Dangerous (The Complete Erotic Romance Novel) (69 page)

“I don’t owe you an explanation. Turn right.”

Her purse slid abruptly into the back seat as she turned onto the road, and she spared a glance back. It hadn’t fallen; he’d pulled it. He was digging in it with one hand, the gun unwavering. Kendra looked back at the road.

“At the traffic light, you’re going to send a message,” he said, tossing the phone into her lap.

Kendra hoped the light would stay green, just so something wouldn’t work out precisely as this guy had planned, but it turned yellow. She could have run it and was tempted to do so, if only to draw attention to the car, but the muzzle pressed a little deeper into her side.

“No tricks, whore. You want to
pretend
to be a good girl tonight.”

Kendra stopped at the light and picked up her phone. “Who am I calling?”

“Not a call. A text message. Tell Reid that you’ll meet him at the address on the box.”

Kendra glanced at the address, which was apparently Alicia’s shop, but hesitated.

“He might be suspicious,” she said. “I usually call him.”

“Not this time. You might give him a clue. Write a text message and give the phone to me before you send it.” His voice rose then. The press of the gun hurt. “Do you want to die now, whore?”

Kendra had to hope Reid remembered he’d taken her to the shop blindfolded. Leaving out the address was the only way she could send him a clue, and it wasn’t a very good one. She typed the message and passed the phone back as the light changed.

“Very good, whore. You’re more obedient than she was. Maybe it’s not too late for you.”

Kendra didn’t doubt he was playing with her mind. He had no intention of letting her live. She was going to have to change his plan.

And save Reid.

Somehow.

She heard the beep of the message being sent, then jumped as he smashed her phone against the seatbelt clasp for the passenger seat.

“Open your window,” he commanded and she did, watching as he chucked her cell phone out of the car. “Now close the window and drive.”

Kendra’s only chance was to figure out this guy. “Did you love Alana?”

“I loved Lisa!” he snarled, to her confusion. “But there was nothing left of Lisa by the time he got through with her.” His voice dropped low. “She was an abomination.”

“I don’t understand. Who’s Lisa?”

“Lisa was lost. Lisa was sacrificed. Lisa was turned into a whore by Reid Stirling, thanks to his needs and his so-called training, and when he was done with her, she wasn’t Lisa any more.”

Was that why Alana hadn’t had any discernible past? Because she’d been a fabrication? Some woman named Lisa had created an alter ego to stalk and marry Reid, becoming his perfect woman?

But why? Kendra thought she could guess. “Did she love him?”

“Don’t be a stupid whore. She never loved him. She loved
me
!” He seethed and fidgeted in the back, the gun moving in a disconcerting way in his agitation. “Take the back road, not the highway.”

“Tell me exactly how you want me to get there,” Kendra said in her most soothing voice.

He stilled then, and she felt him looking at her. “You like to be told what to do?”

“I always do what I’m told.”

“He did that to you.”

Kendra shook her head. “No. I’ve always been this way. I just need to find the right man to obey.”

“You’re not going to tell me that you did in Stirling?”

Kendra shook her head again, well aware that he was intrigued. “Oh no. He wanted to share me with other men. I want to be only with one man, the right man. That’s not Reid Stirling.”

He had listened and he was thinking. Kendra could feel him staring at her and hoped she was convincing him. Becoming his perfect woman was the only way she could imagine surviving this day.

“You’re a lying whore,” he snarled finally, and she was sure he’d give her a bruise with that gun. “Take a left and then a right. I won’t have to listen to your shit much longer, whore.”

* * *

Reid wanted nothing more than to get home. Being out on bail gave him the urge to put distance between himself and the police, preferably forever. He wanted a shower and a decent cup of coffee, a civilized dinner and—if he was lucky—some time with Kendra. He wanted to know what she’d learned during the day, because he was sure she’d figured out something. It was time to share notes and see if they could figure out more together.

Jackson brought his car to the police station, and Reid was glad to slide behind the wheel of the familiar vehicle. He thanked the older man and pulled through the throng of reporters, taking a direct route home to be there sooner.

He was pulling into the driveway when his cell phone beeped. It was a text message from Kendra.

Jackson got out of the car and headed for the house. Reid left the engine idling while he read the message.

Meet me at A’s shop.

Reid frowned in confusion. Did Kendra know where Alicia’s shop was? He’d blindfolded her when he’d taken her there the first time, to ensure she would be unaware of her location. That had been part of her surrender, part of the tease.

Of course, Esperanza
was
manufacturing a new line of gear under Alicia’s design label, making her work accessible to a larger audience. Kendra must have learned the address in her dealings with Alicia. It was a simple explanation, even though something about the message troubled him.

Why hadn’t she just called him?

Kendra must be as distrustful of the police as Reid was. They might be listening to his calls even now. And by not giving the name of the shop or its address, it wouldn’t be easy for anyone to follow them. That would explain the location, too, which wasn’t where anyone would look for either of them. Reid stifled his suspicion, telling himself he was giving too much weight to his recent experience. He lowered the window, called to Jackson that he’d be back shortly, then backed up the car.

Maybe Kendra wanted to celebrate his release.

She was very good at surprising him, after all.

Reid found himself driving more quickly. There was no dark car following him like a shadow this time, which was a good thing. If Kendra wanted to celebrate, Reid didn’t want to be interrupted.

* * *

Kendra had never seen the entrance to Alicia’s workshop, but she remembered the smell of the air. It was close to the harbor and she could smell the water. Also the district had a scent of its own, old brick and dust. Her captor directed her down an alley that had high brick walls on either side and she remembered how the sound had been buffered just before she and Reid had arrived.

