by Karen Kirst
“That’s not it.”
The edginess he’d sensed in her yesterday and today had become amplified since their return from the shop. It went deeper than the threat against them. Deeper than worry about her mom. If he had to guess, he’d say he was the problem. They’d been growing closer, and she’d hit the brakes. Thrown up an invisible wall.
He wouldn’t lie. It hurt. But her comfort and well-being were his priority, and he was determined to make this waiting game as bearable as possible. If that meant passing the days in separate areas of the house or asking Julian to bring steaks every night, so be it.
Crossing his arms, Julian watched as Cade unpacked the items.
“This situation would be difficult for anyone,” he said. “Add your history into the mix, and it becomes even more complicated.”
Cade shuffled cartons of milk and juice around on the shelf. Complicated? That was one way of putting it.
“Oh. Hi, Tori.”
At Julian’s soft greeting, Cade closed the fridge. She hovered in the arched opening, pretty in a sleeveless blue dress with raised white stitching along the knee-length hem. Below that, her legs were smooth and pale. He remembered that she used to complain about her fair complexion and the need to constantly pile on sunscreen. Round-toed flats completed the look.
Her smile was directed at Julian. “Something smells delicious. What did you find at the grocery store?”
Motioning her over, he flipped the lid on the top container. “Not grocery store. Cade sent me on a mission to find the best steaks in Sneads Ferry.”
Tori took an appreciative sniff. “If they taste as good as they look, we’re in for a treat. You’re going to stay, aren’t you?”
Over her head, Cade shot Julian an I-told-you-so look. Not missing a beat, Julian grinned.
“Of course.”
While Cade gathered utensils and poured chilled tea into glasses, Julian and Tori transferred the food to plates. They gathered around the breakfast table and, after a brief prayer of thanks, dug into the meal. He didn’t offer much in the way of conversation. Instead, he was content to listen as Tori peppered Julian first with questions about his childhood in Hawaii, and then about his career as a Special Forces Marine. His accounts were limited to humorous mishaps involving his fellow Marines and interesting aspects of his initial training. The crowd-friendly version of his job.
When they’d eaten their fill, Tori surprised Cade with a light touch on his hand. “Thank you for the meal, Cade. It was wonderful.”
“I couldn’t grill them myself. This was the next best option.” He waved his fork at Julian. “Besides, all I did was give him the list. He’s the one who picked up everything.”
“I’m just glad you didn’t forget about dessert,” Julian piped up. After carrying his plate to the sink, he pulled a pink-and-white box from the fridge. “Crème horns anyone?”
Tori’s gaze centered on Cade. “You remembered?”
“Fresh from your favorite bakery.”
Her quick smile lifted his spirits. “Chocolate or vanilla filling?”
“Some of each.”
When Julian placed the box in the middle of the round table, Tori didn’t waste any time claiming one of the spiral pastries. At her groan of pleasure, Julian laughed and gave him a thumbs-up.
“No one else makes crème horns like this,” she enthused.
Without thinking, Cade reached over and swept the powdered sugar off her upper lip with his thumb. She stilled, her lips parting and eyes deepening to pine-needle green. Was she remembering their kiss?
He stood abruptly, stacked her plate atop his and busied himself loading the dishwasher. Remember your goal, McMann. Make her comfortable. She needs you to be her friend, not the man who used to love her.
Used to?
Cade’s heart slowed. Sweat beaded his upper lip. A glass slipped from his fingers and crashed to the floor, splintering into jagged pieces.
Tori gathered the broom and the dustpan. “You didn’t cut yourself, did you?”
“No. Just lost my grip.” Taking them from her, he suggested she and Julian choose a movie they could all watch.
When they’d gone into the living room, he stood without moving, crushing the broom handle in his grip.
Somewhere along the way, the line between past and present had disappeared. He’d assumed his feelings for Tori had been neatly filed away under the file of immature youth experience. A hard lesson learned—real-life romance wasn’t like the sappy movies Tori had convinced him to watch with her.
He’d made a tactical error.
He’d fallen in love with Victoria James a second time. Not the shy, sweet girl she’d been at eighteen. The strong, independent, unshakable woman she’d become.
And once again, he was going to suffer for it.
EIGHTEEN
Something was bothering Cade.
Lounging on the far end of the couch, his smiles at the movie’s jokes were perfunctory at best. There was an odd tension in him, a grimness in his posture that filled her with cold foreboding. Tori had been glad for Julian’s presence during supper because it helped distract her from the swirling attraction between Cade and herself. Now she was counting down the minutes until she could question him alone.
What exactly had put that fearsome intensity in his eyes?
Could he have received a text from Deputy Claxton? Bad news he was reluctant to share with her?
Tori felt his gaze light on her, more specifically her bobbing foot.
“Nervous about something?” he murmured.
She forced herself to still. “Nothing in particular.”
Looking over at the armchair Julian had claimed, she noticed him typing into his phone, brows snapped together in concentration.
“Sorry, guys.” He rose and pocketed the device. “I have to go. Duty calls.”
Cade paused the film. “More training?”
