Chapter One
Laura
“Please don’t make me do this,” she said, voice quivering in time with her body.
Laura was terrified.
They had just come out of nowhere, two huge men, forcing their way into her office as she’d tried to close the door behind her. One of them had clamped his hand over her mouth, preventing her from screaming. His grip had been so powerful, so strong, she’d immediately frozen in place.
There was nothing she could do. They were bigger, stronger and faster than her. Laura was trapped, and at their mercy. So far they hadn’t tried to hurt her, but she knew it was only a matter of time.
Her only thoughts now were to ensure nobody else got hurt.
“Pick up the phone, and make the call,” one of them said.
He was the one in charge, as best Laura could tell. His shaggy hair was long enough that it almost needed to be held back from his face by a hair-tie. There were black marks underneath his skin at various places, though they looked like no tattoos she’d ever seen.
“You already have me,” she protested. “What else do you need?”
The air in the room seemed to grow very cold as the leader leaned in closer. Laura couldn’t tell if it was her fear causing her to feel chilly, or a real sensation.
“I’m not in the habit of repeating myself,” the brute said, his thick, hairy eyebrows coming together. The look only emphasized his prominent brow, giving him a quasi-Neanderthal look.
“Why are you doing this?” she protested, looking around frantically, trying to think of a way she could get out of the situation. “Who are you? I didn’t do anything.”
“Call her,” the big one said, stepping forward and placing both hands on the desk. “And sound normal doing it. If she picks up that you’re scared…”
Was that frost covering the edges around his palms? The ominous aura of her captors seemed to increase.
Arm shaking so bad she dropped the phone the first time, Laura picked up the receiver and dialed. She hated herself for it, wishing she was better able to resist.
What has Kristin gotten herself involved in now?
“Hi Laura,” came the voice on the other end.
She paused.
“Calmly,” the big thug said quietly.
Laura nodded, taking a steadying breath. She could do this.
“Hey, it’s me,” she said. “I wanted to call you. I have some bad news.”
Both men shifted at her words, but Laura held up a hand to forestall any outburst from them.
“Bad news?”
“Yeah, the contract did not go through,” she said, referencing the contract for sale of her client Kristin’s shop. A sale that was supposed to be made to the men now standing on the other side of her desk.
“What do you mean it didn’t go through?”
“They never got it,” Laura said, repeating what she’d been told to say.
“How could they not have gotten it? I thought you dropped it off in person?”
Laura could hear the frustration in Kristin’s voice.
“Um, well, apparently their entire office burned down today,” Laura said.
“It…burned down?” Kristin repeated incredulously.
“Yeah. So um, I’m going to need you to come down and sign a new copy. I’ll be here for an hour or so if you can make it tonight. Then they’ll have it first thing in the morning.” Laura closed her eyes.
This wasn’t about her, she knew that. It was about Kristin. That was who they really wanted. But why? Who were they?
“Okay,” Kristin said, sounding resigned to it all. “I’ll be there soon.”
“See you then,” Laura said, and hung up.
There, she’d made the call. It was done.
“Now will you two leave me alone?” she asked
The bigger one snarled and reached out for her.
***
Laura jerked and sat upright, breathing heavily.
The clean, sterile linens of the urgent care center bed fell down to her waist.
A dream, it had only been a dream.
“You’re safe now,” she whispered to herself, desperately wishing she felt it.
“Correct.”
Laura’s head whipped around at the strange deep voice.
Standing in the opening of the hanging curtains that were her only privacy was a strange man. She should have been terrified. After all, Laura had had her fill of strange men interfering in her life that evening. She was good for the near future.
There was something about this one though. He didn’t exude the aura of sheer evil that her earlier kidnappers had. Well, attempted kidnappers. Kristin’s male friend Blede had apparently fought them off. This man was similar to that. Tall, classic good looks with perfectly defined muscle. But he wasn’t Blede.
“Who are you?” she asked, looking him