Her Guys [Blessed 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (16 page)

As they snuggled to her in their bed, she hoped nothing ever took them from her. She feared she couldn’t live without them.

The doorbell ringing had Katarina walking over to the door and peeking through the peephole. Flowers and balloons were all she saw. A smile tugged at her lips. What were her guys up to?

She opened the door and was surprised when she saw Bill from her papa’s old place standing there. “What can I do for you, Bill?”

“I’ve come for you. I bought your dad’s old place and fixed it up so we can live there,” he said excitedly.

“Um, I can’t do that, Bill. I live here with Lunn and Gaven.” Her heart started racing, and warning bells rang loudly in her ears. She tried to close the door. He dropped the flowers and forced the door wider. The vase shattered on the steps.

“No, you were just visiting with them. They were watching over you until I could come for you. I’m sure that’s why your father let you move in with them. When I checked the place out a few days ago, the security was a thousand times better than that apartment you lived in. Of course, you failed the test by falling for a recording of a hurt animal. That means you’ll be a kind mother to our children, but you have to be less gullible, flower,” he informed her and then pointed at the camera that was attached to the roof. “I see Lunn is upping the security. That’s good. The loose wire tells me the job isn’t finished, though.”

Damn, he would have to notice that. The wires to the cameras hadn’t been up to Lunn’s standard, so he’d had the company order a higher grade. With the killer caught there hadn’t been a need to rush the job, or so they’d thought. Now she wasn’t so sure.

“Bill, I need you to leave. Lunn and Gaven are not just my friends, they’re my…”

“Hush, I’m here for you. Let’s go up to your room and get your stuff. You’ve already ruined our first day together by making me drop the flowers. We are going home,” he stated harshly.

She turned and ran for the phone. He raced up behind her and tackled her. As the air whooshed from her lungs, she felt a pinch in her upper shoulder and searing heat surge through her veins. Her eyes grew heavy, and she was vaguely aware of being picked up and carried from the house. The last thing she saw was broken glass on the steps.

* * * *

“What the hell?” Lunn grumbled when he saw the broken vase and wilted flowers on his front steps. He entered the house and started looking for Katarina. Panic swept through him when he couldn’t find her.

Dialing Gaven, he tried to calm down. When Gaven picked up he asked, “Is she with you?”

“Who?” Gaven asked, confusion clear in his tone.

“Katarina. I came home to find a broken vase on our steps and her gone. Have you heard from her?”

“No. I’ll be there in a minute. Trent’s here, so I’ll bring him along. Hold on, we’ll figure this out,” Gaven said.

Lunn searched the house for clues but found nothing. Going out to the flowers, he looked through them and found a card. Snatching it up, he read the note.
I look forward to our future as husband and wife. Off to our home we go. I love you, my personal flower.

Gaven and Trent pulled up and hurried over to him. He’d never been happier to see his friends than he was right now.

“Have you heard anything?” Gaven asked.

“No, but I found this card,” he answered as he handed it to Gaven.

Both men looked it over and scowled.

“Shit! The killer must have only crossed her path once. That is probably why there was a question mark on the back of her doll’s picture. Gerald must have lost her when she moved.” The pulse in Gaven’s throat was pounding as he put the puzzle together.

“Think, guys. Who else could be in love with her or have enough of a grudge against her to mess with her like this?” Trent pointed at the card.

“Let’s go inside and figure this out.” Gaven ground the words out.

On the kitchen table, they placed a notepad and tried to think of anyone who could have taken her.

“Devon could have done it. He’s not right in the head,” Lunn stated and then watched Gaven write the man’s name down.

“There was that man from the pub that threatened her.” Gaven thought for a moment and then snapped his fingers when he remembered the man’s name. “Scott is his name.”

Scott’s name was added to the list.

“Is that all?” Trent asked.

Lunn turned the pad around and wrote
Bill
on the list.

“Who is that?” Gaven asked.

“He was the man that knocked a drunk out at Rico’s once for touching Katarina and suggesting she go downstairs with him to have sex. The bouncer sent Bill home to cool off. The man seemed to think she belonged to him,” Lunn said.

“I remember that. We thought we were going to have to step in, but the bouncer handled it.” Gaven nodded his head thoughtfully. “Bill continued to pound on that drunk as if he was personally offended. The signs are there. He could be our guy.”