“If you don’t hear from me in the next few days, you’ll know it’s the real deal.”
The glint in his eyes reminded Tori of her dad. He’d had that same expression right before a mission—a puzzling mix of resignation and anticipation. Although she didn’t know the Special Forces Marine that well, she liked him because he was Cade’s friend and he’d helped her, a stranger, with no expectation of anything in return. She didn’t like to think of him in harm’s way.
“You’re in my prayers, Julian,” she told him.
Surprise lit his dark eyes. “Thanks, Tori.”
Cade slapped him on the back. “Mine, too, brother.”
When he’d gone, Cade rearmed the system and turned to her. “I’m not in the mood to finish the movie. Do you mind watching the rest without me?”
“What are you going to do?”
“I’ll be in my office for a while.” He indicated a door opposite the guest bathroom. “My laptop’s in there.”
“What’s on your mind, Cade? Have you heard something about the case that you’re afraid to tell me?”
His eyes widened. “No, I wouldn’t keep information like that from you.”
“Have I done something?”
“No.” His gaze cut away, and he kneaded the back of his neck. “You’ve been the perfect houseguest.”
“But you’re eager to return to your life,” she surmised. He’d never hurt her by saying so, though. “I understand. You’ve lived the bachelor’s lifestyle for years, and now you’re saddled with me twenty-four-seven.”
He swallowed hard. “Tori, I...”
“You can tell me. I won’t break.”
When his gaze met hers, a storm churned in the blue depths. “I guess you’re right. I’m used to having time to myself.”
Tori fought to keep her expression schooled. After all, she’d asked for the truth, hadn’t she? “I’m praying this ends soon.”
He grimaced. “We’ll both be able to resume our normal routines.”
She jerked her thumb over her shoulder. “I’m going to take a bath and go to bed.”
“Good night, Tori.”
“Good night.”
She climbed the stairs with leaden feet. Being an unwanted burden was the worst feeling.
That wasn’t true. The worst was knowing Cade had stuck by her side out of a sense of duty, and his patience was wearing thin.
After a long bath, Tori dressed in her soft pants and a T-shirt and entered the bedroom. Quiet blanketed the house. Spying her phone and earbuds on the pillow, she crossed to the bed. Music usually lulled her to sleep. Hopefully it would do the trick tonight and soothe her troubled spirit. Stretching across the wide bed, she was reaching for the phone when she happened to glance up.
There, in the mirror opposite, was the reflection of the man who haunted her days and nights.
Before she could react, Aaron was upon her, pinning her arms to prevent her from striking out.
* * *
She screamed for Cade.
Aaron’s gloved hand came down on her mouth, crushing her lips against her teeth. His grin was sickly triumphant. “Your boyfriend won’t be coming to your rescue this time.”
Battling the numbing effects of sheer terror, Tori struggled to get free. What had he done with Cade? Why hadn’t the alarm triggered?
The sudden sharp sting in her neck came as a terrible shock. Shoving her to the bed, he loomed over her, brandishing a needle and syringe. “You’ll soon find, Tori, that you don’t have enough strength to walk on your own. Weakness will set in, and I’ll carry you out to my car. You won’t have the strength to fight me or attempt to escape.”
Tori scrambled to the far edge. Already, her limbs didn’t want to cooperate. “What did you do to Cade?”
“I didn’t drug him. Didn’t have to. I knocked him out and trussed him up like a prize steer.” Placing the syringe on the bedside table, he stalked around the bed and, producing a strip of cloth from his pocket, attempted to gag her.
Tori shifted and did her best to avoid his hands. She was growing woozy, her movements uncoordinated. He gripped her chin in a punishing hold. “It’s useless to resist, you know.” He ran his fingers across her temple, past her ear and under her chin. “So beautiful. A pity you have to die, but I have my orders.”
Moaning, Tori closed her eyes and shook her head. This couldn’t be happening.
Cade, where are you?
Aaron got the gag in place. Drained of her energy, he maneuvered her into a sitting position and tied it off. Tears of frustration pricked her eyelids. She was like a limp rag doll as he thrust the covers aside and lifted her into his arms.
“We’re going for a ride, Tori.” His gray eyes glittered with menacing promise. “Don’t worry, you’ll be asleep for most of it.”
Tori angled her head away from his chest, her bleary gaze searching for Cade as they descended the stairs and entered the dim living room. A garbled sound startled her. Aaron stopped. Shone the flashlight onto the figure laid out on the couch, wrists and ankles bound with thick rope, mouth gagged like hers.
Cade.
When his burning gaze collided with hers, a warning rumbled through his chest. He struggled to free himself. Relief that he was alive seized her, followed by the terrible knowledge that this was likely the last time she’d see him.
With the unknown drug in her system, she didn’t have the strength to fight her captor. And Cade wasn’t going to be able to follow them.
Aaron’s chuckle scraped over her raw nerves. “Take a long look, McMann. You won’t be in the same room with her again.” Approaching the couch, he shined the beam on the coffee table. “Keep that phone handy. You’ll be receiving a video from us later today. One last message from your beloved.”
