Page 43

Taken

Callum

Callum strolled into the inn grinning, the late afternoon sun dusting him with a warm glow outside that matched the one he felt inside.

He glanced around the tables to see if Rumi was still enjoying her meal, but didn’t see her.

The expression on her face when she’d tasted the rust beer the first time nearly made him chuckle.

She was probably a lightweight.

An excited energy had grown in his belly at the thought of sharing a room, an actual bed, with her.

Distantly, he wondered at what point on their journey he’d stopped seeing her as a criminal and begun to see the lovely woman she was.

He took the steps two at a time as he loped to the bedroom.

The door was unlocked.

“It’s probably best to lock the doors…”

He trailed off when he entered and found no one in the room.

The bed was still tidily made and the small pitcher of water on the vanity untouched.

She hadn’t even been in here.

His heart shuddered.

Where was she?

“Rumi?”

he whispered, sliding further into the room with some silly hope that maybe she was hiding under the bed or beneath the table.

Nothing.

“Rumi?”

He said it slightly louder, stepping back into the hall.

He scanned the room once more, this time paying closer attention to the shadows and chairs.

The curtains at the window.

Anything with shape or form that could be her.

Growing more frantic by the minute, his feet flew him back into the streets, still carrying the bundle of dresses under his arm.

Sweat gathered in beads on his brow as Callum searched the streets for a flash of those dark eyes or those long locks of hair.

“Rumi!”

He called, his feet shuffling on the sand as he chose a random direction and headed that way.

He snarled when strong hands gripped his arm and yanked him into an alleyway.

Instinctively, he thrust his elbow up, only for his attacker to block and return with a jab straight to his solar plexus.

Cal dropped the dresses to the sandy ground as his lungs spasmed.

“Did the sun rot your brains?”

Jameson hissed in his ear.

“You can’t just go calling out for her.

Sullivan has her.”

“Then I’m going after her,”

Cal gasped, rubbing his chest as he rose, gathering the dresses.

His brow knotted together.

He won’t have her for long.

“You can’t just go in, dick out, piercers firing.”

“Watch me,”

Cal snarled as he shouldered past his friend and stomped up the road toward the city center.

“Where are the prison holds?”

“Listen to me, Cal.

Sure, you’re an ace shot but—Cal! Stop being so fucking stubborn and just listen.”

Jameson stepped in front of Callum and shoved at his chest to push him back into the shadows.

Cal swiped at Jameson’s hands and whirled, throwing Jameson against a stucco wall.

Jameson’s head smacked hard and he stumbled to collect his footing.

“Do you not see what I‘ve done?!”

Cal’s chest ached with how badly he’d failed her.

His one job had been to protect her.

He seethed as shame spiraled within.

He turned and continued on.

“Godsdammit, Cal, will you fucking listen to me?”

Jameson leapt onto his back and closed his arms over Cal’s neck, locking his elbow right under Cal’s jaw, then spoke quietly but firmly in Cal’s ear.

“I have a plan, but I need you to put your cock back in your pants and think with your brain!”

Cal struggled to detach the smaller man, all while his vision started to blur.

Gods, Jameson was agile! Callum couldn’t shake him.

“Sullivan has your name and rank and listed you as a suspected traitor.

You’re not just gonna waltz in after her—you’ll end up in cuffs right there with her.

Then what, genius? Be smart, you fucking idiot.”

“Okay,”

Cal, nearly choked out, dropped to his knees, his sight going black.

Jameson eased up a bit and slid to the ground with him while Cal sucked in desperate breaths and coughed.

“We have an ally.

All we have to do is be there when he calls.

Can you do that?”

Jameson studied his face, looking ready to tackle him again if he said no.

“Fine.

Let’s go.”

“First, come with me.”

Jameson stepped back out onto the street and headed the way Cal had just come from, without waiting or looking back to see if Cal followed.