Careless (23 page)

“What’re you sayin’?” Her heart began to
pound and her mouth went dry as she held him tighter. If he was having second
thoughts about her or them, it would destroy her. She’d already started to
build her future around this man. “You’re not sure if this is what you want?”

He held her tight, burying his face in her
neck. “I do want this. I want you.” He released a deep, shuddering breath. “It
scares me how much I want this, baby. When you give someone this kind of power
over you, you’re givin’ them the ammunition to take you out with a few choice
words.”

She knew he was right because she was right
there with him, sharing his fear and uncertainty. Loving someone with your
whole heart was a daunting prospect. “What words would those be… just so I
never say them?”

“I don’t love you anymore,” he whispered,
bowing his head. “If you ever said that to me, it would kill me.”

Tori wrapped her arms around Mike and held
him tight. Seeing this man, who had always been so fearless, looking so
vulnerable because of his feelings for her only made her love him more. “Never
gonna happen. I love you. I can’t imagine not lovin’ you.” She framed his face
with her hands as she smiled at him. “Unless of course you betray me; then all
bets are off.”

“Wouldn’t think of it.”

“Good, then we have nothin’ to worry
about.” She winced when her cell phone rang. “I should get that. It’s probably
Avery. We’re gonna have to come up with a game plan if we don’t want this to
erupt into a full-blown scandal. I just don’t want it to take attention away
from the tour.”

“I understand.” He released her so she
could get up. “Go ahead, answer it.”

“Hmmm,” she said when she glanced at the
call display. “It’s not Avery. It’s Joe.”

Mike scowled. “What the hell does he want?”

“I don’t know. I guess there’s only one way
to find out.” She pushed the button to connect the call. “Hey, Joe, what’s up?”

“Tori, where are you?”

“I’m at Mike’s place. Why?”

“Luc needs to see you. He asked me to pick
you up and drop you off at his place.”

Tori grimaced. She had no doubt the big
boss wanted to chew her out about her behavior last night. “Fine. I’ll text you
with Mike’s address. I can be ready to go in ten minutes, but I’ll need to stop
by my place to get changed first.”

“No problem. See you soon.”

“I’m sorry, hon, I’m gonna have to pass on
breakfast. Luc needs to see me right away.”

Mike pushed his plate away. “I’ve suddenly
lost my appetite, too.”

She walked toward him. “I’ll see you at the
airport this afternoon, okay?”

He stood up and pulled her into his arms.
“I’ve known Luc a long time. He’s a good guy, but he can be a tyrant when
someone crosses him. Don’t let him bully you, okay?” He tipped her chin when
she didn’t respond right away. “I’m serious. You need to stand your ground with
him. You want me to go with you?”

“No, I’ll be fine. I can handle Luc.” She
pressed a kiss to his lips. “But thanks. It’s nice to know you’ve got my back.”

“Always.” 

By the time Mike walked into the airport
that afternoon, “no comment” fell from his lips without a second thought.
Reporters had been parked outside of his condo building, the police station,
even his dry cleaner. Apparently, he and Tori were the big news story of the
day, and since Tori obviously hadn’t released a statement to disabuse the press
of the notion they were engaged, he wasn’t about to burst their bubble. If
people wanted to assume their relationship was built on a promise of forever,
he wouldn’t dissuade them because in his mind, it was.

Naturally, everyone was demanding to know
details of the stalker situation. Was Tori in danger? Who was doing this to
her? What was her fiancé, the Detective Lieutenant, doing to bring this person
to justice?

Just as Mike was making his way to the
appointed meeting area, Derek headed him off at the pass. “Hey, what’re you
doin here?”

“Is Tori with you?” he whispered, falling
into step beside Mike.

“No.” He glanced at his watch. “She should
be here by now. I got tied up at the station debriefing Smith, and then I had
to go home and pack.”

Derek grabbed his arm and ushered him to
the door of a private meeting room. “Step inside. We need to talk to you.”

