The man pulled a coil of rope from the side of the van and began to unwind it, and I shrunk away from him. As if coming out of a fog, I remembered the emergency button on the watch Troy gave me. If I didn’t push it now, I might not be able to later. As discretely as I could, I turned my back to him and pressed the button that would alert the police. Troy would be alerted as well, and as long as I had the watch, they’d have the ability to track me. It occurred to me that he would notice the watch when he tied my wrists, so I unbuckled it and slid it into my pocket. Robert was tinkering with something in the driver’s seat and wasn’t paying attention to what I was doing.
“Don’t turn your back on me,” Magnus said suspiciously.
“I don’t want to be tied up.” It seemed reasonable and it was true, but I said it more to distract him from what I’d just done.
Robert turned the key in the ignition, and the engine sparked to life. “I have to use precautions until I can trust you. Don’t want you doing anything stupid to jeopardize us.”
“I won’t. I promise.” There was so much pleading in my voice I had to tone it down. “You can trust me.”
Robert let out a deep sigh. “If only that were the case.” He glanced at Magnus over his shoulder and grimaced. “Hurry up. Tie her hands and feet.”
As the van swerved out of the parking space, Magnus nearly fell into my lap. He righted himself, and after giving me a tissue to clean up the blood on my fingers and face, he began the process of tying my wrists together. When he finished, he did the same with my ankles.
“Where are you taking me?” I demanded. “This is kidnapping. You’re aware of that, aren’t you?”
Robert chuckled low in his throat. “Not kidnapping. Saving. I’m saving you from yourself. From the bad choices you were about to make.”
Anger unlike anything I’d ever known before rushed up through my stomach to my chest, and I wanted to punch him right in the nose, to deliver a bloody mess like he’d allowed Magnus to deliver to me.
Lord, help me to get control of myself so I can deal with this man. And please let the police catch us.
I had to keep a sharp mind and not let emotion clutter my thinking. I’d pushed the button. They would find me. It would be okay. I couldn’t allow myself to panic.
We headed onto the freeway and took the 405 heading north. Magnus sat in the seat next to me while Robert weaved in and out of the lanes, trying to take the fastest route.
“How did you know where I was, Robert?” It was the question I’d asked when he’d first approached me in the parking lot, but he’d ignored it and posed a question of his own.
“I downloaded a spy app to your cell phone so I could track you. It didn’t show up on your phone settings, which is why you didn’t notice it.
“Why? I’d already given you permission through the other app.”
“Because I feared there’d come a day when you’d disable the tracking app, and I wanted a backup. Appears I was right.”
“You don’t see a problem with what you’re doing? I mean…morally. This is wrong.”
“The end justifies the means. Eventually, you’ll agree with me.”
That would never happen, but arguing with him would only make things worse. I needed him to view me as cooperative so he’d untie my wrists and ankles. Then I’d have a chance at getting away.
I hoped the police would find me before it came to that, but just as he had a backup plan, I had to have one as well. In the meantime, something weighed heavily on my mind. A question I didn’t want to ask but had to.
As my lips formed the words, my heart picked up its pace. A sick feeling twisted in my stomach and even though I didn’t want to know the answer—didn’t want to hear the horrible details—I couldn’t stop myself from asking the question.
“Robert… Did you kill Daniel?”
“No.” He hesitated for a split second. “He was my friend. I wouldn’t have had the stomach to do something like that.”
His statement brought no relief, mainly because I didn’t believe a word he said anymore. “Then Magnus did it,” I said, glancing at the man with the scar, and he stared back at me with a dead-behind-the-eyes expression. There was a hardened cruelty there as if what he were doing now was just one of many crimes he’d already committed.
Robert was silent for some time, neither confirming nor denying the allegation, but I knew it was true. I couldn’t deny it anymore.
I needed to push him into sharing more so I could get a confession. “Please, I need to know. If you want me to love you, the only way that will happen is if I can trust you to tell me the truth.” I would never love him, but I had to start making him believe it was possible.
He let out a throaty laugh. “If you haven’t loved me after eight years of patient loyalty, why should I believe it will suddenly occur now?”
My eyes widened. If he didn’t think I could love him, what was he planning on doing with me? The thought sent a shiver down my spine and my body began to tremble.
At the very least, I had to make him hope that it was possible.
Chapter 19
Kayla
I opened my mouth to tell him I had feelings for him but then promptly closed it, conviction sweeping through me. Lying was wrong. I wanted the
