“Time to come clean, man. I’m sorry.” Howard patted him on the back as he headed out into the path of trees.
“Answer me, damn it. Aunt Betty had a vision about us; she told you, and then you avoided me? Is it true?”
“Cara, I can explain.”
Cara held up her hand to stop him from stepping toward her. “You knew all this time, and you avoided me.” A tear slipped down her face, but it wasn’t an upset tear. It looked more like an I’m-fucking-pissed-off tear. “And Eric? You’re the reason we broke up?”
“Hey, I just suggested it when I told him about the vision. I didn’t tell him to go sleep with your best friend.”
“I can’t…”She stormed over to him. “Squash,” she screamed as she shoved him backward into the pool and began to run. He’d known all this time. He’d been the one responsible for her heartache, and yet he’d never said anything. Neither had Aunt Betty. Her own flesh and blood. Tears streamed down Cara’s face.
Cara hurried through the canopy of trees that cloaked her from the moon above. She heard a branch break from behind her and turned when a handreached out and grabbed her, covering her mouth. Beefy fingers dug into her cheek, bruising her tender flesh. Visions fought to take hold. She used her energy to hold them back. There was no way in hell she was blacking out.
Terror traveled down her spine and bile rose in her throat as she fought to get free before the hard metal of a gun pressed against her temple. An eerie calm settled over her as she pressed the recorder button on her phone, knowing its location by heart because of the readings that she recorded.
“Cara,” Coop hollered out as the pounding of his feet passed where they stood. Her assailant inched her around the base of a tree, keeping her from being seen, the shadows swallowing their bodies.
“Don’t move or I’ll kill him,” a voice she knew all too well whispered in her ear. Phillip.
Her body froze on the spot as ice traveled down her spine. He’d been the one with the video. She’d known that. She’d known he’d been the one spying, but knowing, and being in his clutches, replaced her anger with fear.
“Let me go,” she mumbled beneath his hand. Every time she blinked, she’d get pieces of visions that were seepingthrough, the flickering images making a headache build behind her eyes.
“You’re a slut. You haven’t changed a bit. You were one when you were eighteen, and you still are. Do you know what I like to do with women like you?”
Tears streamed down her face as she shook her head, afraid of what he might say. Her hands clenched at her sides, wanting to claw at the man holding her hostage.
“I’m going to cut you up, to the point that any man who sees you will be disgusted. Cooper won’t want anything to do with you, and then maybe he’ll see I did him a favor. Then I’m going to cuff him to the bed and fuck him like he wanted to do to you. You did me a favor all those years ago. It’s because of you that I realized I liked men, and not just any men, but the ones that fight back. I bet Special Agent Cruz is a fighter. I can’t wait to find out.”
Cara had to swallow the bile rising in her throat. Cruz would be blindsided. Cara clenched her eyes closed and then lost against the visions she’d been fighting to hold back. They flooded her senses, bombarding her, back to back.
Phillip with one man after another handcuffed to a bed as he had sex with each. Some were familiar, and others weren’t. One was the missing speaker that she’d found. His back had cuts and wasbleeding. His body slumped against the bed as Phillip pounded into him. “Oh God, no.”
“You’re seeing it, aren’t you?” Phillip’s hold on her tightened. “How I take them and break them before killing them and turning them into fish food. It’s going to be worse for your husband, and the best part…I’m going to make you watch.”
More visions assaulted her. Phillip entering in and out of rooms, laughing as he stole items from several guests. Another of Phillip, only younger, the way he’d looked when they first met. He was inside a bar where male strippers danced on the stage.
Cara tossed her phone into the grass to distract him as she struggled against his hold. The butt of the gun came down on her temple, making the visions disappear. Her last thought was of Cooper as she slipped out of consciousness.
Coop ran into the hotel,leaving a path of water as he ignored the looks the other guests gave him. Howard was standing at the concierge desk when Coop approached.
“She came this way. Where is she?” Coop asked, his gaze searching the lobby.
“She didn’t come this way, Coop. I’ve been in the lobby getting the information on Phillip since I left you. She hasn’t been in here.”
“Fuck.” Coop ran his hand through his wet hair. “She came this way. I saw which way she turned out of the cabana as she ran.”
“I’ll help you find her.” Howard glanced back at the concierge. “Call the local PD and tell them to put out an all-points bulletin on Cara Thatcher and Phillip. Consider him armed and dangerous. Have the remainder of your security team keep their eyes peeled, and have them search room by room for Mrs. Thatcher. Tell the local PD to form a search party. Give them my number if they give you any lip.” Howard slid a card across the desk.
The concierge nodded as the blood drained from his face.
“Do it now,” Coop demanded when the guy was slow to pick up the phone.
Coop hurried out of the hotel with Howard, and they checked each and every pool cabana as they passed, systematically clearing each inch as they hit the tree line. They were checking the canopy of trees and around each one when Coop felt something beneath his foot. He picked it up. The screen on it showed that someone had been recording something.
Coop hit Play and listened in horror as Phillip threatened her. His heart clenched as he listened, word for word, to what the sick fuck wanted to do to them both. “Oh, I’ll kill you first, you sick fuck.”
Cooper stepped back onto the sidewalk and held up the phone for Howard to see. “He’s got her.”