With those few words, Mike’s world bottomed
out. “What the hell’s goin’ on, and don’t tell me nothin’. I can tell—”

“Keep your voice down,” Derek muttered,
pushing him through the door. “The last thing we need is reporters catchin’
wind of this.”

Mike’s worst fears were realized when he
saw the crowd of people gathered around the large rectangular table. Trey and
Sierra, his dad and Lexi, Luc and Marisa, Ty and Avery, J.T. and Nikki, and his
mother. The only people missing were his brother, Victoria and Tori’s family,
but he didn’t need their presence to tell him something was very wrong.

“Where the hell is she?” he said, looking
at his dad. He’d always been able to trust Josh to be honest with him, no
matter how much it hurt.

Josh got up and came around the table. He
gripped Mike’s shoulders as he stared him down. “Listen to me. I need you to
think like a cop right now, not the man who loves her.”

Mike shoved his father out of his way.
Never in his life had he put his hands on his father in anger, but if someone
didn’t start talking soon, he was going to go ballistic. “How the hell am I supposed
to just turn it off?” he shouted.

Derek put his arm around Mike’s shoulder.
“Listen to me, you need to keep your voice down and stay calm. We can’t afford
a leak right now.”

“Please,” he said, feeling more desperate
than he ever had as he stared down the length of the table at his mother. His
hands started trembling when he realized she’d been crying. “Tell me what
happened, Mom, please. I’m dyin’ here.”

Ashley drew a deep breath. “He has her.”
She covered her mouth with her hand when Mike sank into the seat at the head of
the table and dropped his face into his hands.

“No, this isn’t happenin’.” He couldn’t
think straight. He couldn’t make sense of any of this. The concerned faces
looking at him began to blur, and for the first time in his life, he thought he
might pass out.

His father shoved a bottle of water into
his hand. “Drink this, take a deep breath, and then get your head together. You
can’t afford to think about yourself right now. It’s Tori we have to worry
about.”

He knew his old man was right. She was the
only thing that mattered. He tipped the bottle to his lips, drew a deep breath,
and scrubbed his hands over his face. “Okay, tell me everything.”

Both Derek and Josh reclaimed their seats
on either side of him before Derek said, “We think Joe has her.”

“Joe?” The name was stuck in his head, on
perpetual rewind, like a sadistic chant that wouldn’t stop tormenting him.
Tori’s stalker had been right under his nose the whole time. He’d crossed paths
with the guy numerous times in the past several days and he’d never suspected a
thing. What the hell was wrong with him? “You mean Tori’s head of security?”

Luc scowled. “One and the same. If I ever
get my hands on him, I’ll—”

Marisa grabbed her husband’s arm. “Stop! We
have enough anger and fear in this room already. What we need is a plan of
action. How in the hell are we gonna track her down?” She looked from Derek to
Mike. “You two are the professionals. What do you suggest?”

Mike still wasn’t thinking like a cop. He
was thinking like the man who would lay down his own life to spare hers, but he
knew that alone wouldn’t bring her home. His father was right. He had to set his
personal feelings aside so he could use his training and experience to think
this through logically. It was the only hope they had of bringing Tori home.
“Okay, first things first. How do you know he has her?”

“We’ve been trying to track her down all
day,” Avery said. “When we couldn’t reach you, we asked your dad to stop by
your apartment. He was speaking to the security guard at the front desk. He
said he saw Tori leave early this morning with someone who fit Joe’s
description: shaved head, goatee, tattoos.”

“I took a look at the security cameras and
it was definitely him,” Josh said, lacing his hands in front of him.

“Yeah, she did leave with Joe.” Mike felt
the bile burning the back of his throat when he realized he’d
let
her
leave with him. “He called and said Luc needed to see her right away.”

“Lyin’ son of a bitch,” Luc muttered. “I
can’t believe I was stupid enough to hire him in the first place.”

“I did the background check,” Josh said,
looking at Luc. “If you wanna start pointin’ fingers, blame me.”   

Mike knew he was as much to blame as
anyone, but he’d have plenty of time for self-recrimination later, when Tori
was safe. “Tell me what else the security guard said.”

