Caged (12 page)

And now it was my turn.

My heartbeat was as aggressive as the man’s before me, the adrenaline running through me as powerful as what ran through my target’s, yet mine was due to excitement and his was from fear.

“Mr Garner.” I sighed as I bent to crouch in front of him. “I have a job to do. You’re not making that job easy.”

He surveyed me closely, his eyes narrow with hatred and his jaw trembling with terror. He had the darkest brown eyes I’d ever come across and for some reason I found them slightly hypnotic. The rush of blood through my veins calmed a little and I blew out a steady breath as I pressed the tip of the gun against his knee.

Those soothing eyes soon turned to stormy ones, his pupils widening and breaking me from the serene depths.

“Just give me the code and we can end this cleanly and quickly.”

“Fuck you!”

His scream made my ears pop when I shot his right kneecap, bits of his bone flying off to the side. Blood poured down his leg, and I sighed, bored out of my tiny mind.

“Just fucking finish him,” I told Rob who scowled at me. “He’s boring me. I have better things to do.”

Another bullet blasted a hole in his left kneecap. I didn’t know what it was about the sound of a gunshot but it always pacified the relentless noise in my head, like its shrill hum tuned into the same wavelength and spoke to the incessant pulse in my brain that never ceased.

I pressed the muzzle up against his crotch and Garner cried out. He tried to retreat into the chair but there was nowhere to go.

“Okay!” he shouted. “Okay.”

Smiling, I patted his cheek when he reeled off five numbers. “Much better.”

Robbie text the code to our client then dropped the burner phone to the floor and crushed it under foot. Then, putting a bullet through Garner’s forehead, we cleaned up and called it a night.

Red ran beside me, her tongue lolling to the side as she panted in sync with me. I pushed harder tonight, the muscles in my legs already screaming at me from the halfway mark. I liked to run at night; it was quieter, and cooler, the heavy summer heat making the vodka I’d consumed earlier in the evening pour from my pores.

We took a detour down by the canal, a change of surroundings needed to clear my head. My feet pounded the floor, the thud ricocheting through my skull and the heavy rhythm lulling the raging violence that twisted under my skin. My breathing levelled out, each exhale dispersing some of the fury that rattled my bones. Yet nothing could clear my thoughts, the image in my head of those striking blue eyes and that beautiful smile, the memory of her soft lips against mine, the touch of her breast under my palm. The sound of her gravelly voice played on repeat in my head.
“I won’t leave you, I promise.”. “I won’t leave you, I promise.”

My hands twitched and my knuckles cracked when my fingers curled into hard fists.

Shaking my head, I forced her out, or rather I tried to. It had been four years. Why the fuck wouldn’t she stop haunting me?

I’d trusted her. She’d stepped into my life just when I’d needed someone to lean on. And she’d used that part of me to further her damn fucking career. I’d opened up to her and in return she’d left a hole within me that nothing would fill.

Red stopped sharply, her nose twitching when a particular scent in the air got her attention.

“What is it, girl?”

She looked at me, her unique blue and green eyes alerting me to her sensory overload as she gave me a short bark.

I gave her a nod and she ran off in front. I struggled to keep up with her after she barked again and disappeared into some undergrowth with just the tip of her tail revealing her location.

“Ah shit,” I mumbled when I found her nudging a dead dog with her nose. She whined, pushing at it harder.

Her eyes turned on me and there was a sadness in her gaze that asked for my help.

Turning on my phone’s flashlight so I could see in the darkness, I squatted beside the poor thing but I already knew it was too late before I felt for any sign of life.

“Good girl.” I stroked Red’s ears when she whined in sympathy.

Flipping over the tag on its collar I found a phone number. It wasn’t a great thing to have to do, but if someone had found Red dead in the bushes I hoped they would call me.

Red sat respectfully by the dog as I keyed in the number and waited for an answer.

Half praying that it didn’t connect and half hoping it would, I grimaced when someone answered after only one ring. “Hello?” There was a desperation in her voice that told me she was waiting for this call.

“Uhh, yeah. Hi.” For some strange reason my mouth dried and a cold sensation trickled through my veins. “I, uhh, found your dog.”

“Oh, thank God.” Relief flooded her previous anguish and my gut coiled. “Where is he?”

“He’s umm, down by the canal.” Something didn’t feel right but I couldn’t put my finger on what. The woman sounded genuine enough, yet there was something tapping on my brain.

“Really? Wow. I’ll be right there. Can you keep hold of him for me, please?”

The poor cow shouldn’t have to find her dog like this. It was going to be rough on her as it was. “I can bring him to you.”

She paused then answered quietly. “Really? You’d do that?”

“Sure.”

She gave me her address after another long pause.

“I’ll be ten minutes,” I confirmed after mentally memorising her address. It was only a short distance from the canal but I had a feeling carrying the dead dog that far was going to be a pull on my muscles.

Sliding my phone into my pocket, I shovelled the dog into my arms. I couldn’t shift the uneasy feeling in my gut, my instincts sending an alarm around my head. There was a familiarity to her voice but I couldn’t understand why.

