Nothing in Alec’s life had prepared him for the loneliness that struck the instant Em closed the basement door. He listened for her footsteps on the staircase, his gaze on the ceiling, following her movement across the foyer to the front door. He waited for a slam that would shake the townhouse, but his Em never did what he expected. The clicking sound of the door closing was barely audible.
He yanked his cell from his back pocket. McNeil’s man, who had followed them into the lot, would trail her home, but for his own peace of mind, he would track his truck.
The phone slipped from his hand to the concrete floor, cracking the screen, and his control slipped. He moved fast, slamming both hands on his workbench and flipping it on its side. The walls closed in on him. Trapped. Alone. Always alone.
Fuck, go after her. He reached for the basement door and froze. It would take just one time, a slip in his resolve.
“Fuck this!” he roared. “I made the right decision.”
He slammed the door open, and it banged against the wall. He took the steps to the first floor, crossed the family room, and charged upstairs. His rage was at its breaking point, and if he wanted to keep his hard-earned home intact, there was only one way to cool the monster. He entered his bathroom, turned the shower on cold, and stepped under the showerhead. Water poured over him, soaking his shirt and jeans. He didn’t turn off the faucet until his breathing was back to normal.
Chilled to the bone, he tore off his wet clothes and left them on the shower floor. After a quick dry off, he picked a pair of jeans from his laundry basket and stepped into them. Then he hunted for his running shoes under his bed.
Em had done a number on him. That’s the one I want. The erection that followed was painful. And she knew exactly what she was doing.
Sleep was impossible. Alec would exorcise his demons with total exhaustion. A ten-mile run should do the trick. He pulled on a thick hooded sweatshirt over a long-sleeve T-shirt and left the bedroom. At the front door, he eyed the drawer where he stashed his gun and badge.
Not a good idea.
A key sounded in the front door. Em. He yanked it open to find a man he’d never met on his porch. Before he could form a sentence, the stranger stepped forward and locked his hand around Alec’s neck, yanking him forward. Every one of Alec’s muscles stiffened at once. He pulled back his fist, but the needle prick at his neck froze him in place. An intense burn ran through his veins as his head grew heavy. His knees buckled, and he hit the tile floor. The weak arm he swung lost what little momentum it had and stole his last breath. Darkness pulled him under.
• • •
Alec shook his head and immediately regretted the move. Nausea roiled in his stomach as his memory slipped into focus. Whatever drug that bastard had pumped into his veins made his head pound like a fucking steel drum.
He forced his eyes open. Taking a quick survey of his surroundings, he couldn’t stop the hard laugh that echoed off the empty warehouse walls. The kidnapping bastard had no imagination. A murky, deserted warehouse, his arms and legs chained to the wall . . . Fucking cliché.
Alec yanked at the rusty clamp on his wrist. It didn’t budge, but the metal scratched a nice slit across the inside of his wrist. Shit! If he walked out of here alive, a tetanus shot was in his future.
He stood straight, his arms spread eagle, the wrist clamps pulling at his skin. His neck hurt like hell. That was the least of his worries. Was Em safe? Did the scumbag have her stashed somewhere in the building? Rage burned up from his soul, and he let it come.
A door clanged shut. The man’s smell hit Alec first, almost making him gag. Thick, musky cologne wafted a good five yards in front of him. Did the ass bathe in the stuff? And how in hell had Alec missed it back at the house?
“Detective Pearce. You’re awake.”
“Who the fuck are you?” Alec glared into the eyes of another cold-hearted monster.
“Now that’s just rude. I thought we had such a nice time the other night,” the man said, nodding at the dark bruise on the side of Alec’s head.
It was going to feel damn good to beat this man into the ground until his bones crunched beneath his knuckles. Alec jerked at his restraints again. Joe’s killer. It had to be. “Say your prayers, asshole.”
The man laughed as he stepped in close. He pivoted, sending his boot into Alec’s abdomen. “Shut your pie hole, Detective, and pay attention.”
Alec swallowed the pain but couldn’t keep the grunt from his lips. He spit blood and saliva onto the floor.
“What do you want?”
“Nothing from you.” The man lifted his phone. “But your girlfriend,” he snarled, “is going to do exactly what I want.”
“You leave her the fuck alone.”
Again, the bastard let out an unnatural laugh that brought Alec back to the time his father had had him trapped. But he was no longer a scared, helpless kid.
Alec charged him, and got within an inch of the guy before the chains hurled him backward. Before he could gain his balance, a bucket of ice water hit him full in the face, drenching him to the bone.
“That ought to cool you down,” the man said, removing a switchblade from his back pocket. He flipped the latch, and a sharp blade slipped from its casing. “I thought your training would have taught you a few hostage negotiation techniques. Pissing off the person with the power isn’t a smart move.” He yanked on the neck of Alec’s T-shirt, ripping it down the middle, and pulled it off him.
If the ice water wasn’t painful enough, the chilled air burned through Alec’s skin. The man had a point. There was a way out of this hell, and he had to keep things together for Em. His only hope was that McNeil’s brother was as good as rumored. For now, he had to play for time. “You killed Joe D’Azzo.”
The man turned his back on Alec.
“If I’m going to die tonight, tell me who hired you to kill my partner.”
The man knelt and hit a switch on a car battery. “What makes you think I didn’t want the guy dead myself?”
“You’re a killer for hire.”
He stood, straightening his spine. “It was an easy job, until you and your girlfriend decided to put your noses where they didn’t belong.”
Alec swallowed the bile in his throat. “You have no emotional attachment to any of this. Tell me who hired you.”
The man picked up a long, steel rod covered with a filthy towel. He dunked it into another bucket of water. Alec fought against his chains, pulling with all his might. But the rod hit him in the chest, inches below his heart, sending a piercing hot, electric jolt through every cell. A roar of pain echoed against the walls as his body quivered.
“That’s for assuming I’m too stupid to live. If I were you, I would shut the hell up. You’re not doing yourself any favors.” The man placed the rod on a table. “But that seems to be your mode of operation. You are such a dumb shit. She practically threw herself at you, and you sent her packing. Damn, it was hard to hear and even harder to watch.”
Alec couldn’t have responded if he’d wanted to. Pain like he’d never experienced rippled through him. How the hell was he still conscious? There was only one thing he could do. It had never helped in the past, but he had to give it a try. Em couldn’t be brought into this. Taking in a breath that hurt like hell, he begged, “Please leave her out of this. I’ll do anything you ask.”
A grin appeared at the corners of the bastard’s lips. “That’s the thing, Pearce. I meant it when I said you have nothing I need. You don’t have the journals. The girl does.” He picked up his cell phone from a tarnished workbench. “I’m going to ask her to bring me the journals, and then you both get to die. Fast and clean.”
He dialed a phone number, and the call connected. Em’s voice was barely audible, but it was her.
“Em!” Alec yelled with all his might. “Don’t come!”
The rod jabbed into his chest, searing his skin. Alec clamped down on his lips to keep the pain quiet. When he didn’t scream, the bastard struck him again on the opposite breast. An agonizing roar sliced through the warehouse.
“I hope your lover boy’s screams got your attention, Ms. D’Azzo. I want the journals, and any other evidence you’re hiding away, in my hands in twenty minutes. I’ll text you the address.”
Alec couldn’t hear what she said, but he had to warn her. “Don’t come!”
The next jolt almost knocked him off his feet. Still, he screamed over and over again for Em not to come, until his voice was raw.
Blackness seeped in through the edges of his mind. He fought it. Em needed him.
But, as always, pain won.