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Eli released me with a snarl of disgust and I landed with a clatter. The chair tipped dangerously to the side but I was able to remain upright through instinct. My heart pounded in my ears and each breath burned my throat from the leftover chemicals lingering inside me.
I stole the wrong thing? How was that even possible?
“Fine. You’re fucking useless, so I guess I’ll just have to do it myself.” Eli approached the wooden table near the window and picked up a phone.
My phone.
“Once I disappear your mother, I’ll make Sawyer give me the patent.”
“What?” I lifted my head and tried to clear my tears by blinking quickly. “No, you can’t! She didn’t do anything!”
“And neither did you, you fucking bitch!” Eli yelled. “If you had, no one else would have to suffer!”
“Please! You can’t do this. You can’t hurt her. What the fuck is wrong with you!” My terror gave way to anger and I pulled hard at my restraints. The chair rocked back and forth and I yelled out, furious that even now, he was using threats. There was no way I could have known I got him the wrong file.
Fuck!
Then, I started to scream. It was the only thing I could think of since we were in a hotel and if I was lucky, someone would hear me and come looking. A flash of white-hot rage passed over Eli’s face and he snatched something else up from the table. He approached me and it became a battle as I screamed louder while he put me in a headlock and taped my mouth shut. The tape circled my head, catching my hair but the pain barely registered.
My screams faded. The tears were making it difficult for me to breathe through my nose. Instead, all I could do was glare at Eli as he returned to my phone and dialed a number.
Was he calling the facility? Was he going to get her carted somewhere I would never see her again? I hated him. I hated him with everything I had and I poured that hatred into my glare as he smoothed his hair and straightened his silver tie.
“Why hello.” Eli’s voice was suddenly a lot calmer. “Callie? Oh, don’t you worry, Sawyer. She’s right here with me.”
Sawyer? Why was he calling him? Taking as deep a breath as I could manage, I screamed as loud as I could through the tape but the effects were minimal. I barely made any noise and certainly not enough to reach the phone.
Eli smirked coldly at me.
“To talk? Yes, I think that would be a great idea if you want to see her alive again. Meet me by the river. And come alone.”
31
KANE
“We should call the police, right?” Liam stood near Sawyer’s desk, rocking slightly back and forth. “That would be the right thing to do. The sane thing. They’d have protocols for this sort of thing, wouldn’t they?”
Our search for Callie had brought us right back to Sawyer’s office, full circle, and there’d been no sign of her. There was no answer from her phone, not even when Bianca called her. It was like she’d vanished into thin air after seeing her mother, and we were at a loss of where to look.
Until Eli called us from her phone.
He had her. And his threat was clear. Sawyer was to meet him, alone. Fuck knows what would happen to Callie if we didn’t listen, but as soon as those words came out of Sawyer’s mouth, I knew I wasn’t letting him go anywhere by himself.
“No,” Sawyer replied after a few long seconds of thought. Seated in his chair, his brow was pulled deep over his eyes and he rhythmically tapped his fingers against the desk. “No police.”
“Why the hell not?” Liam snapped. “This psychopath has kidnapped our girl! I don’t give a shit about anything else. I don’t care about the patent or the stealing or any of that bullshit. I care about her!”
“So do I!” Sawyer snapped his head up, and he leveled Liam with a firm look. “So do I, Liam. And when I get my hands on that bastard, there won’t be any police around to help him.”
“I agree.” My words were quieter but caught both of their attention. None of us would say it directly, just in case something went wrong, but I agreed. No police. The things I wanted to do to Eli would be better done without the police involved. No witnesses. That vile snake wasn’t getting away this time.
“Oh…” Realization melted across Liam’s face. “So, no police.” He glanced between Sawyer and I. “So, what, we just go to the river and make him tell us where Callie is?”
“That’s the idea.” Sawyer combed one hand through his hair. “When I’m finished with him, he’ll be lucky if he can tell us. As long as he can write it down.”
Liam nodded slowly, then spun on his heel and headed out of the office. All the worry clinging to his features melted away when he ran to Marie. She was playing with Bianca at Callie’s desk, and luckily, Bianca had agreed to watch her for as long as we needed.
I turned back to Sawyer. “Did he say when?”
