Bait: A dark erotic thriller (Hunter & Prey Book 2) (18 page)

But at the very least, I had to try to convince her, and if it was the last thing I could do for her.

Unless, of course, I didn’t want to save her.

I tried to follow Darren through the press of people, but he made it to the bar long before I could get there. My paranoia told me that the crowds parted before him because they instinctively picked up on the fact that he was a predator—and I wasn’t. That was nonsense, of course, but still frustrating. In passing I got a glimpse of Alison and her party, my girls and the professor missing still. The nasty voice at the back of my head told me that I should be way more concerned about their well-being than Daliah’s, but it was hard to focus on that right now.

Maybe there was something to that predator sensing, because Ricardo beat it before Darren could tear into him, leaving Daliah looking both perplexed and a little annoyed. Darren bent down and whispered something into her ear that made her frown slightly, but as he continued to talk, her face lit up.
 

That couldn’t be good.

Taking her arm, he pulled her away from the bar, but rather than leave, they continued to mingle. Daliah put on a pleasant smile that bordered on insipid, not a single word tripping over her lips from what I could see where I tried to follow their progress through the crowds. The purest form of eye candy. As if I needed another reason to detest her. That should have been me by his side—supporting, agreeing, furthering whatever cause he was after.
 

I briefly considered tracking down one of Agent Smith’s team—or calling the woman herself—to let her know about my miscalculations, but I dropped that thought before it could come to fruition. It wasn’t like I could be stubborn beyond belief; just because Darren had told me he was about to kill her didn’t mean that he would. He’d strung me along more than once, and not just before my untimely stay in his basement. And unless I knew what he had planned, it was stupid to go charging off blindly.

After breaking away from another cluster of people, Daliah excused herself and I decided that this was my signal. Now or never.
 

There were several other women using the facilities, and I half-expected to have to wait for her to be done, but instead I found her waiting for me, an uppity smirk on her features. Gloating really didn’t become her.

“I thought I would meet you here,” she greeted me with. “Where people go to take a dump seems about your level.”

I didn’t dwell on that—or tried to decipher what that was supposed to mean—but instead forced the steel out of my voice, going for a demure, if not nice, mien.
 

“Daliah, please, you have to listen to me—“

“Like I care what venom you have to spew, whore!” she bit out, then rolled her eyes at the horrified look she got from the woman washing her hands at the sink. “It’s not just a figure of speech with her, you know? She is a prostitute. And right now doing everything her pea-sized brain can come up with to steal away my fiancé.”

As expected, the outrage was seamlessly transferred to me, but I simply ignored it. I had no need to inform anyone that I hadn’t earned my degrees by opening my legs, and I had more right to Darren than anyone else—alive—in the world. Instead, I went right for the kill, because it was obvious that anything short of scaring her witless wouldn’t get through to her.

“Listen, you stupid bitch. I’m trying to help you. To save your life, actually. Jealousy is the furthest thing from my mind.” Which was a lie, but if an escort couldn’t pull that off, no one would.

Daliah eyed me shrewdly.

“You got a bit of a flare for the dramatic, I have to hand you that,” she said. “But you’re still a liar.”

“What reason would I have to lie to you?” I asked, trying to ignore the gathering audience we were generating. That made me realize that I had to better watch what I was saying, unless I wanted to make Darren change his mind about not harming me. If the choice was between me and her, there was a good chance that I would still choose myself.

“Uhm, you’re a whore?” she proposed.

“Former escort,” I clarified, then sighed. “Look, I get it. You think you landed the catch of the century with him. But he’s a lot more complicated than you can fathom. You’re young. You still have your entire life in front of you. Why tie yourself down like this now?”

“You’re just saying that so you can sink your claws back into him,” she accused.

“He’s not the kind of guy who would let any woman do that,” I shot back. The fact that my words didn’t even seem to ring true to her told me just how delusional she really was.

“You’re just getting anxious because you know that you’ve lost,” Daliah said with all the conviction in the world. “Darren just told me that he’s going to whisk me away for a romantic weekend. Considering that we’ve been engaged for three months now, that can only mean one thing—we are going to elope to get married. And there’s not a fucking thing that you can do to prevent it.”

