Page 15 of Point Blank

He nodded and turned to take two mugs from the cupboard.

“Hello?”

“Serena!” The piercing scream reverberated through the speaker, echoing in the space around her. Dani’s face filled the screen, her eyes wild and rimmed in smudged makeup, her blonde hair plastered to her face, her mouth covered with blood. Serena’s heart hammered against her throat, and she gripped the device tighter. Everything around her fell away.

“Dani! Where are you?”

“Stay away! Get somewhere safe!”

Crack!

A punch connected with Dani’s cheekbone, and her head snapped to the side. Milo’s body crowded her, and he grabbed her hand to steady the phone.

“Who the fuck is this? Let her go?—”

The camera swiveled to a face covered in a black ski mask. “Hello, Milo. I’m glad I got the two of you together.”

The muscles in Serena’s chest spasmed on each breath.

“Listen, you sonofabitch,” Milo hissed.

Serena wedged herself between the phone and him and forced her tongue to work over the tension gripping her vocal cords. “Tell me what you want. I’ll do whatever you want. Don’t hurt her!”

“I knew you’d be easy to persuade.” The man’s voice dropped low, and her brain spun through a Rolodex of memories, searching for the owner of that voice. “I’m going to call you in a few hours with instructions. Stay tuned. Oh, and Serena?”

Her lungs ached with the urge to scream.

“If you call the cops, I’ll do a hell of a lot worse than punch her in the face. I’ll be in touch.”

“Dani!” Her scream vibrated through her throat, yanking on her soul.

The line went dead.

Chapter

Four

Milo grabbed the phone from Serena before it smashed on the floor. Her fingers tented against her temples.

“Oh my god, oh my god.” Her voice rose on waves of hysteria, and her body wavered. He pulled her to his chest as her knees buckled.

“Milo, they have her . . . they have Dani. Oh, god,” she wailed. He held her tighter and lowered his mouth to her ear so she’d hear him over her cries.

“We’ll find her. I promise you”—his voice threatened to break, but he forced it steady—“we’ll find her.”

How the hell he’d do it was the question. But he had to. Dani was the person Serena was closest to. There was no way she could lose her sister. He wasn’t Dani’s biggest fan, mostly because she’d always been the one to rope Serena into dangerous situations, but she sure as hell didn’t deserve to be tortured. Sweat collected between his shoulder blades and every muscle in his body sprang to life.

With every minute that passed, the chances that they wouldn’t find her increased.

What the fuck did they want? And what did Serena have to do with it?

The caller had known him.

I’m glad I got the two of you together.

The voice didn’t jerk anything in his memory bank.

Serena sucked in short gasps of air, and her back spasmed against his forearms. “Milo, what are they going to do to her?” Her voice pierced his heart.