by Kira Blakely
“Fine, whatever, don’t tell me. I don’t care. Just please, let me use the phone to contact my mother. I need to make sure she’s okay.”
“Contact your mother? Or contact Marino and give him my whereabouts?”
“You’re kidding, right? He obviously knows your damn whereabouts,” I snapped. “We just got shot at on the beach. If we hadn’t, I’d still have my damn phone. But I don’t, and I need to phone my mom.”
Logan gestured for me to go ahead, and I hopped out of my seat, or tried to at least, my jelly legs wobbling. I nearly collapsed but steadied myself on the arm of the chair, then wobbled over to the phone. I lifted it and punched in Mom’s cell number, then held it to my ear.
Nothing.
Literally nothing.
“What’s wrong?” Logan asked.
“It’s dead,” I replied.
“Not possible,” he growled and thundered over to my side. He took it from me, almost gently, and punched a couple of buttons before placing it against his ear. His anger deepened. “Fuck! What the hell is going on around here?”
I bit my lip, anxiety building in my gut. “You don’t think… No, it can’t be.”
“What?”
“You don’t think Marino’s doing it, do you? That he planned all of this? The night we blacked out, your phone went missing, and we came back here and the phone here was dead.”
“Fuck!” Logan slammed the phone back into its holder and charged over to a set of drawers in the corner.
“Easy,” I said. I’d never seen him like this. He was bubbling with energy, but this time, it wasn’t the cold power; it was raw and fiery with potential, a bomb ticking down to zero.
Logan wrenched open a drawer in the desk next to the bed and drew out a cell. “It needs to be charged,” he said. “Christ, I didn’t think this would go down before the seven days were up. I thought I had time.” He drew out a charger, plugged it in, then hooked up the cell. “It’s a burner phone. Once it has a charge, we can use it to call whoever we need.”
“Thank you,” I replied.
The anger still hadn’t abated, though. He paced back and forth, back and forth.
“There’s so much I don’t understand,” I said. “I— I’ve researched you before in reference to other pieces I’ve written for the Business Breakdown. I know a little about what you do, Logan. Luxury planes and real estate, right?”
“Jets,” he said.
“So how does a person like you get involved with a man like Marino? Is it something from your past? Oh my god, is he the best friend who—”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” He continued pacing, ruffling his hair every now and again, and avoiding my gaze entirely.
“Logan, look at me. Please, just look at me.”
He didn’t.
“Fine, I’ll say it without you looking. I really care about you, even though I shouldn’t. I know that whatever’s going on is probably not your fault. I just… I wish I could help. Honestly, I wish I’d met you under a different set of circumstances.”
“Save it,” he said. “Save your energy. This isn’t over yet. Whatever or whoever you are, Katie, the feds will sort it out. Once the phone is back up, we’ll get this shit sorted out.”
I pressed my lips together and lowered my head. Talking to him now wasn’t going to get either of us anywhere, but man, this blew. Watching Logan stress out elicited a reaction in me which was totally unexpected.
I wanted to get up, walk over to him, wrap my arms around him, and just hold him still. Not that I could—he was massive—but I still craved his touch even after all of this. After my betrayal and his anger, and all the complications in between.
“Logan, I—”
A bang rang out at the other end of the bungalow and I stiffened. Logan quit pacing and listened intently. He sprang into action, rushing back to the desk and producing a gun. He checked the safety and moved to the entrance of the safe room, looking back at me. “You stay here,” he said, then slipped out.
I counted to ten in my head, then hurried for the exit too.
If I could get to the main resort building, I could get help, phone my mother and check on her, and call the authorities. Logan might think he had this all handled, but I wasn’t about to sit around with my thumb up my ass and let him do everything.
He was the hot target. He couldn’t go anywhere without being shot at, but I could sneak through the dark and make my way there without being seen. Besides, it wasn’t as if he wanted me around anymore. God, why does that actually hurt? Either way, I’d never been the type to sit back when things needed to be done.
