by Amy McKinley
“Yeah. I’ll be just a second, then I’ll come back and carry the boxes.” Jax jogged over to her, and I rounded the back to look at how many trips it would take for the stuff from my room. I’d brought it because we were going to move everything in his condo to his other home on his family’s island at once. It was easier that way.
A strange antiseptic smell came from Jaxon’s side of the car, and I peered around. A shadow loomed over me. Sheer terror locked me in place for precious seconds. Then Roy was beside me. Flight took over. As I whirled, mouth open to scream, he clamped a rag over my mouth. My struggles lessened trapped against his body. Black spots crowded my vision. I tried not to breathe from the fabric he held over my mouth, but it was futile. I guessed what it contained. I couldn’t hold my breath any longer, and chloroform filled my lungs. Then everything went dark.
22
Jaxon
I’d left Kayla by my Escalade, exhaustion evident in the drooping of her eyelids as she leaned against the bumper. The succession of ear-piercing barks from Mrs. Malone’s chihuahua propelled me to her side. Stooped over at the end of a black Mercedes, the elderly woman tried to coax her dog from beneath the car.
“Need some help?” I grinned as she turned her pinched face my way. The dog was making her ears bleed too.
“Please.” Exasperation colored her words as she huffed. “I don’t know what’s gotten into that ragamuffin.”
She was such a character. I dropped to my stomach and peered under the car. Milo was in attack mode with his lips pulled back, teeth bared, and ears pressed to the sides of his head. I followed the path to what Milo’s nose pointed at. Goddamn. The sight of a very large, hairy spider almost had me rolling away.
What would a bite from a tarantula do to a small dog? I couldn’t imagine anything good. Murmuring to the dog, I crept closer so that my arm could slip beneath the car and get close to Milo. The barking continued, despite me trying to calm him. I stretched as far as I could, and when my fingers curled around Milo’s scruff, I inched him backward and away from the threat.
I kept my gaze locked on the spider, ready to forgo the slow retreat for a hasty one, should the tarantula move even a fraction of an inch. Several harrowing seconds later, I had the dog cleared from beneath the car, hugged him to my chest, and stood. I backed Mrs. Malone away from the Mercedes then escorted her to the elevator and passed her the dog when the doors opened.
Her thanks fell on deaf ears, literally. I waved off her appreciation and breathed out a sigh of relief when she and the dog were safely on their way to her condo. There was no need to freak her out and tell her what Milo had been after. I would put a call into maintenance when Kayla and I were upstairs.
I jogged back to my SUV, where Kayla had looked like she was about to fall asleep on her feet. When she wasn’t leaning against the back bumper, I assumed she’d lain down to wait in the back, with the doors closed to shut out Milo’s horrid yapping.
I opened the rear door. Everything in me stilled—she wasn’t there. A sense of foreboding about how the tarantula got into the garage washed over me. A quick scan showed she wasn’t anywhere in there. I rounded the open trunk to see if she had taken a box and snuck behind me and into the elevator while I was occupied with the dog. The boxes appeared untouched. My blood turned to ice. I shoved aside the panic and went into tracking mode.
Her ex had to have gotten in there somehow. I did another sweep of the interior, looking for clues. I found evidence of Roy’s presence a couple of vehicles over. There were minute scratches on the window’s rubber from a jimmy on the unlocked Explorer’s back door. The back windows were tinted and would have obscured a large man lying in the back, waiting for the right opportunity, and Milo’s barking had provided the perfect cover.
My fingers curled around my phone as I climbed behind the wheel of my SUV then quickly called in the abduction. The more of us out there looking for her, the better. With a click of the tracking app I’d installed on Kayla’s phone, I turned the engine over and reversed, racing out of the garage to follow the moving dot on the screen.
Window down, I slapped the police light on the roof for the advantage of weaving through the cars on the roads at high speed. There was no doubt in my mind that I would catch them. Then that fucker would pay.
