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When I didn’t hear anything for a few seconds, I walked closer to the door. One of the old-fashioned peepholes was located at eye level. The condominium wasn’t brand new and right now, I was grateful for that. I could see two individuals. When one of them pounded again, I bit back a yelp.
“Ms. Baxter. Open up. It’s the police.”
The police? I took a purposeful step away from the door, still shaking since Sadie was growling. I was no fool. If they were thepolice, I needed to see their identification. “Please hold your ID up to the peephole.”
For a second, I was certain they were going to break down the door. When one of the two held it up close enough that I could make it out, I exhaled. “It’s okay, Sadie.” While I unlocked the door, I opened it tentatively, prepared to slam it if necessary.
They were both uniformed officers, the same one still holding up his identification. I glanced at it again before backing up, folding my arms. I still had my hand wrapped around the leash and Sadie continued to growl.
“What can I do for you?” I heard the demanding tone in my voice and didn’t care.
“I’m afraid we need to ask you to come down to the station with us.”
My heart started to race. “Why?”
“We need to ask you a few questions. It won’t take long. We’ll bring you back.”
“Why can’t you do it here?”
One officer looked at the other. “Because the detectives in charge of the case are handling asking all the questions.”
While I’d never been arrested before or had any actual dealings with members of law enforcement, I was pretty certain if the detectives in charge of the ridiculous case against Francois wanted to talk to someone, they’d come to them. “I don’t think so. In fact, I think you need to leave. If this is legitimate, then I’ll have my attorney get in touch with the detectives in charge. What were their names anyway?”
I’d pumped Francois full of questions, including who the hell the two detectives were since I believed they’d hassled him unnecessarily.
“Robertson and Bellows.”
Wrong. “Okay. Fine. Let me grab my phone and purse.” I turned around, heading for the kitchen to grab one of the knives.
“I’m afraid we can’t allow you to do that.”
A moment of terror swept through me when one of the two was on me in a hot second. I managed to get off a single scream, punching him in the gut. When I broke free, I rushed into the kitchen, tossing the wine bottle at him, watching as it missed entirely, smashing against the wall.
I yelped again before the asshole lunged toward me, jerking me against him, his arm wrapped around my throat.
Wheezing, I struggled to get out of his hold, watching in horror as he kicked Sadie in the stomach, her poor little body pitched several feet away.
“I’d hoped to make this easy, but I can tell you’re going to be difficult. So be it.”
When I felt a tiny prick, I whimpered. “Sadie. Sadie… You hurt… the… baby… Don’t…” As shadows crowded in on the periphery of my vision, I fought with everything I had to stay awake, but it wasn’t happening. Oh, God. “Fran-cois…”
And as I faded away, I could still see his handsome face smiling at me.
CHAPTER 27
Francois
“If you do this kind of shit to my client again, you will have a lawsuit on your hands. Do you hear what I’m telling you?”
Sante was livid, more so than I’d seen him to date. So was I. I grabbed my watch and wallet, giving the attendant a glare when he wasn’t forthcoming with returning my weapon. When he finally slid it across the counter, he took a deep breath. “I have a permit.”
“Give that to me. Don’t give these bastards any excuse,” Sante snarled, holding out his hand.
I did so for now. “What about my soldiers? And where the hell is Rocco?” When another door opened and Rocco was the first one out, I hissed. “What the fuck is going on?”
“I didn’t have a chance to tell you. They made a clean sweep. Every single one of your men was rounded up.”
That meant Delaney had been alone at the condo for hours. Jesus Christ. I glanced at my watch, noticing it was after ten. This wasn’t good at all. “Get me the fuck out of here.”
