“Tara!”He hunched over and tried to control his breath as he repeated her name into the phone.
The line beeped and went dead.No no no no no.
His brain raced. He had to do something. Call someone. He started dialing 911.
“Don’t worry,” a deep voice said with menace, pine needles crunching somewhere behind him. “You’ll see her again.”
Jeff whirled to face the threat. The bruiser of aman who’d attacked him outside Tara’s condo was now leveling a shiny Glock at his chest. “What the fuck do youwant?” Goddammit. He’d let his guard down for one minute…
“I’m going to take you to see your woman,” the gunman said with a vicious smile.
The other man was bigger and armed, while Jeff’s gun was stowed safely in the camper. But he’d taken the human tank down before. With all theadrenaline raging through his system, he could find a way—
“Don’t make me threaten your kid.”
Jeff went without a fight.
Tara had braced to fight, but the man holding a gun on her through the window said the magic words: “Hang up and get out of the car or I’ll go after the boy.”
He wore a bomber jacket, black ball cap, and large headphones around his neck. The same man who’d passedher and Adele outside the apartment building, and now stared impassively at her as he brandished duct tape and gestured for her arms.
So her instincts had been spot on. Fat lot of good they had done.
Not a soul passed them on the small side street that connected the apartment complex to the main road. Where were all the churchgoers on a Sunday morning? Heart staging a revolt in her chest,Tara held shaky hands in front of her. Hope leached from her body like a slow leak from a balloon as she watched him loop the tape tightly around her wrists.
She dutifully slid into the backseat of her rental car. Rather than kick him in the head while he taped her ankles—because Robbie was less than a quarter mile away—she memorized the plate number of the Yukon kissing her front bumper, moreto keep her mind busy than for any good it would do her.
“What do you want from me?” she asked as Ball Cap activated the child safety lock, slammed the door shut, and strode to the driver’s side, where he did the same.
Ignoring her query, he started the engine and drove slowly away from the apartments.
Maybe once she was far enough from the building to ensure Robbie’s safety she could finda way to escape. Could she crash the car? Signal someone? Dive into the passenger seat and jump out the door?
“Whatever you’re getting paid, I can top it,” she said.
He glanced at her in the rearview, but said nothing. His silence and lack of expression were serial-killer creepy.
“Or I could…” She tilted her shoulders and tried to look as if she wouldn’t puke if he touched her. Clearingher throat, she tried again. “I could…bewith you.” The last word came out strangled.
He scoffed and shook his head.
Who did he work for that inspired such loyalty? Not that she’d trust the guy not to double-cross her if he accepted either offer, but she’d thought either scheme might provide an opportunity to escape.
He hadn’t killed her right away, so someone must want her alive, even ifjust long enough to get her to a quiet place to do the deed. Though honestly, the street had been quiet enough for him to kidnap her. Why not just shoot her there and be done with it?
A lump of concrete settled in her belly and her throat constricted.
I don’t want to die.
All of this mess because she’d been in the wrong place at the wrong time… Hell, was it only six days ago? So much hadchanged since that morning; it felt more like months. On the heels of losing Emily, Tara’s world had turned to chaos. Mars had been found dead, someone had tried to kill Tara several times, Jeff had been reunited with Evan.
Tara had fallen in love.
Pulling back from that unsafe territory, she pored over her memories of the unfortunate encounter that had triggered it all. Who was this womanwho seemed to want her dead so badly anyway? Had the blonde even killed the reporter, or was something else going on?
The temptation to rail at the unfairness of the world, to cry “why me?” was overwhelming, but it wouldn’t do her any favors. She was in this situation regardless. It was up to her to figure a way out. No one was going to save her this time. None of the men from Steele—not evenJeff—could ride to her rescue.
A sob escaped before she could stop it.Jeff. If she had told him she loved him, would it have scared him away, or would he have tried to convince her to stay?