She hoped they wouldn’t be at the shop alone, but her hopes were dashed. The alley opened into a small enclosed parking area, the building wrapped around it on all sides. It must have been a courtyard once. There was only Alicia’s van parked to one side, the one with her logo, and the air was still. The windows facing the parking area were bricked over or boarded up. Many of them had bars secured over them, and there was only one steel door that opened into the space.

Kendra’s breath hitched with the memory of entering the shop the first time. She’d been terrified then, terrified and thrilled, uncertain but excited.

Now she was just terrified. She wondered if she’d walk out of there ever again.

She wished she had some idea of how the interior was laid out. It had seemed labyrinthine when she was blindfolded.

“You’re going to get out of the car. You’re going to leave your purse here and bring only the box. When we get inside, you’re going to strip down. You’ll take off everything.”

“How’s that going to help Reid?”

“Might give him a hard-on for his last moments.”

“You’re luring him here to kill him.”

“You’ve summoned him here. He’ll be challenged.”

“I don’t understand.”

“You’ll be the prize, Miss Jones. Let’s see if he wants to fight for you any more than he wanted to fight for Lisa.”

“What if he doesn’t come?”

He smiled. “Then you and I will have some fun before I release you.” He cut the cable tie on the seatbelt and gave her an intent look. “Now.”

Kendra opened the door and stepped out of the car, once again moving slowly. She reached back in for the box, then straightened and shut the door. He was in the act of getting out of the back seat, his attention averted for just a second.

Kendra threw the box at his head and ran for the alley.

She heard the shot in the same moment she felt the burning pain in her calf. She stumbled and fell, her hands scraping in the gravel. She tried to scramble to her feet, but he grabbed her by the hair and jammed a wad of cloth into her mouth.

Then he spun her around and hit her hard across the face. The last thing she saw was the madness in his eyes. Then her weight shifted to her injured leg, which gave out beneath her, and she fell against the brick wall. Her head dragged along the brick as she fell to her hands and knees and she felt blood on her own cheek. She tried to crawl toward the alley, but her assailant scooped her up easily from behind. He pressed a cloth over her mouth and nose as she struggled against his grip, but she felt the lethargy sliding through her body.

She had time to realize she was powerless once more.

Then everything faded to black.

* * *

The more Reid thought about it, the stranger it seemed that Kendra had sent him a text.

Never mind that she wanted to meet at Alicia’s workshop.

Why there? If she wanted to show him some samples, it would have made sense to meet at Esperanza. It was too late to be meeting Alicia at her shop—unless Kendra had a more erotic surprise in store for him.

The idea was titillating, but still troubled him. Even if she wanted to celebrate his release, there were other places they could have met. More private places. If this incident had taught him anything, it reinforced Reid’s need for privacy. Surely Kendra knew that he would have paid for a hotel room, if she hadn’t wanted to go to his house or her apartment.

In fact, the last place he wanted her to go was to her apartment, given what he’d seen of the stalker’s surveillance of her bedroom.

He tried to call her repeatedly, but kept getting the message the number was unavailable. That didn’t reassure him at all. Why would she text him, then turn off her phone?

And where was that stalker?

What if she hadn’t been the one to text him? If she’d called, he would have heard her voice and known it was her. This way, the only thing he could be sure of was the text message had come from Kendra’s phone.

Reid accelerated, needing to prove his fears wrong. He was tempted to call the police, but he had nothing but his instinctive distrust of the situation to report, plus he knew Moynihan wouldn’t believe anything he said. Maybe he was just paranoid.

He turned into the alley that led to the parking space behind Alicia’s shop and proceeded with care. The car only just fit down the alley and he was watching for surprises.

There were none.

Kendra’s car was parked there, beside Alicia’s van. There were no other vehicles, although Reid wasn’t sure that was a relief. The snow was packed down in the courtyard, making it impossible to distinguish individual tracks. He got out of his car slowly, disliking that there was no sign of Kendra.

He would have expected her to wait in her car, to be at the door, or to come out of the shop at the sound of his car. But there was no sign of another being in the courtyard.

No sound.

The crunch of Reid’s boots in the snow seemed loud as he crossed to the door to the shop. He felt as if something or someone was watching him, although he couldn’t see anyone. He paused and looked around with care.

And that was when he saw it.

There was blood in the snow.

Fresh red blood.

It trailed to the door, the occasional drip marking the dirty snow. Reid followed the trail back to the alley, where he found more. Much more. And blood on the dark bricks, too.

Kendra was hurt!

Reid pivoted and strode to the steel shop door, even as he pulled out his cell phone. He expected the door to be locked, but it wasn’t. Kendra must have gone inside. He hoped like hell she was alone. He hauled open the door, listened, and the sound of a whimper had him over the threshold without another thought.

And stopped cold at the press of a gun against the back of his neck.

“It’s loaded,” his assailant said, as calmly as if they were discussing the weather, not the man’s ability to blow Reid’s brains out. Reid couldn’t see the man who stood directly behind him. His phone was snatched out of his hand and he winced when he heard it smashed against the steel door frame. He saw it flash as it was chucked back into the courtyard, then the door swung shut, plunging them into near darkness. Reid swallowed when he heard the lock click.

Kendra whimpered again.

He’d found the stalker, and he was pretty sure he knew the man’s plan.

“I have some cash...” Reid said, doubting it would matter but needing to try. He lifted his hands as he spoke, indicating he wouldn’t fight.