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“I’m glad you could make it,” Serge said in his deep voice, so reminiscent of Nico Lacey almost did a double take.“Now, let’s get business out of the way first.Throw your gun over there.”He lifted his chin and indicated she throw it on the edge of the driveway opposite him.That stopped her for a second.This man was no dummy.But he couldn’t know for sure she was carrying, it was just a guess.Could she bluff her way through?As she hesitated, Serge added quietly, but with enough menace to make Lacey know he was serious, “I know you’re armed, so don’t try to deceive me.No cop worth their salt would put themselves in this situation without arming themselves.Do it now, or I will follow through with my promise.”His eyes tracked down to Taylor, and Lacey knew he meant that he’d kill her.And he’d do it without remorse, the same way he’d killed those other women.
Holding one hand in the air, she reached slowly around her back to take her gun out of her waistband, her mind still turning scenarios over frantically in her head.Could she risk taking a shot, try to wing him without harming Taylor?Like she’d done up in the mountains when she’d taken down Sandra Brown?
But Serge was too smart for that, he was using Taylor as a shield, tucking himself behind her, the gun still jammed tight up into her ribs.It was too chancy for her to even try, and so she threw the weapon on the ground where he’d indicated with a grimace of displeasure.
“Good,” Serge said, a feral smile lighting up his face.The next thing Lacey knew, he’d released Taylor, sent her stumbling down the driveway with a little push to the back.“Get out of here, girl,” he commanded.
“What?”Taylor stopped, staring at Lacey, confusion and hope warring in her features.
“You’re free to go,” Serge growled.“Now scram, before I change my mind.”Serge had then pointed his gun at Lacey, putting paid to any ideas of her trying to escape.But Lacey had no intention of running.She’d come here with one aim, and that was to see Taylor set free.
“Go,” she said, shooing Taylor with her hands, willing the girl to get moving.
Taylor turned away, but then turned back again.“But what about you?”she asked, the tears coming again, her sobs resuming.
“I’ll be fine,” Lacey encouraged.“He promised he wouldn’t hurt me.Besides, I’m a cop, I can look after myself.”She cast a sidelong glance at Serge, but his face remained impassive.“Now go,” she said more urgently.
Taylor turned slowly, uncertainty in her blue eyes.But then she saw the open driveway and the street beyond and began to run toward freedom.Lacey watched as Taylor jogged around a large bush at the edge of the property and disappeared out of sight.
Lacey let out a sigh.Thank God.At least if everything else went to shit, Taylor was now safe.
“Inside,” Serge commanded, the gun remained trained on her, but he waved her in the direction of the house behind him with his other hand.She couldn’t see any other option, so she did as she was told, walking silently up the stairs of the little cottage, Serge close behind, stopping to pick up her gun as they went.The front door was slightly ajar, and she let herself in.She heard Serge lock the door behind her, and her heart sank.What had she been thinking?Being locked in this house with a madman?
And that’s how she found herself backed up into a corner of the living room, staring Serge down.The room was empty, lit with one bare bulb in the ceiling, and Lacey guessed he was renting this cottage.Short-term and tourist rentals were usually furnished with everything a visitor might need.But it was rare to find a furnished long-term rental in this area, and perhaps that was the way Serge wanted it.She’d glimpsed a black bag and a folded camp bed in a room off to the left as she entered; Serge’s bedroom, perhaps.His military background clearly evident in the spartan but spotless house.But he was packed up, as if getting ready to move on.
“Put your hands behind your back and turn around,” Serge commanded.
Oh, no, she wasn’t going to put herself in any more of a vulnerable position, not if she could help it.She needed her hands and feet free if she were to have a hope of overpowering him.
“You told me you just wanted to talk.That you wouldn’t hurt me,” she said, edging farther away.
“And that is true,” he replied, lowering the gun, and fishing around in his shirt pocket for something.“But you don’t honestly think I’d be stupid enough to stay here where that girl can lead the cops straight back to me, do you?I’m moving you to another location, where we can talk in peace.”
“About what?What’s so important that you couldn’t ask me over the phone?”she hedged.The last thing she needed was for Serge to move them around; it’d make it so much harder for Nico to track her.Stall for more time.That’s what she needed to do.Time enough for her team to come and find her.
Serge just gave a gentle laugh.“Everything is so black and white with you.Is Nico the same?Or does he see the gray mixed in between?Not everything is so cut and dried, you know.”
She wanted to say,Yes it was, especially when she was the one putting her life on the line.And she also wanted to shout that Nico was a cop, so of course he saw things in black and white, good and evil, but she didn’t want to give Serge anything.He didn’t deserve to know even that much about Nico.This man had forfeited any parental rights long ago.
“Come on now, we don’t have much time.I’ve got a car parked up in the garage, we need to get out of here.”
Lacey shook her head, feeling her way along the wall, getting as far away from him as she could.But even as she did, she was judging distances, measuring his height, working out how many ways she could take him down.The gun was held loosely in his right hand but pointed at the floor, and his left hand was still prying something loose from his shirt.
“Come on now, Lacey,” he said reproachfully.“Don’t get all coy on me now.We can do this one of two ways,” he added blandly.“If you want to fight me, I can drug you and then do as I wish with you.”He held up a large syringe that he’d plucked from his pocket.“Or you can agree to come quietly and I won’t have to use this.”He waved the syringe in the air.
Lacey glared daggers at him, but her first thought was for the baby.Any kind of drugs could be harmful to the fetus, and she would fight him tooth and nail before she let him get anywhere near her with that thing.Taylor had been drugged with a cocktail of ketamine and GHB, both commonly used date-rape drugs.And Lacey guessed it was the same brew Serge wanted to pump into her.
“I know all about your judo prowess, young lady.You have quite the ability, but I’m not going to give you a chance to use your hands as weapons on me.”Serge cocked a dark eyebrow in her direction.
Shit.How did he know all that about her?Had he perhaps been watching her and Nico for months?Following them, studying them, finding out their every move, their likes and dislikes?They already knew Serge was meticulous and calculating, so learning that he’d researched her and Nico shouldn’t come as any surprise.But one thing he couldn’t know was that she was pregnant.And she needed to keep that knowledge from him at all costs.
“Fine.I’ll come with you,” she finally agreed.
“Good girl.Put your hands behind your back and turn around.”
She did as she was told and felt the hard rasp of plastic ties wrap around her wrist.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
