Page 38 of Dangerous Affair (The Phoenix Three #2)

“H ere’s what you need to understand, Quinn… May I call you Quinn?”

“I prefer Miss Sullivan.” What was with all these people she didn’t like wanting to get familiar and call her Quinn?

A beam of sunlight from the sun now low in the sky touched her face, and she turned toward it.

The view outside the tall windows was beautiful.

There weren’t any buildings behind his house, and the word that came to mind as she took in the meadow of rich green grass, wildflowers, and rolling hills was pastoral .

Behind a split rail fence, a herd of Arabian horses grazed. She wished she had her camera.

She wished Liam was here. He’d carry her away from this horrid man. Her gaze fell on a beautiful stark white horse. That was the one Liam would toss her on and then jump on behind her. She’d laugh with joy as they rode away, over those hills filled with wildflowers.

When he finally stopped the horse, he whispered in her ear, “This is my secret waterfall. I’ve never brought a woman here before.” He lifted her from the horse, and they shed their clothes.

“Are you listening, Miss Sullivan?”

She reluctantly tore her gaze from the distant hill where she was frolicking in the pool of the secret waterfall with Liam. “Not really.”

“Well, you should if you care at all for your friends at The Phoenix Three.”

He had her attention now.

“As I was saying, I want that thumb drive and any copies you’ve made. I want to know who you’ve told of its existence. I want your assurance that you’ll convince the men helping you to forget anything to do with what’s on that thumb drive.”

“Or?” She really didn’t want to know, but she needed him to say it for the recording. God, she hoped her phone was still recording.

“Or they’ll lose their company and will be investigated nine ways to Sunday by every alphabet agency you can think of. And believe me, Miss Sullivan, I can make that happen. Do you want your friends ruined?”

“Who are you?” With that particular threat, she was certain now that it was the senator, but maybe he was one of the senator’s minions.

“I’m someone you and your friends don’t want to mess with.”

She didn’t doubt it, but not much she could do except keep denying, denying, denying. “I don’t know what thumb drive you’re talking about. All the Phoenix Three men have done for me is help me fight being accused of killing Jasper. I have a feeling you know for a fact that I didn’t.”

“Careful, Miss Sullivan. To imply I know anything about a murder doesn’t please me.”

She sighed. “Yes, I know, you’re not a man I want to displease.” She was poking the bear, but his threats toward the guys made her angry.

“Need I remind you that no one knows where you are? There is no one coming to rescue you.” He sat back in his chair and stared at her a moment before saying, “Your attitude needs improvement. I think a time-out for you to think about the situation you’re in will do much to adjust your unfortunate attitude.

” He pressed a button on the landline on his desk. “Return,” was all he said.

A minute later, Deputy Dog walked in. “Sir?”

“Take Miss Sullivan to spend time with our friend. Perhaps she’ll rethink the wisdom of refusing to cooperate.”

She didn’t like the sound of that, and what friend? “I’m fine just sitting here. I promise I’ll keep my mouth shut and not bother you.”

Amusement filled his eyes, and she sensed that he was smiling behind that mask. “I’m beginning to be sorry we didn’t meet under better circumstances, Miss Sullivan. I think we could have enjoyed each other’s company.”

When hell freezes over. Deputy Dog yanked her up, pulled her hands behind her back, and handcuffed her again. As he forced her to walk out of the room, she cast a glance over her shoulder at the horses, then lifted her gaze to the hills where Liam’s secret waterfall was.

Tears filled her eyes that she wasn’t truly playing in the water with him.

If she had one wish, it would be to turn back the clock and not have ended things with him the way she had.

What if he was mad enough at her to not search for her?

That thought almost crushed her, but no, that wasn’t Liam.

No matter what he thought of her now, he was out there looking for her.

Deputy Dog blindfolded her again before taking her back to his car.

“Where are we going?” she asked when they were on the road.

He didn’t answer her. The man was still ignoring her, and that made her want to snarl.

“Aren’t you worried about what’s going to happen to you when this whole thing blows up?

Like you’ll be the one in handcuffs?” Still no response from him, but maybe she’d given him something to think about.

