by Lea Hart
Courtney stood in front of the door that led to the house and sucked in a breath. “Wayne…”
“I don’t like the sound of that.”
“I didn’t notice that there’s a cipher lock on this side.”
“What does that mean in English?”
“We’re screwed because we need the combination to release the lock.”
“Shitballs, that is bad news.”
“Let me see if there is a way to bypass it.” She pulled out her phone and noticed she had no service. “Check your phone and tell me if you have any service.”
“Why wouldn’t I? It’s not like we’re in a bunker that blocks all the signals.” He pulled his phone out and let out a little shriek. “Not one little bar.”
“This is bad.”
“In more ways than we can count.”
“The good news is that Lisa knows where we are, and when we don’t return home, she’ll know to send someone over.”
“That’s not good news since we don’t want to be caught in Borden’s creepy basement.”
“It’ll be fine. I just need a couple of minutes to come up with a solid story.”
“Well, it looks like we’re going to have plenty of time since we’re stuck, so make sure you come up with a really good one.”
“If Borden wakes up and comes down, we’ll just tell him we heard a noise and were worried.”
“Do you think he’ll be pissed?”
“Probably irritated.”
“What do you think those pictures mean in that last room?”
“It could be a cold case he’s obsessed with solving, or an outline for a new book, or…”
“The woman looked a lot like you.”
“Maybe that’s why he’s been so interested in me.”
Wayne clapped his hands together and leaned back. “You remind him of someone important in his life.”
“Maybe.” Turning, she walked back down the stairs “Let’s hang out in the sex room since it’s the least creepy room and has chairs.”
“Good idea, but you know those chairs weren’t designed for comfort.”
“Then we can sit on the bed.”
“Hope the sheets have been laundered.”
“Eeew, me too.”
Wayne walked down the stairs and took Courtney’s hand. “I’m really proud of you because you’ve kept your calm, despite the pickle we’re in.”
“I was surrounded by major drama growing up, and one thing I learned in the wilds of Beverly Hills is that there are few scandals that can’t be overcome.”
“That’s a very healthy outlook.”
“Thank you.” She opened the door to the bondage room and flipped on the light. “It’s not less shocking the second time you see it.”
“It wasn’t shocking the first time I saw it.”
Collapsing on a bed that was covered in black silk, she lay back and stared at the mirror that hung above her. “This is not a flattering view.”
“Forget that and start concocting a story that we can sell to whoever discovers us.”
“If I had a glass of wine or a margarita, this process would be so much easier.”
“Seems your fairy godmother is not off duty because there’s a little bar cart in the corner.”
“Make us a little something then and let’s enjoy our last moments of freedom.”
“Cheers to that,” he said over his shoulder before walking over to the bar cart.
Courtney closed her eyes and hoped the tale she was about to weave was going to be good enough to keep them out of hot water.
Because she knew in no uncertain terms that orange wasn’t her color.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Caid walked out of the team room and headed toward his truck and did his best to ignore the pain radiating through his knee. The landing he’d stuck on the last HALO jump wasn’t textbook by any means, and he hoped like hell the way his leg had twisted wasn’t going to be a long-term problem.
Not that he planned on letting it stop him either way.
Twinges and nagging pain were part of a SEAL’s life and, truth be told, he didn’t mind it all that much because it told him in no uncertain terms he’d been in the fight and given it his all. Which is all he ever wanted.
Pulling out his phone, he realized that wasn’t an accurate statement anymore, because what he really wanted was for his woman to pick up her goddamn phone. Two calls going directly to voicemail wasn’t making him feel real comfortable, and he decided if she didn’t pick up his next call, it was time to invade her privacy and check his locator ap. Hearing his name, he turned and saw Ace jogging in his direction and knew the look on his face spelled trouble. “What’s up?”
Ace skidded to a stop and shook his head. “Shit went sideways.”
“How?”
“Just got a call from Lisa and…”
“Fucking spit it out.”
“Seems Courtney did a little recon at Borden’s earlier with Wayne and she’s not home yet.”
“I knew she was up to something,” he bit out. Bending over, he shoved his fists into his knees and did his best not to let out a primal scream.
“Lisa would’ve gone, but Carissa busted her foot, and she was stuck at the hospital.”
He pushed himself back up. “Are you telling me that my woman is MIA and the last known location was the sadistic fuck of a writer’s house?”
“In a nutshell.”
Colt walked up and looked between them. “What did I miss?”
“Need to hunt down my woman. Apparently, she’s crazier than I thought and decided that being a detective was a good use of her free time.”
“No way,” Colt said before letting out a bark of laughter. “I thought you were going to forbid that shit.”
“And since nothing like that ever works, I didn’t, you asshole,” Caid barked.
Colt took a step back and held up his hands. “Don’t bite my head off.”
“Sorry. Download all the intel you have, Ace, so I can make a fucking plan.”
“According to Lisa, they planned on slipping Borden some kind of sedative and then reconning the basement, so they could be sure there were no dead bodies.”
