When he finished the call and shoved the phone back in his pocket, I growled, “If something happens to her, I’ll kill you and that guy I already beat the shit out of. I don’t care if I go to prison for life.”

Barry just shivered, the stupid, worthless idiot.

“Go!” I shouted at him. “Go look for her. That’s what I’m going to do.”

I stormed out of my office, not waiting to see what Barry did. As soon as I got in my truck, I called Bess, only to learn Lane was out of the country. She demanded to know what was going on, and with the chatter of an AA meeting happening in the background, I told her.

“Did you hear me?” I asked.

“I did. You have to calm down, Jake. The police are going to help.”

I hung up. I didn’t have time for her positive vibes. Next, I called the detective I was paying, and found out she didn’t come home last night.

“I thought she was with you,” was the excuse he offered up.

Furious, I hung up on him too and sped off to the rental.

After using my key to let myself in, I found Mav in a puddle of pee and shit in his crate. Scooping the poor guy up in a towel, I carried him out crying and whimpering to the yard where he relieved himself. Then I hauled him straight to the basement sink and washed him off. After giving him some food and a small walk, I felt slightly more centered, closer to Aly, even though she was nowhere to be found.

I kept texting Barry, and he kept texting back, assuring me, “We’re on it.”

Bullshit.

I had to find her, but needed someone to take care of Maverick. I pulled out my phone and called Bess back, this time asking nicely if I could meet her halfway between here and there with the dog.

Thank God she never said no to me. An hour later, I pulled into a rest stop and waited. Bess showed up fifteen minutes later in her enormous SUV, Brooks jumping around in the back.

“Where’s my niece?” I asked.

“I left her with May back at the house. She was off today and was watching Maddy while I went to a meeting and to volunteer. Don’t worry about her . . . Maddy’s fine. Give me the puppy, and go do what you need to.”

“Thanks,” I said, raking my hands through my hair and pulling on the ends, causing pain to sear through my scalp. I needed to feel something.

“Jake?” Bess called as I was hopping back into my driver’s seat. “Come spend the night at our place.”

“I’ll see,” I yelled and slammed my door closed.

I wanted to gun the engine, but waited for Bess to pull out and exit. I watched her hit the road, a small compact car right behind her, and then I peeled the fuck out of there.

Aly

Someone was dragging me by my hair, the roots pulling on my throbbing scalp. I tried to open my mouth to scream, but it was taped shut. My legs dragged along something rough and jagged, and tiny pricks—maybe splinters—tore through my yoga pants. My brain willed my eyes to open despite the droopiness settled in the lids, but they were also covered with tape.

The tender skin of my lips was already peeling off, sticking to the adhesive taping them, and salty tears gathered in pools below my eyes. I squeezed my eyes shut, even though I already couldn’t see a damn thing.

Losing my sight completely forced me to listen harder so I strained my ears, trying to pick up any sounds. What was I listening for? Clues, noises, anything, my captor’s breathing.

Desperation and anxiety bubbled up my throat and a scream escaped my lungs, only to be blocked by the tape.

“Mmph!” filtered through the tape covering my mouth, rather than the shrieking Help! I’d wanted to release.

A sharp jab made contact with my shin, and I heard a loud crack, like a snap. Quickly, it registered the snap was actually my own leg bone.

Pain screamed through my body, and I was dropped to the floor with a thud. My head hit the floor hard, thankfully making everything go black once again.

The whine of a small motor awakened me, then a grinding noise, and for a second, I wished it hadn’t because the pain only intensified, blasting through my leg. I tried to move it, but it was completely lifeless.

Grunting from the effort, I kept trying to move my lower leg, but it wouldn’t budge. The whine roared to life again. I shifted, trying to roll to the side, off my face, but something fell on top of me. Something sharp poked into my rib cage, and I didn’t dare move.

“Where are you going, missy?” The voice that rang through the room was loud and feminine at the same time. Hoarse and seductive, foreign and familiar.

Fear froze me as I shook my head, unable to say anything.

“I’m going to take the tape from your eyes, but no sudden movements. I got my stiletto angled exactly right to puncture a lung if you do.”

I sensed the warmth of a body part near my face, and let out a violent scream as the thick piece of duct tape was torn from my eyes.

Blinking against the light, I looked around to find myself on the floor, but I had no idea where I was. A woman was standing over me, smirking at me. She seemed somewhat familiar, with blond hair and heavily painted eyes, but I couldn’t recall where I knew her from. I didn’t hang out with models or strippers or exotic dancers. This lady was attractive, curvy but fit, with big pouty pink lips and her glossy hair that was perfectly straight.

Who was she?

“So, what do you think now, Ms. Justice?”

I went to try to rip the tape at my mouth so I could answer her with a question—what was she talking about—but I realized my hands were tied behind me. How did I not notice? It must have been all the splinters residing in my thigh. Wait, I wasn’t feeling them anymore.

Actually, I didn’t feel my leg at all.

Terrified, I lifted my head and peered down at my body. I was wearing familiar leggings and a T-shirt, as if I’d been working out.

“Hello?” Blondie asked, her accent coming out a bit thicker.

I’d been running the stairs. That was how I knew the woman! She was in the stairwell, running fast as hell. She’d spoken to me right before I apparently blacked out.

Was she the person who did this to me?

I moaned, murmuring behind my gag to get her to release the tape, and she did. Although the whole fast like a Band-Aid thing didn’t really apply. It felt as if an entire layer of my skin was ripped from my face, and wetness—which I assumed was blood—dripped onto my chin. The coppery taste on my tongue as it reached out to wet my lips confirmed my suspicions.

Fear set up camp in my heart. I was going to die here, and I didn’t even know why. All I’d ever wanted was to live my life peacefully. I wanted to do better than my parents had, perhaps not survive paycheck to paycheck. Until I met Jake. Then I’d wanted it all.

That was why this was happening. I wanted too much.

“What do you want?” My question came out scratchy, my throat raw and painful.

“A new kind of justice, Ms. Road.”

I tried shaking my leg. Desperate, I needed to feel it. Pain shot up to my groin and straight to my solar plexus. Silently rejoicing, I felt my leg. It was there!

My leg. One leg. Half the pair.

The pair Jake drooled over. He called me Legs.

My brain floated out of the room, ignoring the woman pacing in front of me.

He also called me Aly-cat . . . and Legs.

I want Jake back.

One minute I was dreaming of Jake, and the next, the breath was knocked from my lungs. A scream ripped from my throat and I lifted my head to see the blond bombshell standing on the pieces of my leg—correct that, bone—in big-ass heels and leather pants. She ground her heel into my exposed leg, causing more blood to come from somewhere and louder snaps.