Page 15 of Dirty Money

Bradley is fussing with his phone while my fingers grow numb. I look to see if the woman is around, but she seems to have stayed upstairs. I could really use an ally right now.

"Bradley, you have to let me go. I'm not above pleading.

"Loverboy seems to need more time to get my money. Do you think I should give it to him, or maybe I should give him an incentive?"

"Wha…"

I didn't see the punch coming, but my eye immediately starts to swell and close. He smiles and takes a picture of me—sending it to Jason is my best guess. This man is insane. Either I never knew him well, or life has really done a job on him. Tears flow from my eyes, and they just make me angry that this man has me completely at his mercy.

My thoughts turn to Jason. I brought all of this to him. He doesn't deserve it. But if there is one thing I know about him, it is that he is relentless when helping others. He'll find me. I long to be in his warm, safe embrace, but I don't want to dwell on that because I'll start crying harder. I need to be patient, and I need to stop taunting Bradley. I'm not sure I'm capable of staying quiet, though.

"That got him angry,” Bradley says, shaking his phone. “Hopefully, he'll take me more seriously now."

He goes back upstairs and locks the door to the basement. I'm left alone, and I don't know what will happen to me. I hope the woman from before returns so I can keep trying to convince her to help me. Clearly, she's another victim of his abuse. Maybe I can convince her to fight him or, better yet, outsmart him.

Chapter 7

Jason

I'm going insane with worry for Amber. I should have never let her go back to her apartment alone. I don't know what I was thinking. The reports from the PI I had following Bradley kept telling me that the guy was bad news, but my head has been in the clouds with wanting Amber. She's my everything, but I should have protected her. I certainly have all the resources to make that happen.

I dropped the ball and will pay for it dearly. Bradley is now violent, and he's got Amber hidden somewhere we can't pinpoint. We have his property under surveillance and other places he has been known to frequent. But he's not in any of those places. We're now looking into associates or love interests whose premises he might be using to hold Amber hostage.

It's already been twelve hours, and pacing back and forth in my hotel suite isn't helping at all. My phone rings, and I see it's one of the hackers I employ.

"What have you got for me, Zane?"

"I think I know where this jerk has your lady, boss."

"Do you have an address?" I nearly jump through the phone.

"Yeah, I'm sending you the coordinates. But you need to call the police."

"Don't tell me how to do my job, Zane."

"Right. It's just I think he's holding another lady too. It's the last girlfriend he had, and I think he's been siphoning money from her little by little. At least that's what the accounts say."

"Yeah, well, we know he's a dirtbag. This just confirms it. I gotta go. Thanks, Zane."

I send a quick text to my contact at the police and include the location Zane sent me. It is an hour away, and I need to leave now. Thankfully, I brought my gun from Las Vegas. I don't know if this guy is armed, but he's certainly dangerous. I get in my car and load the address into the GPS system.

Sam, my contact at the police station, sends me a message telling me he's on his way with backup. I just hope I can get there first because I want to get my hands on Bradley. He hurt Amber, and I can't forgive that. The hour drive is nerve-wracking, and when I get close, I park somewhere my car can't be seen.

Getting close to the house is relatively easy, but it's still daylight. There's no obvious movement inside the windows, but Bradley's car is parked in the driveway. My gut tells me to go in before Bradley hurts Amber again, but it would be dangerous for me to go in without backup. The front door suddenly opens, and a woman comes out with a garbage bag. The garbage bin is close to where I'm hiding, and I decide to approach her.

She comes closer and opens the bin, throwing the garbage bag inside. When she closes the lid, I show myself to her with my index finger against my mouth so she knows to keep quiet. She looks back at the house but doesn't move a muscle.

"Is Bradley inside the house?" I ask quietly.

She nods and looks back again.

"Does he have a hostage with him?"

She nods again.

"Do you think you could distract him while I get inside the house?"

She shakes her head, a terrified look on her face. "He'll hurt me,” she whispers. “I can't help you." Then, she rushes back inside the house.

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