Page 335 of A Matter of Time

My eyes fluttered open, and it was dark except for a slight glow across the room.

When I tried to sit up, I realized my hands were tied behind me. It was all too familiar. Funny, but my first thought was: Sam’s going to kill me.

“Shit.” I focused my eyes and was stunned to see Caleb Reid lying on the floor beside me, his eyes wide open, staring at me, tied like I was with his hands behind his back. “Caleb?”

“Jory,” he said, obviously relieved. “Thank God you’re all right.”

“Caleb.” I was trying so hard to wrap my brain around it all. “What the hell?”

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m okay,” I assured him as I struggled to sit up. “What’s going on? Tell me.”

“I dunno—I dunno,” he almost whined, his voice rising. “I was in town on business, but I didn’t even bother calling Dane ’cause I knew he was still on his honeymoon and—” He stopped suddenly as the door slid open and a man appeared there. The light was behind him, which made it impossible for either of us to see his face.

“What do you want?” Caleb yelled at him.

I saw the raised gun.

“Face down, you fucks!”

I did as I was told, moving as fast as I could.

“What the—get off me! Get off me!” Caleb screamed, and it sounded like he was being dragged out of the room. I listened to him yell until I couldn’t hear him anymore.

“Please don’t hurt him,” I pleaded.

I felt the foot squarely in the middle of my back. There was scrambling above me.

“You should worry about yourself,” the man warned me, grinding his heel into my back. It hurt like hell, but I didn’t make a sound. “Don’t do anything stupid.”

I nodded.

“I’m already pissed at you for making me lose his wife. You better hope he’ll pay for you, little brother, or you are royally fucked.”

Which was why when I was fighting for the gun, he hadn’t shot me. It was about money. I was relieved because it had nothing to do with me alone, just what could be ransomed from Dane for the people he loved. And yes, it was awful, but not Jory centric.

“Just sit tight and don’t fuck up.”

I nodded again.

“Good,” he said, and then was gone. The door was slammed shut, and I heard a chain and a lock close on the other side. The room was pitch black. I put my cheek down on the cold floor and waited for my breathing to become regular. I was terrified for Caleb even as I rolled to my side and realized I was really lightheaded. Something was wrong, and as the wave of nausea went through me, I wondered briefly if I was more hurt than I knew. I must have dozed then, because the shouting jarred me awake.

“You crazy piece of shit!” a man roared, and something hit the other side of the door really hard. “You never told me you were fuckin’ around with Sam Kage!”

There was a muffled sound and then a bang, followed by a low moan.

“You don’t fuck with a cop, man, especially not a goddamn detective! How stupid are you?”

No sound, just silence until a sort of light hammering began.

“Let’s just dump the guy and walk away before—” A sharp crack then, and glass shattered.

“No! Get rid of the goddamn⁠—”

There was a firecracker sound and then a low thud, and nothing after that but thundering silence. That silence you almost hear things in, but really, it’s just your own heart beating. I sat up, thinking I could hear better, but all alone in the dark, I was terrified that I would never see anyone ever again. There was nothing to do but wait and see, so I sat there and waited for what came next. It was scary to have my eyes open and see no more than I would if they were closed. I tried not to think about it too much.

I must have nodded off again, because the door opening woke me up. I was sitting against a wall, thankful for the support.