“Apparently Joe was actin’ kind of weird,”
Josh said. “Made the guard suspicious, the way he was pacin’ around the car,
smokin’ a cigarette, checkin’ his watch and the door every few seconds. He was
just about to go out and see what he wanted when Tori came out to meet him.”

“They took off, and no one’s seen or heard
from her since,” Trey said, quietly.

“I did a little more diggin’ into his
past,” Josh said, clearing his throat before looking at his son. “I spoke to
his ex-wife and daughter. It turns out he was obsessed with Tori, talked about
her all the time.”

Mike closed his eyes. He didn’t know how to
process this. He’d never been in the situation of having to compartmentalize
his feelings before. When there was a crime to be solved, he was always able to
think like a cop, but this time was different. This was Tori, the woman who,
just a few hours ago, he’d promised to love and protect. He told her he’d have
her back,
always
, and he’d failed her in the worst possible way.

“You’re too close to this,” Derek said,
drawing him out of his thoughts. “I just called Smith and I’m gonna put Jones
on it, too. Aside from you, they’re my best men.”

“Are you crazy?” Mike said, glaring at his stepfather.
“You actually think I’m gonna sit back and do nothin’?”

“Derek’s right,” Josh said, putting his arm
on Mike’s shoulder. “You could make a mistake. We can’t risk it.”

“You know me better than that, Derek,” Mike
said. He needed his stepfather to believe in him now. Derek was always telling
him he was the best detective he had. It was time for him to prove it. “You
know you need me on this case. Hell, I need to be on this case. Don’t shut me
out.” He looked at his mother, praying she would intervene on his behalf. He
knew it was a dirty trick, but he didn’t care. Derek had the authority to keep
him at arm’s length now that the kidnapping was an official investigation, and
that meant the detectives working the case would have no choice but to keep him
in the dark about any new developments. “How would you feel if it were Mom and
your hands were tied?”

Ashley reached over to thread her hand
through her husband’s. “He’s right, honey. You need to let him do this.”

Derek sighed. “Fine.” He pointed his finger
at Mike. “But don’t make me rein you in, Cooper. I want this to be a clean
investigation. When we get this guy, I want to make sure he spends a good long
time in jail.”

Mike nodded. “No one wants that more than I
do, man.”

“I wanna put up a million dollar reward,”
Trey said from the other end of the table.

Sierra placed her hand on his back. “I
think that’s a great idea.” She looked at Mike, then Derek. “What do you guys
think?”

“I don’t want to go public with this yet,”
Derek said. He glanced at Mike. “Josh asked his ex-wife and daughter to meet us
at Luc’s house. They might be able to give us some insight into what he was
thinkin’ or where he might take her.”

The sound of Tori’s voice, her husky
laughter, her smile when she blew him a kiss on the way out the door… It was
all filtering through Mike’s mind, drawing him out of the conversation.

Derek snapped his fingers in front of his
face. “Get your goddamn head in the game, Lieutenant.”

Mike pushed his chair back and stood up.
“Okay, let’s get over to Luc’s house. I want to hear what these two have to say
about this dirtbag.”

Tori woke up when a cool brush of air
tickled her bare legs. She must have fallen asleep. She woke up feeling groggy
and confused. The last thing she remembered was drinking some water as she
checked her voice mail messages.

She looked up to see Joe looking down at her.
He looked blurry, almost as though he was standing in a shadow as he reached
for her hand.

“Come on, beautiful. Let’s get you inside.”

She squinted as she tried to bring the
house into focus. They weren’t at Luc’s house. She rubbed her head, trying to
get her thoughts together. “You’re supposed to be takin’ me to Luc’s.” She
scrubbed her eyes with the palm of her hands. “No, wait…” She looked at the
workout clothes Victoria had lent her. “We were supposed to go home so I could
change.” She turned to look out the back window. They were surrounded by trees
and there was a tiny little cottage with battered wood siding at the end of a
long gravel driveway. “Where the hell are we?”