Page 61 of Relinquish

“We fucked up.” How did I screw this up?

“My daughter has no business being with you.”

“Your daughter was going on this mission on her own, but I tagged my dumbass along to keep her safe. I fucked that up. But why she was doing it was all her own decision. Your daughter is stubborn.”

Eddie Jr. breezes through the doorway. “Yes, she is.”

Derrick follows in his footsteps. “What in the fuck is going on?” Apparently, they were both still downstairs partying. I squint to see if they’re drunk. They must be at their best. Lola’s life depends upon it.

“We think Lola has been taken.”

“Fuck.” Eddie Jr. rubs his face. He appears tired, but his eyes are clear. “By whom?”

“I don’t know.” Lola’s stubborn. She’s resourceful. Think–the sofa.

I lift the pillow that lays against the sofa arm. On the opposite side of the pillow are the letters RM + PY rubbed into the plush fabric with lipstick.

Damn, I love her. If I didn’t already want to marry her, this would solidify it. “Randall Maitland and Patricia Young.” Patricia Young. I shake my head and growl. Hell, nothing should surprise me. “I’ve got Maitland’s schematics on my cell phone.” I ignore all of them as I text Ripley the information and pull up the Maitland Estate illustrations. “I’m sure she’s with them, but can you ping her phone and check the security footage?”

“On it.” Derrick strides out of the room.

***

Lola

How in the hell am I going to get out of here? I pull at the rope tied around my wrists and lean forward in the chair. I’ve spent the last hour trying to loosen my restraints with little headway.

“What’re you going to do with her?” Patricia paces the floor and asks the same question for the tenth time since they dragged me at gunpoint out of my father’s house, into Randall’s Range Rover, then drove the fifteen minutes to his estate. Seriously, he should have picked a mark a little farther from his house. Cade, please have seen my message by now.

“I don’t know, Patricia.” He glares at her and throws a stapler across the room. It smashes against the wall and falls to the floor with a clatter.

“You could ask for a ransom.” She jerks her attention to me. “Her father has lots of money. I’m sure he’d pay to get her back.”

“And then what?” He throws his hands in the air. “We get arrested and go to prison, is what’s next.”

I’m not above begging to save my life or buy time, but for now, I’m keeping my mouth shut. The more time they spend arguing, the more time Cade has to get here and save my ass.

I can’t believe I was stupid enough to go off on my own to put the jewels away. Even worse? I never suspected Patricia of anything. That little tidbit could’ve knocked me over with a feather. I push against the restraints for several seconds and release the pressure. Just a little more. I wiggle my fingers to return the blood flow.

“I’ve got to make a phone call.” He ambles to his desk and yanks up his landline phone receiver.

“Patricia, you don’t have to go down for this. You can say he forced you to participate.” She’s the weaker of the two of them, and I might play on her sense of right and wrong.

“Shut up.” Her eyes snap. After spinning away from me, she drags a cigarette out of her purse and lights it up.

“Put that fucking thing out.” The veins in his temple pop. “I don’t want my house smelling like cigarettes. You know I don’t allow that in my house.”

“I’m sorry. I forgot.” Her hand shakes as she walks to the desk and stops.

“I don’t have an ashtray. Pinch it out with your fingers.”

Her head jerks backward. “I can’t do that.”

“Put it out, or I’ll put it out on your face. You can’t afford for me to do that. All you have is your looks. You’re fucking stupid.” He waits with the phone to his ear for her to follow his command.

I strain against the rope. Just a bit more time. I’m not about to let these assholes put an end to my life. Not without going down swinging.

She places her thumb and index finger on either side of the glowing tip, and he glares at her. “Do it.”

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