Page 54 of Protect and Serve

He frowned at her. “Hold it.”

Hold it? Hold it? “Is that any way to treat a woman you claim to love?”

“I don’t claim to love you, Claire. I do.”

“Bullshit.”

This earned her another frown. “My wife does not use profanity.”

“It’s a good thing I’m not your fucking wife then, isn’t it?”

He sent her a sad look and shook his head. “You’ll learn.” When he pulled over to the side of the road, she was elated—she was sure if she could break away, she could outrun him and hide in the brush—but he didn’t let her out of the truck. Rather he scrounged around in the back until he found what he was looking for.

He presented it to her with something of a challenge in his eyes and the sight of it terrified her.

It was a roll of duct tape.

Holding her gaze—perhaps enjoying her dread—he ripped off a length and wrapped it around her wrists. It was nothing like when Charlie had done it. There was nothing gentle or consensual about this and she loathed it with a passion. She’d always hated being dominated by overbearing men and this was no different.

“You son of a bitch,” she spat, immediately lifting her wrists to her mouth to rip the tape off with her teeth. But before she could, he settled another strip over her mouth.

He studied her for a moment as she fought against the bonds and screamed muffled curses into the tape. “You see?” he said, after a while. “My wife does not use profanities.” His tone was pedantic. As though this had been a lesson.

And indeed. Maybe it had been.

She’d learned one thing for sure. Dustin was batshit insane.

The question was, how would she escape him now?

Chapter FIFTEEN

The first thing Charlie did when they landed in Amarillo was check Claire’s GPS again—even though he’d been checking it all along. It was satisfying to see that her marker was close. She was on I-40, heading west. The three of them piled into a cruiser with his friend Henry, who had agreed to help out.

He hadn’t seen Henry since his first tour in Iraq, but some relationships didn’t need a lot of bolstering, especially not after what they’d been through. Either one of them would have dropped everything to help the other. That’s just the way it was. Still, he offered his friend a grateful smile as Henry started the engine. “Thanks again for this,” he said in a gruff tone.

“No worries,” Henry said, glancing over his shoulder at Cade and Cody in the back. “You all got your seat belts on?”

It was amusing, watching the brothers scramble for them. It was also fun seeing them in the back of the cruiser behind the cage.

“So what are we looking for?” Henry asked as they pulled out of the state trooper complex and onto the freeway.

Charlie gave him a quick description of Dustin’s truck.

“And you’re sure there’s been foul play here?”

Even as he nodded, Cody and Cade both said, “Damn straight.”

“If she is with Dustin, she would not have gone willingly.” In his heart of hearts, he hoped he’d misread the situation, but he couldn’t fathom why else she would be way out here in Amarillo, not answering her phone. Also, his gut was rarely wrong. And he knew she was in danger. Knew.

Henry flicked a look at him, one that was far too inquisitive. “And who is this girl?” he asked in an undertone.

Charlie cleared his throat. “Why do you ask?”

“Because I’ve never seen you so worked up.”

He drew in a deep breath in an attempt to calm down. It didn’t work. “She’s…Claire.” That was it. That said it all. His Claire.

“Right. But who is she to you?”