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“I’m so sorry, Eve. I’m so, so sorry. This is all my fault.”
“How could it possibly be your fault?”
A fresh round of sobs and shaking took over her body. “Dammit, Eve. It is! I told you! I told you about my ex. I knew he wouldn’t stop until he found me. I should have kept running. I shouldn’t have stayed in one spot for so long, but you and Lyric and Phoenix and Augie were so good to me, and I like him, and I let my hormones get the better of me. I should have known better. And now I’ve dragged you into it as well.” Her tears soaked my shoulder.
I held her tighter, murmuring quiet denials into her ear. “This isn’t you. It’s me. This is William and his cult of followers.”
“No. He’s a businessman. He’s an asshole, but he’s not dangerous.”
“You don’t know the whole story. I pose a threat to his career. It was me they wanted. You’re just collateral damage.” Guilt weighed heavy on my soul, eating away at it bit by bit until the heaviness was almost too much to bear. It wanted to drag me down, but when Fawn squeezed my hand, I knew I couldn’t let it. I couldn’t just sit here and let this happen.
I had to get angry. I wasn’t going to be a victim. “Do you have your phone?”
“No.”
“Mine was in my pocket.” I patted the side of my thigh and tried to muffle a yelp of delight when there was a phone-shaped bulge still there. I had no idea where our captors were or if they could hear us. I didn’t want to advertise that they’d royally fucked up by letting us keep a phone.
I unlocked it with my thumbprint, the phone lighting up the immediate space around me just enough that I could make out Fawn’s expression. The fear in her wide eyes was gutting. Pale tracks ran down her dirt-smeared cheeks where her tears had fallen, and bruises already formed around her neck. Judging by how sore mine was, I figured we’d be sporting matching injuries. Not that that mattered now.
“Call nine-one-one. Or Boston,” she urged.
I nodded. I went straight for Boston’s number, knowing he was at work, and praying I was making the right decision. But there was nobody else I wanted to talk to more than him. I craved the steady, solid timbre of his voice like I craved my next breath. And nobody at 911 was going to care about my whereabouts the way he would.
“Quick, quick,” Fawn urged. “Before somebody comes and realizes you’ve still got it.”
I nodded in the darkness, stabbing my finger against the green ‘call’ button below Boston’s name. I pressed it to my ear desperately, praying he’d pick it up quickly.
There was no ringing.
The phone gave a beep, and when I looked at the screen again, it was flashing the “No cell service” signal.
“No!” I wailed. “I can’t get a call out.”
A true, chilling fear cut me in two. I couldn’t think of anywhere local that would have not even one bar of cell reception.
Fawn came to the same conclusion. “Where the hell are we?”
A terrifying laugh from the other side of the door made me sure I didn’t even want to know.
26
BOSTON
Richards really wasn’t as bad as I’d initially thought. While I still hated that he sat in Jayela’s seat, the guy had proved himself of good value. He’d reported to me quickly and factually about what had happened at Eve’s club the moment I’d arrived at work and hadn’t spared even the smallest of details that I would have normally had to pry out of another officer. He’d moved the crowd on peacefully, though not before some of them shoved their hateful signs and messages beneath the club’s door.
“I couldn’t do anything about that without breaking in. We could fingerprint them if she wants. Hopefully they won’t upset her too much.”
“If a drive-by shooting doesn’t faze her, then a few bits of paper won’t. She’s tough.” And strong, and sexy, and mind-blowing in every way.
The grin spread wide across my face, and I couldn’t remove it even when Richards shot me a knowing smile. I’d hated leaving her earlier, but the memory of her naked in my bed, and the things we’d done in it…fuck.
My personal cell rang toward the end of my shift, sometime after dark when my stomach was rumbling and all I could think about was finishing up and getting back over to the club to help Eve with the food. I pulled my phone out from the pocket of my uniform, excited at the thought it might be Eve.
I frowned at the unknown number but answered it anyway.
“Cop. It’s Augie. From Eve’s club.”
My eyebrows knit together. There was no love lost between the two of us. It was clear he didn’t like Eve and me together, but she didn’t care, so neither did I. It begged the question as to why the big blond man who looked like he’d just stepped out of a surfing magazine would be calling me. “Yeah, I know who you are. What’s up?”
