“Ignore my call again and you won’t like the outcome.”
His voice stripped away the deterring fence line, the patrolling guards, and the security of surveillance cameras. Yes, Sir shot to her throat and stuck there, along with a barrage of violent objections.
“Walk to the northeast corner of the veranda where I can see you better.”
A chill snaked through her body. Was he nearby? Had he planted cameras? Darkness strangled her heart, raising goose pimples down her spine.
Fuck him. He couldn’t hurt her. She was safe here.
“Don’t make me wait, beautiful girl.”
Where was northeast? The urgency to find Jay powered her to stand. She moved toward the corner of the wing, remaining in the line of shadows and placing the pool area in view. The surface of the water was still, the patio vacant of life. The living room and kitchen beyond were equally empty. Jay must’ve gone to the wine cellar. Where was Nathan? Her stomach rolled. He didn’t guard her when she was in Jay’s wing.
“Very good. Now remove that hideous shirt.”
Fuck. Shit. Shit. How was he seeing her in the dark? No way was she going to run across the well-lit pool area. She spun back toward Jay’s room, slamming her knee into a chair, slipped through the door, and locked it behind her. “How’d you get this number?”
The desire to hang up was overwhelming, but somehow hearing his voice gave her a sense of traction, as if keeping him with her prevented him from sneaking up on her.
She ran to the bedside table and hit buttons on the console until the curtains hummed, covering the windows and doors. A relieved breath slipped past her lips.
“That was a mistake, Charlee. You’ll be punished severely for it.”
The curtains shifted, reopened. She flinched and recovered by hitting the buttons. Nothing. The damn thing wasn’t working.
Vulnerability crept into her bones. She backed toward the interior door. “I hate you for everything you’ve done to me. Most of all, I hate you for taking all those lives.” Heart punching against her ribs, she bolted out of the bedroom and raced down the hall. “How many have you killed? My father, your guard, his niece…Noah.”
“I haven’t killed anyone.”
Fucking liar. He excelled at distortion, built an enterprise with his forked tongue.
She burst through the double doors and into the corridor. Where was everyone? Oh God. What if he was there? What if the Craigs—
“Ah, there you are. Take off that shirt. Now.”
She glanced down. The Burn emblazoned in red flames across her chest. Her pulse raced.
If Roy were on the property, he wouldn’t have been on the phone. She turned in a circle, followed the angles of the soaring ceiling. There. A corner-mounted camera.
“Yes, Charlee. I have eyes everywhere. Come home.”
Her knees buckled. She turned back toward Tony’s door, the nearest room, tried the handle. Locked. She pounded her fist.
“Mr. Winslow and Ms. Tony are in the control room trying to recover the faulty security system.”
The security system was down? Chills ran through her, and sweat beaded on her face. She pressed her back against the wall, cringing at the storage room door and the shadows in the bends and nooks of the suddenly too-long corridor. “If you cared about me at all, you’d let me live my life.” Keep him talking. Find Jay, Nathan, someone.
“I’m so very disappointed you’re fucking him, Charlee. You belong to me. I don’t like what I saw outside his bedroom. You will be punished for that, as will he.”
A crash barreled through the phone. Oh God. She hoped he was alone. His fury never missed its mark when there was a living punching bag nearby.
She crept along the wall toward the basement doorway which would take her to the wine cellar and the control room. She reached it just before the living room and a black hole yawned from below. Where was the light switch? She fumbled along the wall, searching, and brushed her hand over it. Nothing. She flicked it again and again. The darkness below held still.
The living room lights blinked out. The kitchen and hallway followed, plunging her into blackness. She gripped the phone and tried to slow her breathing. Goddamned fucking Nathan. Why had she let him take her gun? “Where are you?”
“Right here, beautiful girl. I can see your lovely tits heaving. I’m still waiting for that shirt to be removed. Every act of disobedience is a strike against your friends.”
Her eyes darted over the ceiling and locked on a solid red light.
“That’s right. Lucky for us, the cameras have infrared illuminators.”
Lucky for her, that confirmed he wasn’t in the house. Unless he was fucking with her. She eased into the stairway. Were there cameras there? Fuck, she should’ve paid attention. This was the price she paid for letting her guard down.