Dangerous (The Complete Erotic Romance Novel) (70 page)

“I don’t want your money, Reid Stirling.”

A chill slid down Reid’s spine at the confirmation the man knew his name.

“Once it would have been enough, but not any more.”

There was a sound of struggling and another whimper from somewhere deep in the shop. At least Kendra was alive.

“Your little whore did a good job,” the other man murmured. “She brought you right to me. You must have trained her well.” His voice dropped to a hiss. “Lucky you. You’ll get to watch me play with her.”

Reid felt sick. “I’d like to see her.”

“Hands behind your back first.”

Reid hesitated, but the gun was jabbed so hard against his neck that he stumbled forward.

“I don’t have a lot of patience for disobedience,” the other man said. “I’m sure you can understand.”

Reid put his hands behind his back. He felt a cable tie slide around his wrists and guessed nothing good would happen after he was bound. He moved suddenly, flinging out his arms, and ducking in case his assailant fired the gun. He kicked the gun out of that man’s hand and it flew across the shop, echoing as it hit a rack of steel shelving.

The attacker swore and decked Reid. They struggled together, and there was a moment Reid thought he might win. Then the other man kneed him in the groin, following up with a quick blow to the head. Reid pretended to be down harder than he was, intending to surprise his attacker.

Instead, Reid was surprised when the other man jammed a cloth over his face. It smelled slightly sweet and he’d taken a breath before he realized it contained a sedative. A strong one, too, because he was immediately weakened and disoriented.

The other man laughed and bound Reid’s hands together with the cable tie. He half-pulled and half-dragged Reid to an office chair, then lifted Reid’s bound hands over the back and secured them to the back of the chair. Reid fought the sedative with all his might, and tried to kick the other man where it counted. His blow was weaker than he’d hoped but still he made the other man wince.

As a reward, the cloth with the sedative was jammed into his mouth, the drug making the room spin and fade. Reid tried to fight as his ankles were bound to the chair, then took a great gasping breath as the cloth was removed. Before he could make a sound, a length of black electrical tape was wrapped over his mouth, silencing him thoroughly.

“Now, you’re ready for the show,” his assailant said. He pushed Reid on the wheeled chair into the main sewing room, and Reid’s heart stopped cold at the sight of Kendra. She was naked on the concrete floor, gagged with cloth and tape. She was wearing a heavy leather collar, one of Alicia’s that was lined with rabbit fur and secured her from chin to clavicle. There was a metal loop in the front of the collar, with a heavy length of rope passed through it. That rope bound her wrists together and to the collar, then her ankles were bound together as well. She was crouched and her eyes were wide with fear.

Her leg was bleeding.

Her eyes widened a little more at the sight of him, and Reid distrusted how her puss was exposed. It was all too easy to remember what the police said about Alana’s last moments, about how she had been violated, and he dreaded what the attacker would say.

The man spun Reid to face a desk, where a laptop with a large screen was showing a screen saver. “I’ve been planning for this for so long,” the attacker mused as he strolled across the room. He was wearing gloves, and tapped on the laptop for a moment. Reid could see there was a webcam on the table as well, one that was trained on Kendra. There was something behind the laptop but in the shadowed light, he couldn’t tell what it was.

“We have all night to play our last game,” the man said. “We’ll start with short movie, one of my favorites.” When he stepped aside, Reid saw a frozen image of Alana filling the laptop screen.

“Then we’ll re-enact it.” He turned to glance at Reid then touched the camera with his fingertip. “I’ll film that, too, just so I can enjoy it again and again after you’re not able to.”

He was going to kill Kendra, the same way he had killed Alana. Reid had been wrong to believe being locked in jail for a night was his worst nightmare. This was it, and it would be filmed.

Reid noticed Kendra was watching the screen as well and could almost taste her fear. She had to have guessed the killer’s intent. He glanced around the room, seeking some way to escape but found none. He struggled against his bonds but they were tight. Fucking cable ties. They couldn’t be broken and he had no knife.

He felt his anxiety rise and his breath quicken. He didn’t like being trapped, but he knew he had to keep calm so he could seize any opportunity.

Even though there might not be a good one.

“Why?” he tried to shout but only made a muffled moan.

The man smiled. “You ruined my life, Reid Stirling. I think it’s only fair that I ruin yours.”

Then he tapped a key and Alana’s voice filled the workshop.

* * *

Kendra was horrified when the attacker started the video. She had a pretty good idea they were going to witness Alana’s murder, and the plan was for her to die the same way. She couldn’t see any way out of the situation. No one knew where she was, thanks to the killer’s foresight, and she suspected the same was true of Reid. They were both bound and helpless, and their attacker was loving it.

He leaned against a chair, smiling as he watched the video. His erection strained the front of his jeans, which worried Kendra. Would he rape her in front of Reid? At least then his DNA might be left on her body. There might be justice after she was gone.

It was small consolation.

The only movement in the workshop was on the computer screen. The view looked as if the camera was on a desk or table in a hotel room. Maybe it was the same camera now pointed at her.

“I told you it would be this way,” the woman on the screen said triumphantly. It was Alana, or at least the same woman who had been in the wedding pictures with Reid. She was dressed beautifully but didn’t look very happy. She dropped a box on the couch, then put her hands on her hips to confront someone behind the camera. She flicked a poisonous glance at the lens. “You and your fucking movies. Those things will get you in trouble one day.”

“I don’t think so,” said a man off-camera. He had the same voice as the assailant. “I like fucking movies.”

“Don’t I know it.” She rolled her eyes.

“What’s the matter?”

“Just turn it off.”

“You want a drink?” the man said, ignoring her request.

Alana’s mouth twisted with impatience and she reached for the camera, her hand looming large.