As I grew nearer to the address my stomach clenched tighter. Something was way off. My senses were going haywire. It felt like a trap. But who would be cruel enough to plant a dead dog in my path just to gain my attention?

Red was as hyper as me, her nose turning in every direction as she scrutinised every smell available to her. However, I knew her anxiety stemmed from my own, her strong connection with my emotions synchronising with my restlessness.

The path up to the house was well lit by an outside lamp and there were no bushes for shadows to hide in.

Before I made it to the front door it opened and a woman stepped out.

The world rushed at me.

My lungs constricted so much that I couldn’t breathe. My throat closed in. My stomach rolled. Every thought in my mind went crazy. My heartbeat burst into a wild and threatening pace. And the growl that tore from me made Red cower by my side.

Her eyes widened and her lips parted to accommodate a vocal rush of air from her mouth, the sound of it loud in the quiet of the night. Her hand shot out to hold onto the doorframe as she stared in shock.

A grin lit my face when I couldn’t believe my luck. “Hello, Kloe.”

H
E LOOKED THE SAME, BUT
so very different. His long blonde hair was now cut close to his head, the top a little thicker than the sides. His short beard was gone and a thin dusting of stubble travelled across his jaw and down his neck. His once scrawny body was now filled out into hard, tight muscles. His grey vest clung to his chest and gave me an excellent view of each groove and solid ridge. The same cold green eyes looked me up and down and the hostile smile that had haunted my dreams for four years still greeted me.

“Anderson?”

For a brief moment his callous grin and the hatred in his eyes softened and the timid and vulnerable man I remembered emerged, my heart squeezing tight with the desperation in his expression. But then as soon as it had materialised, it disappeared, leaving behind a distant and detached exterior, and an even chillier interior.

“Surprise.” His tone made me shiver, his grin growing into a smile that made the blood in my veins freeze.

But then I saw Dave.

My knees buckled and I fell to my knees as I tried to get to him.

Anderson blinked, his anger disappearing as quickly as it came. His arm wrapped around my waist and he helped me to my feet. “I’m so sorry.” The previous cold tone had gone and the gentleness in his voice washed over me.

“Quickly,” I choked out, gesturing to the house. “Please.”

Anderson frowned when I quickly studied the street, the goose bumps that rose on my arms and neck telling me
he
was back. And that
he
had something to do with Dave.

Anderson looked around, his brow creasing when he caught my fear but I ushered him inside, ignoring his curious look when his eyes narrowed on me.

Grabbing my phone, I dialled Richard, the vet I had grown close to, and put it on speaker by my side. I dropped to the floor with Dave, tugging at the rope that was buried under the fur around his neck.
Bastard!
It was hopeless but I still tried to get him back. Anderson grimaced when I failed to get Dave’s heart going again and a heartbroken sob ripped from my chest.

His fur was soft on my face as it soaked up my broken cries. Dave didn’t deserve this. This was on me, not him. He had paid instead of me.

“Who did this, Kloe?” Anderson asked. His voice was soft and full of compassion as he crouched beside me.

Shaking my head when I heard Richard calling me through the phone, I swallowed back my distress. “Richard.”

“Kloe, what’s wrong?”

“It’s Dave,” was all I managed.

“I’ll be fifteen minutes,” Richard said quickly before he disconnected.

Suddenly aware of the other dog sitting beside Dave, her soft whines breaking my heart, I reached out and stroked down her head.

“She’s gorgeous,” I said with a small smile.

“Red.” Anderson revealed.

“Perfect name.” She was the most beautiful Red Setter I had ever seen, one blue eye and one green eye staring at me with a sadness mirroring my own.

I froze when Anderson reached out and took a lock of my copper hair in between his fingers. “Yes.”

My breath caught and I frowned. I didn’t want to ask the question that scurried across my mind. The dog’s name, the colour of her coat. Her striking blue and green eyes. Each seemed a little close to home.

“You didn’t answer my question.” His head tipped to the side and the intrusive stare I remembered so well held me hostage in the swirl of his green irises.

When I shook my head and shrugged he let my hair go and moved his hand around to my cheek. His touch was so hot I was sure it was scorching my skin. “Who did this?” he repeated.

“I don’t know.”

Narrowing his eyes, he moved his fingers down to my chin. I was frozen beneath him. Four years and he still manipulated every one of my senses. “Who, Kloe?”

“I told you, I don’t know.”

“It’s like you expected it. You were looking for someone outside…”

“Yeah, I know someone is… trying to hurt me, but I don’t know who.” Tears resurfaced when I looked down at Dave. “They killed my best friend. And now Dave is dead.”

He sucked in a breath, the clench of his teeth making his deep inhalation whistle loudly. “How long has this been going on?”

“A few months.” I couldn’t understand why I was being so open with a man I barely knew, and who I hadn’t seen in four years. Yet, like before, there was something within me that connected with Anderson, with the sadness and anger inside him. He was the echo of my heartbeat, the replica of the hatred that poured through my veins and he was perfectly in tune with the darkness I refused to accept lived within my soul.