Mal spun me around, hand raised. I blocked the slap with my forearm. The force knocked me off balance, but I recovered quickly and threw a jab at his stomach. He doubled over, grunting, and I made a run for it.
Flying at the door, I scrabbled desperately at the locks. Rapid footfalls behind me and then he grabbed me.
Smack!
Pain exploded in my face. My neck snapped to the side, hitting my forehead against a deadbolt. I screamed as he hoisted me over his shoulder.
“Let me go! Let me go, you sick, murdering beast!” I kicked and flailed, pummeling his back. “You ruined my life! Murdered my mother!” Wrenching my body, I grabbed a handful of his hair and ripped.
Mal howled. Holding my legs, he twisted and slammed me against the wall.
I collapsed in a heap on the floor. His figure spun as it towered over me.
“My patience is running thin, Arabella. As is my forgiveness. You cheated on me, and that’ll be dealt with, but I’m willing to take you back.”
“Don’t!” I sobbed. Agony wracked me from head to toe. “I don’t w-want you. Leave me here.”
He tangled in my hair, lifting my head. “So you can go back to them. All three of them, you disgusting slut. You’re lucky I didn’t kill them too, but there’s still time to change my mind. Our ride arrives in three days. That’s one for every day you misbehave.”
A lead weight sunk in my gut. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying money talks even on this godforsaken trash barge in the middle of the ocean. I have friends standing by to dispatch your little boyfriends for every day you cause me trouble. And if you run”—his voice dropped to a dangerous hiss—“they’ll have matching bullets in their skulls before you make it up the cliff. Am I understood?”
I swallowed hard. Tears beat on my eyes, but I held them back. Crying would not move him. Pleas wouldn’t sway him. I couldn’t appeal to the humanity of a monster. I had no choice.
“I understand,” I rasped. “I won’t run. I’ll be good.”
“Good.”
Mal’s mouth crashed on mine. My resolve not to cry broke as he forced his tongue past my lips.
“Very good,” he said, high on triumph. “There are some more things I have to take care of, so I’m going out. I’ll be back in a few hours.”
I prayed that was the end of it.
Mal picked me up again and carried me into the lone bedroom. Efforts were made to transform this space as well. A television sat atop a gleaming white credenza. Blue cotton sheets covered the single queen bed. And the restraints over the bedpost were obviously a new addition.
Mal set me on the bed and chained my hands over my head. I didn’t fight him.
I didn’t scream.
I didn’t do anything at all.
He kissed my cheek. “I’ll be back by lunch, and you’ll be here. With me. Where you belong.”
The door shut with a soft click that reverberated inside of me.
It was over.
Mal had finally won.
PRESTON
“We’re doing everything we can, Mr. and Mrs. Adler,” Ortiz said. “We’re a small island. Our force is made up of two detectives, four officers, and our captain. This is our first priority.”
“Can we request more officers come in from the mainland?” Mrs. Lewis-Adler’s red and puffy eyes came from hours of crying. “What about the FBI? Have you contacted them? Malcolm Byrne is a known mobster and murderer.”
“We’ve done both of those things.”
Twenty hours since I was released from the hospital.
Twenty-two hours since they told me Belle was taken.
Twenty-four hours since he got away with her.
Eighteen hours since Belle’s parents flew in.
Ten minutes since the detectives showed up at our door and asked us into the living room. That would make it twenty-two hours, ten minutes, and thirty seconds I’d been waiting for someone to tell me she was okay.
Still counting.
Ortiz laid a soothing hand on Cecilia’s arm. “Mr. Knight has made the situation clear. We sent officers to the airports and docks, and that’s why we’re here. I preface this by saying we haven’t confirmed that this is the man we’re looking for.”
Nathan, Carter, and I sat up straighter.
“One of the airport employees reports a man fitting Malcolm Byrne’s description coming in a few days ago. Apparently, Mr. Prince was correct about him having a memorable face. She says he asked her if he could charter a private plane out of the main airport, and she told him no and that he had to go to Jansen Airfield.”
I bolted off the seat, causing a spike of pain through my head that I ignored. “Private plane? You mean he’s already gone?!”
Ortiz put up his hands. “We have no evidence of that. Hanson interviewed the staff this morning and they say no planes have taken off from there in the last week. Neither has a man fitting his description been to the airfield. They refuse to hand over their security tapes, so we’re in the process of serving a subpoena. We will find her, Mrs. Adler.”
He reached for her again. Cecilia stepped out of reach.
“Call us the minute you have news,” she said. “We’re going back out to look for her.”
“Ma’am, the best thing you can do is remain here. While Byrne is our most likely suspect, we haven’t ruled out other possibilities. If she was taken by kidnappers, the ransom call would come here.”
“She was not taken by random kidnappers,” Tobias snapped. “There were two people on that porch, and I can assure you, even a criminal who is only mildly proficient at Google would know the Du Pont-Desai heir would fetch a higher price than the Adler’s.”
I winced.
“He took Belle for a reason and we know what that reason is,” he said. “We can’t just sit here. Belle needs us.”
“You’re not sitting here,” Ortiz said. “You’re allowing people with the means and experience to bring your daughter home safely.”
“All seven of you,” Nathan bit out.
“More are coming. They fly in tomorrow morning. The only people allowed on or off this island. Trust us,” he said. “Belle will be okay.”
Cecilia sniffed. “Your placations would go down easier if they weren’t said to a family that has had to bury a loved one who died at his hands. We weren’t there for Arabella when she needed us. We certainly won’t fail the beautiful little girl she gifted us, in the same way. Excuse us.”
Belle’s parents marched out.
I saw why Belle had so much respect for her mom. She had this inner determination that made her the strongest person in the room, even as tears cut tracks through her makeup.
I could use some of that.
“Detective,” I spoke up. “What about the guard who attacked us? Ruben Fuller. He’s worked for my family for five years. Do you know why he did this?”
Ortiz nodded. “I’m sorry to say it was plain and simply money. His bank account received a healthy injection of cash a week ago.”
I sank in my seat, rubbing my aching head. Belle warned me about this and I didn’t listen. What was loyalty, reputation, or trust in the face of retiring on a private island?