Dangerous Attraction: Part Three (Aegis Group) (8 page)

Seriously?

This was his offer?

It was such a steaming pile of shit. Bliss kind of wanted to pinch herself to make sure she wasn’t sleeping. She knew he wanted them both. Did he really think she wouldn’t figure out it was a trap?

No, because according to the feds he had a narcissistic god complex. He thought he was smarter and better than everyone.

“Bliss, time is running out.”

“Yes. Fine. I’ll be there.”

If the cops showed up though, if they caught up to Daniel, Carlos and maybe her sister would die.

The tracking device.

The cops were already closing in on them.

They’d find Daniel before she did, and then everyone died.

“I’ll text you the address. Hurry. Don’t be late.”

“Wait!” she blurted.

She had to do this. She had to save her sister.

“What?”

“My sister has a tracking device on her. It’s probably attached to the hem of her shirt or something. I put it there. If you don’t take that off and move, I’m not responsible for the cops showing up.”

She practically heard his teeth grinding before the line went dead.

“Daniel? Daniel? Damn it.”

Bliss tossed the phone onto the bed.

Shit. What was she going to do?

No cops, or everyone died.

Think. Think.

A text message landed in her inbox from the same Unknown Number. One line of text, and yet it was all the hope she had.

She needed Travis...but what if there was no way to hide him? Plus, she hadn’t seen him since earlier, and there wasn’t time to track him down. Besides, he’d try to talk her out of this. He loved her. He’d want to keep her safe, and she couldn’t really fault him for being biased, but he didn’t care for Wendy like she did.

Hadn’t she been a tiny bit glad it wasn’t Travis who’d been shot up in the mountains?

God, that felt like an age ago.

Bliss carefully removed the tracking device from her bra strap and pinned it to Paul’s onesie. First things first, she needed to hand the baby off.

She padded downstairs, quickstepping to stay out of the officers’ way as they hustled back and forth.

Travis, Connor, Jade—none of the faces she recognized were there.

The living room was a sea of uniforms and more unfamiliar faces. She tiptoed down the hall to a smaller den area that Wendy had converted into a play room. The more comfortable space was where her parents and a few friends and neighbors were clustered.

“There you are. Come sit.” Her mother patted the couch next to her.

“My head really hurts. I think I want to take a shower and lay down. Would you mind?” She lifted Paul a bit and smiled.

“Of course. Hand him here.”

Bliss kissed Paul’s forehead. If she fucked up, she might never see her nephew again. But if she didn’t do something, Daniel might disappear with her sister before the cops ever found them. The feds hadn’t been able to find him. Maybe it was time to try something else. Something stupid, but at least it was—something.

“Come back down and join us,” her mother said.

“Will do.” Her smile was forced, but it merely supported her claim of a headache.

She took the smaller staircase up to the second floor. It was quieter up here, but also rather eerie. She glanced over her shoulder. If Travis were there, he’d know something was up. So it was a good thing he was MIA.

Back in her room, she flipped the flimsy lock into place and changed into jeans, her boots, a long-sleeved shirt and a bulky sweatshirt. The Taser and mace Travis had gifted her were easy enough to stick in her pockets. But would those be enough to stop Daniel?

She needed something with stopping power.

She needed a gun.

Wasn’t it serendipitous she knew someone who over-packed their firearms?

This is how accidents happen.

She opened Travis’ bag and poked around.

Buried on the bottom, under a plastic traveling case with built-in locks, was another gun. She’d seen him squirrel away the three he had a few times, enough that she’d dared to hope it would be there. They were going to have to have a serious conversation about gun safety, but for now his lapse in judgment was playing in her favor.

She knew what the safety was, but other than that, she was working on blind faith. A row of shiny bullets laid waiting in the bottom of the bag. She pocketed those as well and put the rest in the hoodie pouch.

Twenty minutes and counting to make it to the meet on time.

She was being reckless, crazy, and stupid, but it was her sister. She had to do this, because so far nothing else had worked.

Bliss adjusted her clothing and headed for the hall.

Now she just had to find a car and get her ass out of here.

Her car.

Her car was still here!