Cade’s struggles intensified as Aaron strode from the room. Tori couldn’t stop the tears from falling as she was placed on the back seat of a car, forced to lie on her side, her view restricted by the seats. As the car lurched into motion, her lids became heavier, her thoughts increasingly disjointed.
The one truth she clung to was also her greatest regret. Cade would never know that her love for him had never died.
* * *
The edges of his vision dimmed as the engine’s purr faded away, and he was left with ominous silence and the knowledge that Tori was at the mercy of a killer. The absolute terror in her wide green eyes strangled him. Her initial scream from her bedroom echoed in his ears.
Panic threatened.
He choked down the destructive emotions trying to paralyze him. He’d be no good to her if he lost it.
He tried to think of a tool he could use to cut these ropes. After Aaron had ambushed him as he’d left his study, he’d divested him of the knife he kept in his pocket. His mind empty of a solution, he tugged and twisted his hands, ignoring the discomfort of his already tender wrists. He tried to sit but tumbled to the floor instead, bumping his head against the coffee table on the way down.
That’s it! The coffee table was made of wood, with an insert of thin glass. If he could break it...
Squirming onto his knees, he brought his bound hands down on the glass. Over and over. Desperation rattled through his chest and escaped in a muffled roar. He hit it again, pain registering through the haze as the glass splintered into a thousand pieces.
He located a jagged piece jutting from the corner and worked to cut the ropes. Although aware he was cutting himself in the process, he continued at a feverish pace. Minutes passed. Sweat dripped from his forehead.
And then, suddenly, he was free.
He yanked the gag off, seized the phone and dialed 911. Once he’d explained the emergency, he demanded to be connected to Claxton or Avery. He got Avery.
“You have to convince the doctors to wean Heath out of that coma,” he said.
“Whoa, slow down. What’s happened?”
“Are you at the hospital?” He tried to loosen the ropes around his ankles.
“Yes, why?”
“Aaron bypassed my security system. He’s got Tori,” he said, panting. He dragged himself across the floor to the kitchen, pulled himself up at the sink and located a knife.
“Are you hurt?”
“I’m fine. Listen, our only hope of finding Tori is to wake Heath and get him to tell us who else is working with him. He has to know where they were planning on taking her.”
“Cade,” he began heavily.
“Don’t you dare tell me it’s not doable.”
“Even if they agreed, which I doubt they would, there’s no guarantee he’d tell us what we need to know.”
Cade bent and sliced the ropes. Flicked on a light. Splatters of blood formed a trail on the tile. His hands were slick with it. At least it was his, not Tori’s.
“I’m coming there.”
Before Avery could protest, Cade ended the call, grabbed the sedan’s keys and tore out of the garage the second the door cleared the car’s roof.
He couldn’t get their last conversation out of his head. His stupid, stupid decision to let her assume she was nothing more than an obligation, one he was growing tired of.
Cade slammed the wheel with his fist, a shaft of discomfort traveling up his arm.
Instead of protecting her, he’d protected himself from further hurt.
And now the woman he loved more than life itself was in the enemy’s hands.
NINETEEN
Aaron lied. Tori didn’t fall asleep. She spent the car ride—characterized by stops and starts, curves and a series of baffling turns—battling nausea and imagining what horror was to befall her.
Where are you, Lord? Have You abandoned me? I know I’m not supposed to rely on feelings. I’m supposed to rely on Your holy Word and the promise You won’t ever leav
e me or forsake me. Help me to remember that.
“Hey.”
Aaron’s voice pulled her from her thoughts.
“I’m ten minutes out.” Silence. Then a sadistic chuckle. “Yeah, the system was a piece of cake to override. McMann didn’t know what hit him. You should’ve seen his reaction when I carted her out of there.”
Tori squeezed her eyes shut, reliving those final moments. If only she’d realized in time that he was the only man for her, that Cade was not only her best friend...he was her perfect match. The man she wanted by her side for always. She’d thrown it away at eighteen, too naive, too blind to see that his love was a priceless gift.
“You have the belt ready?”
Belt? What was he talking about?
Who was he talking to?
Soon, the mastermind behind these attacks would be unmasked and his ultimate goal revealed. Tori braced herself to meet the person whose hatred of Cade had spawned insanity.
* * *
Cade ignored the gasps and wary glances he received as he burst out of the stairwell on Heath’s floor and stormed past the elevators and rooms. A nurse at the nurses’ station spotted him and, taking in the state of his clothes and hands, bloody from the myriad of cuts, moved into his path.
“Sir, can I help you?”
“No.”
At the end of the hall, Deputy Avery’s eyes rounded. When Cade sidestepped the nurse and continued toward Heath’s room, Avery told her he’d handle it.
“You look like you could use medical attention,” he said, blocking the entrance.
“Is he awake? Did you talk to the doctors?”
“What happened to your hands, Cade?”
“Minor cuts. They can wait.” His heart thundered in his chest. “Tori’s running out of time. We have to talk to Heath.”
He was their only hope of finding her before Aaron and his cohorts made good on their threats.
Avery shifted his stance, his hand resting on his firearm. “His doctor said it’s too early to wean him off the meds.”