“Your girl has guts; got to give her credit for that,” Colt commented.
“No, I don’t need to give her credit for anything since that’s the most ill-advised plan I’ve ever heard of.”
“Still, it’s kind of cool she wanted to make sure bad shit wasn’t happening.”
“She’s a children’s librarian; it’s not her fucking job to be near bad shit.” He glared at both men and checked the locator ap he’d installed. Hitting the icon with Courtney’s face, he counted slowly to ten and prayed his heart didn’t beat out of his chest before he had her in his arms. When there was no response, he let out a breath. “Bet there’s no signal in the basement.”
“You tag her car?” Colt asked.
“Of course, I’m not a damn amateur.” He hit the icon for her car and watched it ping at Borden’s address.
Good news…he knew where she was. Bad news…Borden was probably with her.
God willing, whatever she’d slipped the writer was still in effect, and he could get her and Wayne out of there before the sitch went tits up. “Anyone feel like doing a little snatch and grab?”
“Count me in,” Colt said immediately. “I saw a hatch next to the back of the house the other day that I’m betting leads to the basement. We can breach that in less than five seconds, and no one will be the wiser.”
“Perfect, thanks, man.”
“It’s gonna cost you a real nice steak dinner with all the fixings, though.”
“Done.” Caid slung his bag in the back of his truck and unlocked the door. “Ace, can you hang with Lisa and feed us any intel that develops?”
“Guessing nothing new is going to pop up because Lisa has been trying to reach them for hours. Why don’t I go and run point?”
“Because if we don’t come back, we ne
ed someone on the outside to notice.”
“Roger that,” Ace responded before slapping Caid on the shoulder. “Keep me updated.”
“Will do,” he responded before jumping in his truck. “Meet you there, Colt.”
“On your six, man.”
Caid turned his ignition on, took another glance at Courtney’s blinking light and told himself she was fine because any other alternative wasn’t acceptable.
***
Every horrific scenario had played across Caid’s mind during his drive across town, and he hoped like hell Courtney wasn’t being held against her will. Not that he thought that was real possible, given the fact that her will was made of steel.
He turned into Borden’s neighborhood, regulated his breathing, and didn’t notice anything out of place. When he spotted Courtney’s little blue Prius parked in front of the house, he told himself it was a good sign.
Sliding his truck into a parking space in front of Courtney’s, he saw Colt’s headlights flash and knew he was going to take a loop around the block. He scanned the front of the house, noticed some lights on, and decided it was a good sign since people who did nasty shit seemed to want to do it in the dark.
He jumped out of his truck, grabbed his kit, and quickly slipped it on. “I’m coming for you, Courtney; hold tight.” Moving through the shadows created by the enormous overgrown trees, he walked along the side of the house and looked through the windows. Nothing out of place in the kitchen and dining room. “So far, so good.”
When he came to the window that looked into the living room, he let out a breath and knew luck was going to be on his side. Because whatever Courtney had given Borden was still in effect. The author was fast asleep in his recliner with a blanket tucked neatly around his shoulders with a glass of water within easy reach.
Pure Courtney.
The woman may have felonious tendencies, but she was a caretaker at heart and sure as shit would want someone to be comfortable when she was up to hinky shit.
Hearing footsteps against the damp grass, he flattened himself against the side of the house and waited. When he saw Colt come into view, he held up his hand in a fist and then pointed to the rear of the house.
Once they were standing in the backyard, Caid adjusted his kit and took a quick survey of their surroundings, letting his senses tune into the normal sounds of the neighborhood. “Sitrep?”
“Quiet,” Colt responded.
“The good kind or the kind that tells you shit is about to happen?”
“Good.”
“Tango is asleep, so the possibility of going through the front door is not out of the question.”
“My recommendation is that we check out the door that leads to the cellar and see if we can breach it.”
“Didn’t think we had those in So Cal.”
“Basement, cellar, dark creepy place under the house, it’s all the same thing, no matter what you call it.”
“Let’s pick the lock and pray that saving my crazy girlfriend doesn’t cost us our Naval careers.”
“Yeah, that would definitely suck.”
Letting out a small chuckle, he appreciated his teammate’s dry sense of humor and followed him to an overgrown tangle of weeds that crept along the back wall of the house. He pulled out his flashlight and kept it low, only illuminating the hatch. “I didn’t notice any telltale signs of an alarm system the other day, did you?”
“No. The windows looked clear of devices, so unless he’s got some kind of high-tech fiber-optics set up, we should be fine.”
“When I ran the scanner the other day, nothing came up, so let’s hope we don’t get a loud as fuck surprise when we breach this door.”
“Word,” Colt said quietly as he cleared the plants away from the wooden cover.
Bending down, Caid pulled the hatch open in one easy motion and grinned when he saw the door behind it had a basic lock. “Bingo.”
“You want me to pick it?” Colt asked.
“I got it.” Making quick work of the lock, he held his breath and opened the door slowly, preparing himself for all hell to break loose. When no alarm went off, he sucked in a breath and nodded to Colt. “Let’s hope the rest of this snatch and grab is easy.”
