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But she didn’t want him to mention it.
Which meant they hadn’t, and she was worried they werelistening in.
Fuck. They couldn’t talk. Not about anything important. Hecouldn’t talk about the team, couldn’t assure her someone was coming. Why elsewould they be giving him a couple of hours with her if they weren’t watching?Weren’t listening to see if he would talk now that she was here.
“Are you okay?” He could ask that question even though heknew the answer.
Her head nodded slowly, her voice going low. “Yeah. Theydidn’t hurt me. Not yet, though there was a lot of talk in German. I got thegist. I think the boss isn’t here and they want him here for the interrogation.That’s why we have a couple of hours. They’re expecting him around 1500.”
He started to work the rope binding her wrists, easing themoff. Three p.m. “I don’t know what time it is now, Lou. I’ve been drugged acouple of times. I have no idea where we are.”
Or what they want from me. Or how to save you.
“I think it’s around noon,” she replied, her voice stilllow. “And I think we’re somewhere close to the Austrian border.”
He wasn’t sure how she would know that, but Lou wasridiculously smart so he would take her word for it. Not that it helped to knowwhere he was since he had no way out.
He felt utterly helpless. “I’m so sorry. I would giveanything to not have you here.”
A brief hurt flared across her face, and then her hands werefree and she scrambled to her feet. “Well, that shouldn’t surprise me. Havethey hurt you?”
“I didn’t mean it that way.”
She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter.”
“I meant I can’t stand the thought of you getting hurt.”
“Yes, that might have been mentioned a couple of timesbefore.” She frowned and then turned to the door, moving to it and pulling onthe handle.
“Baby, I’ve tried. I can’t open it.”
“What is going on?” Lou asked. There was anxiety to her tonethat hadn’t been there before. When she’d talked about what she’d learned fromtheir captors, she’d been cool and calm. Now there was panic in her eyes. “Iwas at home and this man came to the door. I tried to fight him.”
“Who else was there?” Lou lived with his cousins. As far asTJ knew, right now Dare was staying there, too, until he and Tasha moved out.
“I was alone. My roommates left for the week. They had sometime off and went to visit friends in Seattle.”
Roommates? Like he didn’t know who they were. And he didn’tknow of any friends in Seattle. And that didn’t explain where Tash and Darewere. It was weird, but she was probably in shock. “But someone will look foryou.”
She shook her head. “Not for days. My mom and dad are out oftown, too, and I took a couple of days off. No one will look for me untilWednesday when I’m supposed to be back at work.”
But she texted with her parents all the time. “Surely whenyour dad sends you some funny meme and you don’t reply, he’ll know something’swrong.”
“They have my phone. Like they have yours. I thought youwere holed up with a woman in a ski resort.”
He shook his head. “Everyone believed it?”
“What are they supposed to believe, TJ? It wouldn’t be thefirst time.”
He couldn’t believe they were talking about this now. Didshe not understand the danger they were in? But hey, he could throw down. Hewas kind of sick of always being reminded how he disappointed Lou. “Yeah, Ithink it would. It would definitely be the first time I blew you off for someother woman. Say what you like about me, but I always put you first, and I amhonest with every woman I’ve ever dated. And quite frankly, that’s not many,and not a single one has been serious. Certainly not as many as my cousins makeit out to be. And I definitely wouldn’t have missed my sister’s birthday. Wehad plans, Lou. When was the last time I skipped out on plans with you?”
“This is stupid. I don’t know why they thought I could makeyou do anything. From what I heard in the car, that’s what this is about. Whatdo they want from you?”
He hated how cold she seemed all of the sudden, but that waswhat happened when Lou got overwhelmed. She didn’t cry until after the crisis,and then only when she was alone or with him or Kala.
That was why a real scene could work for her. Not some demo,but a scene where he was completely focused on her. He could spank her and shecould cry and cry, and then he would hold her and all that anxiety would begone and he would have given her some peace.
He wouldn’t be around to give her any peace at all.
