Page 80 of Her Dom's Secret Past

Chapter Twenty-Four

John

“John! Fuck, John where are you?”

“Charlie?”

“Get here, Anabelle’s missing.”

“What?”

“She’s gone. She went out to buy some stuff and disappeared.”

“What do you mean disappeared? Start from the beginning.” I put my foot down as I headed toward the boutique. I was only about ten minutes away.

“She went out about nine-thirty. She was only supposed to be gone about twenty minutes. I got worried when she didn’t come back. I went up the road but there was no sign of her but … John, I found her mobile in the gutter.”

“Did you ring the police?”

“Yes.”

“I’m on my way.” I disconnected before Charlie had a chance to say anything else. All I could think of was that creep had taken my Anabelle. I drove like a maniac. If I got pulled over for speeding, I didn’t care as I finally screeched to a halt opposite the salon in a “no parking” zone—they could book me for all I cared. I raced across the road. There was a police car out the front.

When I raced inside, Charlie was talking frantically to one of the officers and I went to their side. They eyeballed me up and down.

Charlie gasped. “Thank goodness you’re here, John.”

“And you would be?” one of the officer asked.

“Anabelle’s partner. Have you found her? Where’s that prick, Ed?”

“Ed? Ed Baines?”

I nodded. “Yes, that prick. He’s been following her.”

“No, he isn’t. Miss Rowley rang us on Saturday and we checked.”

“I know she rang, I told her to.”

“Well, Mr. Baines broke his leg rather badly two weeks ago. He was operated on and is in plaster, living in Wollongong.”

Stunned, I could only stare at the man. Shit, if it wasn’t Baines following her, who the fuck was it? The policemen’s glances at me were rather hostile. The two officers had pulled Charlie well away from where I stood and were now questioning him. When I went to go to them, one held out his hand and one told me to either leave or wait at the other side of the room. No way was I going to be left out of this. I pulled out my phone and made a quick call to my old handler.

I had no idea what time it was in the UK, and to be honest, I didn’t give a fuck if I’d gotten him out of bed. I quickly briefed him and hung up after asking if he could at least let the officers keep me informed of what was happening.

I had no choice but to cool my heels. Until I knew exactly what happened, I couldn’t do anything. I’d been positive it was Baines and now I began to wonder if my past was coming back to haunt me. Ten minutes must have passed when one of the cop’s phone rang. He answered and obviously didn’t like what he was hearing. He kept scowling at me and then he hung up. I walked over.

“I’ve been told to allow you full knowledge of what’s happened.”

“Thank you.”

He flipped through his notebook and read to me. “Miss Rowley was last seen walking back from her shopping at ten when a man grabbed her and threw her into a car, a dark sedan driven by second man. The witness was hesitant to ring us, but when Mr.Lytoncontacted the police, we asked around and he told us what he saw. He said the assailant was dressed in dark clothing, solid build, reddish hair, and he had a large very noticeable scar across his face.”

I gasped.

“Miss Rowley dropped her shopping bag and the witness picked it up. It was handed in to us when we interviewed him. Mr.Lytonalso found her mobile in the gutter. That’s all we know at the moment. We’re treating it as a kidnapping. Miss Rowley owns the salon and my guess is someone needs money.”

My heart was in my mouth. I knew immediately who they were talking about—Arthur Riley. That scar? Well, that was a gift from me. He was the brother of the man who’d tried to kill me and who I’d killed. He was one of his most trusted henchmen. Obviously someone knew I hadn’t died, but how the hell did they know I was in Australia. I ignored the two officers, stepped out of their earshot, and hit re-dial.