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“Eric,” his tone changed to a quieter one, “the cameras are for us.”
“I don’t seem to have a link to the feed.”
“I’m sending it now.” A moment later, my phone vibrated, and I saw a link had been shared with me. “I know things are different with this one, but you must understand, Eric, one can never be too careful. She is, after all, a Blackstone bitch.”
“Yeah, thanks for the heads up on that one, by the way.” While I talked, I motioned with my gun to Alejandro, and he stepped forward and began to herd Pedro and his buddies outside. I gave him a nod as I moved to my office. “The bitch told me on our drive here.”
“Interesting.” He seemed amused. “Was she feisty?”
“A bit.” I knew I’d better feed him the truth on that. I still wasn’t sure what he could see and hear. I also knew he liked his women a bit wild, and I didn’t want to stimulate his imagination. I used my fingerprint to open my Mac and clicked on the link. It brought me to the basement cameras.
“Hang on. I have a call coming through,” he rasped, and I rolled my eyes as I was placed on hold. While I waited, I grabbed a pencil and sketched out the basement room in my notebook. Then I quickly made notes of all the blind spots the cameras couldn’t see. Only half the bucket could be seen, the paintbrush was in full view, but the line next to the cage where my chair was tucked in the far back corner was completely hidden. Whoever installed the cameras didn’t put much thought into where they were pointed. I turned up the volume, and it crackled a bit then cleared, and I could only hear some white noise. All of that told me it wasn’t hardwired. The fact that it was more than likely wi-fi connected worked in my favor. The phone in my ear went live as Castillo clicked back on.
“I have some guests arriving soon. I have to go.”
“Wait, what’s her name? Which Blackstone member is her husband? How can I sell her with no information?”
“You’re not selling her.” He chuckled. “We’ll pump her for information then dispose of the bitch.”
Ivy
The sound of people talking brought me back. I was in a heap on the floor of my office. I desperately tried to clear the fog that held me captive.
Was he gone?
I strained to listen, too scared to move. Silence. My teeth started to chatter as pain made its way through my consciousness. I felt it build as I lay there.
“Oww.” I started to cry but instantly went quiet when I heard a noise. I was simply too terrified to move as I stayed where I had been left, by him.
“You know what I’m capable of, Dr. Knight.” His threat came back to me in one horrific flash, and I blinked as the memory of it all overwhelmed me. I remembered how I watched him as he went through my purse then held up my ID. I knew it had my home address on it. “You open your mouth, and I’ll kill you.” I’d never forget the look on his face.
Stop.
I forced my eyes open to take in the room. I saw my chair, the one my mother had so proudly given me when I moved into this office. It now lay on its side with two broken legs. My lovely glass office table was shattered, and the desk looked like a tornado had hit it straight on.
With all my might, I sat upright. My head pounded, and I gently touched it. My fingers felt around a large, tender goose egg, and when I looked at my hand, it was covered in blood.
I brushed the wet hair from my eyes and carefully toed off my heel. I tried not to make any noise as I used the wall to help me stand. I forced through the vertigo and eyed the closed door to my personal bathroom. Slowly, with shaky knees, I moved across the room, took a deep breath, and pulled the door open. It was heavy and creaked on its hinges, and I felt my heart beat my rib cage with the force of a baseball bat.
As soon as I saw it was empty, I lunged across the room for my phone. My fingers were slick with blood as I madly tried to swipe the screen open. Finally, I took a second to wipe them clean on my shirt, and with a desperate swipe, I was awarded an open screen.
One, two, three…finally, on the fourth ring, he picked up.
“Ivy?”
“Uncle,” I tried to make sense, “I, I don’t know what happened, but he was here, and—”
“Who was there?” His voice turned serious. “Where are you?”
“I’m at my office. Reid, please…” Suddenly, my office door opened, and his murderous eyes found me. “Noo!” I screamed.
I jolted awake and sucked in a lungful of air as I took in my surroundings.
“Welcome back.” Mark studied me from the front seat. “Sounds like you were somewhere dark?”
“No,” I sat up straight and ran a hand through my hair to catch my breath, “I’m good.” I must have slipped off to sleep. I pulled my laptop up off the floor and tucked my paperwork back into my bag. I glanced at the time and saw Ty should have landed by now. He’d taken the redeye to New York, and I was concerned that he’d barely said anything to me before he left.
I unconsciously reached up and touched my head where the goose egg once resided. That night had been one of the scariest of my life, and until things were resolved, I knew I’d continue to be in this tailspin of flashbacks.
