A Little Harmless Fantasy(91)
He got a hold of his mother and was assured everything was fine by the time they were heading toward his car.
“Okay, ma. I’ve got some other calls to make.”
Rory started up the car with a grim expression. “Maura’s not answering her phone.”
“Dammit, you drive, I’ll call.”
Her phone rang and rang. No answer.
“She’s ignoring us. Hopefully.”
“Hopefully?”
“Yes. The alternative is she is separated from her phone. That never happens.”
If it did, they both knew it meant trouble.
Rory sped through a red light. There were a lot of honking horns but both of them ignored that. All that mattered was getting to Maura and making sure she was okay.
Chapter Twenty
Maura’s head was pounding by the time she got home. She was so damned tired she might force herself to take the stupid pills the doctor gave her for pain. But that seemed so weak.
She didn’t seem to give a damn.
The men in her life were treating her as if she were going insane.
It was too bad she couldn’t just curl up in a ball and sleep for three weeks. She knew the signs of depression. Dr. Obenhaus had helped her through all of that before, but one thing the doctor had taught her was sometimes…just sometimes…you needed to escape from the world you were in.
Life wasn’t supposed to hurt this much, was it?
She sighed. Sitting in her hot car feeling sorry for herself wasn’t going to make anything better. After grabbing her briefcase, she slipped out of her car and shut the door. After reaching the front door, she punched in her security code, but when she stepped into the foyer, she knew something was wrong immediately. She stepped back, but stopped when she saw a man step from around the corner in her house.
It was the bastard who had attacked her in Hawaii.
“So nice to see you again, Ms. Dillon.”
Before she could react, he rushed forward. She turned but it was too late. She felt the shock to her left shoulder and it jolted through her body. Then, she fell, hitting her head on the pavement. Pain exploded and then her world went to black.
* * * *
Fear turned into terror when Rory pulled into the driveway and Zeke saw the front door was left open. He was out of the car and running even before Rory put it in park.
“Shit,” he said. “Maura! Maura!”
No answer. Fucking hell.
“She’s not here?” Rory asked.
“Let’s search the house and grounds. I’ll talk to Conner.”
He dialed Conner’s number. “I can’t find her, Conner. She’s missing.”
“Fuck. He has her, I know it,” Conner said, voicing Zeke’s greatest fears.
“This isn’t his stomping grounds, so I have no idea where he would have taken her.”
Rory ran up, shaking his head. Then, his phone went off. It was Maura’s ring.
“Maura, love, where are you?” He frowned. “Maura? She’s not saying anything.”
“Maybe she can’t.”
“Can’t what?”
“Maura called Rory.”
“She might be trying to give you the opportunity to trace her. I’ll call it in and then get back with you.”
The phone clicked off.
Rory was still trying to talk to Maura. “Maura, love, we know you’re there. Just let us know where you are.”
Still no answer. They felt helpless as they stood in front of her house and waited for her brother to call back. It didn’t take long.
“He’s heading to the docks,” Conner said.
“We got a location,” he said and Rory started up the car.
“We’ll get her, Conner, don’t worry.”
“I’m calling the FBI and I am sure they will call Miami PD. If anything happens to her, I will kill you.”
And that was the end of the conversation.
“He’s pissed.”
“I’m sure he is. Gun in the glove compartment. You have yours?”
“Yes.”
“We’ll get there, Zee, I promise.”
He knew that, he just hoped they got there in time.
* * * *
Maura sucked in a deep breath and winced from the pain. Fuck, she was pretty sure the bastard cracked a rib or two when he tossed her in the trunk of his car. She slowly opened her eyes. She tried to move her arms but found them tied behind. She was in some sort of storage area or warehouse. She didn’t know the area, that was for sure.
“It’s about time you woke up, girlie,” he said.
She turned in the direction of the voice. A shard of pain radiated from her head through her body. A wave of nausea hit her and she closed her eyes for a second.
When she knew she had it under control, she opened them again and looked at the man who attacked her. It wasn’t anyone she had met before. This man was tall, dark, with blue eyes. If he hadn’t abducted her she might be attracted to him. Until she studied his eyes. There was something so cold that she shivered.