So that was the thing that had made her smile like that. For a moment, fear so strong it was paralyzing gripped me, but I managed to shake it off.

“Where?” I croaked, trying not to sound as desperate as she made me out to be.

Her triumphant smile told me plainly that I needn’t have bothered. “Up near Elkhart lake. Not that they will let you anywhere near that venue. They have standards.”

The remark that, dressed as she was, they were more likely to open their doors for me than her lay on my tongue, but I swallowed it. She’d given me enough information to work with—hopefully.

Before I could find an eloquent reply, Daliah turned to leave. That seemed to be the theme of the evening.

“Anyway, thank you so much for your concern.” She didn’t use air quotes, but the scorn dripping from her words told me plainly what she thought of my attempt to save her. “Next time we meet, I will be Mrs. Darren Hunter, while you remain a pathetic, old hag. If you had a shred of decency, you’d find it in you to be happy for me, but I can see where you’re the wrong kind of person for that.”

I continued to stare at her as she left me standing there, then marched into one of the stalls, letting the door close between me and the sea of inquisitive eyes.

It was so tempting to let her run head-on into his knife—or syringe, more likely, if he kept to his usual MO. Rationally thinking, no woman deserved to have her life taken from her like that, but I couldn’t help but feel like she had it coming. She didn’t want my help—didn’t even understand that she might be in a situation to require anyone’s help—and all I needed to do was do nothing, and the problem would take care of itself.

But as much as I couldn’t stand her, I just didn’t have it in me to stop caring.

An hour later I was back home, scouring the internet for clues where he might take her. The region wasn’t exactly devoid of properties for rent, but it had to be something that was available on short notice. Then again, I knew very well how easy it was to throw around the right names, and doors opened that would otherwise remain closed forever. And even if that didn’t help, he had the net worth to bribe his way into anything he wanted.

I gave up around midnight and called up my trusty hacker team, telling them to scour logs for a possible reservation under Darren’s name. Then I spent an hour staring at my phone, waiting for confirmation—or for one of my girls to check back in with me. When I couldn’t take the silence anymore, I caved and called Adam. That he was still awake wasn’t a surprise; the fact that he sounded less than pleased to hear from me was, but probably shouldn’t have been.
 

“Penelope. To what do I owe the pleasure of your call?”

This was a bad idea—but I couldn’t very well back down now.

“I need some help.”

He laughed, and it wasn’t a happy sound. “Of course you do. That’s why you called, isn’t it?”

I was hard pressed not to bite at him that I’d pretty much said so myself, but I probably deserved his ire after our last conversation—and the utter radio silence that had followed.

“It’s about the girl—“

“Of course it is,” he said, cutting me off. This was getting increasingly annoying.

“Well, last time I looked, your boss was adamant about saving her, so why shouldn’t I call if I need help with that?” I asked.

“Ah,” he said. “So your plan didn’t quite work out the way you expected. Didn’t Eva predict that from the start?”

Gnashing my teeth didn’t help, but it couldn’t be prevented.

“I’m not sure. It certainly wasn’t a catastrophic failure.”

A pause, then, “I put you on speaker. I think the rest of the team should hear that, too.”

I wondered why they were back already, but maybe it was just the key personnel that hadn’t been at the event. Either way, I was less than happy about our conversation suddenly becoming public, but there was nothing I could do about that.

“You were saying?” Adam prompted, sounding downright nasty.

“Hunter saw through my scheme, but at least we know where they’ll spend the next two days. That’s why I’m calling. I need you to track down the exact address.”

The microphone picked up cursing that could only have come from Agent Smith. Adam was a bit more suave about the entire thing.

“What address?”

“A cabin in the woods. Near or at Elkhart lake. Romantic weekend kind of venue.”

That caused an audible pause that I didn’t quite understand.

“Have you devolved to simple stalkerdom now?” Adam wanted to know, his voice full of scorn.

My mouth was already open to tell him not to be stupid—the girl’s life was at stake, after all—but something held me back. I couldn’t say what, but the fact that they hadn’t jumped to the same conclusions as I had gave me a flicker of hope. It was entirely possible that Darren was simply screwing with me—again.