Grabbing his phone, Gaven called Joe, Lunn called a couple of his friends, and Trent went into the backyard and practiced throwing his knife into a tree trunk.

It took four long-ass hours, but Lunn found out Devon and Lizzann were in a Washington jail and had been for the last few weeks. They were waiting trial for credit card fraud and stalking. The man they were busted stalking was the owner of a BDSM club and to add to the scary situation, he was supposed to look a lot like Lunn. He was glad they were behind bars, and hoped they stayed there forever.

Gaven found out Scott’s address, as well as Bill’s, and a business partner of Bill’s named Able Crow.

They all headed to Scott’s house first.

With anger pounding through his veins, he beat on the door. A minute later, Scott flung the door open. “What?” he snapped.

Snatching Scott up by the front of his shirt, Gaven held the card in front of Scott’s face.

“Do you recognize this note?” Gaven spit out.

“No. Get your hands off me. Who the hell are you?” Scott demanded.

Trent pulled his knife from its sheath. “You sure you didn’t write that note?”

“Yes. I’ve never seen it before.” Scott’s eyes darted between Gaven and the knife in Trent’s hand.

A very pregnant woman waddled up behind Scott.

Trent hid his knife behind his back.

“What’s going on, baby?” the woman asked.

Scott tensed. “Nothing. Go back to our room. I’ll fix the TV in a second. Have a beer waiting for me.” Scott didn’t relax until she had waddled off, grumbling about men.

Gaven released Scott when Lunn said, “I believe he’s telling the truth.”

“Who are you people?” Scott asked as he straightened his shirt.

“I’m the owner of Gaven’s Sports Pub. You threatened my manager a while back. Now she’s in trouble, and you are a suspect.”

A flush stole across Scott’s cheeks. “I paid her back a long time ago. I shouldn’t have and I’m sorry for it, but I’ve moved on.”

Gaven grabbed Scott’s shirt again. “What did you do?”

“I called the Health Department on your pub. I’m sorry. I was wrong to do that.” Scott’s eyes reflected true sorrow.

“I remember Katarina grumbling about the health inspector coming to the pub. You’re lucky I recalled that.” He released Scott and walked back to the truck.

Scott was definitely not the man they were looking for. He and Trent followed Gaven. They had one more stop to make, and he hoped it led them straight to her.

“Goddamn it. I was really wanting to find her here. Every minute that passes…” Gaven cleared his throat, but he couldn’t continue. They got in the truck and headed to their next and hopefully last destination, Bill’s home.

“It’s going to be fine. I can feel it.” Trent sounded confident, and that was just what they needed right now.

If they didn’t find her soon, he feared for his and Gaven’s sanity. They both loved her more than life itself.

Bill’s house was empty, as in cleaned out and never coming back.

“Son of a bitch! We have to find her. I can’t live without her.” Gaven’s pain shot through Lunn, and he was sure his own pain was adding to Gaven’s.

“We’re not done yet. We have one more lead left. Let’s go.” Lunn hoped Concetta would help them find Katarina. Right now they desperately needed the witch’s help.

The drive to Able Crow’s house was a silent one. They all leapt from the truck the second they arrived at the old mobile home. A dog whined and sped under the home. A large, tough looking woman smoking a pipe came out onto the freshly painted porch.

“What you want?” she asked in a suspicious tone.

“We’re looking for Able Crow,” Trent answered boldly, showing no fear.

“He ain’t here. What do you need from him?” She eyed them all just as boldly and fearlessly.

“Information about a man named Bill Petts,” he replied in a calm voice.

“Crazy Bill? The chopper pilot that flies them rich people around and fancies himself a vet?” she asked.

“Yes. Do you know where we can find him?” Lunn had only been told he was a pilot, but not who Bill worked for. If he was flying around rich clients, that would explain him leaving the house quickly after getting a call. He had to be their man.

She held up a finger to silence them and listened closely. With narrowed eyes, she grabbed a gun from the porch rocker and aimed into some four-foot-tall grass and fired.

“Ouch!”

“Dang, Mama. Why’d you have to tranq him? We was just getting good and heated up.” A young woman stepped out of the grass, straightening her dress.