“Don’t jinx it, man.”
“Copy that,” he replied before taking the stairs slowly. He listened intently and was surprised when he didn’t hear a thing. “Too fucking quiet for my taste.”
“Me too,” Colt added.
Once they hit the hallway, the overhead lights illuminated the area. “Nice feature, hope it doesn’t mean all the doors are rigged.”
Colt slid his gun out and slipped off the safety. “Four closed doors in a basement pretty much guarantees that questionable shit is going on, so let’s just hope none of it requires us letting the local authorities know. Because I do not want to explain how and why we’re down here in the first place.”
“This would be the perfect set for a slasher movie.”
“Appreciate the visual, man.”
“Sorry.”
Going into their formation automatically, Caid took point and opened the first door. “Clear,” he said quietly as he let his eyes run over the pictures. “After we find Court, we need to take another look at that room.”
Colt poked his head in. “He’s working a cold case.”
“Possibly.” They checked the other doors, and Caid decided the guy’s hobbies were not surprising at all.
“Lots of weird shit going on down here,” Colt commented. “Didn’t think taxidermy was all that popular in California.”
“Maybe it’s popular among thriller writers.” Coming to the last door, he sent up a prayer and opened it slowly. “Fuck me,” he said in a whisper as the last of the adrenaline in his body spiked.
“Now, this is what I call a sex room,” Colt said as he walked in. “Kinda makes that room in the Fifty Shades movie look PG.”
Moving silently to the bed, Caid brushed his finger down Courtney’s cheek and watched her eyes flutter open. “Hey, Court.”
“You came.”
“You didn’t think I’d leave you in a creepy-ass basement, did you?”
“Not really, but…”
Wayne rolled over and then stretched. “Are we saved?”
“Yes, the cavalry came,” Courtney commented.
“This is some kind of set-up,” Colt said as he walked around the room. “Did you guys have a couple of drinks?”
“Had to since we were trapped,” Wayne said as he stood. “It was the only thing that kept us from freaking out.” Sashaying over to Colt, he put out his hand. “I’m Wayne and would be happy to have you save me any time.”
“Quit batting your eyes; he doesn’t play for your team,” Caid said as he held his hands out for Courtney.
“I know that,” Wayne called over his shoulder. “I’m just being polite.”
Colt shook Wayne’s hand. “Nice to meet you.”
“He’s so handsome and biiiig,” Wayne sang as he fluttered his hand.
Caid rolled his eyes and put his arm around Courtney’s shoulder. “If you two are ready, I’d like to get the hell out here.”
“Me too,” Colt said quietly. “Because I don’t have a plausible story handy as to why I’m in the sex room of an author.”
“Courtney has at least five, so don’t you worry,” Wayne commented.
Caid let the relief of finding Courtney wash through his body and hoped he didn’t blow his lid before they got home. Turning Courtney so they were facing one another, he tried to suck in the anger and found it wouldn’t stay down. “What the hell were you thinking, woman?”
“I hate when people ask that question. Because, clearly, I was thinking I’d get away with it and never have to explain.”
“Yeah, well, you can kiss that idea goodbye because I need a little enlightenment.”
“Fine,” she responded before slipping her feet into her sandals and then straightening out the sheet covering the bed. “I
will be more than happy to do that when we get home.” Patting his chest, she gave him a bright smile. “Ready whenever you are.”
“Me too,” Wayne chimed. “I’ve done all the detecting I can do and am ready to go home and have a nice bath.”
Caid looked at Colt and closed his eyes for a minute, hoping his brain wouldn’t explode. “I’m going to hold it together until we get home.”
“They’re civilians,” Colt commented. “They had no idea what they were getting into.”
“If only that were true,” he said, pulling Courtney into his side and pressing a kiss to her head. “I’m so fucking pissed.”
“I know,” she said quietly. “But I’m confident that once you hear my perfectly reasonable explanation, you’re going to feel a lot better.”
“A lot better,” Wayne reiterated.
“Doubt it,” he muttered as he herded the group toward the door. He took one last glance around the room and then hit the light switch, doing his best not to think about the millions of things that could’ve gone wrong.
Bottom line, Court was safe.
All he had to do was focus on that and not lose his mind and his temper when he heard her explanation.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Courtney pulled a bottle of water out of the fridge and handed it to Caid. “On a scale of one to ten, how mad are you?”
“Two hundred.”
“If you were going to go that high, you might as well have said a thousand.”
“I thought about it; believe you me.”
“But everything turned out okay, so…”
He crossed his arms and leaned against the counter. “You slipped a guy a mickey, and then prowled through a basement looking for dead bodies and…wait for it…got locked in.”
“I was there, Caid. Replaying the events of the evening isn’t necessary.”
“What you did was not cool, Court.”
“I realize that perhaps my methodology was a bit flawed, but I couldn’t just leave things be. What if more than animals were getting dried out and mounted and I did nothing about it?”