Page 8 of Claimed

“No.” I shake my head. “No one.”

He taps the point of the pen on the pad, deep in thought. “Take us through everything you did after Ellen dropped you off.”

I close my eyes and take a deep breath, going through everything in my mind.

“We talked for a while. I was going on and on about how much I loved the dress she got me. After she left, I went to my room…then the bathroom. No…I went to the kitchen and got a bottle of water. I drank maybe half, left the bottle in my room andthengot in the shower.”

Slowly, I re-trace my steps, hoping to remember anything that would help. But for the life of me, nothing’s coming back. “That’s it.”

“The water…did it taste funny to you?”

“No, not really. Wait…do you think that’s how I was drugged?”

“Could be.” He nods to his partner, who acknowledges him with a nod of his own, then leaves the room.

“Oh, God. That means –”

“He was already there,” Gage says, squeezing my fingers.

“Exactly,” Renley agrees. “Do you remember anything…anything that could help us find him?”

“No. I didn’t see him. The last thing I remember is getting into the shower.”

“Didn’t you find any prints? DNA?” Gage asks.

“We’re working on the prints we lifted from the house, but so far, nothing. Whoever did this was very careful.”

I can’t remember shit, and they can’t find shit. They’re never going to catch this guy. He’s going to be out there…watching, waiting. What if he thinks I remember him? He’ll come back and finish the job.Oh, God. I can’t breathe.

“I got you, doll. I won’t let him near you. I’ll find him if it’s the last thing I do.”

***Gage***

I watch Renley leave as Raven clutches to me. Her nails are digging into my back, but I feel nothing. My thoughts are consumed with what I’m going to do to this fucker when I find him. I’m going to come up with something special just for him. I am going to put him through so much pain, he’s going to wish he was never born let alone put his hands on my woman.

“Gage...who would do this?”

“I don’t know. But I’ll find him. I promise I’ll find him.”

“Uh, Raven,” Santini interjects. “If you want to do this some other time, I can call your mother back –”

“No. I want to get this over with.”

“Of course. I’ll come back once she’s arrived.”

“Thank you.”

I give him my number and tell him to call when they’re on the way. He programs it into his phone, nods at me, and then leaves. Raven settles back into her pillows and stares up at me.

“How are you going to find him?” she asks.

“I’ve got all the guys chasing down information. If there’s anyone who knows something, we’ll find them.”

“And then what?”

“Let me worry about that,” I say as I stroke her hair. She nods, accepting my words without argument. Yawning, she moves over and taps the bed for me to get in. As I climb in carefully, I watch her fight to keep her eyes open. “Tired?”

She doesn’t even answer. She’s out like a light by the time her head hits my chest. I stare up at the ceiling, my mind going in a million directions. I need to put a list of suspects together. Shit. It could be anybody with a grudge against me. It’s going be a long fucking list. I better talk to Tek, make sure Glenn really is out of town. It could be the guys from The Muscle. Maybe I didn’t get all of them. Then there were those scum bags from the Snakes.