KIDNAPPED, A Romantic Suspense Novel (5 page)

“Please not like that again. My shoulders already hurt from last night.”

With a softening look, Jake lowered her hands. He tied them out in front of her. “Okay. It won’t be for long this time, Samantha. But I don’t need you crying out for help, either, so.” He pulled out one of her ex-husband’s old ties, and held it to her lips.

Sami clamped her jaw tight. No way would she let him gag her too.

“Now you don’t want to do that, Samantha. Open up, or I’ll have to make you.”

She shook her head back and forth, refusing to open her mouth. No way was she making this easy on him. If he gagged her she wouldn’t be able to use her teeth to untie the pantyhose, which was her plan the second he left the apartment

Jake heaved a heavy sigh. “Okay. Have it your way.”

He reached forward, grasping her by the ponytail. With one swift yank, he pulled her upwards. At the same time he ground his mouth down on hers. It was a hard penetrating kiss. Sami fought and twisted, trying to get free. His hand gripped her hair tight. His lips pressed harder.

Then it changed. The pressure lightened. His tongue traced the outline of her lips, nudging, asking entrance. Heat suffused Sami from head to toe. The throbbing that woke her earlier in the day returned. He tasted like a sultry Cinnamon stick, all male and very spicy. Slowly, as if she had no control over them, her lips parted.

His tongue slipped inside. He tasted her like he was licking some stolen sweet. Stroking, sampling. Another moan escaped her.

Jake pulled away, ending the kiss as quickly as he started it. Before her mind cleared and she could close her mouth, he slid the tie in, securing it behind her head.

Reality snapped back into her mind, followed quickly by hot anger. She pulled on the ties to her hands. She tried to kick out at him. Quickly, he tied her to the bed once more, in such a way she couldn’t get her mouth between the slats of the bed to her fingers and pull out the gag. Then he moved away, managing to dodge her feet.

“I warned you.” He laughed as he scooted to the doorway.

“Mmpph mummph mouu!”
I hate you!
She shot hot daggers at his retreating back. His laughter filled her ears. Humiliation fanned her anger. How dare he!

The door closed. She slumped against the bed. Oh he would regret that kiss. Regret it as much as she was right now.

* * *

Jake dialed the number to Captain Bridges’ office. God he hoped his boss was in and no one else picked up this line.

“Captain Bridges.”

“Tom? It’s Jake.”

“Hold on a minute.”

Jake heard him tell someone, “This is my daughter if you’ll excuse me?” The door clicked shut in the background.

“Jake! Where the hell are you? And what happened last night? All hell’s broken loose here because of that raid.” Worry and anger filled his boss’ voice, but Jake didn’t have time to reassure him.

“Someone tipped off the Kreshnin brothers about me. They caught Nicky and tortured him. I managed to get him out, but by then the raid had started.” He looked at his watch. Twenty seconds. “And the local police came gunning for me, not the Kreshnins like they were supposed to be.”

“What?”

“The force has been compromised.” Forty seconds.

“Who? How?”

“Look, Tom. Can you get Nicky and me into protective custody? And some medical aid? And can you meet me somewhere today?” Fifty seconds.

“Meet me at the Farmers market downtown.”

“Make it for four this afternoon and we’ll be there.”

“Jake...”

Jake clicked the phone down. He hated to cut off Tom Bridges like that, but at this point the only person he could afford to trust was himself. The phone could be tapped. Or worse. Even his boss, whom he’d known nearly ten years, was suspect until he found out otherwise. Someone had informed the Kreshnins about Nicky working with him. The person who compromised his cover would live to regret it.

After checking that no one tailed him, Jake drove into town. His apartment was off limits, as well as the flop room he’d been using while undercover. He still had one totally secure place, the safety deposit box he leased in his maternal grandfather’s name. He habitually concealed any personal papers there. Years of undercover work as a federal agent had honed his survival instincts to a sharp edge. He left nothing to chance when it came to hiding his identity.

The bank supervisor led him to the safety deposit vault, then left him to open his box in private. Jake slid the lid off the gray metal container. The room’s dim central light gave the cubicle a surreal nineteen forties mystery feel. He laughed at his fantasy. His own personal film noir. One he would gladly not be featured in.

