She was tempted and it was that temptation he played on. ‘How do I know this isn’t just some ruse?’
‘What have you got to lose?’ he asked. ‘You’ve still got those drugs, right? If you think I’m fucking you around or I don’t do the job then you can shoot me full of that shit and bring me back here. You’ve done it once, right? Why not do it again if you need to? But you won’t need to, honey, come on.’
Moving forward, he got as close to her as he could and raised his chains with the lock facing up. ‘What about Lacie?’
‘Lacie, who?’ he asked and smiled into her eyes, trying his best to appear unthreatening and maybe just a little impressed that she’d done this. ‘You’ve come so far on your own, I know this was your plan, not his. You’re so smart, and I never gave you credit for just how intriguing you are. I love a woman who can take care of herself. A woman who sees what she wants and goes to get it. You don’t let anything hold you back. You’re a wonder, Sadie, you really are.’
‘Will you kill her?’ Sadie murmured, arching her back and creeping toward him. ‘Will you take out your precious Lacie? She’s a threat to Jamie too. Her testimony will be the most damning… Maybe if you promise to take her out… If you do her first then I’ll know… I’ll know that you’re being honest. We have Lacie under our control. We can tell her to meet us somewhere and then… that’s when you’ll do it.’
‘See,’ Ryder said, widening his smile. ‘You’re so fucking smart… Let’s take the cheating bitch out together, sweetheart. You and me.’
Chapter Twenty-Three
‘I don't like this,’ Lacie muttered to herself. Not that she had believed this would be a pleasant experience. There were very few reasons why one would be called to a dark alleyway in the middle of the night. This alley was all the more sinister because it was in an industrial area that was abandoned at this time of the night.
Whatever was going to happen, it was overdue. Lacie had been here for twenty minutes. Either something had gone wrong, the event was late, or this was the whole plan. Maybe they wanted to humiliate her by leaving her here all night. It was cold enough that maybe she was supposed to die of exposure.
Having cohorts gave her some sense of security, although she was putting a huge amount of faith in them because she hadn’t travelled here with them. She just had to assume they were out there protecting her whilst protecting themselves at the same time.
The call she’d received last night told her to use her connection with Elijah to get the address of where Eric, Jamie Wallace’s number two, was being protected by the cops. She was told to bring that information to this meeting point tonight and with a piece of paper in her pocket bearing the information, she began to second-guess what was going on.
Whoever was doing this to her was somehow connected to Jamie Wallace and that made the danger involved ratchet up. Coming here had seemed like the right thing to do. Compliance was more important now that she’d broken the rule of secrecy and failed to follow through in sleeping with Elijah. This situation was precarious and if Ryder’s captors found out about her deception, they’d kill her love for sure.
Regret began to seep in and she wondered if she’d set herself up. Maybe the kidnapper was watching her every move. Maybe one of the people she’d confided in was really in league with the kidnapper and she was about to get her just desserts.
The scuff of a boot on asphalt made her spin around and although there wasn’t much light, she was sure there was a figure in the shadows at the end of the alley.
‘Hello?’ she asked. Holding her breath as the shadow moved forward, she let out a yelp when she recognised Ryder’s features. ‘Ryder!’ Her impulse to go to him was interrupted when he held up a hand toward her.
‘I gave you everything,’ he said, pausing in his own journey. ‘I… you were everything to me.’
‘What’s going on?’ she asked, not reassured by his tone. ‘Baby?’
‘Is that what you call him?’ Ryder asked and began to move towards her again. ‘Is it?’
‘Who? I… you… they told you about Elijah.’
‘Yeah,’ he said, gritting his teeth. ‘About you and Elijah… I knew you two were hot for each other, but you told me I was paranoid, said there was nothing to it.’
His hand moved and she glanced down to see the line of a gun barrel pointed at the concrete. ‘You’re not going to hurt me, Ryder,’ she said, backing away. ‘You can’t… you don’t have it in you. I don’t know what they told you or… this isn’t you. Listen to me, baby—‘
‘I’m not listening to you,’ he said with a disgust in his expression that broke her heart. ‘You’re poison… just like she told me. She was right… to think that I… I turned my back on my best friend…’
‘Wallace.’ The shock of his reference to Jamie made her stop and her panic vanish. She couldn’t think of any reason that Ryder would miraculously forgive or sympathise with Jamie Wallace. ‘No. You would never—‘
‘Don’t talk! I’ve heard enough… She was right. She was right about you.’
Raising the gun, he kept on coming until she had nowhere to run and her back was pressed into the wall. When he was in reaching distance, he grabbed her arm and hauled her forward. Forcing his mouth over hers, she opened to accept his kiss, hopeful that the reminder of their connection would quell any jealousy he might be feeling.
But she couldn’t correct him, not when his captors could be anywhere around listening to everything. So taking hold of his shoulder, she pulled herself nearer and smiled when his mouth slid across her cheek to her jaw. She thought he was going to kiss her neck, instead he took his lips to her ear for the briefest of seconds.
‘Play dead when I shoot,’ he murmured and then half a beat later the gun went off and the brickwork behind her exploded.