What would my mom have done in this situation? Taken it into her own hands.
I hurried out of the safe room and through to the living room, my heart sitting under my voice box. You can do this. You can do this.
I punched in the alarm code I’d spied him using earlier, and it beeped loudly. I winced, but unlocked the back door and slid it open. I stepped out, then stopped and gasped. A figure moved up the path toward me, hips swaying ever so slightly. The woman moved into the circle of light on the back steps, and my stomach whooped with joy.
“Oh thank god,” I whispered. “Magneto!”
“Agnete,” the woman said and tapped her name badge on her uniform. “I come check you all right? Phone not works when front desk try call.”
“Yes, all the phones are down. It’s really frustrating.” I looked past her, but no deadly shapes rose from behind the fence or the bushes near the border of the property. “I— Thank god, you’re here. Look, come inside and talk to Logan. He’ll want news of this.”
“No,” she said.
“No? I don’t understand. You’re not here to help with the communication errors or whatever?”
“Ja.”
“Ja?”
“Enough of this.” Agnete moved quick as a flash. One second she was in front of me, the next, her arm looped across my throat, and her hand clamped over my mouth and nose.
Not alcohol! Chloroform!
I kicked, tried screaming, but she was freakishly strong. I reached back and grabbed hold of something sharp, ripped it from her body, and dropped it. There was a sharp crack, followed by pain at the back of my head. My arms and legs went limp.
The palms and sand faded out of existence.
Chapter 14
Katie
A cat with a metronome sat on top of the piano in the corner. It was smug, grinning from ear to ear with freakishly human teeth.
“You should probably wake up,” it said, in a volley of meows to my ears. “You should probably wake up.” Its black and white paw reached up and dragged the needle of the metronome back. The ticking picked up the pace. “If you don’t wake up, you’ll regret it, you know.”
“Excuse me for not taking the talking cat seriously,” I replied. “As you can see, I’m in the process of getting a tan. If you don’t mind.” We were outside under the sun, now, and all the palm trees leered at my one-piece with the slit down the front. Damn Sam and her choice in swimwear.
Sam? Sam? Mom!
“Wake up, Katie. Wake up, Jinx. They need you.”
My eyelids snapped open in the dark, and I struggled to sit up. My head screamed at the movement, and I groaned softly and quit moving.
What the hell? What the fuck?
I scanned my broken memory for an answer, and terror clasped my heart in its fist.
Idiot me. I’d tried going for help. The waitress, or whatever she was, had been on the back step. She’d hit me and now I was— I tried moving my arms. No dice. I was bound at the wrists behind my back. A wad of cloth blocked my mouth, and it was taped over too.
Fuck, fuck, fuck. Abducted. That bitch knocked me out and brought me… where? Where am I?
I opened my eyes wide and scanned the shapes in the room. A sliver of light entered between a set of curtains. There was a clock ticking somewhere above me. I was on a bed. Door to my right. A hotel room, maybe?
If I scream
ed through the gag, no one would hear, and would it make a damn difference? They’d probably taken me to the middle of nowhere. I tested my bindings with my fingers. Fishing line, knots I couldn’t feel. Fuck. This wasn’t good.
I struggled nevertheless, tried sitting up. They’d left my feet unbound, at least.
Footsteps thudded up to the other side of the door and I stilled again, listening, sweating.
The door handle turned, a creak of the hinges followed, and in walked the Danish girl pushing a hotel trolley. She was framed by light from the room beyond, and I caught a glimpse of a few armchairs, a TV, and several burly guys wearing leather jackets and sunglasses. The view was cut off by the closing of the door.
“Ah,” Agnete said. “You’re awake.”
I mumbled against the gag—a shocked exclamation. She didn’t have an accent anymore. In fact, her English was flawless.
She walked up beside me, clicked on a lamp, and half-blinded me in the glare.
I rammed my streaming eyes shut.
