Page 79 of Keeping Eveline

That was what Eveline had to believe. That he’d find her. That this nightmare would soon be over.

My necklace! It has a tracker in it.

Momentary relief swept through her, and she bent over.

As Eveline had hoped, whoever was holding her, snapped her upright, and she waited for the soft bump of the pendant hitting her skin.

Only there was nothing.

Where was it?

Since Kyle had given it to her, and had told her what it was, she’d worn it every day, only taking it off when she went to bed. Why did she need it when she was sleeping in her man’s arms?

Eveline recalled her movements that morning. She vividly recalled putting the necklace on and giving it a pat.

Now it was gone and so was her hope of being found.

She yelped when she was hauled up and thrown over someone’s shoulder. Her breath whooshed out and the bag slipped off her head, falling to the ground with a soft thump.

No one bothered to pick it up. The black fabric lay on sand like a child’s forgotten toy.

Sand?

Eveline twisted her head to the left and to the right, hoping to find something recognizable about where they were.

Just trees and sand in her line of sight. They weren’t in the city. Nor were they in a park. If they were in the forest, it was a barren one. Not many trees or shrubs were visible.

They had to be in a desert then. Where exactly? Nevada? Or was she still in California?

The ground beneath her captor’s feet changed from sand to gravel to lush green grass.

What the hell?

To her left was the sound of trickling water. It got louder, and she caught the concrete base of what she assumed was a fountain, as she was carried past it.

Eveline craned her neck up and, yep, there it was—a fountain in the middle of the patch of green grass.

The next moment they were heading up stairs, and cool air wafted over the back of her neck.

The ground below her was now marble tile. They were inside a house. Whose house and where the heck had they taken her?

“Thank you. You can put her down now.”

“Gerald!” Eveline gasped.

She was placed none-too-gently on the ground and, without the bag over her head, recognized Paul from Triple Z as the one who’d carried her. He was a new hire and obviously one of the gang members that Gerald was in bed with.

“I’m sorry I had to go to such extremes to get you here, my dear. I’m very glad you’re here now.” Her former boss smiled, as if there was nothing out of the ordinary happening.

Confusion spiraled around Eveline. Gerald acted as if she was standing in front of him in his office and not in a house in God-knew-where, and she had her hands and feet bound.

“I’m not glad I’m here. What the hell’s going on?” she demanded, but Gerald probably wouldn’t give her a satisfactory answer.

“We’re ready for you, sir.” Someone else entered the room. Eveline didn’t recognize him, and he didn’t even look in her direction. The figure held a clipboard and wore headphones around his neck. The type she’d seen on a film set.

“Excellent.” Gerald closed the distance to her. When he got close enough, he stroked a finger down her cheek, and she leaned away. “You’re going to be wonderful. I can’t wait to watch you.”

Her former boss was getting creepier and creepier with every passing second.

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