He backed off and she did as he’d said and fell to the ground. Trust was all she had right now, because falling onto the damp concrete face first, she closed her eyes and waited for what would happen next.
The gun had been between them, but he had to have shot under her arm because nowhere on her body hurt. Either that, or she was numb because of the shot. But this was Ryder and he would never hurt her, not if he was in control of his faculties and if he wasn’t then he would never have warned her to go down after the gunshot.
‘Oh my god, you did it!’
Lacie didn’t need to have her eyes open to recognise that voice and she was pleased that Sorcha wasn’t here to witness what had to be the shock of the century. Her best friend’s sister was involved in this. Sadie was no criminal mastermind, she hadn’t bothered with college because she believed herself too pretty to need it and she hadn’t been wrong.
Sadie was satisfied in the world of the mani-pedi, having affairs with her tennis coaches and any other male who happened to cross her path.
‘I told you I would, didn’t I?’ Ryder said.
The tinge of familiarity in his tone made Lacie want to open her eyes because if she wasn’t mistaken, her boyfriend was flirting or maybe even intimate with the woman who had somehow condoned this.
‘Is she really dead?’
A foot nudged her hip and Lacie saw her chance. Pulling her arm back she stabbed forward with the tranq dart and got Sadie in the ankle.
‘Oh my god!’ Sadie said, kicking her leg out in front of her, trying to get the dart out. But it was too late, the sedative was strong and this was the same kind of dart that had taken Jamie Wallace down. Taking Sadie down was child’s play.
When the woman was on her back, slumbering under the effects of the drug, Lacie pounced up to her feet.
‘Ryder?’ she asked, but he was crouched next to Sadie, turning her onto her back to search her coat pockets. ‘What are you doing?’
‘This,’ he said and stole something from Sadie’s pocket.
At that moment, another figure came out of the shadows to hurry toward them. ‘What happened?’
Lacie stumbled back to the wall when she saw
Elijah’s younger brother, Evan, hurrying over.
‘Nothing to worry about,’ Ryder said and lunged at Evan. He stabbed something into his neck and Lacie shrieked, but Ryder caught Evan and eased him onto the ground beside Sadie.
‘Piece of cake,’ Ryder said, recapping the needle Lacie hadn’t seen him use. ‘Baby, are you—‘
‘Are we safe?’ she asked, looking around for any further parties who may sneak up on them.
‘We’re safe,’ he said, coming over to gather her up. ‘Are you safe? Are you hurt? I’m sorry I—‘
‘No,’ she said, clasping his face. ‘No, baby, I’m sorry—‘
‘I understand that they told you to—‘
‘I didn’t… I couldn’t… I… I was terrified that they would punish you if they found out.’
‘You mean you and Graden didn’t…?’
‘No,’ she said, smiling when she saw the breadth of his.
‘Thank fuck for that,’ he said, stealing her mouth in a kiss that made her toes tingle.
‘Lovely reunion, but what the fuck is this?’
Ryder relinquished their kiss, but Lacie grabbed hold of him to prevent him from attacking Shep who had been hiding on the periphery throughout. ‘You got my message?’ Ryder asked her and she nodded. ‘Good girl.’ He kissed her head. ‘We have to call the guys and—‘
‘I already pressed the panic button,’ Lacie said. ‘Gabe has been working with the cops on your disappearance.’
Ryder nodded, and stroked her hair. ‘We should call the cops too.’
‘I already called them. What the hell is this?’ Shep asked, examining Evan and Sadie.
‘She seduced him into doing her dirty work,’ Ryder said. ‘Except he was lacking the killer instinct’—Ryder gazed down at her—‘something I told them I could follow through on. It was the only way to get out of there and—‘
‘I understand,’ she said, caressing the stubble on his jaw. ‘You did the right thing.’
‘Thanks for playing along.’
‘This is lovely, but… Sorcha will be livid,’ Shep said.
‘No doubt,’ Ryder said. ‘Especially when she finds out Sadie was having an affair with Jamie… she wanted to bust him out. Taking out you and Eric and Booth, that was her grand plan. If there was no one to testify then she believed he’d go free.’
‘And be with her,’ Lacie said and felt a pang of sympathy for Sadie. ‘That’s sort of sad.’
‘Not sad enough to keep me from you,’ Ryder said. ‘You really didn’t—‘
‘Would you stop?’ Lacie asked, but couldn’t stop smiling. ‘I haven’t been with anyone except you. Yes, I’ve been staying with Elijah, in a guest room. He knows about this and Sorcha does too.’
‘You were lucky,’ Ryder said. ‘I think that’s how they were getting their information, their siblings, it’s probably why they wanted you living with Elijah because either Sadie or Evan could question him about you and pretend to be a concerned friend.’
‘Or Evan wanted to see his brother used and abandoned,’ Shep said. ‘Sorcha says the guy is a bit of a loser and not the brightest crayon in the box.’
‘That’s an understatement,’ Ryder said. He held her so close that her ribs ached, but it was the most wonderful pain she had ever been in.
