Deadly Deception
Page 30
The other deputy frowned. “Not SOP.”
Luke shrugged. “I think she’s been through a lot.” He didn’t want to answer more questions about her, so he abruptly ended the conversation. “Good luck finding any evidence tonight. Call me if you have questions.”
A few minutes later, he drove away from the crime scene. The cruiser felt like an oven, making him glad to be shirtless.
“I don’t know if you’re from around here, but Ramona is a small town. We don’t have a hospital. It’ll take about fifteen minutes with lights and siren to get to the nearest one,” he explained. “You okay until then?”
“Yes…thanks.”
As he drove, he stole several glimpses of his passenger in the mirror. Her eyes were closed once again, and her head rested against the seat back. His cop instincts were screaming that he’d seen her before. Or at least seen a picture of her. But where? When?
Elle Bradley. Elle Bradley. Her name played over and over in his mind. Why was it familiar? When had he heard or read it?
Five minutes later, it hit him. He glanced over his shoulder at the battered woman and realized why he hadn’t recognized her. She’d looked very different in the photograph. But why hadn’t she immediately explained who she was and what had happened? Her behavior made no sense, and even her injuries could be nothing more than window dressing. Suspicion tightened his jaw. Suddenly, he questioned the entire incident. Was it real or staged?
* * *
“I know who you are,” the deputy announced loud enough to rouse her.
His words ripped away her cloak of anonymity. She tensed and slowly opened her eyes. “Of course you do. I told you that I’m Elle Bradley.”
“But you didn’t say you’re the Elle Bradley, the woman who was kidnapped in Washington about a month ago, the rising-star socialite in DC’s inner circles, the fiancée of the son of a high-ranking federal bureaucrat, and the award-winning investigative reporter for a nationwide newspaper.”
She sighed with resignation and met his gaze in the mirror. “I plead guilty to the first and last charges only.”
“The FBI has been searching for you. Hell, law enforcement all over the country has been on the lookout for you. Your parents and fiancé were on TV several times begging the kidnapper not to hurt you and to let you go. Don’t you think you should call someone immediately and tell them you’re all right?”
His impatient, lecturing tone annoyed her. He wasn’t the one who’d just survived a horrible ordeal. This deputy didn’t know anything about what she’d endured. In fact, he couldn’t know anything meaningful about her at all. Few people did, and she liked it that way. How dare he judge me? Resentment bubbled up. “You mean I should tell someone that you rescued me so you can get your fifteen minutes of fame.”
He switched off the cruiser’s siren and swerved onto the shoulder. Then he whipped around in his seat to stare at her hard. “Hell no. I just think there are a damn lot of people out there who are worried sick about you, many who’ve spent countless hours trying to find and save you. They deserve to know you’re safe.”
Pressing her fingertips against her temples, she shook her head. “I’m sorry. You’re right. I just don’t know if I’m ready to deal with…with everything. The questions. The spotlight. All of it. None of it.”
His expression softened. “The sheriff could call the FBI, and they can contact your family. But don’t you think they’d rather hear directly from you?”
The deputy really didn’t understand. How could he? It was her family—especially her mother—that she was most not ready to deal with. The past month of torturous captivity had injured her spirit as well as her body. She needed time to heal, starting with some anonymous decompression time.
Most daughters would get complete, compassionate support from their mothers but not Elle. Allison Bradley would be more interested in the limelight, the notoriety, the fame of being the mother of a kidnap victim than she would be in helping her daughter recover. And right now, just the thought of coping with her mother on top of everything else was too overwhelming.
Pulling in a deep, fortifying breath, she tunneled her fingers through her wet hair and cringed at the decision she had to make. If her parents learned of her escape from anyone else, there’d be hell to pay. She’d never hear the end of it. They would make it a bigger issue than catching her abductor.
So be it. For years she’d dealt with them, and she’d do it now by calling like an obedient daughter but also by controlling the extent of the conversation. Calling? Her mood brightened. “I don’t have a phone.”
“Use mine.”
She huffed. “Do you have to be so helpful?”
“You didn’t complain when I loaned you my shirt and jacket.”