Her best guess was that they’d traveled twenty or so minutes before the car came to a stop. Deputy Dog opened her door, hooked his hand under her elbow, and pulled her out of the car. Rough gravel under her feet and the blindfold had her stumbling, and the deputy tightened his grip on her arm.

They stepped into a building, and she wrinkled her nose at the musty smell. He walked her deeper into the building before stopping her and removing the blindfold. “Enjoy your new home,” he said, then walked out, closing the door behind him.

“You forgot to take off the handcuffs,” she yelled.

“I doubt he forgot,” a man said, the voice familiar.

She spun around and screamed at seeing a dead man.

“Jasper?” she gasped. She fell back against the door.

“You’re dead.” Well, obviously, he wasn’t, but he sure looked like someone had tried to make him dead by beating him to a pulp.

Both eyes were bruised black, his nose looked broken, and one arm hung limply by his side.

He was sitting in a hard-back wooden chair, and blood stained his white T-shirt.

“As you can see, I’m still among the living.”

He sounded like someone who had a very sore throat, rough and raspy. “Then who was the dead man in the cabin?”

“My cousin.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.” Well, she was sorry someone died, but everything that was happening was all on Jasper.

She almost told him his cousin was dead, he was beat up, and she had been kidnapped because of his greed, but caught herself in time.

She needed to continue to claim she knew nothing about the thumb drive, besides…

She scanned the room, and yes, there was a blinking red light in a corner of the room.

They were being recorded and listened to.

“How long have you been in here?”

“What do you care?”

Because they were being recorded, she needed to be careful about what she said. “Just because it didn’t work between us doesn’t mean I like seeing you like this. I have no idea why these people keep asking me about a thumb drive. Why would they think I have it? What’s on it, do you know?”

“I know you took it, Quinn. All you have to do is turn it over to them, and we can walk away from this.”

“Are you really that stupid that you think they’ll just open the door and let us walk out of here as they tell us to have a nice day?”

“We can bargain with them. Give them the thumb drive and promise to keep our mouths shut. I know I will. These are powerful people, and they’ll watch us to make sure we forget they exist, so I damn well know I’ll wipe them from my memory.”

He really was stupid if he thought he’d ever see the light of day again. “What powerful people?”

“You’re better off not knowing.” He gave her a sly look. “Unless you already know because you saw what’s on the thumb drive. Why were you in Hope Corner, Quinn?”

“How many times do I have to tell you and these powerful people that I. Do. Not. Have. It? If I did, believe me, at this point, I’d gladly give it to them.”

“You don’t have to yell. I’m right here.”

“If I want to yell, I will,” she yelled. “I’m tired, I’m hungry, I’m very thirsty, and I’m in handcuffs. I think that gives me plenty of good reason to scream my bloody head off.” She glanced around. “Do they feed you or give you anything to drink at this resort?”

As if on cue, the door opened and Deputy Dog walked in, a bottle of water in his hand. “You want this?” He dangled it in front of her face. “Tell us where the thumb drive is, and it’s all yours.”

A low growl sounded behind her, and she yelped when Jasper barreled past her, his head lowered and aiming straight for Deputy Dog’s stomach.

The deputy dropped the bottle and brought his knee up, right into Jasper’s groin.

Jasper made a horrible sound of pain and fell to the floor in a fetal position.

Deputy Dog landed on him, his fists pounding Jasper’s face.

“You’re going to kill him,” she shrieked.

With her hands cuffed behind her back, she couldn’t try to pull the deputy off Jasper, so she kicked his leg. “Stop it.”

The deputy grabbed her ankle and pulled her foot out from under her. She hit the floor with a hard thud and pain ricocheted up her arm, bringing tears to her eyes. “I think you broke my hand.”

“Roll over. I’m going to take the cuffs off you, so be a good girl or I’ll put them back on.”

After he removed them, he pushed her onto her back again, then fell on top of her. He aligned his body so that they were chest to chest and groin to groin.

Lust darkened his eyes as he stared down at her. “You want to play, little girl?”