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Selena’s head pounded. She opened her eyes again, but it was still pitch-black. So black she couldn’t see her hands when she lifted them in front of her face. Though she could feel the zip ties cutting into her skin, she’d made sure she had space between her hands when he tightened them.
Thank you, Clare.
She needed to tell her mom’s commanding officer exactly that the second she saw her.
Which she would. Selena was going to get out of this because Clare had taught her what to do.
She had to be in the trunk of a car because she felt the rumble of the road under her hip. Scratchy carpet. Enough room to move but not much more than that. Loud rock and roll music blaring—and not the good kind.
She got her knee up to her middle and brought her bound hands down. Hard. Pain sliced through her wrists where the ties dug in, but she felt the snap and her hands were free.
The car swerved around a corner.
Selena rolled and came up against the side wall, also carpeted.
He slowed the car. She knew it was a him, because she’d seen his face when he hit Letitia over the head. Selena had been distracted from what was happening to Alex because Clare’s mom had been telling her stories of Clare in preschool and elementary. Funny jokes she used to tell.
Recalling them now made it so the reality of her situation dissipated a little.
Enough she didn’t realize until the car fully stopped that he’d parked. The engine shut off. Then the music. A door slammed.
The trunk of the car flipped up, and blinding light shined on her face. She kept her fingers linked so it looked like she was still tied up, gasping even though she didn’t want to.
Clare’s coaching filled her mind. The sound of her voice, calm in Selena’s ear.
“Where are my diamonds?”
Selena blinked.
“Alex took my diamonds. Where are they?” Her abductor grabbed her jacket and hauled her up.
She sucked in a breath through her nose. “Alex…what?”
“My. Diamonds.” He breathed in her face, his gray eyes freaky. Dead almost. “Or are you as dumb as you look.”
You have no idea who or what I am.He probably figured she was some bimbo, just arm candy for Alex and his social-media-famous life.
He pulled her out of the car. She didn’t get her feet down before he shoved her. Selena fell to the ground, and he kicked her. Again and again. Her shoulder. Her hip. Her midsection. She couldn’t hold it back any longer and cried out.
He laughed. “Tell me where the diamonds are. He stole them from me, then went to you. Where did you go?”
She tried to think. They’d gone to the park and met with Clare. That was where Alex had been shot. The diamonds? The only place Alex had been separated from her was when he’d asked to use the bathroom. They’d gone to Vanguard before the park because Clare hadn’t been at the office.
“Talk!” Spit landed on her cheek.
“Vanguard.”
Aaron Crenshaw stared at her. “What did you just say?”
THIRTY-SIX
Gage stepped off the elevator, Clare right beside him. A group of cops hung in the hall, looking worried. Far more commotion than normal but what he’d expect after an armed man barged into the hospital and kidnapped a woman.
“What happened?” Gage called out the question to no one in particular.
One of the on-duty officers met him halfway, a glassy expression on his face. Blood smudged on his sleeves and neck. He’d held someone that was injured.
“Were you here?” Gage asked him.