“I’ll take the gag off if you promise not to scream,” Agnete said. “I mean, no one will hear anyway, but I can’t stand the aggravation.” I focused on her words, keeping my eyes shut. She had a tiny accent, but it wasn’t Danish. Italian, maybe? “You promise not to scream if I take it off?”
I nodded and opened my eyes again. They adjusted to the light, but the pain in my forehead didn’t quit.
Agnete leaned forward and smiled at me. She took the edge of the tape between her thumb and forefinger, then ripped.
I let out a whimper, muffled by the gag.
“Good,” she said.
I spat the cloth out and worked my jaw while staring defiance up at her.
“Very good,” she continued. “I’ve let you take it out now because it’s time for you to eat. You’ll be no use to us dead. Yet.”
“Who are you, really?” I asked.
Agnete laughed. “Who are you really?” she mimicked me in a squeak.
I don’t sound that ridiculous, damn. She’s a savage.
“You don’t need to know who I am,” she replied. “You need to eat and get your strength back for the little rendezvous.”
“With who?”
“Your lover, of course,” Agnete said and removed the silver lid on the tray. She’d brought me a full breakfast, complete with eggs and bacon. My heart flip-flopped. It reminded me of my meal with Logan.
“I’m not hungry.”
“You’ll eat or you’ll be force fed,” she said. “Do you think I like being here? I’m not a babysitter. This is below my station, but Marino doesn’t trust anyone else with this job so I’m here. Just because I am, doesn’t mean I have to enjoy it.” All of that came out in a half-mutter of derision.
Naturally, I was here on Marino’s orders. “Listen, I don’t know why you’re doing this. I missed the deadline? Is that it? I can tell you what you need to know.” I’d lie. I’d do anything to save myself, my mother, and now… Logan. God, was he all right?
“What I need to know?” Agnete laughed and cut one of the eggs in half. The yolk was rock-hard. “I need to know nothing except that you have eaten before the meeting. And if you ask any more stupid questions, I’ll put the tape back on, cut a hole in it for a straw, and feed you the rest of your food as a liquid.”
The thought of liquefied hard egg yolks put my questions on the back burner. I ate from the fork and chewed mechanically.
She was taking me to a meeting with Logan, that much was clear. A rendezvous. Which meant that Logan was still all right. That gave me some relief, at least. A lot, actually. The thought of him in danger brought on the urge to scream. Similar to the feeling I had when I thought of my mother in danger.
Oh god, am I in that deep with him? Two days of touching, kissing, talking, spending time together, and this is the result? Is it because we were thrown into this crazy situation together?
Agnete fed me like I was a baby, pausing between mouthfuls to wipe my lips and the corners of my mouth. She allowed me water from a bottle, and half-drowned me with it, grinning as the water spilled down my chin. “Such a messy girl. Don’t they teach you Americans anything?”
“You sound American,” I said.
She slapped me upside the head, and pain sprouted in my temple. “Keep your opinions to yourself, little bitch.”
I bit down on the inside of my cheek and ignored the wetness spreading down my chest, and Logan’s shirt. “I can’t ask anything?”
“Is that a question?” Agnete laughed and rose from the edge of the bed. “I’m happy to put the gag back in. Marino has insisted you must be delivered to the meeting unharmed, though I would personally love to rip that tongue from your pretty head.”
“Please,” I said. “I’ll be of more use to you if I have at least some information about what’s going to happen. I could, I dunno, I could put on a fainting act or whatever.”
Agnete considered me, her head cocked to one side and her dark hair falling from her bun. She tucked it back into place and clicked her tongue. “You are to meet Logan Wright on the beach. He will come to fetch you because you are so precious to him.”
“What then?”
“Then? Either the billionaire gives Marino what he wants, or you and your mother are shot. And the dog too.” Agnete puffed out her chest, her grin wicked, clearly satisfied with herself. “There are a few hours before you must—” A knock rattled the door, and the woman’s self-satisfaction disappeared, replaced by cold, hard rage. Apparently, she didn’t like being interrupted.
