Chapter 19

19

Brooklyn hopped off the bus and stepped into the unlit parking lot. The stars and moon had ducked and run under heavy clouds, leaving the space dark and gloomy. But then, what had she expected from a closed-down strip mall? Not lights, but maybe a street light? No such luck, of course. Things had not gone her way so far with Kane. Why start now?

She was beginning to think God had turned His back on her. In her situation, that was easy to believe. It was much harder to believe that a loving God was still there walking alongside her and yet allowing all the problems, stress, and suffering in her life. He had a purpose for it, she just didn’t have a clue what that purpose was yet. Might never know. But it was only human to want to know.

On the far side of the lot, the powerful engine on a taller-than-normal pickup truck rumbled to life, and the truck rolled her way, lights out. As it crunched over the crumbling asphalt, the lights flashed on, blinding her.

She was a sitting duck right now. Couldn’t see. Could be run over and flattened by the giant tires. Colin would be so mad at her for coming here, but she couldn’t let helpless people suffer. Die. Hundreds. Maybe more lose their lives all so she could live. No. That was the one thing she was certain of. She couldn’t live with herself if she allowed that to happen.

The truck stopped. The engine revved. The wheels jerked forward a few feet. Brakes slammed on. Repeated. Another time.

Okay, he was playing chicken with her. Trying to scare her. She wouldn’t falter. She planted her feet and resisted shouting at him and calling him a coward for not exiting the vehicle.

The truck roared a few feet closer. Brakes squealed, and it jerked to a stop. It rocked and rocked on the heavy-duty suspension, but then it finally stilled, and the door opened.

A man unfolded his body and stood on the running board. “Step over here, and turn your back to me.”

She didn’t want to do as asked, but she knew he would want to search her for that phone he’d told her not to bring and any other electronic tracking device or weapon. She took her time though, as if she had a semblance of control left.

As she passed, she hoped for a good look at him to see if he changed or if she’d missed seeing the monster that he was, but the darkness shrouded his face. Oh, well. There was plenty of time for that when she had enough light to take in the nuances of a madman.

His footsteps as he plopped down onto the parking lot from the truck sounded in her ears.

“Arms out,” he said, his voice deeper than she remembered. He was probably trying to sound like a tough guy to scare her.

She lifted her arms and gritted her teeth.

He ran his hands over her as if he had a right to touch her wherever he wanted. She clamped down tighter on her teeth. To endure the embarrassment, she thought about her family’s uncontaminated drinking water and their safety.

“Good. You listened,” he said. “Didn’t bring a phone or gun. I figured you would try to get away with something. Now get in the truck.”

“No. I’m not going anywhere with you.”

“Suit yourself.” His steps sounded as he landed on the running board. “I’ll just get that program started to flood the drinking water with poisons.”

And he would—and could—kick off such a program from his phone. He could easily have designed an app or easily connected to his system via the internet.

She couldn’t call his bluff. “Wait. I’ll get in.”

Keeping her eyes downcast to protect them against the light, she marched around the front of the vehicle until she reached the side of the truck. A monstrous vehicle. Perfect choice for a monster. The tires came to her waist. She had to go up on tiptoes and stretch to reach the door handle. After opening it and releasing the overpowering odor of marijuana from the cab, she climbed onto the running board to get in.

If the strong smell of pot didn’t make her hurl, she suspected her first look at Kane would have her tossing her dinner to the floor.

She swiveled on the seat. Took a long look. Blinked. Blinked again. The man sitting behind the wheel didn’t have Kane’s blond, almost white, hair or piercing blue eyes that she’d once somehow seen warmth in.

No, this guy was dark. Swarthy. Deep-set eyes. Mean eyes.

“Hello, Brooklyn. Not who you were expecting.” He smirked and slid his jacket aside to show her his holstered gun.

Thoughts raced through her brain, but she didn’t know this man. “Who are you?”

“Luka Albertelli.”

Albertelli? Wow, oh wow. The head of a huge organized crime family. The one who’d killed before. Dangerous. Deadly. And he was sitting right next to her, a gun at his side.

He couldn’t poison the water, right? She should flee. She reached for her door.

He clamped hold of her wrist and jerked her arm. “You just arrived. Don’t be in such a hurry to go.”

She shook off his hand and rubbed her wrist. She had to get him talking so she could try to get away again. But what did she say to him? “You’re Matteo’s brother.”

“Ah, so you know about my deceased brother?” He eyed her. “Were you in on his death?”

“In on it?” She gaped at him. “How could you think that? No. Of course not.”

His eyes narrowed. “You’re Tarver’s girlfriend. Not a stretch to believe you’d help him.”

“Hah!” she said. “I’m not his girlfriend. Far from it. He’s been stalking me for three years. Trying to kill me.”

Luka snorted. “Not what he’s told my men.”

“He’s lying then.” She took a moment to process this information, but it made no sense to her. None at all. “Why did you want me to come here?”

