Careless (24 page)

“Come inside and I’ll tell you everything.”
He smiled. “Don’t worry, you’ll be safe here with me. You know I’d never let
anyone hurt you.”

The lecherous look in his dark eyes put
Tori on high alert. “I’m not gettin’ out of this car until you tell me what the
hell’s goin’ on here, Joe. Why didn’t you take me to Luc’s?”

He slammed his fist into the roof of the
car. “I’m the one callin’ the shots now, princess. You best get used to it or
we’re gonna have big problems.”

In the four plus years he’d worked for her,
she’d never heard Joe raise his voice in anger. But the dread settling in the
pit of her stomach told her she was about to see a very different side to the
man she thought she knew. “It was you, wasn’t it?”

Her heart didn’t want to accept what her brain
already knew to be true. Someone she thought she could trust, had considered a
friend, had betrayed her. “Why did you do this to me? What did I ever do to you
to make you hate me so much?”

He crouched down in front of her, brushing
her tears away roughly with his calloused hands. “You got this all wrong,
darlin’. I did this so we can be together.”

Tori’s stomach roiled in protest when she
realized where this was going. She would have preferred if this had been an act
of hatred or revenge. If he was delusional enough to believe he was in love
with her, there was no telling how angry he would get when he found out she
didn’t reciprocate his feelings.

“Now get out of the car,” he said, reaching
for her hand. “Let’s get you inside so I can make you some dinner.”

Her mind flashed back to the breakfast Mike
had made her that morning. The breakfast she hadn’t touched because she’d been
so anxious to leave with Joe. “I’m not hungry.” She crossed her arms, hoping he
would leave her in the car to sulk. She glanced at her oversized designer purse
lying on the floor at her feet.

“You really think I’d be stupid enough to
leave your cell phone in there?” he asked, with a smirk. “I drove over it about
seventy-five miles back.”

She scraped her nails across her scalp,
resisting the urge to cry out in frustration. She couldn’t out-muscle him, but
maybe she could outsmart him… if only she didn’t feel so groggy. “You spiked my
water?”

He stood up. “Just a little somethin’ to
help ya relax.”

She shuddered at the thought of what he
might plan to do to her when her defenses were down. “Why?”

“Listen, I’m not gonna stand out here
answerin’ questions all goddamn night. Either you can come inside on your own
or I can carry you. What’s it gonna be?”

She darted a glance around the property.
Trees, trees, and more trees, as far as the eye could see. There was no way
out.

“Don’t even think about runnin’.” He
chuckled. “Either I’ll catch ya or the bears will. Either way, it’s not gonna
be pretty.”

“You can’t keep me here forever,” she
whispered, though she wondered if that was his intent. She’d heard the stories
where kidnappers had been able to keep their victims captive for years before
anyone found them. Would she be one of those sad stories, or would he do away
with her now, before she gave him any more grief?

“You’d be surprised.” He grinned. “Nobody
comes up to these parts no more. That’s why I like it. I can think… plan.”

Tori wondered if this was the place he’d
decided to terrorize her and make her life a living hell. “You’ll never get
away with this. They’ll find us. Mike—”

He put his fist through the window, sending
shards of glass flying in every direction.

Tori screamed at the sudden impact.

“Now look what you made me do,” he said,
holding his hand up. There were rivulets of blood outlining the creases in his
hand as it snaked toward his wrist. “Rule number one, you don’t ever mention
that slimy bastard’s name to me again, you hear me? He thinks he can take
what’s mine; I’m gonna show him how wrong he is.”

“I’m sorry,” Tori whispered. She was a
fighter, but she knew there was a time to be defiant and a time to concede. If
he could do that to himself, there was no telling what he might do to her. “I
won’t mention him again.” She could still think about him every other second,
but she wouldn’t make the mistake of uttering his name again. “You’re right.
Let’s go inside. There’s no sense sittin’ out here gettin’ eaten alive by the damn
bugs.” At least inside she might be able to find something she could use as a
weapon to knock him out.