“Don’t play dumb, girl. You know them pills don’t kick in for another week. Now get in the house.” The older woman waved toward the front door.

“What about Bubba?”

“He’ll wake up in a few hours and go home where he ought to be. That boy ain’t smart enough to have babies. Do you want a baby that can’t find its way out of the swamp?” When the girl shook her head, the gun toting woman said, “I didn’t think so. Now get. We’re talking.”

The older woman watched the younger one slink into the home and then she turned back to them. She smiled and patted the gun. “Tranq guns work great for keeping young ones from getting pregnant by the wrong boy. You keep that in mind now,” she said.

“We will, ma’am,” Gaven responded. “Back to Bill. Do you know where we can find him?”

“Over at the old club, Rico’s. That would be a good place to look. He bought it not long ago. Said he was going to bring his wife home, but he don’t have no wife that I know about.” She turned and put the gun back on the rocker then faced them again. “You be careful around Bill. He ain’t been right in the head for a while.”

“Thanks for the help, ma’am,” Lunn said over his shoulder as the hurried to his truck and got in. As they headed to Rico’s, silence heavily blanketed the truck.

Trent’s scream suddenly pierced their ears, and Gaven cursed when Trent jumped up into the front seat and fell into his lap.

“What the…” Gaven started saying.

“Well he’s easy enough to scare. I wonder if he pissed his pants?”

“Volker!” Gaven and Lunn growled at the same time.

“Get off me, Scooby Doo. It’s just Volker. He’s Concetta’s messenger cat,” Gaven said and then gave Trent a shove over the seat.

Trent pointed at Volker. “I know you. You’re the cat that helped me save Rain from that black mamba snake, aren’t you?”

“He’s a bright one,” Volker snipped.

“Why are you here? Did you come to help us get Katarina back?” Lunn asked.

“Yes. I’m in a hurry, so listen closely. Bill carries sedative shots in a pouch that hangs from his belt. Don’t let him knock you out, and you’ll be fine and so will Katarina.” With that said, Volker shimmered away.

“Shit! Did you see that? He was meowing up a storm, and then he just freaking disappeared into thin air.” Trent’s voice shook as he spoke.

“Yeah, I saw him,” Gaven stated calmly. “He wasn’t just meowing, he was warning us not to let Bill reach into the pouch that hangs from his belt. It holds sedative shots.”

“Crap.” Trent exclaimed then asked, “How could you two understand him?”

“Concetta made it possible.” There was no way he was going into details on how she’d made it happen.

“I’m glad she did. We need all the help we can get,” Trent said.

They all fell silent as they mentally prepared for the fight to come.

Lunn felt good about the battle now that he knew Concetta was on their side.

* * * *

Katarina woke to find herself straddling a chair with her hands tied to the tall back of it and her ankles tied to the legs of the chair. She struggled, but the ties were firmly secured.

“I see you’re awake, my sweet flower. It’s a shame you fell for the men protecting you. Though, it happens a lot.” Bill sighed disappointedly. “Now I’m forced to make sure you understand that your loyalty stays with me only. Forever.”

He grabbed a thin black belt off a nearby table and walked around in front of her. She made every effort not to flinch. Fear was causing her insides to churn. Where were her guys? Would they be able to find her?

Bill smacked the belt against his thigh. “Bad dogs get choke collars, bad birds get put in smaller cages, and bad cats get declawed.” He held up the belt and added, “Bad women get whipped. You must never look at other men. You belong solely to me.”

In a quick, angry move, Bill walked behind her, and within a second she felt the belt whip across her right shoulder. White heat flashed through her shoulder. She sucked in a harsh breath and wiggled her wrists, hoping she could get free, but the ties didn’t budge.

The belt struck her lower back, and she yelled, “Stop it, asshole. My guys are going to beat you when they get here.” She sure as hell hoped they showed up soon.

An even harder hit struck her right upper ass cheek, and she was blinded by pain for a second.

“Never curse your husband, and never ever call them
your guys
. I won’t tolerate that, ever. They were only watching over you. Nothing more,” he shouted rabidly.

Needing to escape her demented captor, she clearly said, “Powers that be, set me free.” Nothing happened. She pulled her wrists backward, and still the ties didn’t break.