Wilde Heart (Wilde Women Book 2) (55 page)

This was what he did, and Liam had to trust that he knew what he was doing. Rhiann’s life depended on it.

Rhiann kept silent watch over every move Kim made. The woman was agitated and getting more so with each passing minute. What was going on in her head? She’d mentioned waiting for Roman to appear. Was bringing her here a trap? How did Kim see this all ending? The only answers she could come up with turned her blood cold.

Rhi’s fingers were numb from the restraints on her wrists and she could barely see out of one eye. Having been soundly clocked twice had led to swelling on that side of her face. To keep her wits active, she’d been clenching and releasing the muscles in her butt and squeezing her toes into the threadbare carpet trying to keep the blood flowing in her legs. A plan was starting to come together in her mind.

After a protracted and eerie silence, Kim started babbling incoherently. Cursing every man on the planet, she paced back and forth, waving the gun at Rhi every so often as she railed against Liam and what she called his
dick logic.

Didn’t take long to figure out that in her warped mind, Rhiann was some backwoods floozy sent to tempt the object of Kim’s desire—making him choose between young pussy and BPG. And by BPG, she meant her, of course.

“You know, I watched you three down on the beach together. Liam’s such a shit. Coming after you like a dog hunting a bone.”

Stopping to run to the window and peek through the curtains when the sound of a car pulling up outside caught her attention, Kim’s manic behavior was starting to crack.

Coming to stand in front of Rhiann, she used the barrel of the gun to push Rhi’s hair away.

“I thought after Bishop made a fool of himself over the way Liam had used you, that both of you would sail off into the sunset together. Would have been easier all around,” she muttered thickly.

“But no. Not even that English bulldog he brought back was enough to put him off your scent.”

She snickered and made a tut-tut noise. “Stupid little girl.” Getting right up in Rhiann’s face—close enough that she could see the wild gleam in her eyes—Kim sneered, “Should have fucked him while you had the chance.”

The pacing started again. Then the insane laughter.

“Ha! Seeing the way you carried on at the beach . . . if I’d known Liam was that kinky, I would have hooked us up with a threesome years ago. Oh, and, by the way? He
loved
the model car I gave him for Christmas. That was such a nice touch, I must say. What was it? A Model T?”

Rhiann couldn’t help it. She growled and as much as her swollen eye would allow, glared at the crazy bitch taunting her.

“
Awww,
what? Thought you had the inside track and were the first to unleash the Ashforth beast? What a fool you are, girl. I’ve been servicing that mighty cock for
years,
and I know way better than you what gets him off.”

The crazy laughing vanished, replaced by a glaring menace that scared the shit out of Rhi.
Holy fuck.
Kim was losing it right before her eyes. All of a sudden, she ran across the small room and grabbed Rhiann around the throat, spitting in her face with a loud roar.

“Slut! He was mine, you fucking bitch, and you ruined everything! Everything! He might have enjoyed that virgin pussy of yours years ago, but let me tell you something, little girl. Men like Liam Ashforth play by different rules. They have needs little country bumpkins can’t ever meet.”

Seized by a need to put an end to this madness, Rhiann lurched forward in the chair in an unsuccessful attempt to head butt her captor, but Kim was too fast and backed off before Rhi made contact.

This time when the hit came, she blacked out from the crushing blow to her temple.

“Boss,” Roman husked. “There’s a call for you.”

A call? Liam jumped up from his seat and leaped across the office to get at the phone in Roman’s hand.

“Rhiann?” he asked hopefully.

A solemn headshake shut that bit of wishful thinking down. “No. It’s Miss Wilde’s brother-in-law, and he’s on fire.”

Taking the phone, he mumbled, “Ashforth,” then waited for the shit storm he knew was coming.

“I should have fucking killed you when I had the chance. What did you do to Rhiann, you motherfucker?”

He. Just.
Couldn’t.

Hearing the unleashed rage in the man’s voice was too much for Liam. What could he say? How in fucking hell could he ever explain to Rhiann’s family what was happening? The professor, he admired. And Darcy Baron-Wilde? Imagining their horror and fear over their daughter’s safety stripped his soul bare.