“I’m not gonna tell you again, you cross me
and you’ll be sorry.”

She raised her chin and looked him in the
eye. He may have her where he wanted her for now, but she’d be damned if she
let him see her cowering in fear. “I heard you this first time. Now, are we
gonna get inside so you can dress that mess or you wanna bleed to death out
here in the driveway?”

He chuckled as he shook his head. “There’s
the smart-mouthed little diva I fell in love with.”

I hate you, you worthless piece of shit.
She smiled sweetly and gritted her teeth.
If he thought she was gonna go down without a fight, he’d seriously
underestimated her.

Mike tried to harness his frustration as he
reminded himself Joe’s daughter was barely a teenager. He couldn’t interrogate
her the way he would an adult, no matter how much he might want to.

“When was the last time your daddy spoke to
you about Tori, Lisa?”

She leaned into her mother’s side as she
brushed away the tears streaking her face. “The last time I saw him.” She sniffled.
“Every time I saw him. She’s all he ever talked about… Tori. How good she was,
how beautiful, and decent and kind. He said they loved each other, they were
gonna be together.”

Mike fisted the pen in his hand, wishing he
could lash out. He needed to hit something, hard. Preferably the rat-bastard
who’d been stupid enough to try and take her away. When Mike finally got his
hands on him, there wouldn’t be a law in the world that could save him. He
intended to beat him to within an inch of his miserable life, and if that meant
he’d lose his job or have to face a jury of his peers, it would be worth it.

“Did he ever talk about where they would
live when they were together?” Mike spit the words out and tried to ignore the
bitter aftertaste they left in his mouth.

“No, sir.”

Joe’s ex-wife, Angela, stroked her
daughter’s hair as she said, “We both knew he was foolin’ himself. What would a
beautiful young girl like Tori Warner want with a middle-aged, divorced father
who loses every dime he makes at the track?” She rolled her eyes. “Joe always
did have quite the imagination. His lyin’ is what got him kicked off the police
force.”

Mike looked up at his father. His old man
must be losing his touch if all of this information had slipped through the
cracks when he did his routine background check. “He was fired from the force?”

“Sure was. I think he was into somethin’
shady,” Angela said. “’Course I couldn’t prove it, and he sure wasn’t gonna
tell me. We were already gettin’ a divorce by then anyways, so I didn’t care as
long as he could make his child support and alimony payments. Hell, he could’ve
sang his sad songs on the street corner so long as he had a check to me by the
first of the month.”

“Joe fancies himself a musician, does he?”
Mike asked.

“Sure does,” Angela said. “He thought him
and his garage band were gonna hit the big time. Just a bunch of middle-aged
losers makin’ a lot of racket and pissin’ off the neighbors, if you ask me.”

Mike smiled for the first time since Tori
left his apartment. Under different circumstances, he would have appreciated Angela’s
 sense of humor, especially since her ex seemed to be her favorite punch line.
“Can you think of anywhere he might’ve taken her?”

“His daddy passed away a few years back. He
told Lisa her gramps had left him an old hunting cabin up in the woods. Said
they used to go there a lot when he was a boy. Can’t say I have any idea where
it would be though. Sorry.”

A shot of adrenaline spurred Mike into
action as he leapt to his feet. Finally… a lead. “Does he have any family?
Mama, siblings, cousins, anybody who might know where this place is?”

“Sure, he has family, but they’re not real close.
I doubt they could tell you much more than I have about what was goin’ on in
that thick head of his.”

“But they could tell me where the cabin is,
right?”

She shrugged. “Yeah, I guess.” She pulled
her phone out of her purse. “I still have his mama’s number in my contacts, I
think. Not that Lisa’s had much to do with her since the divorce. She blamed
me. Thought I didn’t try hard enough to make things work. How in the hell was I
supposed to make it work when—”

Mike held his hand up when he saw Lisa
wince. He could only imagine how many times she’d been caught in the middle of
an argument between her parents or been forced to listen when one talked the
other down. “Just the number, if you have it.”

