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CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Maggie was freezing. It wasn’t cold outside, but she felt frozen from the inside out. This was literally her worst nightmare come true. She’d done everything in her power to stay on the straight and narrow. To not do anything wrong so there would be no reason to put her back behind bars. Okay, using Adina’s ride-share account wasn’t exactly legal, but she hadn’t been hurting anyone. Especially because she’d had her friend’s permission to do what she’d done.

She’d never in a million years thought she might be thrown back behind bars for being freaking kidnapped . She didn’t have any say in what happened to her. God, she’d been unconscious . But no one believed her when she’d said she had no idea those drugs were in her car. Why would anyone believe her now ?

The only reason she wasn’t screaming at the unfairness of it all was because of the man holding her hand. Shawn was literally holding her together. The truth was, she was terrified. More scared than she’d been to stand up and let those Russian soldiers see her. Back in Ukraine, she had control over what she was doing and what would happen next. She’d been able to hide, to run, to use her brain to get away.

Now? She couldn’t do a damn thing. There was no running, no hiding, and what happened next was literally up to someone else. Her probation officer was generally pretty laid-back. The woman had been kind anytime she’d met with her in the past. Maggie just had to hope she still felt a little compassion toward her when they met in a few minutes.

Just walking up to the building made her feel sick. As the door closed behind them after they entered, Maggie felt the weight of it down to her soul. She prayed she’d be able to walk out the same door in the not-so-distant future.

“Tex is on this,” Shawn said softly as they stepped into the elevator that would take them to the third floor. “Caroline texted and said he’s pissed way the hell off. There’s no way the state can lock you up for leaving the country against your will.”

Maggie nodded, still numb inside. It felt really good that she had such staunch supporters, but she wasn’t convinced it would make a difference in the short run. Rules were rules, and she was petrified that she might be spending the night, or the next several, behind bars .

She suddenly wanted to pull away from Shawn. Insist that she wasn’t good for him…but she wasn’t that strong. She needed him. He was the only thing keeping her from sinking to the floor in a puddle of despair.

The elevator dinged as it reached the third floor, and Shawn led her toward the person sitting behind the reception desk.

“Maggie Lionetti here for an appointment,” he said confidently, as if he’d done it a million times.

Looking down at the computer screen, the woman nodded. “Go through the double doors here and have a seat inside. Someone will come for her in a moment.”

The sound of every door she went through closing behind her was like a death knell. Maggie could still remember the sound of her cell door clanging shut every night, and while the glass doors didn’t sound even close, the imagery was the same.

They sat, and Maggie did her best not to hyperventilate.

“It’s okay. You’re okay,” Shawn said, squeezing her hand.

She wasn’t. She wasn’t okay in the least. But Shawn thought she was strong, had told her so more than once. And she didn’t want to do anything that would make him think otherwise.

The truth was, she was terrified of Roman. The man had proven time and time again what he was capable of. How he’d use anyone and everyone to exert his dominance.

They needed more than the recording of his threats over the phone to take him down. Proof that he’d killed his wife would be a good start, but if Roman was going to be held accountable for the things he’d done, she needed to be brave and face him.

Being bait for the Russian soldiers had been scary, but necessary. She’d told Shawn that she never wanted to do anything like that again, but frankly, if she had to make the same decision twice, she’d do everything just the same to protect those she cared about.

And now that she thought about it, Roman was probably the one who’d called her probation officer and informed her that she’d left the country. It was an easy thing to do, calling in an anonymous tip. If she was going to confront Roman face-to-face and get the proof needed to make sure the man didn’t exploit and hurt anyone else, she needed to get through this meeting with her PO. Explain what was going on, give her the contact info for Shawn’s commander so she could verify everything Maggie told her. Luckily, the woman was reasonable and not prone to report her probationers for every little infraction. She believed in second chances, which right now would hopefully be Maggie’s salvation.

Her little internal pep talk made her feel a little more confident. This place scared the hell out of her. The building itself felt as if it was a portal straight back to prison. But she’d done everything she was supposed to do in regard to her probation. Every drug test had come back clean, she reported to her PO right on schedule, was never late to her meetings. This meeting would work out as well…it had to .

“Maggie Lionetti?” a man called from another doorway.

Shawn put his hand on her cheek and turned her head so she had no choice but to look at him.

“I’ll be right here. We’ll call Tex when we get home and see what he thinks about the recording you made. This is gonna be over soon, Maggie. I swear.”

