Protecting Rose (25 page)
He ground his teeth together when he recalled what Rose had told him about her parents. He would deal with imparting that bit of information when they reached the station. “What about the leak? Did we learn anything from her yet?”
“Actually, we did.” He unlocked his car and they both got in. “The description of her contact and the description of Sheila’s attacker are one and the same. He was also your shooter.”
Nate nodded grimly. “Yeah, I figured. How is Sheila doing?”
Rick’s hands tightened on the steering wheel and a dark expression came over his face. “She was beaten pretty bad and is in a medically induced coma. They don’t anticipate bringing her out of it for at least a few days. But her prognosis is good.
“How did you ID him?”
“A kid next door saw a guy leaving her house that matched his description.”
“Was she raped?” Nate remembered how the bastard had tried to rape Rose, and he wanted to kill him all over again.
“No, thank god,” he said through gritted teeth. “We figure he discovered Sheila had visited Rose at the safe house and was after the location.” Rick grimaced. “She didn’t give the information up easily. It looks like he tortured her until she gave him the address.”
Nate cursed.
“You’ve been out for over forty-eight hours.” Rick quirked a brow.
Nate frowned. That meant Rose had been in the hands of her enemy for nearly three days. That knowledge twisted his gut, which told him that he was quickly running out of time to save her. Still feeling a bit shaky, they ran through a drive-through on the way and ordered a large black coffee and double cheeseburger.
Rick glanced at Nate with a smirk. “Dr. Anderson figured you’d refuse to stay in the hospital to recover and had you sedated for a couple days.”
He had lost a lot of blood from the knife wound, but fortunately, it hadn’t hit any major arteries. It had been more the drugs that kept him under so long to allow his body time to heal, rather than the injury.
Nate raised an eyebrow with a glowering scowl.
Chuckling, Rick veered into the station and parked the car. J.D. was in his office flipping through a file when they entered.
“So, what do we know?” Rick asked.
J.D. grinned. “Hey, Nate. Good to see you back in action, man. Take a load off.” He waved them to the chairs across from his desk.
After they took their seats, he continued. “About eight years ago, a couple were killed by a hit and run driver in front of the Chicago Orchestra Hall. It was witnessed by their teenage daughter, Cassandra.”
Nate slapped his hand down on the table. The loud crack reverberated throughout the small room. “Bingo!”
Rick grinned. “Last name?”
“Townsend,” J.D. said. “Cassandra Townsend.” He slid the folder toward Nate. “Here’s everything we have on her. There’s not much. It seems she became somewhat of a recluse. After her parents died, she dropped out of her training with the Orchestra.”
Nate opened the folder and saw a picture of a young Rose staring back at him. His hand shook when he picked it up. Not knowing if she was dead or alive was tearing him up.
“We’ll find her, Stone,” Rick assured him.
“It says here she’s an heiress to a considerable fortune.” Nate raised a surprised brow. Money was a strong motivator for murder.
Rick glanced over Nate’s shoulder to read the file. “Ten million.” He whistled. “Now that’s a number people would kill for.”
“It certainly is,” Nate agreed. “Do we know what happened to the money after her parents died?”
J.D. shook his head. “No, but I assume it went into some kind of trust for her. She would have been too young to inherit. Give me a minute. I’ll check with the probate division over at the Courthouse and see what they have. Sit tight.” He stood and left the room.
Nate continued to read the slim file they had on Rose. It seemed like she had dropped out of sight after the accident. She’d been seventeen at the time, so that put her around twenty-five now. He flipped through the next couple of pages until he located her birth date. She’d just turned twenty-five that week.
“Do we have a current address?” Rick asked.
“No. It’s like she just disappeared at the age of seventeen?” Nate glanced at the clock on the wall. It had been three hours since he’d woken up in the hospital. Three more hours Rose had been forced to spend with her enemy. Images of her being abused slammed into him.
Nate stood. His chair tipped over falling to the floor with a crash as he paced the room like a caged animal. Stopping at one end of the room, he slapped his hand on the wall. The sound reverberated through the air like a thunderclap.
“Fuck,” he growled. He balled up his fist from his other hand and punched the wall. The pain from the impact curbed his out of control rage, bringing it to a slow simmer.
Rick’s hand landed on his shoulder. “Hey, Stone,” he said quietly. “You need to keep it together, man. Rose is counting on you.”
Nate fought for control over his dark emotions. Rick was right. He needed to remain cool-headed if he was going to figure this thing out and find her before it was too late.
He turned when the door opened and J.D. walked back in.