“Don’t touch it,” he commanded, the threat in his tone making Alana hesitate. There was something dangerous in his voice, something that surprised Alana, something that made her a little bit wary.

She looked at the camera, then at him, then shrugged. “Have it your way.” She threw herself down on the couch. The camera must have been on the coffee table, because it was level with her knees. “Don’t imagine I’ll give you a view,” she said through her teeth, keeping her knees tightly together.

“Suit yourself.” A drink was offered from outside of the frame, but she shook her head. “It’s a Cosmopolitan, just like you like it.”

“I don’t like them anymore.” She looked uncomfortable, the change in her expression catching Kendra’s attention.

“Since when?” His voice hardened with that suspicion.

Alana flicked a defiant glance his way. “Well, that’s what I need to talk to you about.” She picked up the box and put it on her lap, and Kendra had the definite sense she was dreading whatever she had to confess. “You were right. It happened just like you said. He came home and gave me this, like it was something to celebrate.” She opened the box and displayed a collar much like the one locked around Kendra’s neck.

“It is,” the man said, putting the Cosmo on the table. “It gives you the perfect reason to demand a divorce, and to get half his money. Just like we planned.”

“Well, it’s not going to be like we planned.”

“What are you talking about?”

Alana dropped the collar into the box with distaste. “It’s disgusting. All his disgusting sex games, like I’m not a person but a possession.”

“You knew all that going in.” He was speaking very deliberately, and Kendra had the definite sense he was fighting to keep his temper under control. “You knew the prize would be worth it. Don’t lose your resolve now.”

“Well, what’s the fucking difference? I use him, he uses me, it’s all sick and twisted and wrong. I won’t do it any more.”

“What?”

“I’m fed up with it. I don’t want to do this. I
won’t
do this.”

The man off-camera spoke with care, clearly incredulous. “You
don’t
want his money now?”

“Well, I’m not going to get it. The plan isn’t going to work. We might as well get over it now.”

“Everything is going according to the plan.”

“Not everything.” Alana poked the box with a finger, looking like a petulant child. “I made a mistake.”

There was a pause, then the man spoke in a low dangerous voice. “What kind of mistake, Lisa?”

“The only one that could have fucked it up!” She was on her feet, agitated and angry. “Why can’t I drink? Why aren’t I going to get his money? Do the fucking math.” She held up a finger. “There can be only one reason, Mitch. Just one. I made a mistake and there’s no way to hide it.”

His voice rose now. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

“I’m pregnant!”

“Better and better. He’ll give you more money, pay child support...”

“But it’s not his baby!” she practically screamed. She looked at the man, a glimmer of fear in her eyes when he remained silent for so long.

“What?” The word was hard, bitten off, and cold enough to make Kendra shiver.

Alana or Lisa exhaled, evidently relieved by something in his expression. She turned to pace the room, flinging out a hand as she talked. “He’s been in Asia for six months. I thought I could have some fun while he was gone, some normal sex...”

“We haven’t been together in a year.”

“I know, I know, but it’s hard to see you regularly, and he was so nice...” Her voice faded. “I was impulsive. It was a mistake, but I’m three months pregnant. Any moron can do the math, Mitch, never mind the hundred lawyers who will be trying to make sure I don’t get a nickel.”

His punch came hard and fast, surprising Kendra as much as it clearly surprised Alana. That woman stumbled backward, her legs colliding with the couch so that she lost her balance. She raised her hands to her face. “Don’t bruise me,” she said quickly and in a tone probably meant to be soothing. “Not today. I have to go back there. There will be questions.”

Kendra realized to her horror that he’d hit her before.

“I’m sorry, Mitch. I just wanted to have some fun.”

Kendra heard pacing.

“Whose?” the man demanded.

Alana shook her head and made a helpless gestures. “It’s better if you don’t know...”

“It’s not mine!” he roared. “Who did you fuck, whore?”

She straightened, indignation in her eyes. “It wasn’t like that. I love him. He loves me. He’s decent and good, no movies and no bondage. He’s
nice
.” She was on her feet again, backing toward the door. “We’re going to go away and start over, make a life together for our baby...”

There was a dark shadow as he lunged after her, obscuring the camera view. Kendra saw Alana’s alarm as he shoved a wad of cloth into her mouth and knotted it savagely behind her head. Alana struggled against him, but he was strong and he was angry. He stripped off her clothes, holding her wrists together behind her back in one hand, even as she struggled and tried to scream. He threw her on the couch, dropping his weight on her before she could squirm away. He grabbed a length of rope and lashed her wrists together. She made whimpering noises, clearly trying to beg for mercy, but there was no mercy in him. Just seeing how he moved, without seeing his face, told Kendra that Alana had no chance.

He’d had the rope and the cloth there, as if ready for her.

Maybe he hadn’t been surprised she was pregnant.

Maybe he hadn’t been surprised she’d intended to leave him.

When Alana was bound helpless on the couch, he lifted the collar out of the box. Alana’s make-up had run and her eyes were wide. He crouched down before her and Kendra saw her flinch before his shoulders blocked the view. She could hear the panic in Alana’s breathing. She flicked a glance at Reid to find him pale and looking as if he’d be sick.

“You’re sexiest when you’re afraid, Lisa,” the man in the video murmured and the hair rose on Kendra’s neck. “I like the smell of your fear. I like knowing that you’re terrified. I like when you fight and try to get away.” He locked the collar around her neck, securing it tightly. “Did you think it was an accident that I chose this motel, so empty and far from everything? That I booked the end unit? Did you think I was too stupid to know what you had planned? I’ve been watching you all along, Lisa, and I know you.”

She swallowed as she stared at him in terror.

“Who didn’t do the math, Lisa? Not me.”