Swallowing hard, she nodded.

Shawn leaned forward and kissed her. “You’ve got this,” he reassured her.

She took a deep breath, then stood and headed toward the man who’d called her name. He nodded at her but didn’t smile. The door behind them clicked as it closed. Shivering at the sound of the lock engaging, Maggie tried to block it out.

She was thinking about the most succinct way to explain to her PO what had been going on in her life when the man she was following suddenly turned. He took hold of her upper arm—and she felt something prick against her side.

“Don’t say a word,” he hissed quietly. “If you do, I’ll gut you right here and now.”

Looking down, Maggie saw a wicked-looking serrated knife at her side. Instinctively, she attempted to pull away from him. He jerked her close and the knife he was holding penetrated her shirt. She gasped at the instant pain that bloomed when it broke her skin.

“I’ll do it. I have nothing to lose. This isn’t personal. Robertson is holding all the goddamn cards—my career, my marriage, my literal fucking life. So come along nicely and you’ll be just fine.”

She wouldn’t be. Maggie knew that better than most. But it was obvious this man would hurt her too, if she didn’t do what he wanted. She was screwed either way.

He dragged her down the hall and through a door that led to a stairwell. She almost tripped several times as he practically ran down the three flights to the ground floor. Every other step made the knife prick her skin, and Maggie could feel blood soaking her black shirt and making it stick to her skin.

Leaving a trail of blood drops would be good, but she didn’t think her wound was that bad…or at least she wasn’t bleeding that badly yet .

Then something else occurred to her. Cameras. Looking up, she saw one in the corner of the stairwell aimed at the door that led outside.

“They aren’t working,” the man holding her said almost nonchalantly. “The cameras. I see you looking. You think he wouldn’t have thought of that?”

Shit. There would be no trail of where she’d gone. Shawn would eventually get concerned when her meeting ran too long, and when he realized she wasn’t in the building, he’d do everything in his power to find her. But how could he?

Maggie was beginning to think she’d end up just like Roman’s wife had so many years ago. Gone without a trace. The police would be baffled, her new friends would be worried and pissed off. But it wouldn’t do any good. If Roman had his way, she’d never be found.

Despair filled her. She supposed she should be scared or trying to figure out how to escape this latest predicament, but at the moment, all she could think about was how she’d miss out on spending the rest of her life with Shawn. She’d never get to know Remi, Wren, and Josie better. Would never be a mother. Wouldn’t grow old with Shawn at her side. All the dreams she had for her life were disappearing in a puff of smoke.

The man holding her was surely leaving bruises on her upper arm. He was gripping her so tightly, it felt as if he was cutting off the circulation to her entire limb. He exited the building and walked toward a black four-door vehicle that was sitting at the curb. The windows were tinted, and Maggie couldn’t see who was behind the wheel.

The man wrenched open the back door and practically threw her inside. He didn’t say a word, simply slammed the door behind her and turned back toward the building. As the car pulled away from the curb, he disappeared through the stairway door, probably to go back up to the third floor and pretend he didn’t see anything after leading her to a room to wait for her probation officer to arrive.

“Hello, Maggie.”

She spun around, gaping at the man behind the wheel in disbelief. She’d been so fixated on the asshole who’d forced her out of the building that she hadn’t thought to look at the driver.

“Roman,” she breathed .

“You’re a hard woman to make disappear,” he said almost lazily.

Maggie couldn’t believe he was here. That he had the guts to participate in her kidnapping firsthand. She wanted to claw his eyes out. Leap into the front seat and attack him, make him crash so she could get out of the car and away from his evilness. But there was a metal barrier between the front and back seats. She couldn’t do a damn thing to him as he drove.

“I told you to keep your mouth shut,” he said. “You didn’t. I warned you that if I heard even a peep that your SEAL boyfriend or his friends were asking about me, it wouldn’t end well for you. But they aren’t going to take me down. No one can. I’m untouchable.”

“You’re wrong,” Maggie managed to say.

He laughed. The sound made the hair on the back of Maggie’s neck stand up.

“What are you going to do about it? Looks as if I have the upper hand right now. The back doors can’t be opened from the inside, and you can’t do anything to make me wreck this car. You aren’t going anywhere until we get to where we’re going.”

“And where’s that?” Maggie couldn’t help but ask.

“There’s a nice little beach that I know of. Deserted, out of the way. Not too far from your apartment, actually. It’ll be a shame when people find the suicide note you left behind before you drown yourself in the ocean.”

