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CHAPTER FIFTEEN

N ina had been abducted by a rogue cop.

When Weatherby had told her to be ready for her entire life to change, Nina hadn’t suspected this . This man and the woman who’d handed him the car keys were either raving mad or had an ulterior motive. And interrogating her outside the confines of the law could only mean that their plan didn’t fall under the ‘legal’ category.

Pictures of being water-boarded, sleep deprived and starved came to mind. Would they torture her to get the answers they needed? Did she have the answers they wanted?

She cast a side glance at PC Robert Muller.

His forehead was crinkled, his eyes focused on the road. And those big hands held the steering wheel with such force, she wondered if he’d snap it off.

Robert’s large frame appeared almost compressed in the confines of the van. If anything, driving this van could be torture for him. His shoulder brushed Nina’s side, and his elbow kept smacking against the driver’s door. And yet he hadn’t said a word to her. If she thought about it, he hadn’t bound and gagged her either, so it wasn’t a proper abduction.

‘Where are we going?’

No response. He just pressed down on the accelerator a tad harder.

Nina turned her attention to the road. They were still in Glasgow, halting at a red light now, and headed towards the River Clyde.

On their left was Glasgow Green. In the November darkness, the park sat silent, streetlights illuminating the empty paths.

The traffic light changed, and Robert hit the accelerator again. They zoomed passed a group of lads waiting to cross then raced over the bridge that connected the city centre with Glasgow’s Gorbals. Nina admired the Clyde snaking underneath – this was one of her favourite views in the city – then sat back in her seat.

‘Where are we going?’ she asked again.

She had lived in the Southside of Glasgow before and enjoyed the vibrant area – new restaurants, shops, another large park, fun events. But Robert didn’t head south; instead, he swerved the van back up to cross the Clyde.

They headed into the city centre once more.

Nina shot Robert a ‘really?’ glance. His expression nor his discomfort had changed.

She cleared her throat. ‘Robert, what are we doing?’

They once again passed Glasgow Green, the courts and then climbed up the slight incline on the High Street. Once a shopping area, Glasgow’s High Street was now like any other street. A few shops carried out their business, the pub was busy with some sort of dress-up party, then there was the student accommodation, and…

Ingram Street. Nina’s heart jumped in her chest. She’d moved to a flat on Ingram Street from her previous residence. And then she’d jumped from this place to hotels in this area.

Her grip on the backpack at her feet tightened. Did he know her address? Had he found something in her flat?

Robert indicated left once again and entered a car park right in front of one of Glasgow’s popular murals. Nina studied the mural, alive with various animals, and then the legs of a giant wearing a kilt, plucking mushrooms.

Usually, you always found tourists snapping pictures underneath the man’s legs. But now night had swallowed the various animals, leaves and mushrooms painted on the wall.

Robert backed the car into a parking spot, so they sat staring at the work of art. Then he cut the engine and silence engulfed them. ‘I wanted to ensure we weren’t being followed.’

Nina blinked. ‘By your colleagues?’ She used that word deliberately. Could it be that Robert was working for the bad guys? A double agent of some sort?

Robert scoffed and muttered, ‘Colleagues,’ before draping his arm over the steering wheel and letting his head hit the seat rest. ‘No, by the friends of the man who just tried separating your head from the rest of your body.’

He faced her then, pinning her to the spot with his glare. ‘Nina Banerjee. You’ve upset some desperate people, haven’t you?’

‘I-I…’

He waved her off. ‘Let’s go.’

Nina opened her mouth to argue, to say she was heading away and while she appreciated him getting her out of the soup with the other police constable, she had to stay nimble. But the man was already out and shutting the door.

He stretched, and the jacket and T-shirt he wore rode up. The streetlight contoured his toned abs and gleamed over the happy trail heading down towards—Robert dropped his arms, and the jacket flopped around his waist again.

She cursed herself. This man was dangerous – to her safety and to her sanity.

Gripping her backpack, Nina slid out of the van. ‘You know, I can head out from here. I don’t want to be a burden.’

She knew it was a long shot. No one abducted you from the police, then let you go. He had an agenda.

Robert rounded the car, prowling over to where she was.

I’m his prey.

Again, his torso with that wide chest came into view?—

His fingers reached up and gripped the strap of her backpack, just where it sat digging into the soft flesh above her breasts. Her gasp rose unbidden at his touch, and her back straightened, knocking her chest against his wrist. Nina’s eyes rose and clashed with his.

Blazing hot fire. That had to be what she was seeing. Those green eyes of his shone with a dark glint – like black marble under the sun.

Her jaw dropped. She tried stitching words together, then he took a step closer, so close now she had to tip her chin up to even see him.

‘Let me hold that for you, Nina.’

His breath whispered across her face, his words a caress.

Undeterred by her heaving chest, he gripped the bag’s strap tighter and tugged.

Heavy as it was and as unbalanced as Nina felt, she lurched ahead with the momentum, tumbling straight into Robert’s chest. ‘Rob!’

Her shout sounded muffled; her face was planted in his jacket, and the scent of his cologne spread its hold over Nina’s body, flirting with her starved need for human connection.

She made to push away, to fight for her equilibrium. She reached up to grip his chest and steady herself when the backpack slipped off her back and landed on the ground… Then his arms came around her.

He held her so tight, her hands were trapped against his chest, her front flush against his. They stood there, her clutching him, melded as one… squashed together until she felt him – all of him. Did the man have any fat, or was he a wall of muscle? Unless he wore some kind of armour, that was his actual body.

Nina tipped her head up and caught him watching her. ‘L-Let me go.’

He fastened his arms around her, squishing her not-been-to-the-gym-in-ages body harder against his.

‘You are a puzzle.’ His face was so close, his breath played over her forehead. ‘Does it hurt?’

Finding herself flush against the man who kidnapped her, her lady parts screaming at her to gyrate her hips so she ended up looking like a wanton teenager? That did hurt on so many levels. But surely that wasn’t what he was asking.

Nina didn’t respond, just standing there, mouth still agape.

Robert shook his head. ‘We’ll get you in and clean you up.’

Clean her up? Her mind flashed an image of a shower, the mirror steamed and them, him?—

He let go of her, and the cold surged in, leaving her shivering. Robert’s hands gripped her wrist, turning her so he could bend and fetch her backpack. Then he intertwined their hands and tugged her towards the pavement. ‘It’s past dinner time now.’

She stumbled, but he didn’t stop, urging her forward like an impatient master would his dog. And much to Nina’s horror, she followed.

Oh God! What the hell was she doing? She could be attracted to a man and not act on it. She could be around him without tripping over herself to follow his bidding.

When they approached a building – the same building she’d lived in – and he used a key to get them in, Nina swallowed. He knew. There was no point in asking him how or why. If he’d been the leaflet guy, this was some elaborate ruse he’d planned with Finn. And Finn knew her address, a consequence of using his excellent forged IDs.

The narrow foyer led them to a lift. Robert marched them into the carriage, then pressed the button for the second floor.

In under two minutes, he’d led them to a door and entered the apartment. Nina sighed. When she’d walked away from here, she had never expected to return. At least not this soon into the game.

Nina walked in and heard Robert click all the locks in place behind her. She blinked at the sofa, the centre table, the desk pushed against the space between the two windows with her desktop on it. Someone had even cleaned up the mess she’d left behind.

Robert’s footsteps echoed on the wooden floors. He came to a stop right behind her. ‘It is threadbare, but I guess it works for what I have in mind.’