“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 doors. Entering the house quietly, he listened for sounds of Holly or Nicole. He moved into the nearby living room, startling Gwen with his sudden appearance. The woman spun around and trained a gun on him.
“Where the fuck is she?” he asked, not mincing words as he strode toward the woman despite the gun.
“She’s upstairs in Preston’s room with Holly,” she said, taking a step back and finding herself blocked by the sofa. “But you can’t get to her.”
The weapon in Gwen’s trembling hand wavered, telling Nathan that she was all talk and no action or she would have shot him by now. She’d given him all the information he needed, and he didn’t have time to waste. Opting for the element of surprise, he grabbed the hand with the gun and twisted hard. She let out an agonized cry and released the weapon. Before she could recover, he spun her around and jammed her arm halfway up her back so she couldn’t move.
She whimpered in pain. “You’re hurting me!”
“Too fucking bad.” None too gently, he guided her into the entryway. Retrieving the handcuffs from his pocket, he snapped one silver bracelet around her wrist, looped the cuffs through a few of the iron-rod stair rails, and shackled her other hand so she couldn’t go anywhere.
She jerked against her restraints, her expression furious. “You can’t do this!” she wailed.
“I just did.” He took the stairs two at a time to the second landing. Remembering where Preston’s room was located from the tour he’d given them, he headed silently in that directly.
As he neared the closed double doors, he pulled out his gun. His heart beat fast and furious in his chest. Hearing muffled sounds coming from inside the bedroom, he pressed his ear to the door. He could make out screams and Sloane cursing-none of it good. Alarmed, he tried to turn the knob, but the doors were locked as tight as Fort Knox.
A sinking sense of despair nearly brought Nathan to his knees.
There was no busting down the steel doors.
And no saving Nicole.