Taking Heart (21 page)

Evan leaned down and tried to kiss her. She turned her head to the side, trying to keep down the bile that rose in her throat. He grasped her chin roughly and forced her to look at him. “What? Now that you've got a new boyfriend, I'm not good enough for you?” He shoved her away from him, and she lost her balance, falling to her knees on the asphalt. “We'll see about that.”

Opening the back door, Evan dragged her up from the ground and shoved her into the backseat of the car before climbing into the front. “We're going to go for a little drive, and you're going to stay nice and quiet.”

Julia clenched her jaw and struggled to get into a seated position in the car. Her wrists ached, and she knew if he left the property with her, the chance of her returning in one piece would be slim.

“Where are we going?” she whispered. She wanted to stall him as long as possible, hoping her brother or Chase would realize she hadn't returned to the house, or that one of them might come looking for her in the kennel. Evan had already confiscated her cell phone from her pocket, but if she could get him talking, maybe she could figure out some way to get out of the car.

He looked at her reflection in the rearview mirror. “You'll see. And the best part is that no one will have any clue where to look for you. You'll be right under their noses, and they won't even know it.” The corners of his eyes crinkled as if he was smiling, but she couldn't see the lower half of his face in the mirror. Julia looked out the window, trying to gather her wits enough to piece together her whereabouts in case she could get away.

“And, Julia, guess what?” Evan called, his voice singsongy. Her eyes shifted back to the mirror. “Come here,” he waved for her to lean forward toward the front seat. When she didn't move, he frowned. “I said, come here.” His arm snapped backward and fisted a handful of her long hair, dragging her to the front seat. He looked back over his shoulder as she tried to pull away from him. “Tsk, tsk, fighting is only going to get you hurt.”

She saw his right arm swing around just before it connected with her temple.

D
YLAN COULDN
'
T SIT
still any longer listening to Gage and Chase talk about how they needed to form a plan. He was with Justin this time. Sitting around talking wasn't going to find Julia. They needed to
do
something. He paced her kitchen while Chase called the station in town to see if anything suspicious had been reported. This was ridiculous. They weren't going to just spot Evan waiting for them.

The phone on the table rang, and all of them looked at it in surprise. Julia's number showed as the phone vibrated on the table.

“Don't take it out,” Chase ordered.

“Are you kidding? I'm not wasting a chance to find her. You do your job, and I'll do whatever I have to.” Dylan left the phone in the baggie but punched the button on the phone and turned the speaker on, holding a finger to his lips.

“Well, hello. Who is this?” Evan's voice held a note of mad humor.

“Who's this?”

“Dylan, I was hoping to talk to you again.” Evan chuckled as if they were old friends. “You know, I'm not too fond of sharing, but since you two are no longer an item, I suppose it's all working out the way it should, with the better man getting the girl.”

“Where is she? If you've hurt her—”

“She's right here.”

“Let me talk to her.” Dylan was finding it difficult to control the rage that was rising in him like a destructive tide.

“I don't think so. Soon, but not yet.” Dylan could hear the sound of traffic in the background. “Who else is there with you, Dylan? I doubt you'd try to handle this alone. What with all your
issues
.”

Dylan clenched his jaw, not willing to admit that Evan was right. He couldn't handle this alone.

“Please tell me that our local deputy is with you.”

“I'm right here, Reece. Why don't you just give up while you can? I can recommend leniency if you let Julia go now.”

Evan began laughing into the phone. “Oh, Deputy, that's a good one. You have no clue where to even start looking for me.” He laughed again before his voice suddenly grew serious. “I took Julia right out from under your incompetent nose, you worthless hound. What do you think you can do to me?”

Dylan glared at Chase as he opened his mouth to speak, cutting him off. “You're right, you win. You are far smarter than any of us.” Justin started to blow, and Dylan looked at his brother. Gage quickly took control of Justin, quietly warning him to shut up or leave the room.

“Don't try to patronize me or stroke my ego. I've outwitted all of you.” He laughed quietly as Dylan heard a muffled groan of pain in the background. If that was Julia, he was going to kill the man without blinking an eye in remorse. “But, I will give you one chance to save her, if you can.”

“What do you want?” Dylan didn't believe the madman for a moment. He had no intention of letting Julia go. This was nothing more than a game to him. He wanted to terrorize her and would do the same with them. But, as long as they were playing his game, he was likely to keep Julia alive.

“You'd like to believe you and Julia are soul mates, right? That what you have is true love? That means the two of you should have some sort of
connection
, right? Let's put that to the test.”