“Oookay.” J.D. eyed them warily. “Is everything all right in here?”
Rick’s hand dropped from his shoulder. “Yeah, we’re good. Right, buddy?”
“Sure, everything’s peachy,” He growled. He shook his hand that hurt from hitting the wall. “So, what did you find out?”
“Well, it appears Rose’s uncle was appointed her guardian, as well as executor of her parents’ estate.” He held out a piece of paper to Nate. “Here’s his address. Maybe he’ll know something that can help you find her.”
Nate headed toward the door, and Rick followed closely behind. When he read the slip of paper in his hands, he stopped abruptly. Not being able to stop in time, Rick ran into his back, which caused Nate to stumble forward.
J.D. chuckled. “Hey, Frick and Frack, the door’s that way.” He pointed toward the exit sign.
Nate flipped J.D. off as he handed Rick the paper. “Didn’t Rose mention someone by the name of Larsen when she was under hypnosis?”
Ricked glanced down at the piece of paper and back up to Nate with a grin. “Yeah, you’re right, she did.”
“Larsen is her uncle. It’s her own
goddamn
uncle,” Nate growled. The bastard was after her money...it’s always about the money.
The puzzle was finally coming together, but he knew they needed to put all the pieces in place before it was too late. Rose’s life was in mortal danger every second that her uncle held her captive.
“Mitch Larsen,” Rick said. “Why does that name sound familiar?”
“I don’t know.” Nate eyebrows rose questioningly before he turned abruptly and headed toward the computer room. They needed to figure out where Larsen would have taken her. “Let’s find out.”
Both Rick and J.D. followed him to the nearest computer, where he sat down and entered the name Mitch Larsen. It took less than ten seconds to hit the mother lode.
“Sonofabitch,” Nate said darkly. “It looks like Mitch Larsen is a big power broker on Capitol Hill.” His brows drew together. “He appeared on the scene about eight years ago. Coincidentally, about the same time Rose’s parents died. Bastard! If I were a bettin’ man, I’d guess that Mitch Larsen has about ten million reasons to want Rose dead.”
“That’s it.” Rick slapped Nate on the back with a wide grin.
Nate printed off Larsen’s address, noting it was only a few hours away. He stood and shot Rick a determined look. “Let’s go get my woman.”
Rose had managed to hide a fork from her meager breakfast plate under her mattress, before the drug had blocked out everything but the pleasurable floating sensation. Hours later, she began to shake off her drug-induced stupor as the sun settled in the west. He would be coming to give her another injection soon. A shudder started at her spine and rolled down her body, leaving her trembling from its intensity.
She managed to crawl to the bathroom and turn on the cold water in the shower. Still wearing her clothes and too weak to stand for long, she knelt on the floor and let the ice cold water flow over her in a desperate attempt to shock the remaining drug from her system.
Over the last few days, she had lost count of how many times they’d forced the drug upon her. After the first day, her uncle had left for some political fundraiser. The ape now brought her food, along with a fresh dose of the drug. She had lost track of the days, with no idea of how long she’d been held. The ape would ask her if she was ready to sign the papers and each time she would tell him to ‘
go to hell
.
’
She fought him with every ounce of strength she had left until her arms bled from the injections and her face bruised from the blows.
Only the thought of Nate kept her going. She knew he would not want her to give up, and she wanted her uncle to pay for what he had done. For murdering her parents and taking away the man she loved more than life itself.
The thought of Nate almost brought her to her knees with grief and despair. Until she visualized his slow, sexy smile as he urged her not to give up. Determination to continue fighting reemerged in full force. She vowed to herself that she would not let her uncle win.
She figured she had two choices. One, to escape and have him arrested and sent to prison for the rest of his miserable life. Or two, if she was going to die, it would be on her terms, and she planned to go down fighting. She would not just meekly accept her death as a fait accompli.
With every splash of the cold water that flowed over her, her mind became clearer until she was finally able to get to her feet. Rose continued to stand under the water until her body began to shiver from the cold before turning off the spray with shaky hands. She stepped from the shower, wrung the water from her long hair, and stripped off her wet clothes. Closing her eyes, she inhaled, and let out a calming breath before rushing to her closet. She needed to dress before the ape arrived. She needed to be ready.
Rose held her breath as she checked under the mattress for the fork, praying it hadn’t been discovered while she was numb from the drug. She was relieved to find it exactly where she’d left it. She would escape tonight. Or die trying. She had to get away soon or it would be too late. A desire for the drug was already growing, and her body would lose the war if the injections continued.
