Ice_Reaux - Laura Wright Page 0,10

share the information that she had three biological sons. Two had already been stolen from her. The last thing she wanted was to make the only child she’d managed to save a target. But then again, if they’d known exactly where to find her, it was doubtful they didn’t know about Caleb. “My son,” she finished.

There was an unmistakable sound of disgust. “Their fates aren’t my concern.”

She tilted her chin to a defiant angle. “They are mine.”

“In time you’ll forget them,” the unknown man drawled.

Her breath hissed through her teeth. The man was out of his mind if he thought she would ever forget her friends, let alone her sons.

“No,” she hissed, her eyes narrowed. “Never.”

A creepy laugh echoed through the lab. “You will. I know you better than you know yourself.” There was a long pause before he at last whispered her name. “Karen.”

Karen shuddered. God almighty.

This was different from the first time she’d been kidnapped.

Then, it’d been clinical. Brutally detached. She was a brood mare who was there to produce hybrid Pantera babies.

Now it felt oddly intimate. As if her capturer believed he actually knew her.

Which was more disturbing than being treated as a brood mare.

She might, however, be able to use his weird behavior to her advantage.

“Please, let me go,” she pleaded in soft tones.

“Relax,” he murmured. “I’ll have dinner sent to you. I think you’ll appreciate my chef. He once worked at a five-star hotel. Now he’s pleased to serve me.” His low chuckle sent a chill down her spine. “Just as you will.”

She heard a shuffle, as if the stranger was turning to leave. Panic thundered through her. “Wait.”

“I’ll return when you’ve grown more accustomed to your new home,” he promised.

The sound of retreating footsteps warned her that the brief encounter was at an end. She was alone.

Again.

With a low cry of despair, Karen leaned her head against the cold bars of her cell. “No.”

CHAPTER 3

Ice exited the interstate, pulling to a halt in a rest area and putting the car into park.

For the past half hour Cammy had grown progressively more withdrawn, her brow creased with concern. Clearly there was something on her mind.

Turning in his seat, he studied her tense features. “Will you tell me what’s wrong?”

She glanced out the window, her gaze sweeping over the pine trees that were bathed in gold in the early morning sunlight.

“I can sense Karen, but she feels very distant,” she said. “More distant than she should be.”

Ice frowned, not certain what she was trying to tell him. “We’re not gaining on them?”

“No.” She gave a decisive shake of her head. “I thought at first it was just because they had a head start on us. But…”

Her words trailed away, as if she was lost in her thoughts.

“Cammy?” he at last prompted.

“She’s too far away for them to have driven,” she at last said.

He considered a long moment, debating the various reasons that would explain Cammy’s sense of distance.

It was possible that Karen had left the Wildlands before the explosion. No—Indy had indicated that Karen had been seen in the clinic not long before all hell had broken loose.

Which meant there was only one reasonable explanation.

“You think they flew?”

She gave a slow nod. “It would explain why we aren’t gaining on them.”

Ice parted his lips, only to snap them shut as he was struck by a sudden memory.

Putting the Jeep in gear, he was heading out of the rest area, taking the narrow access road rather than returning to the interstate.

“Hold on,” he muttered as they jolted over the decaying pavement.

Cammy sent him a confused glance. “Where are we going?”

“The bastards who held Keira prisoner left the area using a private airfield not far from here,” he said, referring to Parish’s sister who’d been held prisoner by the humans. “I think we should check to see if we can find someone to question.”

Cammy nodded her approval at his suggestion, sending a surge of warmth through Ice. He’d tried to deny his need for this female’s respect, but it’d always been there, lurking just below the surface.

Doubling back, Ice took the rarely used roads that would lead to the airfield they’d discovered after Keira had been rescued. At the time, he and the other Hunters had been chasing the disciples who worshipped an evil goddess, Shakpi. Recently, however, they’d been searching for a direct connection to Benson Enterprises.

Less than ten minutes later he had the Jeep parked in a small copse of trees just off the road. It