Intent to Seduce & A Glimpse of Fire(32)

“Ma’am?”

Startled, Mac whirled to face the man standing directly behind her. “Who are you?”

“Detective Ramsey, District of Columbia Police Department.” He showed her the badge he’d removed from his pocket. “Now, why don’t you tell me who you are?”

“I’m MacKenzie Lloyd. I live here.”

“And the rock in your hand is for…?”

Mac quickly put the rock down on the ground. “I don’t have my key, and my neighbor isn’t home to give me the spare.”

The detective studied her for a moment. “You have some ID?”

“Yes.” She was reaching into her purse when she realized that she didn’t. “No. My friend and I switched purses. Her name is Sophie Wainright and I have her ID.” She handed the detective her wallet.

After glancing through it briefly, he said, “According to the security people at the university, MacKenzie Lloyd has red hair. Yours is blond.”

Mac lifted off the wig. “I had to wear it so that I could get on the plane. All I had was Sophie’s ID.” Running her hands through her hair, she glanced up at him. “Isn’t this where you advise me that I have the right to remain silent?”

Fishing a photo out of his pocket, he glanced at it, then at her. “I don’t think that will be necessary. You look a lot like the picture I have of Dr. Lloyd. We’ve been trying very hard to get ahold of you, Doctor. Don’t you ever answer your cell phone?”

“Yes, of course.” She pulled it out of her bag and then stared at it. It just hadn’t been her cell phone she’d been answering. “My friend has mine.”

Detective Ramsey nodded. “Well, she’s not answering it either. Where have you been, Dr. Lloyd?”

“I took a few days off and went down to the Florida Keys.”

He nodded. “That fits with what the university told us. But they were worried when they couldn’t get hold of you. I have some bad news for you. Sometime on Wednesday, your apartment was broken into. One of your neighbors called it in, and then tried to reach you at the university. Somebody high up at the college is very concerned about you and your research and they called us. They think the break-in here and the one at the university are related. They also said you’d planned to take a few days off, but no one at the lab, not even your colleague Dr. Stafford, knew where you were. The timing of this break-in made them worry that perhaps…you hadn’t gone away voluntarily.”

Mac’s eyes widened. “They thought I was kidnapped?”

“They wanted to file a missing persons report. Officially, we can’t let anyone do that for forty-eight hours. In the meantime, the commissioner assigned me to keep an eye on your place. A lot of people are going to be relieved that you’re back.”

Mac stared at him. “I just went to the Florida Keys for a little…vacation. I’m fine.”

“Well, the bad news is your apartment isn’t. Whoever broke in was looking for something and they were pretty thorough. If you feel up to it, I’d like you to take a look and tell me what’s missing, or what they might have been after.”

“Of course.” She could hardly refuse. But she wanted to. During the short time it took the detective to lead her back to the front porch and open the door, she tried to prepare, to steel herself for the sight. She still remembered what it had felt like when she’d first learned about the break-in at the lab. Her head pounded, her stomach clutched at the memory. This would be easier, she told herself as Ramsey led her inside.

It wasn’t. The place was in a shambles—sofas and chairs overturned, lamps shattered, pictures torn out of their frames. In the kitchen, the cupboards and even the refrigerator had been emptied. Shards of glass and china lay over everything.

Drawing in a deep breath, she tried to reach for control. Lucas had weakened it, but it still had to be there. If she could just reach deep enough.

“Is there any way to tell if they found your research?”

Mac shook her head. “It’s not here. Why would they do this?”

“They were angry,” Detective Ramsey said. “Probably because they couldn’t find what they were after.”

“All they did at the lab was break into the safe and search through my file drawers.”

“There are some very influential people at the university who think they might have been after more than the formulas here,” Ramsey said as he led her back out to the porch.

“What then?”

“According to the university security people, you usually work in your lab on Sundays. The Sunday of the break-in, you didn’t. Then you should have been home on Wednesday. Your voice mail on campus was letting all callers know that’s where you were.”

Mac drew in another breath. “What exactly are you saying, Detective?”

“It’s possible that whoever did this to your lab and your apartment might have been looking for you. When you weren’t here, they got upset and trashed the place.”

She didn’t want to believe it, not for a moment.

Then she thought of Sophie who’d been using MacKenzie Lloyd’s name and traveling with her ID. And it was Sophie who’d disappeared. If there was any chance that what Ramsey was saying was true, she’d just learned how easy it was to find out where MacKenzie Lloyd was staying.

“Detective, if you’re right, there’s someone I have to get in touch with right away.”





CHAPTER FIFTEEN




SOPHIE DRIFTED in that gray world, halfway between wakefulness and sleep. Once or twice, she’d nearly reached consciousness only to slip back under. But gradually, moment by moment, awareness was creeping in. The throbbing in her head grew more intense. As did the light, growing steadily brighter beyond her eyelids. And she was lying on a rock—a hard and lumpy one.

It was only when she tried to shift to a more comfortable position that she realized she couldn’t move her arms or legs. A quick spurt of alarm shot through her.

It had to be a dream. That had to be why she felt paralyzed. Clinging hard to consciousness, she struggled to wake up.

The memories came then—in bits and pieces. California, that’s where she was. And Sonny… As his face appeared in her mind, she tried to focus. She’d come to California to see him…to teach Lucas and his security chief a lesson. The flash of satisfaction was short-lived, erased by a wave of fear.

She couldn’t move her hands and feet because they were bound. She couldn’t see or move her lips. They were covered by something. What? How? Why?

Even as the questions poured into her mind, she turned over to one side and ran into a solid wall. A quick, panicked roll in the other direction led her smack into another wall.

Where was she?

This time she took her time, but she reached the opposite wall in three rolls. A small room. A cell? She fought against the fear even as it clawed its way to her throat. Breathe, she told herself. The air was fresh, warm. There had to be an open window nearby. Drawing in another breath, she felt the sharpness of her fear fading. And her mind was clearing.

Think, she told herself. She was in California—where?

And then she remembered—running into Sonny, slipping out of the restaurant, the sharp sting in her arm.

Someone had drugged her. Who?

“You gave her too much of that stuff, I tell you.”

The voice came from close by. Acting purely on instinct, Sophie curled into her original position.

“You wanted it quick and clean. You got exactly what you asked for.”

“The boss wants to talk to her.”

There was a sound nearby, and Sophie could have sworn that the floor she was lying on shook as if someone had jumped on it.

“Relax. She’s probably coming around right now.”

The voice came from over her head, then the same noise she’d heard before, and the floor shook again. She braced herself. If they wanted her to come around, it was the last thing she was going to do.

“She’s still out. She hasn’t moved since the last time we checked her.”

“Let’s just see.”

She had just enough time to steel herself before she felt the sharp slap on her cheek.

“I told you. You gave her too much.”

Fingers gripped her pulse. “If you don’t shut up I’ll give you a dose.”

“It’s not me you have to worry about. He’s not going to tolerate any more mistakes.”

“Will you relax?” The voice sharpened even as her wrist was freed. “Her pulse is steady. She’s fine. Besides, he won’t be out here to see her until tomorrow.”

“I don’t like it.”

Sophie barely let herself breathe until she was sure the two men had gone. Wherever she was, it was a place the men had entered from above. There had been no sound of a door.

Was she on some sort of truck bed?

And who wanted to see her? Sonny? Had he recognized her in the bar after all?

But that didn’t make any sense. Why would Sonny Falcone kidnap her? The motive for that was money. And he didn’t even know who she really was.

When the headache behind her eyes began to throb, Sophie pushed the questions aside. The answers wouldn’t get her out of her present predicament. Rolling over, she drew her legs up until she could touch her ankles.