Page 36 of Dangerous Affair (The Phoenix Three #2)

So far, no one had tried to call her, so her phone hadn’t chimed.

That was a relief, but how long was that going to last?

She’d talked to her father last night, so he wouldn’t call.

Liam hadn’t called either, which was something of a surprise.

Although, Liam was smart, and maybe he’d realized it was better not to.

“I need to stop for gas,” Deputy Dog said as he exited the highway. “You try anything, you call out to anyone, I’ll shoot you on the spot.” He lifted the hem of his T-shirt to show her the gun in a holster strapped to his belt. “Then I’ll shoot whoever you try to get help from. Understood?”

“Yes.” He knew exactly what threat to use to keep her from trying to escape.

After he was out of the car, she managed to reach her purse and pull it behind her back.

After a bit of fumbling, her fingers grasped her phone, and she felt around until she found the button to silence it.

Instead of putting it back in her purse, she pushed it under the waistband of her jeans. Hopefully, no one would frisk her.

When they were back on the road, she tried again to find out where they were going. “I’m thirsty and have to go to the bathroom. How much longer before we get wherever we’re going?”

“We’ll get there when we get there.”

“And there is where?” He ignored her. Jerk.

She was bored, her shoulders hurt, and her arms felt like a thousand needles were poking them.

She was also scared. Why had she been kidnapped?

Deputy Dog hadn’t once asked about the thumb drive.

Wasn’t that what he, or whoever was involved in this, wanted?

What were they going to do with her? Maybe she didn’t want to know the answer to that question.

“There’s the exit for Hope Corner.” She frowned when he drove right past it.

She guessed they drove for another hour, and she was seeing mileage signs for Washington. “Are we going to DC?” Again, nothing. He was making her mad. If the capital was their destination, were they going to see Senator Hanson? She couldn’t think of any other reason to go to DC.

He exited the highway some miles later. Before long, the four-lane road turned into a two-lane, and they were out in the country.

The area was beautiful with big, sprawling homes on one- and two-acre lots.

People with money lived out here, and that made her think she’d be meeting the senator soon.

She didn’t want to. Without ever having laid eyes on him, she had the sense he was a man she should be afraid of.

Deputy Dog pulled over to the side of the road.

He reached into the console compartment and pulled out a sleeping mask and put it on her, covering her eyes.

The car started moving, and she tried to ignore the panic rising up.

Not being able to see, combined with her hands cuffed behind her back, made her feel like a caged animal.

She focused on her breathing in an effort to calm her nerves. It didn’t work.

After what seemed an eternity, but was probably twenty or thirty minutes, the car came to a stop. She heard his door open, and a moment later, hers. Deputy Dog roughly grabbed her arm, pulling her out of the car. She stumbled slightly, disoriented by the sudden change in movement.

“Where are we?” she demanded, the fear creeping into her voice despite her efforts to remain calm.

“Shut up and walk.” He guided her with his hand on her elbow, and she’d only walked for a minute when he said, “Three steps up.”

“This would be easier if you’d take off this damn mask.”

“I said shut up.”

Touchy. She tentatively lifted her foot, feeling for the first step, then did the same for the next two.

It wasn’t easy to keep her balance with her arms bound behind her back.

Something creaked, and she thought it might be a door opening.

When the temperature dropped, she knew they were inside an air-conditioned house.

The strong smell of lemon oil permeated the air, telling her it was probably like one of the well-kept houses they’d passed before she was blindfolded.

Deputy Dog pushed on her elbow, forcing her to keep walking.

“Can’t you take these handcuffs off me? My hands and arms feel like someone’s sticking a thousand needles in them. It’s not like I’m going anywhere.”

“Sit.” She was pushed down on something soft, a sofa she guessed.

“Take the blindfold off,” a man said.

He’s someone who expects to be obeyed, she thought. Suddenly, she didn’t want to see whoever it was. If she didn’t see his face, he wouldn’t have to kill her. “That’s okay, you can leave the blindfold on, but I’d appreciate the cuffs coming off.”

