There’s not.
Once again, her subconscious was right. Shedidbelong to him. Totally and completely.
And by the time she finally crawled into bed, Riley found herself accepting that he belonged to her, too.
Hours later, Riley woke to the screeching of Dr. Feelgood from her nightstand. Peeling her eyes open, she glanced at the clock and scowled.
If Maggie was calling at this hour, it couldn’t be good.
After a few fumbled tries, she finally managed to grab the phone and put it to her ear. With her eyes still closed, she mumbled a rough greeting to her friend.
“Hey, Mags.” She cleared the sleep from her throat. “You find something new?”
“She didn’t, but I sure did.”
The male voice took her by complete surprise. Instinctively, Riley knew she was talking to the killer.
Heart racing, she shot up into a seated position. With a forced calm, she asked, “Where’s Maggie?”
As almost an afterthought, she put the phone on speaker, then slid her thumb across the screen to access her messaging app.
Typing as fast as her thumbs would move, Riley sent Eric a text to let him know what had happened.
Killer has Maggie. On the phone with him now. Have Derek trace the call.
“The pretty doctor is a little tied up at the moment.” The bastard chuckled at his own sick joke.
“If you hurt her, I swear to God...” So much for her calm demeanor.
A text from Eric popped up on the screen.
On it. Keep him talking. I’m coming to you.
“Come now, Detective.” The killer spoke with an almost soothing tone that sent shivers down Riley’s spine. “Is that any way to talk to an old friend?”
“We’re friends?”
“Of course, we are. I mean, we’ve known each other for three years, now. I’d say that makes us very close friends. Don’t you agree?”
Setting her phone back onto her nightstand, Riley played along while she threw on a pair of jeans and a hoodie.
“The only friend I’m concerned about right now is Maggie.”
“She’s fine, I assure you.”
“Well, forgive me if I don’t take your word for it. Now put her on the phone, or I’m hanging up.”
It was a risky game, threatening to end the call. But he’d contacted her for a reason, so Riley decided to play the odds.
“You hang up, you’ll never find your friend, Detective. Plus, there are so many things we have to discuss.”
“Yeah?” She grabbed a pair of socks from her top drawer and slid them on. “Well, let me talk to Mags and I’ll tell you anything you want.”
Riley heard someone at her door. She grabbed her phone and ran down the hall to let Eric in.
His eyes were red rimmed from lack of sleep, but other than that, he was on full alert.
She put her finger to her lips and pointed to her phone to let him know the call was still in progress.
