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He lifted his hand and knocked, his pulse racing. He didn’t expect anyone to answer, because why would a criminal who’d just kidnapped a woman come to the door?
No one did come, and Ted wasn’t sure what to do. This was a big place, and maybe no one had heard his knock. He looked for and found a doorbell, not a moment’s of hesitation before he reached for it.
He could hear it peal through the whole house, and he waited, his heart knocking against his ribcage. Leaning closer, he could hear a man’s voice, then footsteps coming closer, and Ted pulled away just as the door opened.
Robert Knight stood there, and though Ted had never met him face-to-face, his was a face Ted knew well. He’d looked at it in enough files to have it memorized, even if he didn’t have an affinity for remembering every face he saw.
A growl filled the man’s expression, and he asked, “What do you want? This is private property.” He leaned into the doorway, not letting Ted see past him at all, the door only open a couple of feet at most.
Ted would not put his hands on another human being, though his fingers fisted as he stared into the other man’s dark eyes.
He forced a chuckle from his mouth. “My truck ran out of gas. I managed to push it down here, and I was wondering if you could give me a ride back to town.” He kept the smile on his face and hooked his thumb over his shoulder to the ratty pickup truck.
Robert narrowed his eyes, never looking away from Ted. “Don’t you have a phone?”
Ted’s smile slipped, his phone in his pocket suddenly very heavy. “It died,” he said, his throat so dry. Robert wasn’t going to let him in the house, and if he had Emma here, he wasn’t going to drive him back to town.
The two men stood there, staring at one another, and Ted’s fear multiplied. He was bigger than Robert—slightly, but definitely taller, with more bulk in his muscles thanks to the time he’d had to work out over the past six years in prison.
Robert seemed to know Ted was lying, and he finally said, “I can’t help you,” and started to close the door.
Ted stuck his boot out and stopped the movement. “Where’s Emma?” he demanded.
Robert’s eyes widened, and Ted pushed against the door, sending the other man backward into the house. Ted took a step inside, then another, trying to assess the situation, where entrances and exits were, furniture he could put between him and Robert, all of it.
“Emma,” he called. “It’s Ted. Where are you?”
“Get out of my house,” Robert said. “There’s no Emma here.”
“Emma,” Ted called again, his stomach tight but the fight strong in him. He wasn’t just going to walk away from her. She’d been nervous on the phone, and Ted wanted to protect her with everything inside him.
A scream came from somewhere in the house, and Ted’s gaze flew to Robert’s. Neither of them moved, and the thumping bass from the music in the basement was the only sound.
Ted took a step, and Robert darted toward him. He latched onto Ted’s arm with one hand and lifted a piece of art with the other. A very pointed, very heavy piece of glass sculpture.
“Go,” he hissed, and Ted let Robert push him through the front room and into the back of the cabin, where an expansive living room stretched to the right, with the dining room and kitchen to the left.
Emma sat in a recliner, and it took Ted a moment to see she’d been handcuffed to the nearby TV cabinet. Tears streamed down her face, and Ted’s heart wept with her.
He knew in that moment that he could easily fall in love with her. He’d been sliding that way already, and his strong desire to protect her, keep her safe, and learn everything about her only intensified.
“Let me go,” he said, ripping his arm away from Robert. He rounded the couch and went to Emma. “Hey. I got your call.”
“You shouldn’t have come,” she said, her voice so high. “I shouldn’t have called.”
“You called him?” Robert asked, his presence coming up behind Ted. All of the rage was directed at Emma, though, and Ted’s gaze flickered to the TV cabinet. He needed to get her unhooked from that thing.
He rose silently and turned toward Robert. “You need to let her go. I’ve already called the cops.”
Robert searched his face, and Ted had learned a thing or two about hiding his emotions from his time in prison. He covered everything with the stone mask that had served him well in the dormitory and cafeteria as he glared right back at Robert.
“Now,” he added.
“Are you her boyfriend?”
“That’s right,” Ted said, his voice utterly even.
“Ted,” Emma said behind him.
“Does he know?” Robert asked, leaning around Ted and shooting a dark look at Emma. He zeroed in on Ted again. “Do you know she has a ten-year-old daughter?Myten-year-old daughter? She’s been hiding her in San Antonio.”
Shock filled Ted, though he’d known something had been hidden in Emma’s past.
“Robert,” Emma said, her voice sharp.
Ted found himself turning toward Emma, and she looked back at the two men standing in front of her. Time stood still while everything streamed through Ted’s mind. So much seemed to be there, and then with a snap of his fingers, it all disappeared.
“I don’t care,” Ted said. “I didn’t know, but I don’t care.” He crouched down in front of Emma and reached up to wipe her tears. “I don’t care, Emma. It doesn’t matter.”
“Oh, it matters,” Robert said, and he grabbed Ted’s arm again, this time deftly handcuffing him to the handle on the sliding glass door.
