He checked inside the Sun Seeker again, but found no sign that Dylan had been in there. A quick run-through of his apartment offered no clues either. Every moment that passed, his fear ratcheted up.
It was the tail end of bear season, after all. Dylan could have had a run-in with a grizzly. He could be in the woods somewhere, bleeding out, in shock, with no service, or unconscious. Maybe he’d run into a porcupine and had quills stuck everywhere. Maybe—
Kate pulled up outside the house in Emma’s old Saab and flew out of the car. The sight of her tall form, with all that long dark hair and her worried bright eyes, sent a jolt of longing right down to his bones. She wore blue jeans and a gray knit top that clung to her curves.
God, how he wanted her. Still, even after she’d dismissed their relationship as a fun “thing.”
“Any luck?” she asked, skidding to a stop next to him.
“No. It’s the strangest thing. We were supposed to leave this morning, but when I woke up he was gone. His stuff was all packed up and ready to go. He just…vanished.”
He filled her in on all the steps he’d taken to find the boy.
Kate listened closely, nodding at each point. “Okay, let’s go through this logically. You said he was gone when you woke up. Did anything unusual happen overnight?”
“I didn’t sleep well,” he admitted. “Haven’t for a few days.”
She made a face at that. He noticed that she too had dark circles under her eyes. His guess was right; she hadn’t been sleeping either.
“I finally fell asleep around three-thirty, I think. Slept hard after that.” He frowned as something came back to him. “There might have been a noise. I woke up a little, then figured it was a dream.”
“What sort of noise?”
He shrugged. “A thump, maybe? Not clear.”
“What was the dream you were having?”
In bits and snatches, it came back to him. “Someone was falling down the stairs and I was trying to catch them. You. You were falling down the stairs. I tried to catch you but you kept slipping through my arms.”
Her eyes widened and for a moment she looked as though she might cry. Then she took a step back and folded her arms across her chest. “Maybe you heard something on the stairs. Have you looked upstairs in my place?”
“I tapped on the door, but I don’t have the key. I didn’t get any answer when I knocked.”
“I’ll just run up and check inside. It’ll just take a second, I’ll be right back.”
His phone rang; Nate calling. “Okay. I’ll see what Nate has to say.”
She ran up the blue-painted stairs and slipped through her door.
After she disappeared, he felt strange, as if he’d looked at the sun too long. And now all the light in the world had vanished.
Chapter Thirty-Four
The second Kate stepped inside her door, a hand came over her mouth and someone manhandled her inside and shut the door behind her.
Terror froze her in place, her LA nightmares finally coming true. They’d finally snagged her, just when she’d stopped worrying.
“Damn, you’re a troublesome bitch,” the man growled in her ear. “Do you know how long I’ve been waiting up here for you to show up?”
She twisted in his grip and managed to peer up at him. He looked familiar, but she couldn’t place him.
But the fact that she knew him from somewhere took some of the fear away. She tried to bite his hand, but he shifted to covering her mouth with his elbow.
“I have the kid tied up in the living room, so don’t get any fucked-up ideas. Do what I say or I’ll hurt him.”
He dragged her into the living room. She tried to make as much noise as she could with her feet, just in case Darius could hear from outside.
Which of course he couldn’t.
Dylan lay on his side on the rug, his hands tied behind his back, duct tape over his mouth. His eyes met Kate’s, and he shook his head a little. He looked calm enough, though pale.
The man drew a gun from the back of his pants and pointed it at Dylan.
“You gonna be quiet now? If you are, I’ll let you loose. If not, this kid’s going to get it.”
She nodded quickly, and he released her.
A knock sounded on the door. “Kate? Did you find him?” called Darius.
The man flicked the safety off the gun, which was still aimed at Dylan.
Damn it. If only she could yell for help, but she couldn’t take a chance on Dylan getting hurt.
“Say he’s not here. Say you’ll be out in a while. Exactly those words. Nothing fancy.”
She repeated his words exactly as commanded.
When Darius spoke again, she heard the coolness in his voice. He obviously thought she was abandoning the search. “All right then. Catch you later.”
His footsteps sounded on the outdoor stairs, and then he was gone. Along with any chance of outside help. She was on her own, with Dylan’s safety at stake.
She turned to the intruder. Salt-and-pepper hair, roughly good-looking features, avaricious eyes. He clicked the safety back on, but didn’t put the gun away.
“Who are you?” she demanded. “What do you—” Suddenly she recognized him. “You work for my father. You’re his servant. The one with the costume.”
“I wouldn’t put it exactly that way, but yeah, I work with your father.”
“God, I should have figured. One of his criminal buddies? You just made things so much worse for yourself. Assaulting a minor. Kidnapping. Assaulting me.”
In his smooth smirk, she recognized the smile of a con man. “Guess that makes your job that much harder.”
“My job? What are you talking about?” She gestured toward Dylan. “Obviously this has nothing to do with him. Just let the boy go and we can talk about what you want.”
“The boy got himself into this. He came after me when he should have minded his business. Didn’t even have his phone with him. Now he’s my insurance policy. He’s going to stay right where he is until we’re outta here.”
We? Why did this man keep talking as if they were in this together?
“This is absurd. If my dad wanted something why didn’t he just call me?” A possible answer occurred to her. “They’re monitoring his communications. So he sent you.”
“Stop talking like he’s in charge. He’s not.”
“Does he know you’re here?”
“Look, I’m not here to hurt you.”
Since he didn’t answer her question directly, she had to figure her father knew. And man, did that sting. Even if this intruder didn’t want to “hurt” her—he’d already done it.
“Why are you here?”
“You gave us no choice. We need more legal help.”
God, it was like being caught in quicksand and never being able to get out. This was the feeling that had driven her to emancipate herself, to go to law school, to change her path. Was it all hopeless? Every step she’d taken in life, erased?
She folded her arms across her chest. “I already told Frank I was done. No more legal help.”
“It’s not for him. He’s all set, not like the rest of us. You’ll get plenty out of the deal. Big bucks. Clients out your ass. I’m first, though.”