Sirens faded in from the distance and she knew that the S.I.S. men wouldn’t be too far behind. ‘I’m going to have a lot of explaining to do,’ she muttered.
‘You saved my life. Playing along, or letting them think that you were playing along, gave me time to convince them of my usefulness.’
‘I hope the guys see it that way.’
‘They will,’ he said, kissing her head again. ‘Believe me.’
Epilogue
‘I don’t care,’ Sorcha said over her shoulder to her fiancé who was bouncing Lulu on his knee.
‘Yeah, right, but—‘
‘Shep,’ Sorcha said, spinning around to glare at him. ‘I said I don’t care. Your opinion means nothing to me.’
‘It’s probably best to leave them to it,’ Ryder said from his place opposite Shep.
Lacie tried not to laugh at Shep’s eye roll because she had to show her solidarity with her fellow bride-to-be. They were in their coffee house having a girlie lunch. But their men were at the table just behind theirs because Lacie wanted approval from Ryder before making final decisions and Sorcha didn’t want to be far from Lulu.
After Sadie and Evan were arrested, the trial of the century began because both families had enough money to fight the case all the way. Evan ended up giving evidence against Sadie to save his own neck and the Reynolds had Sadie evaluated and she tried an insanity plea. She was given a suspended sentence and the Reynolds were watching her like a hawk.
Needless to say, Ryder stopped working for them and Lacie stopped visiting. Sorcha was rarely near her family home anymore and after she and Booth got their quickie divorce, he moved back to his parents’ home and Shep moved into Sorcha’s place with her and Lulu.
‘We’re going to be beautiful brides,’ Sorcha said to Lacie and smoothed out the magazine they were sharing. Sorcha had a tote bag full of them. Lunch could go on for some time.
‘Yes, we are,’ Lacie said and glanced past her to Ryder who hadn’t taken his eyes off her all day.
It seemed to make sense that they would have a double wedding because Lacie had accepted the huge diamond from Ryder and had struggled to make plans on her own. Sorcha and Shep had been living in each other’s pockets and Sorcha had actually taken to helping Shep out at the office, though he was working in collaboration with S.I.S. a lot more. Of course, Heather had been shown the door not too long after Sorcha was ready to admit that she and Shep were actually together.
And Lulu, she adored Shep and he was excellent with her. He didn’t shy away from any role and was very protective of her, sometimes even from her own mother.
Wallace had been sentenced to thirty years after evidence of conspiracy to commit multiple homicides was corroborated by Eric and by Booth. Lacie had given her evidence, but hadn’t been there at the sentencing with Ryder and the other S.I.S. men. She had worked with a therapist and had processed what had happened to her and learned how to channel that torment into her work.
She loved the privacy and security she got at Ryder’s place in her dome and couldn’t imagine working anywhere else.
‘Are you listening?’ Sorcha asked her. ‘We have to coordinate.’
‘We will,’ Lacie said, still fixated on Ryder. ‘All that matters is that we’re joined with the men we love at the end of the day, right?’
Sorcha reached over the table to pat her hand. ‘You have a lot to learn about wedding planning. Thank goodness you have me.’
‘Thank goodness,’ Lacie said, but her thoughts were on Ryder.
She was thankful that she had him and that no matter what came at them, they survived it. The positive thing they could take from all of the trauma was that every time adversity came for them, they grew stronger. Their lives were one, entwined as one, and she wouldn’t have it any other way.
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A woman walks into a bar...
Explicit Instruction
Stranded, Flick seeks salvation. Instead, she finds herself living in a nightmare, under threat of physical and sexual assault, but Flick can see no way out.
Yet, an unexpected reprieve comes in the form of a stranger; a looming silhouette more terrifying than the evil that captured
her. She learns that danger has an alias, Rushe. Abrupt, crude, and domineering he becomes her only hope for survival.
Stolen away Flick has to rely on Rushe’s instincts to keep her alive. But rescuing her saviour from his own demise changes things... or does it?
Flick entrusts her life to Rushe, but he still cannot bring himself to stand down from red-alert. There’s more going on than Flick understands and Rushe does not intend to give her any of the details.
Freedom becomes a distant memory. The further into the criminal plot she is drawn, the deeper her entanglement with Rushe becomes. Without him, Flick won’t survive, but to him she is nothing more than a liability.
The adventure she started by accident threatens her life and his; then Rushe does something unexpected and Flick knows it’s not only her life she is battling for, it’s her heart as well.
Available now on Amazon
While she’s playing the rush... he’s on tilt...
Explicit Detail
Integrating Flick into his life has given Rushe a new priority, to keep his woman where he wants her – safe and in his bed. But saving women who have no hope is a part of who he is, and it doesn’t take long for the next job to seek them out.
Rushe knows the rules, but Flick has never played the game from this side of the table before. Working in parallel, our couple go undercover to expose the crucial details of an intrigue that sinks deeper than they could have predicted.
Ready to get her hands dirty, Flick wades in, relishing the challenge. Except danger closes in on her from all sides, and Rushe has his own cards to play. They have to learn to work together before the job drives them apart.
Sleight Mistake (Stone Investigations Book 2) Page 27