Despite her wishes, the blindfold was removed, and she blinked against the sunlight coming in through the window.

Her gaze fell on the man sitting behind a chrome-and-glass desk.

Behind him was a full wall of bookshelves, what looked like law books filling them.

An attorney then? Was Senator Hanson a lawyer?

She should’ve learned more about the man… if this was him.

The man wore a COVID-type face mask, only his eyes and hair visible.

His hair was a dirty blond and expensively cut, and although she couldn’t see his full face, from what she could see, she guessed him to be in his sixties.

She had a photographer’s eye for detail, and because she did, she noticed something about one of his, something most people wouldn’t see.

There was a gray ring around the pupil of his left eye but not the right one.

If she ever saw that eye again, she could point her finger at him and say, “He’s the one who had me kidnapped.” She made a mental note not to forget to tell the authorities about that gray ring. It would make a difference if she gave that description before she ever saw him again.

If she lived through this, that was.

“Where’s her phone?” the man said.

Her gazed narrowed in on her purse that he was rummaging through.

Not that there was much in there, since she hadn’t replaced most of what used to be in her lost purse.

“My phone was in my purse at the cabin, which I assume you people have. I’d sure love to have it back.

” She was getting mad, and she welcomed that anger because she wasn’t quivering before this bully of a man.

“Frisk her,” the masked man said.

Deputy Dog yanked her up, and when his hands slid over her, she gritted her teeth.

As much as she’d wanted the cuffs off, she was glad they weren’t for this.

She was able to keep her bound hands over where she’d slid her phone to hide it.

She almost sagged with relief when the deputy didn’t find it.

“She’s good.”

“Uncuff her and then leave,” the masked man said.

Okay, as much as she didn’t like the deputy, she didn’t want to be left alone with the man she was sure was the senator.

Was that pity in Deputy Dog’s eyes as he pulled her up to take the handcuffs off?

Her stomach took a sickening roll when the door closed behind the deputy, leaving her alone with the man.

“Sit,” he said in that intimidating voice.

As much as she wanted to refuse, to laugh in his face and tell him to go to hell, her legs decided sitting was a grand idea. Her body gracelessly crumpled in on itself. At least there was a sofa behind her to land on and she didn’t end up a heap on the floor. Small favors.

Her hands and arms were tingling as if they were waking up from a long sleep, and she laced her fingers together and waited. When he did nothing but sit there and stare at her, she wanted to squirm. She managed not to.

When she couldn’t take his staring with those cold eyes any longer, words she couldn’t stop tumbled out of her mouth. “Who are you? What do you want from me? I—”

He held up a hand, palm out, and as if she was a puppet obeying the master, her mouth snapped closed.

“It matters not who I am. As for why you’re here, it’s called damage control, Miss Sullivan. Who have you shown the thumb drive to? How many copies did you make? Where are they? You honestly answer those questions, and then we’ll talk about how you get to live another day.”

Okay, what was the next level of fear? Petrified? Buy some time to think, Quinn. “Your deputy kidnapped me hours ago and didn’t let me have a restroom break. I really, really need to pee, so unless you want me to piddle on your sofa, you’ll—”

A disgusted expression crossed his face. “Through there.” He pointed to a door to the right of him.

His eyes stayed on her until she closed the bathroom door.

That was just creepy. It was a powder room, only a toilet and sink.

She did really need to pee, and she pulled her phone out and set it on the corner of the sink.

After relieving herself, she washed her hands, and after drinking some, she splashed cold water on her face.

She picked up her phone, intending to put it back in the same place, but what if…

She checked the charge, finding it almost full.

They’d already searched her, so they wouldn’t do it again.

Leaving it in silent mode, she hit Record, then stuffed it inside her bra.

It wasn’t until she returned to the sofa that it occurred to her that she should’ve texted Liam when she had the chance. Disgusted with herself, she wanted to slap her head for not thinking smart. She folded her hands in her lap and waited for the man to speak.