She hustled down the hall and into her sister’s room, pulling up short at the last minute.

Grayson and his assistant sat on the bed, papers spread out between them.

“Need something, Bliss?” he asked.

“Are you working?” She tried to not...gape...but how could he concentrate at work when Wendy was missing?

“I’m trying to stay busy, but it’s not working.” He got up and paced the bedroom. His assistant glared at her.

“They’re going to find her, it’s going to be okay,” the assistant said. Bliss could never keep them straight, so she’d just stopped trying.

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m sure you’re right,” Grayson muttered.

“Hey, you know where Wendy kept my spare key? I wanted to see if I left a change of clothes in my trunk.” Bliss smiled and hoped he believed her.

“I have it. It’s in here.”

Grayson strode to the closet, which was as big as her bedroom back at her apartment. He opened a small safe and rooted around inside for a moment before turning to present her with the spare key.

“Thanks.”

She grabbed the key, focusing on acting natural. How exactly was she supposed to act though? It wasn’t every day a serial killer proclaimed his obsessive hatred for a girl. She glanced at her phone again and cringed at the time. It was running out.

Bliss took the small staircase to the ground floor and checked the map once again. She wasn’t great with directions, but the phone could also be used to track her in a pinch. At least that’s what happened in the movies. So she left it on the bottom stair, waited until no one was looking, and slid out the front door. With her hood up, she hoped she looked like any one of the neighbors coming and going.

If one of the cops made her, it was all over, and Wendy was as good as dead.

She crossed the lawn and slid into her little car, shivering. Boy, it was unusually cold this year. She started the car, glancing at the cop cars every few moments. Easing it into drive, she rolled down the street, holding her breath.

Neither car moved to follow her.

No one ran out of the house after her.

She had some serious road to burn if she was going to make it.

“Do you think he had a car waiting here? Or did he boost something parked on the street?” Travis studied the blocked-off street. He wanted to get out of the SUV and walk the scene, look for a clue, but then he’d be in the way of the professionals.

Officers and what had to be the forensics team clustered around the first car, Priscilla’s. The one Daniel had driven into the gated community and right up to the house to kidnap Wendy in.

“Nah. Two hostages? He had to have something waiting.” Connor twisted to look behind them.

“If they’re both tied up, what’s he got to worry about? Wendy’s not strong enough to break loose, and the kid’s probably scared shitless.”

“Time. He knew we would chase him, so he needed to get away clean and change vehicles before we got too close. He had to have something waiting at this location. He knew he was coming here. Look at the street. There’s no camera in sight. He knew he’d change vehicles without us knowing what to look for.”

“What about there?” Travis pointed to a dome camera mounted on the cross street.

“Nah, that’s blind this way. It only goes north and south. You can’t see the lights, that’s how he knew.”

“Fuck.” Travis rubbed his forehead. He’d gone up against some thorough bastards before, but they’d had teams to do the work. This was one man. “Do we have another ping on Wendy’s location?”

“Yup. Patrol is in the area now looking for a car or some sign of them.”

“Do we know which way they went?”

“Lali tagged every car that crossed the intersection behind us, the one up the street, the other to the left, and the three closest traffic cameras. It’s a lot of cars to follow and sort through. She’s requested some support, but still, that’s a lot of cameras and a lot of cars.”

“Needle in a fucking haystack.”

“Pretty much.” Connor eased the truck past the ongoing investigation. “If I wanted time alone with my sweetheart, and I knew the law was after me, where would I go?”

“What is that? Some kind of profiler trick?”

“It’s easy to get into some of their heads, but Daniel is more complex. Usually we’re dealing with a sociopath, mum issues, a sadist, someone who has a single driving trait. Daniel...he’s a mix. He’s a narcissist, yet he hasn’t made contact with us. It’s like he doesn’t even care about us, so who is it he wants to pay attention to him?”

“Bliss said he talked a lot about his subjects.”

“Maybe. We know he picked up homeless people and chopped them up, but still, he’d want someone to know about what he was doing. To show it off.”

“Wendy?”

“Yeah, that’s a good point. If he considers her his wife, maybe she’s his equal and her affirmation of witnessing his “work” is all he needs because we are so below his notice. But...” Connor shook his head. “It’s damn frustrating, man.”