He lifted out the Glock and its holster. It felt good to hold it in his hand, comforting even. The cold metal gave him a sense of security he hadn’t felt in the past three years.

Except for last night. Lying in Samantha’s bed, her warm body pressed against his, he’d experienced the most relaxing sleep he’d had since this whole investigation fell into his lap.

He slipped off the jacket he’d found in her closet. The holster fit over his left shoulder, the support strap stretching across his back and over his right shoulder. A pair of steel police handcuffs lay on top of the papers in the box. Jake slipped them into his pants pocket.

He chuckled to himself. These could come in handy in dealing with Samantha. She had lots of gumption. Despite all his threats, she kept trying to find something to help her escape.

Finally he drew out the folded manila envelope. He didn’t need to check its contents. It contained all the evidence he’d gathered against the Kreshnin brothers’ black market weapons, sex slave prostitution houses, and strong arms deals, along with the information about how they ran their individual cells of underlings–complete with pictures. If he only had the cops’ names that set him up, the puzzle would be complete. Once he got Nicky into protective custody with his people at the feds, the Kreshnins and their inside help would pay for the torture that kid had suffered.

Finished, he climbed into the Suburban, heading back to Samantha’s place. She was another loose end he needed to do something about. He couldn’t leave her tied up in the apartment when he left. She didn’t deserve that. But until he had Nicky somewhere safe, he couldn’t leave her free. No, he didn’t trust her that much.

Maybe he could find the phone number of that cop brother of her’s and get him to come get her as soon as they were safe. Yeah, he’d do that. Her brother would protect her.

As he pulled into the garage and cut the engine, he muttered another curse. Never in his life had he taken advantage of a woman. Despite his threats to her earlier, he didn’t plan to start now.

“Nicky, I’m back,” he called as he came though the kitchen.

Nicky didn’t answer him.

He found the boy lying pale and shaking on the floor next to the couch. Gently, Jake lifted him back onto the couch and felt his head the same way he’d seen Samantha do earlier that morning. Dammit. The kid was burning up.

“Samantha,” Jake pulled the switchblade out of his pocket and ran to the bedroom.

Samantha crawled onto the pillows, tugging wildly at her bindings. Fear deep in her wide eyes, she shook her head.

With one swift lunge of the blade, he sliced the ties holding her to the bed. Pulling the gag out of her mouth, he dragged her to the living room.

“Nicky is burning up with fever. You have to do something.” He pointed the knife at her. “Do not let him die, lady.”

CHAPTER THREE

Sami stared at the light gleaming off the blade in front of her. Once she raised her eyes to Jake’s the panic that threatened to rear its ugly head in her once more, faded. In his eyes she read the anguish she’d seen so many times before in family members of critically ill patients. Desperate parents or guardians would do anything, say anything, promise anything, or threaten anyone to help save their child’s life.

She knew, because once she’d done all those things, too. Even though she’d known there was no hope for her daughter, Aimee, she'd done them anyway. All the pleading had done nothing. Raging against heaven and earth yielded no miracles. Even searching every known treatment, no matter how bizarre, did not save her daughter.

She couldn't save Aimee, but she could help Nicky.

“Calm down, Jake. Let’s see how bad it is.” She felt the boy’s head. Without a thermometer, it was hard to tell how high his temperature was. Sweat poured off the poor boy. “Nicky? Can you hear me?”

“He didn’t answer me when I called him. Don’t just sit there, do something.”

Sami ignored the barely leashed anger in Jake’s voice.

“Get me some cold water. A large pan full, and put ice in it.” She lifted the boy’s eyelids. His pupils reacted to the light. Good. “It’s okay, Nicky. Jake and I are going to make you feel better soon. Hang in there.”

She hurried to her bathroom closet, grabbing the bottle of rubbing alcohol, several wash cloths and three big towels. When she knelt beside Nicky, Jake returned with the pan of ice water.

Sami poured the alcohol into the water, soaked the wash cloths in the mixture, then opened Nicky’s clothes. Squeezing out two cloths, she handed them to Jake. “Put these on any part of his skin not bandaged.”

