth and she shook off the dizziness. She wouldn't let them see how much she dreaded what was going to happen next.
One of the men stepped forward, holding out a switch blade. Addie bit her lip to keep her scream inside. His grin sent cold chills through her. Was this guy going to be a part of her torture? When he leaned over, the smell of body odor and cigarettes hit her, but she ignored it as he first cut the zip ties from her ankles and then moved behind her to cut the ones at her wrists. Addie immediately brought her arms back to her lap and fought the groan at the pain shooting through them.
Mia's twisted smile and the frenzied look in her eyes let Addie know that the pain now was going to be nothing compared to what would happen in a little while. "Bring her, James."
James' sweaty hand wrapped around her upper arm and jerked her up. Addie held back another pain filled gasp and her mind raced with thoughts of escape. Mia and the other guy had already left the room. As James pushed her out the door, Addie's foot caught on the cement threshold. His grip tightened and this time she couldn't hold back the gasp of pain.
"Don't try to escape. It's pointless. Both James and Ronnie know how to cause a girl pain. That's why I hired them." Mia sat on the corner of an old wooden desk centered in the large room.
Addie knew where they were now. An abandoned warehouse outside of Sanctuary Bay. Her shoulders sagged and she lost some of her defiance. No one would think to look here. She was truly on her own.
"Aww, don't lose that fight yet. They're hoping that you've got a spark in you." Mia grinned. "I can't wait to watch."
Watch? Bile rose in Addie's throat but she forced it down. She wasn't going to let Mia know how this affected her.
In the dim lighting Addie could make out a lumpy mattress laid against the far wall. Murky brown stains and a sharp odor covered it. Addie's knees started to shake. This couldn't really be happening.
Mia jerked her head toward the mattress and James hauled Addie to it. She struggled, kicking and hitting at him, but he only laughed at her. The blows were weak since she hadn't ate or drank anything in a while and her head still ached from the drugs.
She tried pretending to faint, becoming dead weight, but James only threw her over his shoulder. Her breath came in short, hard gasps as terror gripped her. She didn’t want to die, but she had a feeling she wasn't going to make it out of this.
James dropped her half on the mattress, her knees striking the concrete. She rolled over, sucking in air, reaching for her knees. He grabbed her wrists and pushed them above her head.
No matter how much she wiggled and squirmed, kicked and bit, it just seemed to make James enjoy it more. Over his shoulder Addie could see Mia and Ronnie standing, waiting for their turn to hurt her. Black spots swam in her vision as panic invaded. This couldn't be happening, not really. This was Sanctuary Bay. No crime here. She'd always been safe.
Hard fingers gripped her chin and James crushed his mouth to hers. When she didn't open, he bit down on her lower lip. She cried out and he thrust his tongue into her mouth. She gagged and pushed at his shoulders, desperately trying to get this horror to stop.
She couldn't bring her knees up to hurt him because he laid directly on top of her. His erection pressed into her thigh and the bile rose again. Within a second he had his hands underneath her shirt, searching for her bra. She struggled, not moving him an inch.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Finn
Frustration and fear fueled him as he stormed out of the first abandoned warehouse he and Luke searched. Nothing, not a damn thing, was inside. The place looked like Finn could nudge it and the whole thing would crash to the dirt and dead grass around it. He and Luke didn't waste any time getting into the truck and speeding out of the drive.
Finn glanced up, saw the moon, and his chest tightened. Were they going to find Addie in time? God, they had to. They fucking had to. It was only a ten minute drive to the next warehouse they needed to search, but to Finn it felt like hours. Like time moved against him, kept him back, like it was on Mia's side.
Luke sat, as tense as he was, and Finn was glad that Luke and Nick looked with him. He fully intended to be with Addie for the rest of his life, and having his future brothers-in-law help look for her made his respect for them skyrocket.
They pulled into the drive of the other warehouse, the tires crunching on the gravel. Finn shut the headlights off and coasted to a stop. Another two cars were parked toward the back. He shot Luke a look. Luke nodded and texted Nick their location.
Finn ran to the door at the far side of the warehouse, Luke on his heels. The door swung open and he stepped inside. Dim lights hung over what looked like an abandoned office and a desk with an ancient computer sitting on the top sat to the side. By the thickness of the
layers of dust, the warehouse had been abandoned for a long time.
Someone screamed, Addie screamed, and all thoughts fled from Finn's mind.
"Finn, wait. We don't know--"
Finn ignored Luke's warning and then his string of expletives as he rushed through the opposite door into the interior of the warehouse. The lighting was even more dim in here, but it didn't stop Finn from spotting Mia, who stood beside a large man. She looked beautiful but it was surrounded by an air of cruelty that disgusted him. Addie screamed again and his gaze shot past them, seeing her dark hair splayed out on a mattress, another man pawing at her clothes. Pure rage slammed into him and he lost his breath.
"Get off of her, you fucker!" Finn dashed across the concrete floor.
The guy standing by Mia spun around, agile even with his bulky size, and sneered at Finn.
Mia shot Finn a sly smile. "Hello, Finn. I knew you'd find me. That you'd remember this special time between us." Mia waved her hand at him when she saw him watching the guy on top of Addie. "Oh, she'll be out of the way soon, baby."
"Get off of her. Now." Finn's voice was filled with lethal intensity. If that guy didn't do it, he'd fucking murder him.
"Get over her, Finn. She's nothing."
At Mia's words, Finn finally looked at her again. "You're wrong. She's my everything."
Mia's eyes widened, then hardened. "No, she's not. Ronnie, subdue him until James is done with the whore."
Ronnie grinned, his rough face wrinkling. "Sure thing."
Finn needed to get to Addie, now. The thug covering her was making fucking noises.
"I've got him." Luke said from behind him.
"Good." Finn moved to the side and Ronnie eyed both he and Luke warily. Finn knew that Luke could handle himself.
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