He was right, but I was trying to put myself in Gerald Knox’s head. He thought he was untouchable. I could see him taking her to his home to make it more convenient for him to torture her.
“He took her to his house.”
“Skeeter…”
“Even if she’s not there, now’s a good time to go look. Knox is bound to be nervous. I’ll show up at the shipment exchange, especially since he took Harper. He’s going to be there in person to make sure I don’t interfere.”
He was silent for a second. “Okay. Do you want me to assemble a team? It’ll take a couple hours.”
I glanced at the clock on my dash. 2:13. Knox would be at the drop by four, likely sooner, so his house should be empty. Waiting for a team was safer, but I wasn’t leaving her in Knox’s hands a minute longer than necessary.
“You can start putting one together, but I’m headed to his house to scope it out.”
“Wait for the team, Skeeter,” he pleaded.
“I’m just checking it out.”
“We both know that’s not true,” he said, sounding exhausted. “But think about this—what good are you to her if you get killed before you even reach her?”
“You underestimate my determination,” I grunted.
“And you’re one man,” Carter said, “who’s not as young as he used to be and is still recuperating from a concussion.”
I wanted to tell him he was full of shit, but he wasn’t wrong. Still, my imagination was running wild with what Knox and his people could be doing to her.
“What time did her phone go dark?”
He hesitated before answering. “8:36.”
I quickly did the calculation. She’d been with Knox for nearly six hours. A hell of a lot could happen in six hours.
“Send me the address.”
“Don’t do anything stupid, Skeeter,” he said. “For the first time in a long time, you have something to live for. Don’t throw it away now.”
“I don’t intend to,” I said. “Send me the address.”
Chapter 34
Every part of me hurt, but thankfully, I wasn’t hanging from the ceiling anymore. Nicole had ordered her two minions to unhook me and dump me naked on the concrete floor.
She’d left at some point, muttering something about her son being pathetic. Did it have something to do with the shipment? Had James shown up to interrupt it?
I had no idea how long I’d been here or what time it was.
I only knew Nicole was going to kill me. I just didn’t know how long it would be until she did it. From her earlier statements, it could be a long, long time.
My body was covered with whip marks and burns from the cattle prod. My left eye had swollen shut. She’d asked me countless times where the files were, and every time I’d refused to answer her. But instead of getting frustrated, she’d seemed pleased to have an excuse to inflict more pain.
I drifted off but woke up when I heard the door open. Nicole entered the room and shut it behind her, standing in front of it as she studied me with a smile.
She wasn’t afraid of me. Not like this.
“Where’s Gerry?” I asked, still lying on the floor.
She chuckled as she moved closer. I saw a flash of something shiny and realized she was holding a knife.
“Do you prefer him to me?” she asked. “Sorry, but he’s busy making sure your boyfriend doesn’t interfere with an important drop.”