He dropped the towels back in the bowl. “That’s damn cold. It’ll make him shiver even more, See?” He pointed to Nicky.

“Yes, and if his temperature gets too high, his brain will literally cook.  A cold alcohol bath is the quickest way to get his temp down and keep that from happening.” She squeezed a small towel out once again and handed it to him. “I may not like you for barging into my life, but I certainly wouldn’t do this boy any harm to get even with you.”

For a moment he studied her as if she might do just that. She waited patiently.  Something, perhaps the calm way she spoke to him in the same voice she used for uncooperative patients or doctors, convinced him she knew what she was talking about.

“Okay, we’ll do it your way,” he said, laying the cloth on Nicky’s forehead. “It just better work.”

From the threat in his voice, she prayed it did, too.

While Jake did as she asked, Sami pulled off Nicky's drenched pants. She laid more wet cloths on his legs, then turned to repeat the process on his arms. She pulled off his shirt. The rope burn marks on his wrists stopped her short.

"They tied him up to torture him?”

Jake didn't even flinch. “I tried to protect the kid. He kept helping me, even when I asked him not to. They got to him before I could get him to safety.”

"Who did? Why would anyone want to torture a little boy?” Sami could only stare at him.

Jake swept his hand over his face. “The less you know, the better off you’ll be when we leave, Samantha."

"You know I have to report any form of child abuse to the child protection agency. I need to know exactly what they did to him.” She laid her hand on Jake's. "What if something serious was damaged? Look, there is bruising near his ribs. I can’t fix a lacerated spleen, kidney or liver, and I don’t know that he does or doesn’t have one. He may need to go to surgery. And I think he needs some antibiotics."

Jake pushed away from the couch. He strode to the window, resting his arm against the sill. Silence hung in the air like a kite waiting for a burst of wind. "Once I get him to my boss, he’ll be okay. I really can’t trust you to keep quiet, Samantha. You'll run right to the police to report this. And that could mean the death of all three of us."

His tense body signaled Sami that he’d made up his mind. Whatever had happened to Nicky, Jake intended to keep it to himself. Indignation flared hot inside her. "Look, you can’t let your secrets endanger this boy any more than they already have. Until this fever comes down, he’s at risk to have a seizure. You can't risk moving him."

"Look, lady! Maybe you don't understand English. He isn't safe here with you, neither am I. In fact you aren't safe with us here, either. And Nicky certainly isn’t safe at any hospital.” He ran his hands through his thick blonde hair again. Suddenly, he twirled around, slamming one hand against the wall. Sami winced at the sound.

"Damn. I can't believe this is happening. Just get Nicky well enough to travel, okay?”

Sami switched the warm cloths with cool ones. She needed to keep her own temper under control. "I don't know that I can. Alcohol baths are effective, but only for a short period of time."

"Don't you have some medicine he could take? Tylenol or something?” He headed for her bathroom, slamming through the pills she had in there.

"It's useless to look in there. I don’t have children's Tylenol.” Not for four years.

"Can't we give him some regular stuff?”

"I used the last of it the other day."

He strode back into the room, standing over her. "What kind of nurse are you, lady? You don't even keep Tylenol in the house?”

Sami stared at him with a look that had quelled more than one arrogant doctor during her career. "Excuse me. If I had known I was going to be kidnapped by a man with a sick child I would have run right out and bought some children's Tylenol."

"Okay. You made your point.” He held up his hands in mock surrender. "So what do we do?”

"I could run out and get some.” Sami smiled.

He sighed. 

"If I get the Tylenol, how soon will it work? How soon can I move Nicky?”

"If I can get some down him, and if it has any effect, his fever might be lower in about an hour. But I still wouldn't recommend moving him, unless it’s absolutely necessary."

"It's necessary.” He grabbed her by the arm, literally hauling her to her feet.

"Hey!" Sami sputtered, as he dragged her back to the bedroom once more. "You can't tie me up again. Nicky needs me."

"I can't trust you not to take off for the neighbors."

What was this guy? A mind reader?

Sami tried to pull loose, but Jake gripped her too tight. She dragged her feet, trying to slow him. "You can't leave him alone out there."