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Tears filled her eyes, blurring the screen. “No. I’m sorry, I don’t see anything familiar. I’m useless.”
“You are nothing of the sort. Keep talking like that and your friends won’t be the only ones getting their bottoms paddled when this is all said and done, understood?”
Before she could answer, his phone beeped and they both looked over at the number coming through on the other line.
“Hold on, Monroes. I’ll be right back.”
Without giving them a chance to argue, Dean hit the button to answer the other call. “Hello?”
“Hello, Mr. Mitchell. I believe you have something that belongs to me.”
The edges of MaryAnn’s vision went black at the sound of his voice, and she just managed to catch herself before she whimpered and alerted Nate to her presence. Dean pulled her onto his lap, squeezing her so tight it was an effort to draw in even a shallow breath.
“Nate, right? I was hoping I’d get a chance to speak with you someday.”
“Well, then it’s a good day for all our hopes and dreams to come true. How about a trade?”
“Depends on what kind of trade you’re interested in.”
It amazed her that Dean could sound so calm when she felt like she was going to throw up. Or faint. Or both, possibly at the same time.
“An even one, I’d say. Though your lawyer friend is definitely getting the better end of the deal with this gorgeous piece of ass. There’s an old pizza shop near Carroll Park that went out of business a couple months ago. Bring MaryAnn there, and I’ll let the blonde bitch go. Completely unharmed.”
“As much as I’d love to help, I don’t have anything to trade, I’m afraid. Have you tried the police?”
“You really think I would have called you if I didn’t know you had her? I bet she can hear me. MaryAnn, you know how much we love pizza, don’t you, baby? Meet me there or I’ll start sending your friend back to you one piece at a time. One hour, not a minute longer.”
Dean let loose a vicious string of swear words the second the call ended. “Fuck, fuck, fuck! I need to call the police.”
Still trapped in his unrelenting embrace, MaryAnn shook her head. “That won’t help.” Nate’s words were still echoing in her mind. There was something not quite right about what he’d said, but she couldn’t put her finger on it.
“The cops are our best bet. They’re trained for this, and I don’t have time to hunt down an extraction team. I’ll send them the address and then you and I are leaving.”
“Leaving? Why? Where are we going?” Panic tried to dig its claws in deeper, but she reminded herself he’d saidtheywere leaving and not just her. He wasn’t sending her away, he wasn't.
“I still have a few other safehouses scattered about. Even if Shannon doesn’t remember this address, she may know enough to get him close and I’m not letting that fucker anywhere near you.”
“She wouldn’t tell him.” Maybe they weren’t good friends, or really even friends at all, but she didn’t believe for a second Shannon would give her up.
“If he wants it badly enough, there’s no telling what he’ll do to get her to spill. We have to get out of here and get the cops on their way before that happens.”
All the blood seemed to rush from her head, leaving her feeling woozy. “You think he’s going to torture her. To get to me.”
“Shit.” Closing his eyes, Dean leaned forward, pressing his forehead to hers. “I’m sorry, babygirl, but it’s a real possibility. Which is why I need to get the cops to the location he gave usnow. You’ve got ten minutes to pack a bag.”
She wanted to argue, to tell him that calling the cops wasn’t going to do a damn bit of good when Nate had obviously been lying about his location, but it was clear he wasn’t going to listen, so she simply nodded. “Yes, Sir.”
“Good girl. Meet me in the hall but do not step foot outside without me. Understood?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Good. Go.”
Sliding off his lap, she raced for the stairs and up to her room, tossing as much as she could in the smaller duffel bag she’d brought with her, her mind racing as she tried to come up with some way to make Deanlisten.Swallowing hard against the panic threatening to overwhelm her, she scooped her toiletries into her bag and headed back down the stairs to wait in the hall. Dean’s bag was already there, which made her wonder if he had one packed and ready to go at all times. That was a thing people in his former line of work did, right?
But what really caught her attention was the shining silver of his car keys sitting on top of the bag. Before she could think long enough to question the absolute insanity of what she was doing, she snatched the keys up and rushed out the front door to the waiting SUV in the driveway. Fingers trembling, she tossed her bag in the passenger seat and pushed the button to start the engine.
She had no idea if there really was a pizza place near Carroll Park, but it didn’t matter. Because Nate wouldn’t be there.