He better not have hurt her. My focus narrowed. I moved in and out of traffic. To keep batter watch, I slapped my phone into the holder mounted onto the dash. When the dot remained in place, I increased my speed again. If he realized she had her phone, there was no way he wouldn’t dump it. I was damn lucky that he hadn’t done so immediately.
In a sea of brake lights and squeezing tires, I searched for any sign of her.
Images of her smile, her laugh, and how she felt so right in my arms invaded my mind. I ruthlessly shoved them away as I careened around another corner, cars pulling over in haste as I put my foot to the floor for the straightaway. There was about a mile separating us. I was catching up.
The dot stopped moving, and I took another turn at a speed that almost rolled the Escalade. They were a couple of blocks ahead. My fingers gripped the steering wheel tightly. When I was on top of the location, I slammed on the breaks, drew my gun, and was out the door. Nothing stirred. They were supposed to be right there. I was in front of the Hawaii National Bank, but no one was in sight. I swept the perimeter.
The dot hadn’t moved. My worst fucking nightmare was that I’d lost her, just as I had her brother. But with Kayla, it was so much worse.
And then I saw it—her phone. I jogged a couple of feet to retrieve it. The screen was chipped and cracked from being tossed from a car. Goddammit!
They could have been anywhere. There wasn’t a clear path to where Roy was headed while I was following him. While I didn’t know him, I knew his type. Not far from the police station, I got back in my truck and sped away. I needed to take a look at the file on her coworker, Stephanie. My stomach clenched with a combination of rage and fear. I had a hunch Roy would recreate some part of her murder—with Kayla as the next victim.
23
Kayla
My head throbbed, it felt like cotton filled my mouth, and I tasted something slightly sweet. I lay curled on my side. Why is the bed so hard? Confusion swirled as I blinked, trying to clear my vision. The scent of disinfectant, like what I would smell in a hospital, brought my memory back in a rush. The shadow. Turning then having the cloth smother my mouth. Roy.
White-hot fear filled my body. I took inventory. I was lying on something very hard. Possibly the ground. There was a damp, fishy odor that saturated the air. I had to be near the ocean.
It was dark, but I couldn’t see the stars or the glow from the city. I blinked to clear the fog that filled my mind, and more shapes came into focus. I was inside. The smell and cavernous space that I could see clicked with something I’d seen on TV about how Stephanie was found. When they’d pulled her from the water, she’d been close to a fish-processing warehouse. Roy’s plan for me couldn’t have been clearer, but I held out hope that he hadn’t brought me to the same place. My ears strained to pick up any noise or hint of a threat.
I felt for my phone, panic curling my fingers when I discovered my pocket was empty. Did I have it long enough for Jaxon to get a location? Could it be here, or did Roy toss it somewhere? I hoped with everything in me that he hadn’t thrown it away when he grabbed me, even though that was the most likely scenario.
The air conditioning hummed. In slow increments, in case he was close by, I shifted. I wasn’t tied up. My head continued to throb, but it seemed to be from the drug, not an injury. I had to escape.
I rolled to my feet and crouched. The lights clicked on, blinding me. My hand flew up, shielding my face. Frantically, I blinked to adjust to the change. There. Between my parted fingers, I spotted Roy leaning against the far wall. Dread sat heavy in my gut. We were in a fish processing warehouse.
“I’ve been waiting for you to wake up.” He shuffled closer. “Who the fuck
was the guy, Kayla?”
“N-N-No one. A friend of my brother’s.” My gaze darted around the warehouse. Is this where he’ll kill me? He didn’t need a weapon. He was one. My neck remembered in great detail the slow squeeze he’d applied, the bruises, and the mirrored image of them on Stephanie’s body. I stood, inching back with each footfall of his as he closed the distance between us. “It was a place to stay. He’s like another brother,” I lied, doing my best to sound convincing because I recognized the violence in his eyes that was seconds from exploding. “Why?”
He paused in his approach, weighing my words and testing them for the lie they were. When some of the outrage left his stormy gaze, I let myself breathe again.
“Why what? Why did I come for you?” His deep, gravelly voice sent another wave of shivers along my body.