She charged to the exit, ripped open the door, and spoke softly to someone on the other side. I couldn’t make out what they were saying, and I couldn’t have given a fuck.
Kill me? Kill Mom. And Butch. If Logan doesn’t do what they want. And what guarantee is there that they won’t do it anyway? I have to get out of here. I have to warn Mom and Logan.
I scooched to the edge of the bed, swung my legs over, and stood.
Agnete was still at the door, her voice raised ever so slightly now as she jabbered in a language I couldn’t understand.
I eyed the tray. There was a knife, not too sharp, but it was at least something, lying to one side of the plate, the tray covering the remains of my midnight snack. Or was it breakfast? God, I had no idea how long I’d been asleep.
I turned around and fumbled with my bound hands, fingers searching. They closed around the end of the knife and I held it fast, then tottered back to the bed and belly flopped onto it.
“Idiot!” Agnete slammed the door shut. I quickly rolled onto my back, trying to look normal, comfortable. The woman didn’t seem to notice. She stormed over to the trolley and kicked one of the wheels. “If I want anything done, I must do it myself. Idiots. Idiots!” She switched her gaze to me, narrowing her eyes. “You will stay here and stay quiet until I’m ready for you.” She grabbed the piece of tape from the bedside table, then smoothed it back into place on my lips. I didn’t squirm beneath her icy fingers.
“You had better be worth the trouble,” Agnete said, and clicked off the lamp, plunging me back into darkness. She took the trolley and stormed out of the room, slapped the door closed behind her. I listened for the click of the lock, but it didn’t come. They thought they had me right where they wanted me.
Well, I wasn’t about to take this lying down. I wouldn’t let them hurt any of the people I cared about, Logan included.
I set to work, sawing the blunt edge of the knife against the fishing line.
Chapter 15
Logan
I marched back down the hall, anger welling in the pit of my stomach. I’d checked the perimeter of the bungalow, but there’d been nothing. No sight of Marino’s men. A quick walk down the path toward the main resort building had revealed nothing either.
Literally, nothing.
There were no people manning the front desk. The lights were on but nobody was home, so to speak. The entire time I’d been out there, I’d been on edge, waiting fo
r the gunshot, the men to rise from the shadows and take aim, fire. But nothing had happened.
The island was dead.
I made for the safe room, silently raging. Fuck, if I’d known this would happen I would’ve set myself up in the safe room early. I would have… what? Not saved Katie? That was out of the question.
Even when I’d been out there, trying to assess the situation, my thoughts had been back here, on her, waiting for me. Scared. I shouldn’t care. I shouldn’t want to be around her, but I couldn’t fucking help myself.
I entered the bedroom and walked toward the closet, but froze, halfway there. The safe room door was open. Hadn’t I closed it on the way out?
“Katie?” I called out, her name on my lips bringing back images of us together, bending toward each other, around each other. I shoved those thoughts aside and strode through the closet into the room. It was empty. “Katie?” I yelled again and hurried to the small attached bathroom.
I knocked on the closed door, anger turning to nerves. The first I’d had in fucking years. Actual nerves. Christ! Everything had changed because of this woman, and I’d met her a couple days ago.
“Katie! Open the door or I’ll—” I turned the knob and the door swung inward. The bathroom was totally empty. Lights off. Fuck. She wasn’t in here, which meant she was either somewhere in the bungalow, or she had left.
A cellphone ringtone traveled from the other room—“Congratulations” by Post Malone—and I jumped. Shit, I’d forgotten about the charging second phone I’d left in here. I’d switched it on before I’d run out, leaving it to charge.
If it was ringing, it had enough juice to make a call. I rushed over to it and snatched it up, dragging my thumb across the screen and answered. “Who’s this?” I asked.
Heavy breathing answered me.
“Speak, goddammit. I don’t have time for this.” I had to find her before it was too late. Before she did something equal parts idiotic and brave.
“How are you this evening, Mr. Wright?” Marino’s throaty wheeze crackled down the line.