“What sort of test?” There was another groan in the background and he cringed. Julia was somewhere nearby, and he had no idea where to start looking for her.

“I want to see if you can sense when she is near. As her
soul mate
, it should be no problem for you.”

Dylan could hear the mockery in his voice. Evan didn't bother to hide the venom, and Dylan prayed he wouldn't take it out on Julia. There was no reason for him to stay close, but Dylan's gut told him that Evan was just cocky enough to do it, to prove that Dylan wasn't the man for Julia.

“Why should I believe you?”

“Because you don't have any other option.” The phone disconnected and the four men were left staring at the phone on the table.

Chase reached for his cell phone and called the station, glancing at Dylan. “I'm calling to see if they can hook up a trace on Julia's phone. If the GPS is enabled, the cell company should be able to track it.”

“Unless he was smart enough to turn it off,” Gage pointed out.

“Or ditch the phone now that he's used it,” Justin added.

Dylan kept his mouth shut. They were both right. Not to mention that it would make more sense for Evan to keep driving with Julia and get as far from them as possible. It wouldn't take much longer for him to hit the airport a few towns over, and then he could be anywhere. But the arrogance in his voice, the smug disdain he'd had for Chase and Dylan, made Dylan believe Evan would keep Julia close, if only to prove his superiority. For now, they needed to play into Evan's ego. His arrogance would prove his downfall.

Tango whined at the back door, and Dylan rose to go to the dog. “You miss her, too, boy.” He rubbed the top of the dog's massive head. “We'll bring her back to you.” He opened the door, and Tango immediately bolted for the kennel. He hurried after him with Roscoe on his heels.

“Where are you going?” Chase yelled after him. Dylan looked back but before he could answer, Gracie ran to the door and barked at Chase.

“She wants to follow, so get out here.” Maybe the dogs knew something they didn't.

J
ULIA CAME TO
and stared up at the dingy, water-stained ceiling. She had no idea where she was, and how she'd gotten there was a blur. She slowly turned toward the only light she could see, coming from a partially opened orange-and-brown curtain in the room's only window. She tried to piece together anything that might make sense. The door was only a few feet from where she lay, prone, on a lumpy mattress that smelled like a musty basement.

“Good morning, darling.”

Evan's voice was piercing in the darkness, making her heart race as memories flooded back with blinding intensity. She tried to scramble away from him but found her arms tied to each corner of the top of the bed.

He laughed quietly and rose from his chair in the corner, standing over her and looking down at her immobile frame. “You were always my beautiful Julia when you were sleeping. Do you know how many times I watched you sleep?”

Anger and disgust welled up in her chest as her memory cleared.

“Ah, so you remember?” He brushed his knuckles over her cheek in an awkward tenderness. She cried out in pain when he touched the area near her eye, and she recalled that he'd hit her. “There it is.” He grinned. “Your eyes turn yellow when you're angry. It's like watching fire ignite.”

She could see the lust in his eyes and fought the urge to vomit. “Where are we?”

She cleared her hoarse voice, wanting to scream until someone heard her but not trusting the calm he was exuding. He could snap again at any moment, and it wasn't a risk she could take, at least not yet. Her best plan would be to convince him to release her hands.

Evan turned his back to her and walked toward what she assumed was the bathroom. “Oh, Julia, why would I tell you that? I can't have you feeling too comfortable.”

Son of a bitch.

Panic tried to well up in her chest, choking her, blurring her vision as she wanted to lose herself in the haze. She knew this was when Tango would normally stick his nose in her face, trying to break her from the need to withdraw, to hide, to retreat into the past and her weakness. She clawed at the fear, forcing it to retreat into her psyche, clinging to the anger burning in her belly. She was
not
his victim any longer.

“Can you at least untie me? This hurts my wrists.” She was surprised at the calm in her voice when she felt such a storm of emotion swirling within her.

He stopped walking away and looked back at her, cocking his head to one side, as if he was trying to judge her sincerity. His eyes softened for a moment. “I don't mean to hurt you, sweetheart.” He walked back to the bed, and she used every ounce of self-control to not cringe from his touch as his fingers found the rope at her wrist. “I don't know why you continue to make me do it.” Evan moved to the other side of the bed and untied her other wrist, his eyes turning suddenly frigid. “I only do it when I have to.”

Ice water filled her veins at his words. The void in his eyes made one thing clear to her. If she wouldn't love him, Evan would kill her to keep someone else from having her. She had to escape somehow, and quickly.