“Just find the reservation and email me the details,” I said and hung up before I could divulge more than I wanted to.
 

More waiting followed. Still no calls, and no answers.

At around four, Pam sent me a text, letting me know that she was back home. Nothing more, nothing less, but then I could see where she didn’t feel like sharing. The other girls followed within the next twenty minutes, their messages barely longer. Been there, done that, didn’t even get a T-shirt. I couldn’t fault them for being short with me, but at least I could call the doc and tell her that she wouldn’t get any patients this morning.

Just as I was considering going for my laps, the hacker team called in—nothing. Adam confirmed that a little while later, leaving me frustrated and ready to crawl up the walls.

I just knew that it wasn’t a false lead. And I knew that Daliah wouldn’t return from this trip.
 

Chances were next to nonexistent that I would find something when the others hadn’t, but that didn’t keep me from bringing up the website of the local tourism office and scanning their most promising listings once more. I was about to give up when I clicked at the bottom-most picture on page fifteen—and there it was. I just knew that it was this exact cabin. Or rather, cabins, the site explained. Set back in the woods, with a central lodge that housed a small restaurant and reception. Very secluded. Perfect for the romantic getaway of the century. Or to kill someone and leave everyone else none the wiser.

I didn’t even hesitate as I got my phone and called the provided number.
 

A chipper-sounding woman picked up, making me guess that they even paid their staff well if you got such a response at the ass-crack of dawn.

“Blue Ridge Cabins, you are speaking with Elaine. How can I help you?”

“Hi, Elaine. I’m calling to confirm a reservation for my boss?” I said, pitching my voice as high as it would go. They must get harassed-sounding assistants calling at odd hours more often than not.

“Of course. If you just give me the details…?”

“Reservation for a cabin, two people. Under Darren Hunter.”

“A moment please.” She let me wait more than a moment, and when she came back on, she sounded apologetic rather than annoyed. “I’m sorry, we don’t have a reservation under this name. Maybe it’s under a company name?”

That wouldn’t fit.

“Maybe I have the wrong address,” I hedged, unsure how to proceed. I had been so sure… “The reservation is a very recent one. It was only booked yesterday evening.”

“I’m sorry. If you don’t have the correct name, I’m afraid I’m not allowed to give any details,” Elaine said, sounding sincerely distressed. She waited for me to say something, clearing her throat. So much for being nice and patient.

On a whim, I tried another possibility that came to mind, but I wasn’t sure how I felt about that.

“Maybe the reservation is under Penelope Thompson?”

It took her only a moment to check, making me guess that she’d already narrowed the search down considerably.

“Right, here it is. The Moonshine Cabin, right over by the lake front. Check-in starts at 2 p.m., but we have a luggage room for early arrivals.”

Exhaling slowly, I thanked her and hung up.

This was a trap. There was no denying it. He must have known that Daliah would tell me. He also must have known that I would do research. How high were the chances that once I got there, I wouldn’t find a trace of Daliah, but a set of surgical tools waiting for me?

High, the nasty voice at the back of my mind let me know.

But even knowing that didn’t keep me from donning jeans and a warm parka, the snow boots I hadn’t expected to ever wear, and head down to the car.

The drive to the country club two weeks ago had been a breeze. Since then, we’d gotten another foot of snow, turning the country roads into slicked-up racing tracks. As soon as I left the highway, I rued the fact that I hadn’t gotten a car that was a little better suited for the terrain. Virtually any other car would have done the trick. But I had no time to waste on getting a rental instead, and besides, it would serve me just right to kill myself in my over-priced, over-powered deathtrap on four wheels. According to my nav system, I should have gotten there just after ten, but it was well past noon by the time I let the Jaguar roll to a halt at the bottom end of the parking lot by the main lodge. Its twin was nowhere to be seen, but that didn’t surprise me. Darren had likely checked the weather conditions up here—unlike me, who thought driving blindly into danger was a hell of a good idea. But there were a few Chicago cars parked here, likely including his.