Travis’ phone vibrated, breaking his concentration. He glanced at the screen and frowned.

“Hey, hold on. Let me answer this.” He clicked the Answer button. His phone connected to the Bluetooth. “Grayson, we’re—”

“Bliss is gone.”

“Wait—what?” Travis sat forward. The vision of her pale, blood-splattered face leapt to mind. Gone? Bliss? She couldn’t be. No, she was safe. Last he’d seen her, she was in the kitchen with her family.

“She came up to my room, asked for the key to her car to get some stuff out of the trunk. Then someone found her phone at the foot of the stairs.”

“Bloody hell,” Connor muttered. He pulled over to the curb and got his phone out, too.

“What about the tracker?” Travis asked. “It just pinged, right?”

“The cops are looking for the signal, but...”

“But what?”

“She deleted all the history on the phone. No calls, no texts, nothing. She’s doing something.”

Bliss would do anything to protect her sister. Anything. Damn it, he should have seen this coming. Cold dread settled in the pit of his stomach. She should have called him at least. He could have helped her. Together they might have been able to accomplish something. But alone? He wasn’t sure she stood a fighting chance against Daniel.

“Fuck all,” Connor said.

“What?” Travis glanced at the other man.

“The tracker still shows her at the house, as of five minutes ago. Ask him to look around, really check. Is she in a bathroom? Sleeping somewhere? Anything?”

“Is there anywhere else she could be?” Travis asked.

“No, we’ve checked every closet, room, and vehicle on the premises. Besides, they have video of her driving out the front gate ten minutes ago.” Grayson’s calm tone was breaking. He’d lost not only his wife, but maybe his sister-in-law as well.

“Then the tracker should have just pinged her...”

“Shit. It must be here somewhere. Damn it, Bliss.”

“We have another vehicle,” Connor announced. He gassed the truck and sent it barreling around the turn.

“Grayson, I’ll call you when I know more.” Travis hung up and gripped the side of the door. Connor could drive like a bat out of hell all he wanted, so long as it got them a little closer to Bliss.

“When did she get a bloody damn phone?” Connor said as he took a turn at a high speed.

“Last night. Grayson had Priscilla go buy her a new one.”

“And no one mentioned it? God damn it.” Connor slammed his hand against the steering wheel. His phone began ringing, vibrating in the cup holder. He grabbed it and shoved it at Travis. “Put her on speaker.”

Travis jabbed the screen.

“Connor, are you there?” A woman’s calm voice filled the cab.

“Yeah, me and Travis are here, Lali.”

“I tracked the last phone call made to Bliss’ phone. It’s from a pre-paid cell phone—”

“Shit,” Connor mumbled.

“—and that phone is still on.”

“What?” Connor and Travis said at once.

“Assuming this is our guy, I’m triangulating his location now. I have Gavin cross-referencing the area with our parameters for Daniel’s secondary location.”

“He could have dropped the phone to get us off his tail,” Connor said.

“What if he wanted to make sure Bliss had a way of contacting him?” Travis had to hope. This couldn’t be how things ended.

“He could have told her to dump the phone.”

Lali’s voice broke through their battle of what-ifs. “Address, I just sent it to your phone and I’m updating the rest of the team.”

“Thanks, Lali.”

“Go save those girls.”

The line went dead.

“Where am I going?” Connor asked.

Travis brought up the map.

They had a long way to go, and Bliss had one hell of a start on them. When he got his hands on her... The only thing he could think of was never being separated from her again.

He was going to marry her.

B
liss clutched the wheel and stared up at the large, metal building.

She was late.

Almost ten minutes late.

She’d run red lights and broken every speed limit posted, but she was still late.

Was Carlos still alive? What about her sister? Were they gone?

She pulled the gun and bullets out of her hoodie pouch. One went in the other, right? She slid the row of bullets into the gun until it clicked. Now, she just had to hope it was as simple as removing the safety and firing. Otherwise she was shit out of luck. She really should have taken Travis up on that gun lesson he talked about. If she survived this, she was learning how to shoot.