“Verbal answers each time you’re asked a question. Do you understand?” His voice is deep and a little husky. From the size and shape of him, I’d guess he’s in his early thirties, but who knows.
“Yes,” I whisper.
He pinches my cheeks between his fingers and turns my head back to his. “You’ll learn to love it here. Food, shelter, orgasms. What more do you need?” He laughs and leans down, pressing his lips to mine. His breath tastes like cigarettes and alcohol, and my stomach churns from the smell combined with a lack of food. With my arms and legs restrained, I do the only thing I can think of. I grab his lip between my teeth and bite—hard.
Grayson
I’m standing outside Finley’s office at seven-thirty in the morning with two coffees in my hand. I watch for any sign of the elderly woman.
She furrows her brows when she walks around the corner and stops in front of me, keys in her hand. “Detective, what can I do for you?” She notices the cup of coffee in my hand and points to it. “Is that for Dr. Grier?”
“No. It’s for you.” I hand her the cup, and she takes a small sip, keeping her eyes locked with mine. “Can we go inside? We need to talk.” Her face drops, and I notice a slight tremble in her hands.
“Where is she?”
“Let’s go inside. I don’t want to talk about this out here.”
She turns, unlocks the office, and switches the alarm off. She puts her bag down and turns toward me. “Something happened, didn’t it?”
I’m not going to beat around the bush. I tell her about the threatening notes and phone calls Finley has been getting and the state I found her apartment in last night. She dabs her eyes a few times with a tissue and blows her nose as I finish catching her up on everything that has happened. I’m hoping she will be willing to give me the information as to who Finley met with a few days ago.
“Dr. Grier wouldn’t like me giving you that information without a warrant, Detective.”
“Allie, If I don’t get that information, we might not see her again.”
Her chin quivers, and her body trembles with my words, but she stares at me in shock. Finally, she opens her laptop with shaky hands and logs into the appointment scheduler after two failed password attempts. She wipes the tears from her cheeks as she locates his information. “His name was Miles Pierce.” She scribbles his name, phone number, and address on a sheet of paper and hands it to me.
“Thanks, Allie. Please, keep this to yourself. Her family has been notified, and we are on the lookout for any signs of her.”
I walk toward the front door, determined to catch this son of a bitch and make him give me information.
“Detective Bowers?” I turn and look at her, waiting for her to continue. “Bring her back safe.”
“I plan on it.”
I step outside and pull my phone out, dialing the number Allie wrote down for me. The phone rings and then goes to voicemail abruptly.I’m not surprised he ignored it.
“Mr. Pierce, this is Detective Grayson Bowers. I need to talk to you in regard to a missing persons case I am working on. It would be wise to return my call or show up at the station for questioning. I’m not one to mess with, and I’ll find you—one way or another.”
I hang up and head back to the station. If I’m lucky, this bastard used his real name, and there will be some kind of record on him. Stepping through the doors, Amelia flanks me.
“Did you get a name?”
“Yeah. I’ve got a number and an address, too. I hope he was stupid enough to use his real name. He has to be involved in her kidnapping somehow.”
“I have Dylan working on trying to trace those blocked numbers that called Finley, see if he can uncover anything else. I’m not sure if he’ll find anything, but it’s worth a shot.” She turns and starts walking back toward her desk.
“Hey, Shaw,” I call after her. She turns to face me. “Ever heard of a place calledEver After?”
Chapter Ten
Finley
I’ve been chained to the wall for what feels like days when he comes back. I’m elated to see him for the simple fact that I’ll be able to lower my arms and hopefully be able to cover my mostly naked form. Panties and a bra really don’t constitute as attire.
I get my first real good look at him. Dark hair is trimmed nicely, deep green eyes, and a strong jaw. His nose is a smidge crooked, and I guess he’s broken it a time or two. He’s got broad shoulders and large biceps and obviously spends a fair amount of time on his physique. In any other circumstance, I’d find this man very attractive and would love if he threw attention my way.
“I’m going to end up sick with these conditions. You know that, right?” My voice is hoarse from lack of use. I stopped screaming for help shortly after he left, knowing no one was coming to get me.
