AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Lucy,” Sam breathed, his vision blurring and turning red around the edges. “Where is she? If you hurt so much as a hair on her head, I swear I won’t rest until I find you and rip you apart with my bare hands.”
“Oh, don’t get lathered up,” Malachi said. “I mean, I do have her, and I won’t hesitate to kill her if I have to, but it doesn’t have to go down like that. Right now, Lucy is alive and well. How the hell else would I use her to get you to do what I want?”
Jesus, this guy had lost his mind. “I thought you wanted to blow up a library to start a fire,” Sam said, his thoughts racing so fast, they were crashing into each other like bumper cars.
Malachi laughed. “Oh, right. The library. Great plan, if I do say so myself. After all, I was getting really good at calling in false alarms, don’t you think?”
Wait…“Youcalled in all those fake incidents last night?”
“Look at you, figuring shit out. All that work with arson investigation is paying off. Yes, I called them in, just like I called in the bomb threat at the library. Of course, thereisno bomb.” He paused. “Not that I’m above them, but what I have in mind is so much better.”
Oh, God. No, no, no. “The whole thing is a distraction,” Sam breathed.
“You really are starting to get the hang of this,” Malachi said. “Anyway, enough small talk. It’s time for you to pay for ruining my plans. The question is, whose life will cover the debt? Yours, or Lucy’s?”
All the air left Sam’s lungs. “It’s my fault the warehouse didn’t burn,” he managed. “I’m the one who went in. If you’re going to make someone pay, let it be me. Just don’t hurt Lucy.”
“Aw, how sweet. Have it your way, then,” Malachi said. “You’re going to meet me and Lucy at the warehouse in thirty minutes and we’re going to make a little trade. You for her.”
“Fine,” Sam said, not even thinking twice. “Done.”
But Malachi tsked. “I’m not finished. You’re going to come alone. You’re going to leave your cell phone right there in your apartment so I can track it. Yes, there are apps for that, and no, you don’t want to call my bluff. If you text anyone, I will know. If you call anyone, I will know. If you so much as send a carrier pigeon to anyone, especially in the Intelligence Unit, I will know.” Malachi’s voice dropped. “And if you don’t show up at the warehouse in thirty minutes completely alone, I will call you back and make sure you watch as I douse Lucy in gasoline and set her on fire. Understood?”
All the blood drained from Sam’s face, and it took stamina he did not possess to stay calm. “That’s not going to be necessary. I’ll be there. But, please, I need to know she’s okay first.”
Malachi paused for a second that lasted a year. “Fine.” A minute later, Sam’s phone buzzed with an incoming photo, and there was no name for the feeling that took over his chest at the image of Lucy, bound and gagged but also conscious and alert, that filled his phone screen.
“Thirty minutes,” Malachi said. “Oh, and Sam? I’d hurry if I were you. As of right now, the clock is ticking, and as I’m sure you know, burn victims can remain conscious for quite some time while the fire eats them alive.”
With that, Sam dropped his phone and ran for the door.
* * *
Lucy’s headfelt like someone with a triple-digit handicap had used it to play the back nine. She’d woken about ten minutes ago to find her hands bound behind her with what felt like duct tape, and a bandana—clean, thankfully—tied around the back of her head to keep her gagged. It had taken her a few minutes to remember what had happened, then another few to figure out where she was. But the overwhelming smell of smoke and ash, coupled with the way she and Sam had scoured every part of this warehouse, looking for clues, had made it pretty easy for her to realize she was in the warehouse that Malachi had tried to burn down, surrounded by fresh piles of gasoline-soaked tinder. Lucy had listened carefully to Malachi’s phone conversation, quickly realizing even though she could only hear one side of things that he’d been talking to Sam.
Her pulse had kicked faster as she’d pieced together what Malachi had done, making all those false alarm calls so she’d be tired to the point of distraction, then faster still when he’d snapped a proof-of-life photograph of her to send to Sam. She’d wanted to scream at Sam not to come—she didn’t want him anywhere near Malachi—but the gag had prevented her from making a sound. He hadn’t blindfolded her, though, so Lucy used the one weapon to which she had access, scanning every inch of the dingy, smoke-stained room she was in and memorizing the layout. Malachi had (smartly) chosen a room with only one window. It let in enough daylight to see, but—damn it!—it was set in a narrow strip about fifteen feet off the ground. Although Lucy would fit through it, she had no way of getting to it, let alone ensuring she’d survive the drop to the ground on the other side. She’d been unconscious when Malachi had brought her into the warehouse, so she didn’t have enough of her bearings to feel confident about making a run for it. There were too many dead-ends, and with a groggy head on top of it? Her odds of making it out weren’t great.
“If you’re thinking about making a run for it, I wouldn’t,” Malachi said, walking over to the spot where she sat but stopping with just enough space between them to keep himself out of reach. Lucy’s stomach dropped when she saw the taser in his hand, then dropped again as she realized that must have been how he’d subdued her behind her apartment building.
“I’d hate to have to use this on you again. I mean, you’re healthy and all, but you did hit your head pretty hard on the sidewalk when I tased you the first time. Plus, there’s always a risk that your heart will stop from multiple shots. I guess it’s up to you.”
She sat still for a few seconds—he’d fuckingtasedher—until he said, “I can’t take your gag off. It’s pretty remote all the way out here, as you know, but I still can’t take any risks. So our little conversation is going to be a bit one-sided.”
Lucy glared at him to give him an idea of the two words she’d use if she could, and Malachi laughed. “I knew you’d put up a fight if I let you, just like I knew Sam would come running as soon as he realized you were in danger. You’re both so fucking predictable. It’s going to end up costing you. See, I need you both for my plan to work,” he said, a smile uncoiling on his lips when her eyes went wide.Oh, God.“But I knew I couldn’t take you both at the same time. And since Sam is so protective of you—very touching, the way you two hung on to each other when I burned your SUV down, by the way—I knew he wouldn’t think twice if I told him I was going to hurt you. He’d come here to save you, all on his own. But, see, the best way to hurt Samisto hurt you, Lucy. You are the means to the end.”
Malachi gestured to the tinder he’d placed in a wide circle around her, the smell of gasoline strong enough to let her know it would only take one spark to ignite the whole thing, trapping her inside, and Lucy’s heart and head both slammed so hard, she grew dizzy.
He wasn’t going to trade her for Sam at all. Malachi had used her as bait. He’d known that Sam would do whatever he had to, without thought, to save her life.
And as soon as he got here, Malachi was going to kill them both.
30
Twenty-six minutes after he’d left his condo, Sam pulled up in front of the warehouse and scrambled out of the Jeep. Adrenaline pulsed through his body, making his breath shake and his footsteps sloppier than he liked, but he didn’t have time to think. He needed to find Lucy, and he needed to find hernow.
Hang on, baby. Just hang on and trust me.
Sam raced more than halfway to the warehouse’s front door before he realized it was still chained shut. He considered banging on it and yelling until Malachi let him in, but he couldn’t risk pissing the guy off any further. At least, not until he had Lucy back. Running around to the back door, Sam took a split-second survey of his surroundings, swinging to take in both doors that Dempsey had breached during the fire and any windows that would give Malachi a lookout point. Sam didn’t see the guy, but the RFD caution tape that had cordoned off the door closest to Sam had been cut, the chain that had kept people out now lying in a heap on the threshold, and Sam kicked it aside to yank the door open.
