cheek red where she’d been slapped, probably more than once.
“I’m so sorry,” Holly whispered in a quivering voice, and Nicole believed that the girl regretted her decision to return.
“Come on in and join the party,” Sloane said, drawing Nicole’s attention to where he stood off to the side by a large dresser. He was casually holding a gun, seemingly relaxed and in complete control of the situation.
With Gwen’s prompting, Nicole moved farther into the room, watching Sloane warily as he strolled closer, his eyes raking over her. She was still wearing the T-shirt and drawstring shorts that Caleb had given her, her hair a tangled mess, but he didn’t appear put off by her unkempt appearance.
He had revenge on his mind, and she was it.
“You can leave now,” Sloane said, dismissing Gwen as if she were nothing more than a servant.
The woman hesitated, but a sharp look from Sloane had her walking out of the bedroom and closing the heavy double doors behind her. Sloane pressed a button on the wall, and Nicole heard the unnerving sound of metal bolts securing the doors.
She swallowed hard. She and Holly were well and truly locked inside, with no escape.
Nicole kept an eye on Sloane, and knew the only way to save herself and the young girl was to keep the man talking, to distract him until help arrived.
“You want
“I don’t think so.” Sloane stroked the cold steel barrel of his gun along Nicole’s cheek. “Holly can send me to prison, and that’s not going to happen.”
He was going to prison anyway, but Nicole wasn’t about to enlighten him. She casually stepped back to create space between them. “She won’t say anything,” Nicole said, keeping her voice calm, while inside she was trembling with terror. “I swear.”
He laughed, the sound maniacal and evil. “Neither of you will have the chance to say anything to anyone.”
A spark of rage burned inside Nicole, making her lash out. “You’re pathetic.”
He shrugged, her words having no impact on him. Instead, he kept the gun on her and decided to get down to business. “Take off your clothes,” he ordered.
She lifted her chin defiantly. No way was she making any of this easy on him, even as she knew that defying him could result in horrible consequences. It was a chance she was willing to take. “No.”
“We can do this the easy way, with you cooperating, or the fun way, with me forcing you.” A malicious smile curved his mouth. “I do like it rough.”
The man was depraved. If Nicole had had anything in her stomach she would have puked all over him. “You’re nothing but a pathetic pervert who doesn’t know what to do with a real woman,” she spat at him. “You’re a pedophile that preys on girls who are vulnerable, and you make me sick!”
“Bitch!” He backhanded her so hard she staggered on her feet and saw stars.
Behind her, she heard Holly scream.
“Shut the fuck up!” he yelled at the girl, his face flushed red with fury. He grabbed a handful of Nicole’s hair, twisting it around his fingers until she gasped from the pain ripping at her scalp.
She had no choice but to follow him as he pulled her toward the bed.
He turned the gun on Holly. “Get off the bed!”
Crying hysterically, the girl scrambled off the mattress. The next thing Nicole knew, she was being pressed down onto the bed, crushed by the heavy weight of Sloane’s body. He was bigger and stronger than her, yet she refused to let him rape her. She was a fighter, a survivor, and she wouldn’t, couldn’t, let him win.
Because once he was done with her, he was going to kill her.
Nathan needed to check on Nicole. After leaving her apartment, he’d given her time to recover from everything that had happened, and he just needed to hear her voice and know that she was okay-despite her belief they were finished as a couple.
He’d finished up the initial meeting with the feds, and while there was more to come, he desperately needed a few minutes to himself before being grilled for another few hours.
“I’m going to take a break and give Nicole a call,” he told Caleb, who gave him a nod of understanding. He pulled his cell phone from his pant pocket, which he’d kept on silent during the intense interrogation, only to discover that he had one missed call from Nicole and a voice mail that had been left over thirty minutes ago.
He listened to the message, his blood turning to ice in his veins as Nicole explained that Holly was back at Sloane’s, and she was on her way to the estate to get the girl out.
“Shit,” he said, his gut ripping to shreds as he met Caleb’s concerned gaze. Rick, an agent with the FBI, stared at him in curiosity. “Holly and Nicole are at Sloane’s estate.”
“That’s impossible,” Caleb replied with a shake of his head. “Holly, her mother, and her boyfriend are in a suite here at The Onyx.”
“Are you sure about that?” Until he had evidence proving otherwise, he believed Nicole’s story. And that meant he didn’t have time to waste on Caleb’s say-so.
Nathan’s skeptical tone had Caleb reaching for the nearest phone to call the suite he’d put the Davis family in. When there was no answer, he called hotel security, ordering them to immediately locate Holly’s mother, Wendy Davis, and bring her and her daughter to his office.
“I can’t wait that long,” Nathan said, shifting his gaze to Rick. Chances were, Holly wasn’t here. “I need a warrant and I need backup.”
“We can’t get a warrant in less than two hours,” Rick said. Frustrated, Nathan wanted to say the hell with protocol. Lives were at risk. Nicole was in danger.
Caleb reached down to his ankle and removed the snub-nosed. 38 strapped there, then handed the weapon to Nathan. “Take this with you. I know a friendly federal judge. We can have a warrant in less than an hour.”
Thank God for Caleb and his connections. He gave Rick a pointed look. “Don’t be far behind me.”
The agent’s lips pressed into a grim line of disapproval. “You shouldn’t go in alone.”
“Just try and stop me.” The woman he adored was in mortal danger. She’d called him, needed him. He wasn’t about to let her down.
Rick unclipped the handcuffs from the case secured to his belt and tossed them to Nathan. “Take these, too, just in case. You might need them.”
Nathan pocketed the cuffs and tucked Caleb’s gun in the back waistband of his jeans beneath his jacket. He was on the road in minutes, driving as fast as he could go. But not fast enough for his peace of mind. With every second that passed, his chest tightened with anxiety. His past flashed before his eyes-images of young Katie. The crime scene photos of her lifeless body on the courthouse steps. He blamed himself. He’d failed to protect her, and she’d paid with her life.
Nausea rose up into his throat as he relived his worst nightmare. If he didn’t make it in time, Nicole’s fate would be the same.
He thought of Nicole’s quiet courage, her laughter, and the vulnerable side she’d shared with him. He recalled how steady she’d been during the mission, despite her own fears. She was the kind of woman he admired the hell out of and respected. And loved with a strength and depth he’d never believed possible.
And he knew if he lost Nicole, he’d never recover.
The guard at the gate recognized him from the night of the party, and after Nathan told him he had business with Sloane, which he did, the young man opened the gates. Nathan assumed the guard had no idea what was going on up at the house.
Just as Nathan parked behind Nicole’s car, his cell phone rang. Seeing that it was Caleb, he answered.
“I have Holly’s mother in my office,” Caleb told him. “Holly is gone. Wendy said she left Holly in the suite two hours ago so she could go downstairs and gamble with her boyfriend.”
Nathan swore. What kind of mother left her traumatized daughter alone after a year apart? “Then she’s here,” Nathan said, grateful for the verification. “Get that backup here ASAP!”
He hung up, jumped out of the vehicle, and ran through the courtyard. He slowed when he reached the front
