Jeremy’s head swung around. He cocked an ear as though he could hear something Dani could not. A wicked smiled creased his youthful face. “Looks like he wants you to live.” He strode to the table and pulled an odd-looking gun out of the bag. As he made it to the door, he turned. “Scream if you like, Danielle. I think Julian will appreciate it. He always did like the sound of a woman in pain.”
Dani kept her terror firmly lodged in her chest as Jeremy walked out the door. Julian wouldn’t like it. It would horrify him. Julian liked to play. He played out his own little fantasies even as he indulged her own. He enjoyed her cries as long as he knew they would lead her to something pleasurable. Julian would be horrified if he caused her pain that wasn’t erotic or didn’t seem to be something she needed. It was why he was harder on Finn. He would raise welts on Finn’s ass, and Finn would come all the harder for it. On Dani he used a light hand. He barely made her bottom pink.
“See, if you hadn’t decided to sleep with that sicko, we wouldn’t be in this predicament.” Val’s sullen pout was back.
“Shut up, Val, or I swear I’ll kill you myself.” She strained to see out the window. The ties bit into her wrists and her neck hurt at the unnatural angle. In the distance, she glimpsed a black Jeep coming up the back way. It rolled up the dirt road that ran from the highway, if you knew where to look for it. It didn’t go by the Smart house, so there wasn’t anyone to warn.
“I really wasn’t trying to kill you, Dani.” Val sounded small now.
Dani looked down at her sister. “You wanted the house? I was going to sell you my half.”
“I don’t have the money for your half, and then”
“And then what?”
There was a small pause and then a deep, heaving sigh. “And then the mayor told me there’s going to be a big development right on our land. They’re going to build an outlet mall. It’s going to be huge. My piece of the land is worth two hundred and fifty thousand.”
“Well, it’s good to know my life was at least worth six figures to you.” Desperation edged out anger at her sister. She could deal with her later, after she’d figured a way out.
“I told you I wasn’t trying to kill you. Just scare you into leaving with Finn.”
“I don’t care, Val. Take the land. I don’t care. All I care about right now is the fact that that whackdoodle is going to come back in here any minute and use me as a sacrificial lamb to punish Julian.” She slipped as she tried to get a better look outside. She groaned as her wrists took the full weight of her body.
“Be careful, Dani, you’re going to break the damn roof if you keep swinging like that.”
Dani got her footing back and stared up at the ceiling where the hook was bolted. Sure enough, Val was right. There was a crack right there, snaking out from where the hook met the ceiling. A little bit of hope soared through her. Jimbo’s father had built this place himself over twenty years before. The elder Smart hadn’t been known for his perfectionism. He’d been just as lazy and apt to cut corners as his son. Dani looked at the hook above Val’s head. It was taking her weight with ease. Never before had Dani been so happy to have twenty pounds on her sister.
“What are you doing?” Val’s attention was focused now as Dani took a deep breath. “I don’t think you should do it, whatever it is.”
“I’m done listening to you, Val. If I decide to save you when all this is over, I don’t think I want to be your sister anymore.” Dani braced herself because this was going to hurt.
She grabbed the ties with her hands and pulled. The crack opened a bit more, but not enough. It would take more than a little pull. Dani brought her feet up and dangled. She swiveled her hips and started to sway.
“You’re going to bring the roof down on top of us, Dani. This is your plan? You’re going to kill us before he can?”
Dani pulled and pulled. She gained ground, but not enough. It would take time to work the screw out of the beam. Dani let her full weight hang. The beam groaned, but held.
The door opened, and Dani’s time was out.
Finn sat back in one of the old vinyl chairs that dotted the Sheriff’s Department’s waiting room. All around him people were buzzing like flies in a flurry of activity, but he felt completely still, held in place. His brain screamed for everything to just stop. He wanted it all to stop so he had a minute to process the fact that they were both gone.
They were gone, and he didn’t know where they were. He didn’t know what was happening. He stared down at the phone in his hand almost waiting for it to ring. Julian had dropped his phone just like Dani had dropped hers. Leo had picked it up, and had confirmed it was the same number that had called Dani, Val’s old model cell. He’d called and called the number, but it simply went to voice mail. The phone company was trying to trace it, but it would take time, and there was no way to know if Jeremy had dumped it somewhere. His own phone had been completely silent.
Why wouldn’t it ring? Damn it, but he wanted to be where they were. Fuck the consequences. He didn’t want to be left behind. He’d run after the Jeep Julian had been driving until he just couldn’t anymore.
“Finn, I got the location on the Audi. The Sheriff and I are going out to take a look. Would you like to come?” Leo stared down at him. He seemed perfectly cool and collected. Finn bet there wasn’t a screaming idiot inside of Leo just waiting to get out.
“No. I’ll wait here.” What was the point? Dani obviously had ditched the car, and Julian had driven off in a Jeep. They were following someone’s plan. Finn was certain Leo would find the car without a driver, and there was no way to trace the Jeep. Julian was gone the same way Dani was gone.
“All right, Finn.” Leo’s eyes were sympathetic. “It’s probably for the best. I’ll be back as soon as I can. Jack Barnes should be here in about twenty minutes. Let him know what’s going on.
Leo walked away. It wasn’t a moment before there was a hand on Finn’s shoulder. He looked up into the face of his nemesis. Jimbo Smart. Damn it. This was just what he needed.
“Finn, what the hell is going on? Someone said Dani went missing.”
Finn softened slightly. The big man really seemed concerned. “Someone’s after Julian, and he thinks he can get to him through Dani.”
“Is Julian the rich guy?”
Finn nodded, though his attention was taken by Tricia Walker, who sat by the big window staring at her cell phone, too. Finn studied her carefully. Her head was down, and she didn’t seem to notice anyone around her. She was so quiet for a reporter. Finn had met many reporters in his time, and the one thing they all had was an innate confidence. They had to. Tricia lacked that confidence.
“I knew he was trouble,” Jimbo was saying. “What’s a guy like that doing here anyway?”
“Taking a vacation,” Finn said as he stood and crossed to Tricia.
Her eyes came up, and before she could settle a mask on to her face, she was open. Finn read her like a book.
“Is he really your brother?” He asked the question gently. One thing Finn had learned to do in his years as a lawyer was to properly gauge the witness. Some required a firm hand, but many needed sympathy to get their stories.