Kade glanced at his watch. Ten minutes. They’d been gone ten minutes. Surely that was more than enough time to take a piss. Watkins was getting antsy as well. He tapped the earpiece and said a few words. When he frowned, Kade’s hinky feeling began to grow.
Ten minutes.
It was too long. He strode through the restaurant to where the bathrooms were. The hallway was empty. It was highly unlikely they’d both been struck by stomach cramps. When Watkins came barreling toward him, he knew something was wrong.
“We have a problem.”
“What?”
“I can’t get Sawyer or Logan to respond.”
Kade turned and pounded on the men’s room door. “Dimitri!”
Watkins tried the women’s restroom door, and when he got no response, he put his shoulder into the door and hit it until the lock broke and the door burst inward. The women’s room was empty.
Angel.
Watkins pushed him aside and broke down the men’s door. Dimitri lay sprawled on the floor. A small dart protruded from his neck.
Where the fuck was Angel?
It barely registered when Watkins exited the door at the back of the hallway. He was frozen staring at his brother; the only thought in his head was Angel.
“Fuck.” Watkins was back, Angel’s purse in hand. “They’re all down.”
“Down?”
Where was Angel?
Watkins leaned down and pulled the dart out of Dimitri’s throat. “He used these to knock them out.”
“What is going on?” a waiter asked, then stared at Dimitri’s prone body in shock.
“Call 9-1-1. We need emergency services.”
Ten minutes. She’d only been gone ten minutes.
“Agent Kincaid!”
He blinked, responding to the authority in Watkins’ voice. “Yes?”
“Snap out of it. We have a situation. Miss Lemoraux is missing, your brother is lying unconscious, and both my men are knocked out.”
“Mrs. Kincaid.”
“What?” Watkins snapped.
“Mrs. Kincaid. She’s my wife.” And she was missing.
Watkins shrugged. “Call whoever is working this case and get them here now. I’m going to check to see if we have video surveillance.”
Kade pulled out his phone, his movements slow and unsure. He couldn’t focus. He found Bailey’s number and called it.
“Kincaid, I was just about to call you. We’ve swept about sixty percent of the abandoned garages in the city, and so far, nothing.”
“He took her, Ron.”
“What?”
“The unsub, he took her. She’s gone.”
“Where are you?”
“Bella Luna.”
“I know where that is. We’re on our way. We’ll find her.”
But they wouldn’t. Kade knew this. They hadn’t found any of the others. What would make Angel any different?
His phone blared out his favorite Linkin Park song. Viktor’s face flashed across the screen.
“Hello?”
“Watkins called. Nik and I are on our way. You okay?”
“She’s gone.” He felt the wetness on his face, knew he was crying, but it all felt unreal. She was just here, laughing and joking with them. It was his fault. He brought her out. To where the unsub could get to her. She’d wanted to go home, and he told her she was safe. Lies. He always lied to her.
He was the reason for every bad thing in her life.
His fault. This was his fault. She was gone because he couldn’t keep her safe. He slid down the wall, his legs giving out. What was he doing to her? Was she scared? Was she praying? Was she calling out for him?
The phone slipped from his hand.
What was he going to do without her? He’d just found her again.
And now she was gone.
***
Angel blinked, coming awake slowly. She winced when her head bounced, hitting something hard. She felt all fuzzy, and the world was moving. Her head bounced again, and she tried to sit up. That was when she realized her limbs were numb. She couldn’t move. Her eyes opened, and she saw the walls of a dirty, dingy room, the walls moving.
No, she was being dragged. Her legs were up in the air, two meaty hands gripping her ankles as he dragged her. He stopped a moment later, and she saw the bed and panicked. No, no, no. Her voice refused to work. All she could do was stare straight ahead and wait. She couldn’t even turn her head from side to side.
He moved around the room, and she heard a drawer open and shut. What was he doing?
When he moved back into view, he saw that she was awake. “Hello, sleepyhead. I wondered when you’d wake up. You can’t move, I know. It’ll wear off in a few hours. The cocktail I shot you full of completely numbs your body.”
He slapped her ass hard. She heard the crack when his palm hit her flesh, but she felt nothing.
“See? You can’t feel a thing.” He picked her up and laid her on the bed. Then he started removing her clothes. Her shoes and socks first, then her jeans. He lifted her up and took off her coat and her shirt. She was left in her bra and panties. Her red lacy set. She’d put them on, thinking maybe she’d tease Kade enough to touch her again.
“Beautiful.” She watched silently as he ran his hands along her body. “Such soft, beautiful skin. A gorgeous canvas. You and I are going to have so much fun, my angel.”
She shuddered. Even though she couldn’t feel his hands, she saw his fingers caressing her skin, squeezing her breasts. Then he slid her panties off and let them drop to the floor. He parted her thighs and cupped her. She closed her eyes, unwilling to watch.
“Uh, uh, my angel. Open those eyes of yours. No hiding from me.”
She kept her eyes closed. Even if he hurt her for disobeying him, she couldn’t feel it. No matter what he did right now, she could pretend she was back at the apartment, teasing Kade over his reaction to Nik’s closet. She could pretend this man’s hands were Kade’s.
“Open them!”
Kade laughing, the two of them strolling along the shore, talking about all the places they wanted to visit. Both of them talking to the baby late at night. The nugget. She smiled remembering how happy they were that night. Kade whispering promises to her belly. Promises of the nugget’s very own supercharged stroller.
“Have it your way, my angel. I can wait until all the feeling comes back into these lovely limbs. It will only be a few hours.”
She opened her eyes cautiously. His were hostile, but that was not what caught her attention. Her gaze traveled down his arm to his hand, to where his fingers were buried deep inside her. She gagged, and he only laughed, removing his fingers from her, licking them.
“You taste as delicious as you look, my angel.”
He got down on his knees, his eyes roving over every inch of her. He reached under her, unsnapping her bra and pulling it away from her and leaving her breasts bare to him.
“Cinnamon colored nipples.” He twirled one between his fingers, tugging on it. “Most of my canvases have a shade of pink. Cinnamon is rare in my girls.” He leaned down, his lips closing over the bud. She heard the loud sucking noise, but couldn’t feel it. When he sat up, satisfaction marked his expression. “So responsive. Look at how hard and erect that sweet bud is. Just imagine how good it’s going to feel later, my sweet angel.”
He flipped her so she was on her stomach then handcuffed one of her hands, feeding the other cuff behind one of the wrought iron rails before snapping the cuff on her other hand. She heard him moving, heard the metallic clink of the cuffs. He must be cuffing her feet to the iron rail at the bottom of the bed.
“There, now, my angel. You’ll get your voice back soon enough. Scream all you want. No one can hear you out here.” His thumb brushed her lips. “I’m going out for a while, since you refuse to play. I’ll be back soon, my angel.”
He stood and walked away from the bed, leaving Angel staring at the dirty, peeling wallpaper directly across from her.
And wondering if Kade would find her.
None of the other girls had been found. But none of them was his wife. He didn’t love them.
He’d find her.
Please, God. Let him find me.