He had a point. The poor man was half naked while on duty, something she’d overheard his colleagues teasing him about.
“Okay, fine. Give me your phone.”
“You’re sure?” he asked, pulling it from his pants pocket.
“I guess. You don’t happen to also have a flask of whiskey with you, Deputy…Helpful.”
“No, ma’am. Just my phone.” Grinning, he got out of the car to hand it to her since there was no way to pass it through the protective partition between the seats.
She accepted it tentatively, dreading what she had to do. She noticed the local time on the cell, which meant it was the wee hours of the morning in Washington. But the time really didn’t matter. After a few moments, she poked the numbers that would connect her to the center of her family maelstrom.
The phone at the other end rang ten times before a sleepy male voice answered. “The Bradley residence.”
“Hello, George. Sorry to wake you. I need to talk to…Father.”
“Miss Elle? Is that you? My Lord, are you all right?” the Bradleys’ longtime butler asked.
“I…I’m safe.” She smiled at Deputy Helpful, who had them on the road again but without the earsplitting siren. “I was just rescued by a very nice deputy.”
“Thank heavens. I’ll get your father for you. Please hold, Miss Elle.”
Had George sensed she wanted to hang up? She almost chuckled at how normal that seemed.
Only a few minutes passed before her mother’s voice screeched in her ear. “Sweetie, sweetie, we’ve been so worried. The stress has been just terrible on your father and me. I was so worried about his heart, you know. And of course, Richard has been miserable. Poor man. First the silly breakup and then your disappearance. You have called him, haven’t you?”
Again, normal. “I’m okay, Mother. Thanks for asking.”
Strained silence followed.
A click signaled her dad was on the phone now, too. “Elle, are you all right, honey? Do you need anything? What can we do?”
“I’m…okay, considering. I’m on my way to the hospital, but none of my injuries are serious.”
“Injuries?” Allison screeched again. “He didn’t hurt you, did he?”
Elle drew a deep breath. “Not much. Mostly minor stuff from struggling against the restraints.”
“Be sure they get pictures of everything. It’ll be good—”
“Publicity. I know, Mother. There’s no such thing as bad publicity.”
“Where are you, honey?” her dad asked.
“Uh…San Diego County. At least that’s what it says on the side of the patrol car.”
“We’ll be on a plane first thing in the morning. Can we reach you at this number?”
“No, Dad, this is a borrowed cell.” She gulped. “Look, I need…some time to recover. Some time…alone and quiet.”
“Don’t worry, sweetie, we’ll reserve the best hotel suite in San Diego,” her mother said.
Elle clenched her jaw. “I don’t want you two to come. Do you understand? Do not come. I have to go now. We’re at the hospital,” she lied. She looked up to find Deputy Helpful’s puzzled gaze in the mirror. “I’ll call when I can.”
“Sure, sweetie. We’ll c
ontact the FBI, Richard, and the news—”
She disconnected before saying something truly awful to her mother. She kept her gaze downcast so she wouldn’t see the disapproval in the deputy’s eyes.
They rode the remaining distance in silence. Thankfully, the shakes had stopped, and she finally felt warm. The poor man had probably been baking the whole trip but never complained once. She pushed aside her regret for his discomfort at her expense because she needed to focus on more important things.
Like who the hell had kidnapped her and why?
Also by Marissa Garner
Rogue Security
Risky Redemption
FBI Heat
Hunted
Targeted
Wanted
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
I’m a wife, writer, chocoholic, and animal lover, not necessarily in that order. As a little girl, I cut pictures of people out of my mother’s magazines and turned them into characters in my simple stories. Now I write edgy romantic thrillers, steamy contemporary romance, and sexy paranormal romantic suspense. I live in sunny Southern California with my husband, but enjoy traveling from Athens to Anchorage to Acapulco and many locations in between.
You can learn more at:
http://marissagarner.com
Facebook.com/MarissaGarnerAuthor
DON’T MISS MARISSA GARNER’S FBI HEAT SERIES
For San Diego’s elite FBI agents, risking their lives is standard procedure when it comes to capturing the city’s most dangerous criminals—but falling in love is the greatest risk of all.
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