The man on the other end of the phone was screaming at him. Hurling wild accusations that Liam couldn’t listen to. Wordlessly handing the phone back to Roman, he sank into the nearest chair and put his head in his hands.

After a couple of minutes, Roman came to his side and put a hand on his shoulder.

“I took care of it. Calmed him down. He’s a good guy, Boss. Iraq vet. He’s frantic about Miss Wilde and has a pregnant hysterical wife on his hands so grade him on a curve, okay?”

“How did he find out?” Liam asked quietly.

Roman snorted. “Small town. There’s a shit ton of police activity at the house. Sounded to me like the guy who takes care of the grounds drove by, saw the flashing lights, stopped and asked a few questions. Kidnappings don’t happen every day around here so the guy called north to inform the property owner what he found out. After that, the shit, as they say, hit the fan in spectacular fashion.”

“Did you tell him . . . I mean . . . did you tell him I’m sorry?”

“Did no such thing. Told him you loved the girl and had done everything except kill the bitch yourself to protect Miss Wilde. He gets it.”

What could he say to that? Liam nodded and went back to blankly staring at the floor.

“Here. Take a look at this,” Roman murmured, handing him his cell phone. “If this doesn’t make Walsh play her hand, I don’t know what will.”

Glancing at the screen, he saw one of the crazy selfies they’d taken the other day. In this one, his beautiful Rhiann was neatly sandwiched between him and Roman. The shot was a close-up of their smiling faces with Rhiann’s hands cupping each one of their faces. Roman’s smirk, her beaming smile, and Liam’s quirky grin stared back at him. The matching hoodies were the icing on the cupcake.

The caption read,
Beach Threesome- here I am with my two hunks enjoying some fun on the sand.

Liam’s eyes widened. When Cam posted the picture and caption, he’d obviously been trying to incite a reaction. Implying a ménage à trois was certainly a good way to start.

When Rhiann came to, she heard a low, menacing growl close to her ear and froze. Oh, jeez.
Now what?

“Is this how you get your kicks, you little bitch?”

The throbbing in her head was making it difficult to focus, but Kim was waving something in front of her face so she tried to concentrate.

Her vision cleared and she saw a Facebook page.
Her
Facebook page but what did that even mean? Rhiann had all her privacy controls set on high and no one except those she friended should have been able to see her stuff.

“I should kill you now, slut, but waiting for that asshole, Bishop, and taking you out together will be so much more fun.”

Shoving the phone in her face, a completely unglued Kim Walsh screamed, “Here! Take a last look, Wilde. Hope you enjoyed the DP action, you fucking twat, because that’s the last you’ll ever see of Liam Ashforth.”

Petrified eyes glanced at the screen, where she saw three smiling, happy faces. Instead of her life flashing before her eyes, Rhiann felt a rush of calm descend from the top of her head straight down to her toes. The picture was a message. They were coming for her. It was just a matter of time. Making her Facebook page public and posting that particular photo was all the reassurance she’d ever need.

Tears of joy leaked from her eyes, rolling across her cheeks to drip from the duct tape. She remembered Liam’s voice from her dream. “Be brave,
milaya moya.
Be fearless.”

The sight of her tears brought wild, cackling laughter from her tormentor.

“That’s it, little girl. Cry like the baby you are.”

L
IAM LOOKED UP WHEN ROMAN came bounding into the chief’s office.

“Snap! We’ve got her,” he told him with a brittle smile. “Pardon my vulgarity, but just so you know—that cunt is about to get hers.”

“What’s happened?”

“Cam called it. She was trolling. When she went online, he could see every site she visited. The Facebook thing paid off, Boss. Must have really shook her up because she accessed the page nine times. Long enough to get a location.”

Liam shot to his feet. “Let’s go.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Settle down, Beavis. First we have to come up with a plan. There’s a lot at stake here, okay? A single misstep could blow up in our faces. Come on,” he said, grabbing Liam by the arm. “There’s a briefing about to get started in the patrol room. Hang in there a little while longer.”

Grabbing Rhiann’s purse from the desk, he murmured, “She’ll want this back.”

Roman gave him a reassuring look and smacked him on the back. “Indeed. Come on. Let’s go get your lady and end this fucking nightmare.”