Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 91958 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 460(@200wpm)___ 368(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91958 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 460(@200wpm)___ 368(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
But that was unfair. Hallie was her responsibility—and her heart. She had been the one to fall down on the job by sleeping like she didn’t have a care in the world.
How stupid she’d been. How reckless. Now she was paying.
“All right. I’m a phone call away,” Zy assured. “Let me know if you need me.”
I need you so much. “Thanks.”
Then, with a last worried glance over his shoulder, Zy was gone. Tessa desperately gripped her mouse, as if it could keep her from falling into a black hole of despair, and tried to keep herself together. But she had no idea where her baby was or if she was okay. She would be starving by now. She was long overdue for a change. She wasn’t happy in unfamiliar surroundings and would need someone to comfort her. What if someone had left her alone in a room without any food or supervision or…
“I’m out,” One-Mile said. “When my fiancée suggested we meet for lunch, I gave her the address of a motel. Once she figures that out, she’ll clobber me…or put me in a great mood. If I’m not back in an hour, you’ll know which.”
Tessa closed her eyes. How great it would be not to have a care in the world. “Bye.”
“Hey, you okay?”
“Fine.”
He frowned. “When women say they’re fine, men should watch their balls. What did Zy do?”
“Nothing,” she said truthfully. “He’s great.”
It’s the rest of my life that’s falling apart.
The sniper snorted. “If you say so. Listen, I suck at commiserating. On a scale of one to ten, my ability to empathize is negative eight, but Brea is great. If you need a friend—”
“There’s nothing she can do.” And Tessa doubted his fiancée would be thrilled that One-Mile had offered up her ear without her consent.
“All right. But if you change your mind, let me know.”
I can’t. “Thanks.”
With a nod, he tossed his keys in the air and headed out the door. Then she was completely alone in the office.
Less than a minute later, her phone rang.
Tessa dove into her purse and scrambled to retrieve it. She glanced at the display. Private caller? Normally, she’d think that was spam and send the call to voicemail. Today, she answered. “Hello.”
“You’ve done a good job so far, Ms. Lawrence. Nice and quiet.”
Instantly, she recognized that voice. It was the man in the parking lot yesterday. “What have you done with my daughter? Bring her back—now. She’s just a baby and—”
“You weren’t listening yesterday. Now you are.”
He was tearing her world apart and putting Hallie at risk, and he thought he was clever? “You son of a bitch. I—”
“Name calling? Since I have your baby, I think it would behoove you to be nice.”
And if she didn’t, he could hurt Hallie. Tessa squeezed her eyes shut and gripped the phone, trying to keep her head and trying not to sob. “You’re right.”
“Very good. I’m assuming you’d like to get down to business so you can have your daughter back? Am I wrong?”
“No,” she gasped out. “You’re not. But how do I know she’s okay?”
“She’s being well cared for.”
“I want proof.”
“Let’s make this work for both of us. You tell us what we want to know, and I’ll send you proof that your daughter is fine.”
Everything inside Tessa rebelled. “You said that if I told you what you wanted to know you’d return her to me.”
“Our timeline is…fluid. We have a few things happening at once, so it will take a bit to work out all the details. And we’ll need your help for that. But once it’s resolved, absolutely.”
“How long will that be? She needs her mother and—”
“How long depends a lot on you, on the promptness and quality of the information you give us.”
Tessa closed her eyes and stopped fighting. No matter what she had to do to get Hallie back, she’d do it. “You said you wanted information about someone?”
She wasn’t sure who they would want to know about and how she was supposed to find out whatever they wanted to know, but she was resourceful and desperate. She’d make it happen.
“Our situation has changed, and we’re in need of something even more vital now. Some event occurred in your office. Your bosses are gone and frantically looking for something or someone. Explain.”
Tessa hesitated. Of all the things she’d imagined the caller asking, that hadn’t even been on the list. It also told her that the person on the other end of the call didn’t have anything to do with the people who had taken Kimber. If it had, they would already know what was going on at EM Security Management.
She was guessing, but it seemed logical that whoever had abducted her bosses’ sister, demanding Valeria Montilla’s location as ransom, blamed Emilo Montilla’s wife for his death. Who would do that? His family? The criminals who had previously made a living from his cartel? Maybe either. Or both.