“No one is going to believe I killed myself,” Maggie said, her voice wobbling a bit instead of sounding as firm as she wanted it to.

“Doesn’t matter. Not when your body will never be found to verify anything. Besides, even if they did find it, an autopsy will confirm water in your lungs. Classic drowning.”

Roman really was insane. He was talking about murdering her as calmly as he would discuss the weather.

“You aren’t going to get away with this,” she said almost desperately.

“Of course I am. You have no idea how many contacts I have. In the police department, the Navy, local government, drug dealers…everyone I come into contact with owes me, or I have something I can hold over their heads. Everyone does what I want, when I want it done. Haven’t you learned that yet?”

Maggie swallowed hard. It was sinking in for real now that she was going to die. “Leave Shawn and his friends alone,” she said in a low voice. She wasn’t above begging. Anything to make sure the man she loved was safe.

“Not happening,” Roman said almost gleefully. “I have plans for them. They think they’re such hot shit. News flash—they aren’t. They might have a no-deploy tag on them right now, but eventually that’ll be removed…and I know just where they’re going next.” He laughed again. A sound so evil, Maggie shivered in terror.

“Sit back and relax, love. We’ll be there soon.”

Maggie was having trouble breathing. There seemed to be no stopping this man. He was evil incarnate, and she was stuck in his vile web.

Turning slightly to look out the window, Maggie flinched. Her side ached. One of her hands touched the wound there, and she saw blood smeared on her fingers. Instinctively, she wiped them on the leather seat. She watched a lot of crime TV, and it occurred to her if she could leave DNA behind, maybe someday, someone who wasn’t under Roman’s thumb would find it.

Trying to be as sneaky as possible, Maggie put her fingers under her shirt, gathered up more of her blood, then wiped it under the lip of the seat, behind the handle of the door, even on the seat belt she hadn’t bothered to put on. Trying to leave some sort of trace for some crime tech to find that she’d been in this backseat, even if it was a decade from now.

As the streets of Riverton went by, Maggie’s hope that someone would come to her rescue quickly faded. Yes, Shawn would realize she was gone, but it would be too late. And there was no way to track her. His computer friend, Tex, would try, but there was no way he’d find her quickly enough. They were halfway to the apartment she’d shared with Adina. If the beach Roman was taking her to really was near where she’d lived, she didn’t have much longer.

Her emotions were all over the place, seesawing between anger and sorrow. But the longer she sat there, staring at the back of Roman’s neat military haircut, the angrier she got .

How dare he play God like he was! This wasn’t fair! She might not live through this, but she’d do whatever she needed to in order to leave her mark on him. NCIS wouldn’t be able to overlook scratches on his face, bruises on his body. She’d fight. It might not do any good in regard to the outcome of her life, but maybe, just maybe, she could do enough damage to prove that he’d had something to do with her supposed suicide.

“Not long now,” Roman taunted.

Lips pressed together, Maggie went over in her head her next moves. As soon as he opened the back door, he’d find out that she wasn’t the docile, cowed woman he’d manipulated and had sent to prison two years ago. She’d changed. And this asshole wasn’t going to take her new life from her without one hell of a fight.

Preacher looked at his watch. Ten minutes had passed since Maggie had gone behind the door to speak to her probation officer. Barely any time at all…but the longer he sat there, the more uneasy he felt. And he’d spent too many years as a SEAL to ignore his gut.

He’d heard the click of the door lock engaging when Maggie had gone through, so he waited until a man near him was called and got up to follow the officer through the door—then Preacher made his move.

He caught the door before it shut and entered the secure area .

“Hey! You can’t be back here,” the officer told him sternly.

But Preacher ignored him. “Maggie!” he yelled, using his “SEAL” voice, as he and his friends dubbed it. Dominant, harsh, loud.

Heads began to pop out from behind office doors.

“Maggie!” Preacher repeated.

“You need to leave, sir,” the officer tried again. The man who’d been called back for his appointment was leaning against the wall, his arms crossed. He didn’t seem alarmed in the least by Preacher’s actions. In fact, he seemed amused.

“I came here with my girlfriend. Her name is Maggie Lionetti. Where is she?” Preacher demanded.

The officer wasn’t the same one who’d retrieved Maggie. He shrugged. “No clue.”

“Find her.”

“You’re going to be in big trouble for coming back here,” the officer said, instead of doing what Preacher asked.