T
HE TRAIL WAS
cold. Dylan had no idea where to even begin looking for Julia. He'd followed Tango out to the yard of the kennel while he sniffed around and ran to the back gate. After letting the dogs search where their noses led, Dylan had been crushed to find that even Gracie hadn't led them any farther than to a road where fresh tire tracks suggested Evan's car had been waiting. Chase had already called someone to take a cast of the tire mark, but the likelihood of figuring out the make and model was slim at best. They were still waiting for a call from the cell phone company.

Pacing the kitchen wasn't getting him anywhere. He ran a hand over his head. “I'm leaving. I can't just sit here.”

“Dylan, you can't go running around. Chase will be back in a few minutes. Just wait for him and we'll decide what to do. If Evan calls again, he's going to want to talk to you. You know that.” Gage shook his head. “I've got my guys ready to trace it if he does.”

Dylan stared at the cell phone, still bagged on the table. “Fine,” he agreed, snatching the bag in his hand. “Now let's go find her.”

He didn't wait for Gage to follow. He scooped the Camaro keys from the counter and headed out the door, letting Roscoe jump into the back. Tango bolted through the door and jumped into the backseat as well. Dylan wasn't sure how he'd control both dogs, but he wasn't about to stop and think it through right now. Julia needed him and he wasn't going to rest until he found her.

“Wait up!” Gage jogged to the car and climbed into the passenger seat. “I'm not letting you head out alone, but I still think this is a mistake.”

“Noted.” Dylan pulled down the driveway and began thinking aloud. “I know Chase thinks Evan's heading toward the airport, but my gut says different. I think she's close.”

“Like in-town close?” Dylan could see the confusion in his brother's eyes. “Why would he do that? Why wouldn't he take her as far away as fast as he could?”

“This isn't just about having Julia for him. He wants to play with us. He's not going to think logically. Nothing about any of this is logical. He could have taken her from the grocery store that day. Why wait?”

Gage threw up his hands. “I have no clue. He's insane?”

Dylan shook his head. “No, he's an egomaniac,” he muttered. “He's thriving on her fear.”

“And surprising her in the store, threatening you, sending the picture of you in the sight . . . all of those things are just making her more afraid.”

“He thinks he really does love her, in his sick, twisted way.” Dylan felt the rage rising up again. “We have to find her.”

E
VAN HAD BEEN
staring at her for what seemed like hours. He didn't approach her, didn't even try to talk to her. He just stared with his glassy, dark eyes as she sat with her knees to her chest on the bed. It had been hours since he'd released her hands, and she hadn't seen him eat anything. With his blood-sugar issues, it had to be dropping, which explained the glazed look in his eyes. It would also weaken and confuse him. If she could knock him off balance enough to get out the door, she could try to outrun him in his weakened state.

She had no idea where they were, but it could be almost anywhere. It was obviously some sort of motel room, but she had no idea how long she'd been knocked out, how far he'd driven her, or what else he might have done. Anxiety began to churn in her belly, twisting evilly and conjuring visions of the way he'd touched her cheek and the hunger she'd seen in his eyes. Julia took a deep breath and tried to calm herself. She couldn't lose control now. Unlike the last time she'd faced him, she was stronger and knew better what to expect from him.

She shifted on the bed and moved to stand. His eyes instantly cleared and he jumped up. “Where do you think you're going?”

“I'm just stretching, Evan.” Julia forced sweetness into her voice, praying he would believe her act. She saw him relax slightly, although he remained standing and watchful. “I don't suppose I could get a glass of water or something?”

Evan narrowed his eyes. He didn't trust her, and it was going to take more than a few moments of niceties to gain any headway. He pointed at the bathroom sink. “There's a cup in there.”

Under normal circumstances, Julia might have thought twice, but she needed something to drink, and if she didn't get some water, he'd think it was nothing more than a ploy. She walked past him to the bathroom sink and filled the spotted glass from the tap. The metallic taste of chlorinated water had never been so refreshing as it slid down her throat. She refilled the glass and closed her eyes as she swallowed more.

“Easy.” He moved behind her, and her body reacted, jumping away from his touch and bumping against the sink. She cursed her own response as Evan frowned down at her and plucked the glass from her fingers. “You'll make yourself sick.”

She faced him, her hands gripping the curve of the counter to keep from slapping the smug confidence she could see in his eyes. They stood for moments in the silence with only the traffic outside the window and occasional voice marring the stillness. She could hear her heart, pounding in her ears, the blood rushing through her veins, as she stared into his cold brown eyes. His lips spread in a smile.