“Tarver took something very valuable from me, and I want it back.” He rested his hand on his weapon. “He’s refused to return it. We’ll use you as leverage to make him talk.”

She laughed, but it held her panic at the thought of what was coming for her. She wasn’t here to reason with Kane, but to be tortured to make him talk. “Then you’re wrong. Hurt me all you like. He’ll love it. Likely even cheer you on.”

“If what you say is true, he may still not want us to hurt you.” He locked gazes, and the perverse darkness in his eyes gave her no doubt he would hurt her if he thought it would get back his missing item.

“Then you don’t know him at all.”

“But I know his type.” He let his gaze dig deeper. “He may want to do the hurting all on his own.”

He could very well be right, but she had to try to change this to be in her favor. “But you won’t let him, will you? You’ll never free him. Not after he killed your brother. Or at least I assume he did.”

“He did indeed, and your assessment is most accurate.” A cunning smile crossed his mouth.

“So why keep me? I can go now, and no one has to know I was here.”

“ I will know, and I will always know you could report this conversation.” He scrubbed a hand over his jaw, covered in a thick five-o’clock shadow. “Besides, I think you can still be useful to me.”

She would give in for now, but would continue to look for a way to escape. “What happens now?”

“Now, as long as you listen to everything I say, your family and their town will be spared death.”

She eyed him. “You expect me to believe you have the skills to create a program to poison a water system?”

“No, but I expect you to believe I have access to Tarver’s program to poison them.” He grinned. “Yeah, your boyfriend already had it all set up. I just had to take over. One tap of the app he created on my phone, and it’s done.”

Defeated for now, she slumped in the seat. “What do you want me to do?”

He tipped his head at the door. “Start by closing the door and buckling up. Wouldn’t want you to get hurt before it’s time to hurt you.”

He laughed, low and sinister, but she had to ignore him or fear would eat her alive. Deep down, part of her had thought Kane wouldn’t hurt her, but the head of a huge organized crime family who had likely dissolved a witness in a barrel would without blinking an eye.

Something woke Colin. He’d dozed off and jerked to his feet. How had he fallen asleep? Rookie mistake. Big, huge mistake. He should probably have had either Reid or Dev join him, but he didn’t figure there was any point in two men losing sleep. Too late now, and hopefully no damage had been done.

So what had woken him?

He glanced around the condo. At the rooms, with the moonlight filtering through the linen drapes and across the room.

Nothing odd.

Both bedroom doors were closed. No lights coming from beneath.

He went to the main exit to check the security of the lock. Found the deadbolt open.

What? Had Reid or Dev gone somewhere?

He jogged across the large space to their room. Pushed open the door.

Both men came to a quick sitting position.

“What is it?” Dev asked.

“The front door’s unlocked,” Colin said.

Reid swung his legs over the side of his bed. “And Brooklyn?”

Colin didn’t wait for Reid to get out of bed but turned and bolted down the hallway to the other bedroom. He knocked and waited for Brooklyn to answer. She didn’t respond.

His brain started imagining the worst, but she was probably just soundly asleep. He flung the door open. Ran his gaze over the room.

Her bed was empty. The adjoining bathroom door stood open, no lights on.

Was she in there?

“Brooklyn,” he called out.

No response. He raced across the room to the bathroom. Flipped on the lights. Searched. She wasn’t in there.

She wasn’t in the condo.

He scanned the bedroom again. Spotted a cell phone sitting on the nightstand. Hers? Who else’s would it be? He had to confirm. He dialed it. The ringer trilled in the quiet. His heart sank.

Reid and Dev joined him at the door.

He turned to look at them. “She’s gone. She’s not here. I don’t know where she is.”

Panic invaded his body. His legs were like rubber, and he could barely remain standing.

Reid took a step closer. “She has to be in the building, right? She doesn’t have the ability to access the fingerprint scanners at the exit doors, and the security is set up to require prints to enter and exit.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Dev said. “Maybe she went somewhere with one of the partners. Like with Nick. He’s likely up at this time of night, and they could be working on something together.”

“I would’ve heard him come up to get her,” Colin said.

“Not if she wanted to be quiet to let you sleep.”

“Okay, right. She’s likely with Nick.” Colin said the words, but they rang hollow even to him. Phone still in hand, he dialed Nick.

He answered, his voice deep. “Yo. What you need?”

“Is Brooklyn with you?” Colin fired into the phone like the sharp report of a bullet.

“No, why?” Nick asked.

“Because we’re in the condo, and she’s not here. She’s missing, and I’m afraid she’s in danger.”

“I’m still in my lab,” Nick said. “I’ll be right up, and we’ll find her together.”

Colin hoped Nick was right, but for some reason, he didn’t have a lot of confidence in the guy. Not that Nick wasn’t a superhuman when it came to computers, but if Brooklyn had left the building, it wasn’t likely a computer issue, and Colin had no idea how they might find her.

No idea at all.

