Page 53 of Dark Terror
“One tiny piece,” she said, offering him a bite-sized chunk of filet. “And you didn’t even chew it up, silly boy.”
She heard a noise like glass breaking, and Cricket took off down the hallway, barking and growling up a storm. Her phone? Where was it? No, better to get out of the apartment. As she ran for the door, she spotted her phone on the coffee table, took the extra few steps to grab it, and then ran to the door. Her hands fumbled with the locks.
“I wouldn’t if I were you.”
Cara glanced behind her to see a man pointing a gun at her. “You,” she gasped. When she’d studied TJ Sherman’s photo on his company’s website, she hadn’t felt any sinister vibes. He’d looked like what she’d expected, an executive dressed in a pinstriped suit, giving a hint of a smile to the camera.
“So you do recognize me,” he said. “I was afraid of that.”
She turned but kept her hands behind her, her fingers working the lock. “I-I saw your picture online but couldn’t have said that was you in the park.”
“Well, it’s a shame I didn’t know that, but too late now. Step away from the door, Ms. Jenner.” When she hesitated, he said, “I’ll shoot you right now if you don’t, and then I’ll put a bullet in the mutt’s head.”
Cricket was still barking and growling at him but keeping a safe distance, as if he knew danger was in the room. She’d managed to unlock the door. If only the little dog would bite the man’s ankles or something, distracting him, she could run. Afraid that Troy Sherman would follow through on his threat, she stepped away from the door.
What scared her more than anything, more than the gun even, were the rubber gloves on his hands and the hairnet on his head. Maybe that was silly, but there was something sinister about his clear intention not to leave any evidence behind.
“We’re going to take a little trip.”
She adamantly shook her head. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”
He laughed as if she were the most amusing person he’d ever met. “That’s where you’re wrong, dear Cara.”
It was time to run. She whirled, grabbed the doorknob, and pulled. Before she could get the door fully opened, he slammed into her from behind, forcing her forehead to crash into the wood. Her knees buckled, and white stars flickered behind her eyelids. She must have passed out, because she opened her eyes to find her hands tied behind her back and her legs bound together at the ankles with plastic ties.
Cricket darted in and snapped at the man’s ankles, but when Troy tried to kick him, he ran under the sofa. Too bad the little dog wasn’t more ferocious. Troy wore a pouch around his waist, and he opened it, taking out an expensive-looking fountain pen. He dropped it on the floor, pushing it under the coffee table with the toe of his shoe. Next he removed a small baggie, turned it upside down, and let the contents fall on the coffee table.
“Evidence,” he said when he noticed her watching him. “Fingerprints on the pen and a few strands of hair. Not mine, of course. Clever, no?”
She didn’t know what to say. Agree with him that he was clever? Tell him he was a sick bastard? Her head was throbbing so hard it was difficult to think. All she knew was that she had to find a way to get free so she could escape when she had a chance.
“Time to go, Miss Nosy.”
“Please. I won’t tell the police you were here or what you look like if you’ll just go.”
He tsked. “No can do. This is all your fault, you know. If you’d minded your own business, you’d still be going about your boring little life.” He glanced around the room. “Where’s that damn dog?”
“I don’t know.”
“Too bad. I had plans for it, but times a’wasting.” He waved the gun at her. “Get up.”
She prayed that Cricket stayed hidden as she scooted up against the door, her fingers scraping across her phone. Realizing she must have dropped it when she’d hit her head, she managed to grasp it. What to do with it? And what if Gabe called? The man would know she had a phone. Using her thumb, she found the button to turn off the ringtone. She put it in the only place she could think of, under the waistband of her shorts and inside her panties. Then she prayed he wouldn’t find it.
“Where are you taking me?”
“Now if I told you that, it would spoil the surprise, wouldn’t it?”
Chapter Seventeen
The so-called lead was a bust. No one at the homeless shelter had ever heard of a man by the name of Ramsey. Gabe had a bad feeling about being sent on this search for a nonexistent character, and the feeling was growing by the minute.
“I don’t like this,” he said as they headed back to the car. “Someone sent us on a wild-goose chase. For what?” He took out his phone and called Cara. When he got her voice mail, his already racing pulse ratcheted up another notch. Or five. The urgency to get back to her was off the charts.
“She’s not answering.”
“That’s not good,” Harry said as both of them broke into a run to the car.
“Call in and have the closest patrol go to your house.” Maybe she was in the shower and hadn’t heard the phone. Yet as much as he wanted to think that was a possibility, his gut knew otherwise. He turned on lights and siren as he peeled out of the parking lot.
