chapter Nineteen
Ramsey knocked at our hotel door an hour later, bags in hand. Beau stepped outside to have a private conversation with his lieutenant, and I spent the next few minutes picking through the clothing and changing into jeans, a T-shirt with Beau’s business logo on it, and fresh panties. There was even a pair of Keds slides. Nice.
I tucked my cell phone into my back pocket and it immediately began to vibrate. Surprised, I pulled it out and stared at the screen.
It read Gis-cell. I flipped it open and answered warily. “Giselle, where are you—”
“Hello, Bathsheba.” The voice was overly sugary, smug. I didn’t recognize it, and it sure wasn’t Giselle. There was something about the tone that niggled at my memory. “Be very quiet and listen to what I say, or your sister Sara is going to die.”
I went cold, blackness crawling before my eyes. The breath whooshed out of my lungs. How had they gotten Sara? Ramsey was keeping her safe … I glanced toward the hallway, where I’d just seen him, then swallowed. “Who is this?”
“This is Arabella. Remember me?”
“I remember you.” I looked at the door, but the men were still murmuring out there. I moved to the bathroom and shut the door behind me. “You have Sara?”
“I do,” she crowed. “And your boss, too, who happens to be in terrible pain at the moment. Want to talk to her?”
God, no. But that wasn’t a good answer. “Yes.”
There was a bit of static, and then I heard a groan of pain, followed by a sob. Giselle?
The phone jerked away and I heard Arabella’s soft laugh. “Oops. Sounds like she can’t come to the phone right now. Too bad.”
“Let me talk to Sara.”
“She’s currently unconscious.”
My heart froze. “If you’ve hurt her—”
“I haven’t yet,” she interrupted. “At least not too much. I’m going to leave that for the wolf pack, since they’re so hot and bothered about finding her. Unless you and I want to work something out?”
Every ounce of my body wanted to fling the phone away. “Yes,” I gritted. “What do you want?”
“Good.” She sounded pleased. “If you want your sister to live, I need you to do a few things.”
I hesitated. Giselle gave a shout of pain in the background, and that decided me, even though I had an awful feeling in my stomach that this wasn’t going to turn out well. “I’m listening.”
“I want you to meet me,” she said calmly, as if she’d been discussing a dinner date. “Alone. I’m going to text you the address, and I want you to be there in a half hour. If I get one sniff of someone helping you or accompanying you, I’ll cut Sara’s throat. Understand?”
I swallowed. “I’ll come alone.” I didn’t know how I’d get away from Beau, but I wouldn’t let Sara down.
“Good.” She chuckled. “Be here in a half hour or I start cutting off fingers. And claws. Your little sister can’t afford to lose much more.”
She hung up.
I clenched my fists, trying to think. I couldn’t break down. I had to do something. Fast. If I told Beau, he’d stop me from going and Sara would die.
I needed a plan.
The room door shut and Beau called out, “Bathsheba?”
I smoothed my hands down my jeans, wiping away the clamminess. “Be out in just a minute.” I took that time to compose myself and then left the bathroom, my face carefully blank. One wrong facial expression, and Beau would figure me out.
“If I get one sniff of someone helping you or accompanying you, I’ll cut Sara’s throat.”
So I had to get rid of Beau. I ignored the smile he was aiming in my direction and sat on the edge of the bed. “So what’s the plan?”
He came and sat next to me, his warm arm rubbing against mine. His arm slid around my waist and he pulled me closer. “What do you mean?”
I pried away from him and leapt off the bed. Time to play innocent, to get him off the trail. “I mean, what’s your plan to find out where Giselle is? What if the same people that are after me have her?”
He looked exasperated. “Giselle can take care of herself, and I don’t give a damn where she’s at. All I care about is keeping you safe.”
I nearly crumbled at that, but I decided to use it against him instead. “So you’re just going to leave her there, helpless? What if the wolves have her and are torturing her to find out where Sara is?”
He shook his head. “They wouldn’t torture one female to get another. And Giselle is anything but helpless.”
No, she wasn’t. If there was anyone that could turn a kidnapping into roses, it would be Giselle. But then I remembered the blood under her desk. “We can’t just leave her with whoever has her, Beau. She’s my boss.” My voice rose an octave.
“Leave it alone, Bathsheba.”
“No. We need to help find her.”
He glared at me as I paced. “You’re not going to let this go, are you?”
“No.” I can’t.
“Why are you so loyal to her? She’s used you over and over again.”
“She’s given me a job. A good-paying job,” I shot back. “She’s stood up for me. The least I can do is not leave her to the wolves.”
“Not wolves,” he said dismissively. “Whatever is behind this attacked the wolves.”
“It was a figure of speech,” I snapped, starting to get worried at how close he was to the truth. “We have to rescue Giselle. I won’t be able to live with myself if we don’t. Remember that finger on your property? Whoever is behind this is eating people. And they have her.”
“I realize that,” he said patiently. “But your safety is first and foremost in my mind. Someone is out there hunting blondes. That’s in addition to the wolf pack, which is looking for your sister and has my cousin. We have enough problems without trying to play white knight to a woman who was trying to pimp you out to the highest bidder! Bath,” he said, moving to my side and rubbing my arms to soothe me. “With everything that’s going on, why don’t you just lay low for the next few days and let me take care of things.”
The offer was sweet, and thoughtful … and meant me sitting on my ass waiting for him to make magic happen.
That wasn’t how I worked.
Beau’s phone vibrated and he glanced down at the screen, then back at me. “Ramsey’s got an update on Savannah. Can you wait in here?”
I nodded. “Sure.”
As soon as he was out the door, I plucked the keys from the nightstand and climbed out the window—luckily, we were on the bottom floor—and then I shut it again. Then I dashed across the parking lot to the rental car. Even if I was running into a trap, I’d do it. Sara needed me.
As I pulled out of the parking lot, my cell phone buzzed. The message that popped up was a text with an address.
I memorized it without really comprehending the words and pulled onto the high-way.
Beau would be panicking, wondering where I’d gone. He’d asked me to trust him, and I hadn’t. As soon as he’d turned his back, I’d run. Again. If I ever saw him again, I hoped he would understand.