I had to keep him talking. I didn’t know his endgame, but I suspected it wasn’t anything good. “Yeah.” That was great. I mentally rolled my eyes. Way to go, Kayla. “What are you going to do with me?”
That sinister grin he graced his boxing opponents with changed his face from handsome to evil. I’d witnessed it many times in the ring. Nothing good ever followed that expression. The mindset that took him over when he fought was brutal and twisted, and he always won. I shivered.
“We’re going to play a little game.” He closed the distance between us, his hand reaching for me, and I smacked it away, jerking back. “You’re going to tell me where the flash drive is, or I’m going to hurt you.”
His hand shot out, and beefy fingers curled around my wrist. I was yanked forward before I could even react. Oh shit! The heat of his body seared me but failed to ease my spiraling panic. I wracked my brain for something to say that would appeal to him to be lenient with me.
“I was jealous. I would never do anything to hurt you,” I lied in a desperate attempt to get him to stop. My free hand was flat on his chest, pushing without results. He bent to my neck and inhaled. “That woman you were with, and then the thought of Stephanie, too, pushed me over the edge. I wanted you all for myself.”
His grip loosened a fraction. “The numbers girls never mean anything. They’re there to use so when I come home, I can go slow and appreciate you.”
Sick fuck. But I forced my revulsion to hide beneath parted lips and what I hoped were softened features. “Why didn’t you ever tell me?” I patted his chest. “That’s sweet, baby.” Internally, I gagged on every word. But it was play the game or die.
“I don’t need to explain myself.”
The anger was back, the caveman effect in control. I had to work harder to diffuse it any way I could. “I just meant that it would have helped me understand. I wouldn’t have been so jealous if I knew how much you cared, that you only wanted the best for us.”
His hand moved down to my ass, and he squeezed. His pupils dilated, and I shuddered but not in a good way. “Where’s the flash drive?”
Crap. “It’s back at our place. I hid it. I couldn’t stand knowing you kept something of hers.”
The indulgent chuckle and the satisfaction over how I was acting appeased his ego in a way begging wouldn’t have. He thought I was simple, a doll. “Steph tried to run. No one runs from the champ.”
“I never should have, baby,” I cooed. “I didn’t understand what we had. The sacrifices you made for us.”
He kneaded my ass, and I fought from whimpering at how rough he was. There would be bruises, making it painful to sit tomorrow—if I survived. I will. There was no room for doubt. I had to convince him.
“I was going to kill you here, but I could be persuaded not to.”
Christ. He’d always liked those cat-and-mouse games. I despised them and didn’t want to play. But the stakes were my life. I didn’t have a choice.
“You’ll have to pay the price for your behavior. There are lessons and rules you will not break.”
I forced myself to continue to suppress the fear and hatred from my face. I didn’t know if it worked, especially with the tight way he held me to him. Relaxing my free hand against his chest, I rubbed it in circles instead. “Of course, Roy. We can work this out. Why don’t we go somewhere so we can talk? It’s gross in here. Not very romantic.”
A calculated gleam flashed in his maniacal eyes, and I knew that even if I had him with my pseudo-acceptance, his plans weren’t benign. “We can do that. You owe me, and it’s time to pay up.” He wrapped one meaty arm around me, locking me against him. The other left my wrist and fisted the back of my hair in a stinging grip.
When his mouth took mine in a punishing kiss, I tempered my reactions and softened. Tears stung the back of my eyelids, and I tasted blood from his cruel handling. I fought the bile that threatened to climb my throat. It would be over soon.
Seconds felt like too many minutes before he released me from his abusive kiss. Satisfaction bled from his deep chuckle. “We’ll have to go over the rules.”
I didn’t trust myself not to tell him to go to hell, so I nodded instead and thought of the beach, of a calm ocean rather than the tumultuous emotions warring inside of me. There has to be a moment for me to escape. I’ll stay vigilant. And maybe Jaxon will find me. If I could get Roy to take us somewhere easy for Jaxon to locate us, even better—and that would be his condo. “I’m ready. Let’s go home, Roy.”