When footsteps neared her door, she slipped the fork into the waistband of her jeans and pulled her top down to cover it. The door opened and the ape sauntered in.
“Hello, Cassandra,” he said with a leer.
He came over to where she stood by the window and placed the needle and vial on the dresser just out of her reach, preparing for her struggles. His eyes gleamed with sick enjoyment in her fear, taking every opportunity to fondle her as he subdued her.
For whatever reason, her uncle must have given him instructions not to touch her, because she knew he wanted her. Maybe there was a tiny spark of humanity still in her uncle somewhere.
“Are you ready to sign the papers today?”
“Go to hell,” she spat.
After the cold shower, her mind was more alert and she contemplated her escape. She had to distract him if she were to have any chance of taking him down. He was much bigger and stronger, and the element of surprise was her only hope.
As he neared, Rose forced a quiver into her voice and let the fear she was feeling rush to the surface. “W-wait,” she stammered, holding one hand up in front of her in a pleading gesture.
He continued to walk toward her until his chest brushed her outstretched hand as he loomed over her. She could see the hungry gleam in his eyes as he watched her. He got off on the power he held over her.
Rose brushed her hair from her face and gave him her most timid look. “Can’t we come to some other arrangement?” She unbuttoned the top buttons of her blouse. His eyes darkened with lust.
He stepped closer and cupped her breast. “What did you have in mind?”
Rose readied herself as he shoved her against the wall and pressed his body to hers, her sole focus on escape. Bile rose in her throat when he reached down to rip her blouse open and roughly grab her breasts. When he bent down and cruelly pressed his mouth over hers, she slid the fork from her waist. She hesitated for only a split second before she brought it down against the side of his neck with all the force she could muster. His agonized scream made her ill. She knew given the chance he’d kill her, so she twisted the fork in deeper.
With eyes filled with shock, he stepped back, grabbed his neck and fell to the floor. Blood gushed from the deep wound. Rose glanced down to see that she was sticky with his blood, as though she’d bathed in it. A shudder shook her.
“I’m sorry,” she whimpered. Tears of fear and remorse ran down her face as she watched his eyes grow dim. Even knowing she did what she had to do to survive did not ease the horror she felt at taking a life. Not wanting to see him take his final breath, she turned and fled from the room.
She was weak from her fight against the drugs and the lack of food, and her emotions were shattered by Nate’s death and her uncle’s murderous deception. Fear and desperation overwhelmed her. Her mind began to shut down and her body went into shock. Everything around her seemed to be move slowly as she clumsily made her way down the stairs.
She knew she had to get out of the house before someone found her. Before her uncle came back and forced more drugs on her. Images of Nate flashed through her mind and she remembered his laugh and gentle touch, the sexy scent of his aftershave and sweet cinnamon breath. The way he held her as she fell asleep and kept her nightmares at bay. Rose wished he were here to save her, as she was so very weary.
With an anguished cry, she knew that wasn’t going to happen. They had killed him, and she was alone with no one to help her. She would have to save herself.
“Oh, Nate,” she sobbed.
She had to get away. Before the ape woke up and came for her. Rose shook her head in confusion.
No, that’s not right. I killed him. He can’t hurt me now.
Her mind seemed to work slowly, dazed and disoriented. Another sob ripped from her. She tripped and fell the last few steps down the stairs, landing on her back.
She looked up to see the other guard standing at the top of the stairs. He pulled his gun. With a scream of terror, she rolled to her stomach and up to her knees then quickly crawled to the door. Rose grabbed the knob, opened the door and rolled outside. The sound of gunfire echoed behind her. She got to her feet and ran from the house.
Rose was picked up and encased in arms of steel. “No!” She flailed against the arms imprisoning her.
Her heart raced and her breath came in short labored gasps. She wasn’t going to make it. This was where she was going to die, back where it all began. But at least her uncle wasn’t going to win. Rose took a small sense of comfort from that. She hadn’t signed the papers.
Her emotions broke free of all restraint. With an unnatural strength born of fear and fury, she fought back with a fierce desperation to live, not willing to just give up.
Rose jerked her head back and felt the satisfying thud when she nailed her assailant in the nose. She twisted against the arms that trapped her, thrashing, kicking and biting. She refused to surrender and continued to valiantly struggle in vain.
“Let me go.” Tears flowed freely down her cheeks. “I won’t sign. I won’t!”
Her body grew weaker and began to shut down, her breathing becoming erratic and shallow. She was so tired, so very tired of the fight and desperately wanted the comfort of Nate’s arms.
