Only Her (A K2 Team Novel)(94)

“No, that I can promise. Here’s the thing.” His phone buzzed, and he pulled it out of his pocket. “Stand by a sec,” he told the man. “Hey, Maria. What’s up?”

“I have some history on our Mrs. Napier . . . or Decker. Whatever. Anyway, several years ago, her son died of a drug overdose. Sometime after that, her husband lost his job, then they lost the house. I guess he couldn’t deal with all of that because on the day the house was foreclosed on them, he sat in his car in the garage and carbon monoxided himself.”

“What was the son’s name?”

“Reed Decker. Why?”

Ding. Ding. “Reed was Riley’s high school boyfriend. Now we know what this is all about. Great job, but gotta go.”

“Cody—”

He hung up. “Here’s the thing, Tadd. A woman’s life depends on me getting to her ASAP. The woman I love to be exact.” He removed his truck key from the ring and tossed it to Singleton. “Either move my truck or don’t. If you don’t, I’d appreciate it if you kept an eye on it.” Without waiting for an answer, he went back to his truck and took his gun out of the glove compartment, along with his spare key.

“I’ll park it in my driveway,” Singleton said, coming up next to him. “I’m not sure what’s going on, but my gut says you’re righteous, so anything I can do to help a brother warrior?”

“Just take care of my truck. Appreciate it, man.” He gave a wave as he walked away. There was an overgrown hedge between Decker’s house and the one next door, and he used it for cover to get close to the carport where the Chrysler was parked. He wished it were dark when it would be easier to make a stealthy approach, but that was almost three hours away, and every bone in his body was telling him that Riley didn’t have that much time.

When he was even with the carport, he slipped through the hedge, and ran to the side of the house, plastering his body against the wall. Easing up to the door he thought led into the kitchen, he wrapped his fingers around the handle and tried to turn it. Locked. He wasn’t surprised, but a flimsy lock wasn’t going to keep him out.

He removed his shirt and wrapped it around his fist. Using only enough force to break the small windowpane, he reached in and turned the lock. When the door wouldn’t open, he ran his hand along the inside door edge, finding a deadbolt. Once he slid it back, he slipped into the house.

The kitchen was dark, and with his gun in hand, he crept to the entrance of the living room. A lamp burned on a table next to a well-worn sofa, and he cocked his head, listening. A voice that wasn’t Riley’s sounded from the direction of the bedrooms, but he couldn’t make out the words. Sticking close to the wall, he made his way to the hallway, paused, and listened again.

“You’ll have to tell me how it feels to have heroin in your body, Riley. I hear it’s wonderful until you try to stop. Then it’s hell.” The woman laughed. “I guess you could say I’m sending you to hell with a little bit of heaven.”

“Please don’t. I-I tried to save him.”

“But you didn’t, did you?”

Heroin? With his blood pounding in his ears, Cody growled as he moved toward the sound of the voices. The sight before him chilled him to the bone. Riley was on her back, spread eagle, and tied to the bed. Decker leaned over her as she inserted a needle into Riley’s arm.

“You push that plunger, you die,” he said, his gun aimed at her head.

The woman froze, looked up at him, and then a sly smile appeared on her face. “Too late.”

He pulled the trigger at the same time Decker pushed the plunger with her thumb, then she crumpled into a heap on the floor.

“Riley!” He rushed to her side and gently pulled the needle from her arm. “Darlin’, talk to me,” he said as he yanked a knife from his boot and cut her ties.

“My hero.” She giggled.

She was so high that she could touch the moon. “Can you sit up?” He didn’t know what was best, to keep her prone or to get her up and walking?

The scrape of fabric over wood caught his attention, and he looked down to see Decker reaching for the gun that had fallen out of her lap. As tempted as he’d been to kill her, he’d taken a shoulder shot instead. He stepped hard on her wrist, ignoring her cry of pain.

There was something he had to do first, before he secured Decker. With his foot still pinning the woman to the floor, he leaned down and kissed Riley. Kissed her hard because he had to.

She giggled again and grabbed his neck with her hands. “Make love to me, Cody.”

“Oh, that’s definitely on my list of things to do, but not yet.” He smiled as he untangled himself from her hold. “Be right back.”