“Maggie!” Preacher shouted yet again.

A middle-aged woman came out of an office and headed toward him. “What’s going on here?” she asked.

“I’m looking for Maggie Lionetti. She came back here ten minutes ago for an appointment with her PO. I’m trying to find her.”

The woman frowned. “I’m her probation officer, and Maggie’s not on my schedule for today.”

Every muscle in Preacher’s body tensed. He had no idea what was going on, but he had a feeling it had everything to do with Robertson. It wouldn’t have been hard for him to call Maggie, or have someone else call, and tell her she had to come in for a meeting, intercept her, and take her right out from under his nose.

“Are there stairs in here?” he barked.

The woman still looked confused, but she turned and pointed toward a door at the end of the hallway.

Preacher ran toward it, ignoring the male officer telling him to stop.

The felon who’d watched with amusement joined in the confusion by saying loudly, “You go, man!”

Bursting through the door, Preacher cursed. It would’ve been easy to get Maggie out of the building without anyone seeing her leave. He pulled out his phone as he ran down the stairs. He wanted to call his team, their assistance would be invaluable right about now. But there was only one person on his radar. Tex.

“I just got the recording,” Tex said in lieu of a greeting. “I haven’t had time to analyze it yet.”

“He’s got her!” Preacher practically yelled as he raced down the stairs.

“Fuck!” Tex didn’t ask who; he knew.

“I slipped one of my trackers into her purse,” Preacher said. “I didn’t want to freak her out, so I didn’t tell her. I need you to find her.”

“On it,” Tex said.

Preacher heard the man’s fingers clacking on a keyboard as he burst out of the government building. He looked up both sides of the street as he stood on the sidewalk but saw no sign of Maggie, Robertson, or anyone who looked out of place. He took off at a dead run toward the parking lot where he’d left his Malibu not too long ago. Thank God the lot wasn’t too far away.

By the time he’d unlocked the door and thrown himself behind the wheel, Tex spoke.

“Got her.”

The relief that hit Preacher was instant. Her purse must not have been left behind in the abduction. There was still a chance it wasn’t with her now, but Preacher couldn’t even think about that possibility.

“She’s headed southeast. About to pass her apartment.” His voice was steady. This was the most important mission of Preacher’s life, and he was glad for Tex’s calm professionalism.

He tore out of the parking lot, ignoring the honks from the cars he’d cut off. He flew down the street, driving recklessly but with purpose. He could only hope a cop got behind him. He’d need all the firepower and witnesses he could get when he caught up to whoever Roman had tasked with taking Maggie.

“Where is she now?” Preacher asked. He was panting, breathing way too fast. He couldn’t control his emotions or his body’s reaction to the stress and fear he was feeling. Roman wasn’t going to give Maggie another chance to get away from him. This was it. If he didn’t catch up with her, and fast, he had no doubt she wouldn’t survive .

“Going the same way,” Tex told him. “She just passed the apartment complex.”

“Any ideas where he’s taking her?”

“Not yet. He could go south toward Mexico, but it’s unlikely he’d try to take her across the border. I just put out an alert for her, so if he does think that’s the best route, she’ll be found. He could also hit the interstate, then go north toward LA, try to get lost there. Maybe give her to one of the drug dealers he was attempting to sell to when she was pulled over years ago. That seems like something he’d feel was appropriate.”

“Asshole,” Preacher muttered.

“I’m watching her, but I’m going to call Kevlar. Give me a minute.”

Preacher nodded, relieved that backup would be on the way but hating to lose the connection to Tex, and thus to Maggie, at the same time.

Preacher took the time while Tex was radio silent to say every curse word he could think of, trying to relieve some of the tension he felt. It didn’t help. By the time Tex came back on the line, Preacher was even more wound up than he’d been when he realized Maggie was gone.

“She’s slowing down. Oh shit.”

“What? Tex? Where is she?”

“On the road map, it looks as if she just pulled over on the side of the road, but when I look at the satellite, there’s a small strip of sand. There’s thick vegetation blocking the beach from the street. ”

Preacher pressed his foot down harder on the gas. “Where?” he barked.

“Two miles past the parking lot of her apartment, take a left,” Tex said.

Preacher’s heart was in his throat as he followed Tex’s directions. Time was running out. He could feel it. Every second it took for him to get to Maggie was one second too long.

“I’m comin’,” he said under his breath as he drove like a maniac to get to the woman he loved. “Hang on, Maggie. I’m comin’.”