Dance With Me - By Hayden Braeburn Page 0,27
fire, his heart was beating out of his chest, and she was so fucked up she thought it was his fault. He felt her heels clack on the floor and crawled beneath the bed. He was armed with a pair of scissors and wearing only underwear and half a shirt, but he was determined to get home.
“Come out, Mason,” Priscilla called. “I promise I won't hurt you if you just give me what I want.”
She said it like she hadn't just shot at him twice, like she hadn't carted him off to rape him. He felt like a cornered cat, hunkered as he was beneath a bed. “Why me, Priscilla? Why after all this time?”
He could only see her feet as she stomped emphatically, her spiked heels bending with the impact. “You can't marry anyone else!” She let out a shrill scream. “Why are you asking stupid questions?”
He hoped to God some sort of help was on the way as he made himself as small a target as possible, pulling the bed with him further into the corner. She would have to shoot him if she wanted to get to him.
Mason simply didn't understand. She had to make love with him today or she might not conceive their children. She had worked the math, she had taken the medications. She was fertile now. She stared at the bed as he moved it, barricading himself from her. She could wait a little while longer. She didn't want to shoot him if it wasn't absolutely necessary.
~*~
“They're on the way out there, now,” Alec finished explaining the situation as they understood it to Detective Reid Caufield of the Aylesford PD.
“O'Halloran and Brunswick are sweeping the hotel. What's the story on your men?”
“Sean's a Marine—served two tours in Afghanistan and one in Iraq. He's been working with TMB since he got out.”
Caufield looked impressed. “You said there were two guys out there.”
Alec nodded. “He's out there with Dylan Black. What I pulled on him is vague—”
“I'm familiar with Dylan Black.”
“Good. Enlighten me.”
“Army Ranger, sniper, skip tracer.”
He'd found that much on his own. “Anything more?”
“Not much, no. We see him at the station every so often. Heard he had a chest full of medals and something like fifty confirmed kills.” He shrugged. “Fifteen years in the service, and he retired.” He made a face. “Early, I guess.”
“Sean needs good back-up.” He glanced at Kat before he asked Caufield, “You got a team headed up there?”
“Jason Monroe and Chris Delmonico are on the way. We've put a call into the park.”
Alec nodded. “I'm here if you need me. We don't know if Priscilla hired someone else to deal with Kat or if Black was just a distraction. Either way, she's my priority.”
“Understood.”
The detective promised to keep them in the loop, and assured everything would be over soon. Alec was impressed with the Aylesford police, finding Caufield thorough and personable. Tyler PD had given him the brush-off, even after the mountain of evidence at the motel. Turning to Kat, he gave her what he hoped was a reassuring smile. “They'll bring him home.”
She tossed her hands in a helpless gesture. “I know. I do. I just want to be up there.” She clenched her fists in her lap. “I want to scratch Priscilla's eyes out. I want to help.”
“Mason would want you to stay where it's safe, where you're protected.”
She collapsed against the plump leather chair. “You're right. I know you're right, but I hate feeling useless.”
“You know you're not useless, Kat.”
“Knowing and feeling are different.” She twisted her fingers together. “I just want him safe.” Her lament was interrupted by the jarring ring of the land-line. “Hello?”
“Kat, honey, what's happened to Mason?” Carolyn Everett asked. “Cassidy called to tell us he was missing.”
Cassidy had called her parents? “We've got police and a couple operatives going to get him,” she told her future mother-in-law. “We think Priscilla grabbed him from the office.”
“That girl has been off since she was little. I don't know why a smart girl like Cassidy didn't notice it.”
Everyone knew she was loony, and nobody had done anything about it? “Mason knew she wanted him, but he had no idea she was crazy,” she said quietly. If he had known, he wouldn't be missing right now.
“We're coming to stay with you. You shouldn't be there alone and worried.”
“But I—”
“We're not taking no for an answer. I don't care how many uniformed people are there, family is family.”
She supposed that was true, although she'd always