“What?”
“It’s late.”
I closed my eyes. “I know.”
“They are talking about all these extra charges and fines. The last payment wasn’t enough. This one is missing. You know what will happen next.”
My breath escaped me in a heavy rush. Day to day, I could compartmentalise what I’d left behind. The pain stayed in my rearview mirror. It was the only way I could function. But calls like these cut deep.
“I’ll get the money,” I promised.
“You need to. This is your doing. If the worst happens, it’s all your fault.”
She hung up on me.
Those final words froze me to the bone. My fault. My responsibility. Age-old guilt crawled over me until I was a kid again, hearing the words and wishing I could curl up in a ball. Except it was so frequent, it had become part of my life and I couldn’t hide from it. Worthless boy, causing all the problems.
By degrees, I forced it to recede and freed myself to move again.
The order had been made and the command given. Mila was still in the meeting, but I needed a minute to clear my head or the solicitor was going to lose his.
On the street, I walked away from the building. There was only one option left now for me to get ready cash. The flat I had to sell in Manchester. It meant leaving Deadwater for a day to empty the place and hand over the keys to whichever estate agent could promise the quickest deal. Time I couldn’t afford, but the task had to be done.
For a few heartbeats, I let my regret and deep-held hurt wash through me, soaking into my blood and bones. I wasn’t indulging in the emotions. I had no use for them. It was only a reminder of all I’d done and what I was responsible for. I needed that guidance to keep me on task.
Then I packed it away piece by piece until my mask of indifference was back in place.
Just in time for a fuckin’ vision to step out of the building next door. Lovelyn clutched her big purple bag, too busy to notice me. It was the police headquarters she was leaving. A place she had access to along with all the resources to find a missing person.
The lass had featured in my dreams, so much I’d woken with my hand around my dick and her face behind my closed eyes. She’d turned me down, and annoyingly, it had only made me want her more.
I ignored the unnecessary attraction and focused on the opportunity.
I was staring at target number one in getting what I wanted. All I had to do was find the right buttons to push to make my prey obey me.
Chapter 10
Lovelyn
Outside the police HQ, I rummaged in my bag for my phone. Parking in this part of central Deadwater was a nightmare during the working day, so I’d left my car in a side road and Ubered the rest of the way.
My discovery burned in me. I needed to get somewhere I could search Dixie’s tablet properly. Even just the back seat of my car.
But my fingers glanced over a shape in the bottom corner of my bag, concealed in the folds of the lining. What was that, a coin?
I wriggled it loose and extracted a small, circular disk. My heart thumped. It was a tracker. Shiny, silver, and up until now, hidden. I’d known someone had been watching me. Not guesswork now, solid metal in the lining.
After reading the threats against me, it could’ve terrified me, but just as fast as the thought emerged, another chased it. Whoever’d put this in my bag had done it with time and a pocketknife. Kane had the opportunities for that.
There was no doubt. The man who’d kidnapped me and hunted me down more than once. This was how he’d found me at Molly’s bar last night. Damn him.
Outrage boosted an inexplicable burst of deep exhilaration at what he’d done. He’d needed to know where I was and had been monitoring me. On a day like today, with emotions running high, that made me feel…seen.
Pathetic, but there it was.
The massive beast of a man had dominated my thoughts. In bed, I’d lain awake in the dark thinking about him. In the shower, my hands on my body had become his. He’d dropped me the second I’d lost my usefulness, but I couldn’t forget the way he’d chased me and that wink at the end. Then his offer.
If I was to condemn him, I had to condemn myself for liking some aspect of his acts. The kidnap, the chasing, the stalking. What was wrong with me?