It wouldn’t be that simple. I’d experienced his punishment firsthand, and I’d left because of it. I hoped things wouldn’t escalate until my moment arrived to get the hell away from him. He made me wait as the gears turned slowly in his head. When he finally nodded, I knew I’d won a stay of execution, probably not for long.
No matter what, if we stayed there, he would kill me. Because I had a horrible suspicion that it was where Stephanie spent the last horrifying moments of her life.
His hand stroked a rough caress over my cheek. “Tonight will be fun.”
He locked me against his side as he turned toward the warehouse door, and I shivered in fear and repulsion. My lungs could expand enough to breathe shallowly under the grip that kept me tethered to him. In a partial drag where my feet barely touched the cement floor, he maneuvered us to the steel door.
When he pushed at the door, releasing the locking mechanism, I gasped. I never expected there to be anyone on the other side—especially not Vivian.
24
Kayla
“What is this? A happy reunion?” Vivian sneered.
“What?” I couldn’t even. I stared at her, dressed in black yoga pants and a stretchy hot-pink T-shirt. Her blond hair was in artful waves around her shoulders, and her makeup was impeccable. It always was. But what the hell is she doing here?
Roy’s confused expression matched my own, but he snapped out of it first. “Out of the way.”
He probably thought it was one of his groupies, following him around. But it was late at night. We were exiting a fish-processing warehouse on the harbor. Sure, there were bars and restaurants around, but having her at the door like that… Nope, something wasn’t adding up. I didn’t care, though—she can help me.
“Vivi, let Jax know I’m fine. Roy and I made up, and we’re going home.” My gaze dropped to her hand, which had slipped inside her purse. Is she going to call him now? That wouldn’t be good.
Roy growled and moved to push past her. “Move.” He didn’t even spare her a glance. She was an annoying gnat, just another groupie that didn’t hold his interest—he didn’t deem her important to furthering his career. His hand bit into my waist as he crowded Vivi.
“Not so fast.” She pulled a gun from her purse and pointed it at Roy. “Back inside.”
Roy tensed. He was going for it. She lowered the weapon and squeezed the trigger. There was a loud bank. My mouth fell open, and I jerked as he yelled then dragged me with him as he hobbled back a few steps. Blood oozed from a wound on his leg. When his arm loosened, I inched forward. Vivi shook her head in a slow side to side. “You too. Back inside.”
She pushed the gun into his sto
mach. “Now. You move, and I shoot. Again.”
We eased back. Roy was fast, but her finger was on the trigger. Even if he managed to knock the gun away, the probability of her shooting him before it cleared his gut was too high. Face red with fury, he obviously came to the same conclusion. “What do you want, crazy bitch?”
The door shut behind Vivi, and we backed farther into the warehouse. I wanted to know the same thing. Something wasn’t adding up.
“That’s a broad question. What I wanted for my life didn’t happen because you men are all alike. You think with the wrong head. So what I want is for you to do something for me.”
She wasn’t making sense. “How did you know we were here? Did you call the police?”
She snorted. “You’re so naïve. I shot him. Do you think I would have done that if I’d called the cops?”
Roy growled.
I glanced at his leg and the blood that dripped to the floor. He’d been through multiple rounds of beatings in the ring before he became an undefeated champ. My money was on him taking her. I didn’t know Vivi’s game. Stoking the fire was as good an idea as any, and I turned my attention to him. “I can’t believe she shot you. Are you all right?”
He grunted.
“Since both of you are too dense to figure it out, here’s the deal.”
I ground my teeth. God, I hated her. She hadn’t changed one bit from when I knew her in the past. She was always such a bitch when she hung out with my brother’s crowd. Then poor Mateo let her get her claws into him.
“You’ve been asking too many questions, Kayla, and Mateo’s on my case about it. I’ve got a mediocre life going here—not the one I should have had, but it is what it is at this point.” She shook her gun at me for emphasis, and I crowded closer to Roy. “I’ve kept an eye on you, and when your boyfriend pulled out of the garage, I figured it was worth a shot to follow. Lucky for me, it paid off. But—”