Brooklyn had tried to get Luka to tell her where he was taking her, but he just kept smirking at her and saying, “Wouldn’t you like to know.” She expected a higher maturity level for a man in his fifties who gave out life and death orders every day.

They’d driven for about an hour, heading over the Oregon Coast Range toward the ocean. They were just nearing the Tillamook State Forest when he suddenly turned off the highway into a narrow driveway that led to a home overlooking the river. Completely secluded. At least, from what she could see with the truck headlights, which he killed when he killed the engine.

“Kind of a funky house, but Tarver rented it to meet his special needs.” He used his fingers to show air quotes over special needs.

“He has special needs?” she asked.

“He does, and you’ll find out all about them soon enough. But for now, get out and let’s go into the house.” He glared at her. “And before you think about running, you should remember I’ve taken control of Tarver’s program and can end your family’s life with a tap of my phone.”

She didn’t need him to remind her. She knew full well what Kane had planned for her family if she didn’t cooperate with him. She opened the door and slid down to the running board and then to the ground, covered with a thick layer of gravel.

She slammed the truck door in hopes it might be heard somewhere by someone, and they would come to her rescue. But what were the odds? Not good at four in the morning that someone in the area would hear a truck door slam and think someone was in need of help. Minuscule odds, that was what it was.

No, she was on her own, meaning she had to take in every single detail she could.

She swept her gaze over the property, slightly illuminated by the partial moon peeking out behind heavy clouds. A large man, arms crossed over his barrel chest, guarded the front door of a single-story ranch house. To the right, she spotted some sort of structure. Not big enough to be a barn, but larger than what she would expect from a storage shed. To the left, a boat sat on a trailer. From the sound of the river rushing behind the house, this home sat directly on the riverfront. Would that in any way help someone find her?

Someone like Colin. If he’d even woken up to discover she was gone.

“Quit wasting time and get in the house.” Luka fired an angry look in her direction. “You better believe I’m not bluffing when it comes to the water treatment plant.”

“Don’t worry.” She headed for the door. “I don’t think you’re bluffing.”

“Keep alert, Rocco,” Luka said to the guard, then opened the door.

The man with inky black hair nodded and widened his stance. Not a man to fool with.

She slipped past Rocco and followed Luka into a home that hadn’t been updated since the sixties. Orange shag carpeting covered the living room floor, and a light glowed over the stove, giving her a glimpse of green-and-orange-flowered wallpaper in the kitchen, along with avocado green appliances.

“I’d never rent a place like this that requires so much work.” Luka shook his head. “But Tarver? Guy said he didn’t care as long as it suited his needs.”

“Needs you haven’t yet mentioned.”

“First thing he said was privacy. Which also suits me quite well too. Secluded. No one will see you here or ask any questions, so don’t bother calling out. It’s a waste of your breath.” He flicked on a brass light hanging over a small dining table outside the kitchen. A half wall with wooden spindles on the top divided the small dining area from the living room.

The light flooded the space, and she blinked to adapt, then looked at him. He was studying her as if the change from dark to lightness didn’t bother his eyes. Which it should, as he was the kind of guy who lived a lot of his life in the dark, and the bright light should impact him.

“It’ll be dawn soon. I want to grab some sleep before we start. But before you settle in for the night, I’d like you to meet Tarver’s best friend and his special need, so you can think about tomorrow.” He laughed, the deep, almost otherworldly tone cutting into her.

“Follow me.” He headed through the kitchen to a side door and pushed it open to a garage.

A low growling noise that sounded more like a deep male snore than anything filled the space. But she knew it wasn’t a man snoring. The growl came from an animal. A large one, by the sound of things.

Luka flipped up the light switch, illuminating a large cage sitting on a trailer. A majestic jaguar paced inside the metal bars. His golden brown coat was covered with black rosettes, and he had a white snout. He snapped at them, revealing large teeth that could cut through a human like taking a bite of soft butter.

“This guy’s tired of being in this little cage. He had to hang out at my compound for a week. When I gave him back to Tarver, he took off from his other house, trailer in tow. But there’s a nice enclosure for the kitty cat here. Tomorrow you and Tarver can move him. Oh, and did I forget to mention, we’ll offer you as his plaything to get Tarver to talk? I know the cat will want to keep you, but we won’t let him until we have the answers we need from Tarver. Then you’re all his.”

Her knees lost all feeling, and she thought she might sink to the floor. No. Get control. Keep him talking. “And if Kane doesn’t talk?”

“Then he’ll join you in the enclosure with the pretty jaguar. But only piece by piece until he does confess the location of my item.”

All breath left Brooklyn’s body, and she had to grab on to the wall so as not to drop to the ground. She’d imagined Kane had something awful planned for her, but would he have fed her to his jaguar like this guy wanted to do? If so, it couldn’t get much more horrific than that. Or maybe going body part, by body part like Albertelli had planned for Kane was worse. So much worse.