Angela held the phone out and Mike
scribbled the contact information down in his notebook. “She’s in a rest home?”

“Yeah, she has dementia or Alzheimer’s.
Hell, I don’t know. All I know is she can’t remember too much.”

Mike felt his hope begin to plummet. He
couldn’t be getting so close only to hit a dead end now. He’d learned early on
in his career to trust his instincts and his gut told him that he’d zeroed in
on their location, if only he could find it. “And you don’t have any way of getting
in touch with any other member of his family?”

Lisa cleared her throat. “I have my cousin
Lizzy’s cell number. We keep in touch.”

Her mother scowled. “I thought I told you I
didn’t want you talkin’ to those people?”

“I’m sorry, but I like her.”

“Let’s just hope she don’t take a likin’ to
those funny cigarettes the way her daddy done. I always thought he was the only
one in that family with a little promise, but when I saw him last, he looked
like a walkin’ skeleton. I keep tellin’ ya what them drugs’ll do to ya, Lisa.
If you’re not careful—”

“Please,” Mike said, feeling like his head
was going to explode. “If you have the number?” He handed Angela a sheet of
paper. “And if you could jot down the first and last names of any family or
friends you can think of.”

She hesitated a minute before taking the
paper and pen he offered. “We heard on the news you and Tori are engaged. That
true?”

The last thing Mike wanted was to talk
about his feelings for Tori with a stranger, but he sensed this woman wouldn’t give
up until she’d satisfied her curiosity. “Tori and I were makin’ plans for the
future.”

She smiled. “That’s nice.” She pointed the
pen at her daughter. “See, I told you, honey. This is the kind of man Tori
needs, someone strong, handsome, not some deadbeat like your father.”

“If you wouldn’t mind giving me the
information, I’d like to get on this right away.”

“Sure thing, Lieutenant.” She passed the
paper to her daughter. “You write Lizzy’s number down there, but don’t think
we’re not gonna talk about this later. You know I don’t like it when you go
behind my back. Makes me wonder what else you been doin’ when you think no
one’s lookin’.”

Mike felt the heat rising up his neck as he
looked at his father. He knew his blood pressure must be dangerously high by
now. He wanted to scream,
For the love of God, hurry the hell up so I can
find her already
, but he had to politely wait for Angela to scan her memory
for the last names of every person her ex-husband had ever associated with
since the eighth grade. Mike knew any one of the people on her list could
provide the break he needed, so he had no choice but to wait it out.

“What was his barber’s name, Lisa? You know
the one who used to cut his hair…” She smirked. “That was back when he had
hair. He thinks he’s foolin’ everybody by shavin’ his head. Like we all don’t
know he—”

“Lisa,” Josh said, intervening, “why don’t
you give the number to Lieutenant Cooper, so he can call Lizzy while your mama
finishes her list?”

“Yes, sir,” Lisa said, passing Mike the paper.
She looked up at him and their eyes met for the first time since she sat down.
“I really hope you find her, Lieutenant.”

“Thanks, sweetheart, so do I.” 

Tori watched Joe build a fire in the old
stone fireplace. She didn’t know why he was going to bother with a fire in the
middle of July, but she wasn’t going to complain. Maybe she could stick a hot
poker in his eye if he got too close to her.

“I always imagined what it would be like
when we were finally together.” He turned to her and smiled. “This is what I
imagined, a fire, a bottle of wine, us talkin’ about our plans for the future.”

The only plan Tori had for the immediate
future was getting away from him, but she knew being kind to him, feeding his
fantasy, was her best course of action until she found an opportunity to make
her getaway. “I had no idea you had these feelin’s for me, Joe. Why didn’t you
say anything?”