Page 53 of Love In The Shadows

“Taken? What do you mean?”

Reed rubbed his hands over his face. He was a man close to the brink. I could see it. Feel it. He was about to crumble under the weight of the situation. My heart rocketed into triple time as I waited for him to continue. It took every shred of control not to launch myself over the desk and rattle him until his teeth chattered together.

“Dalton has her. Them.”

Dark, ugly hate curled inside me and instantly ignited into a bonfire of rage. “What?” I boomed, losing grip on my own leash.

Reed shot to his feet. “He wants the club. He’s been after me about it for a while now. I figured he was just a persistent businessman. You know, the assholes who won’t take no for an answer. Damn it!”

He stopped and spun around to slam a fist onto the desk’s smooth surface. “I should have seen this coming!”

I shook my head. “Rewind. How do you know he took Paige and Avery?”

“He called and left a message on my cell. If I don’t send over the signed contracts for him to take possession of Parkston’s, he’ll hurt Paige.”

“And Avery?”

“She and Paige are close. Paige’s friends said the last time they saw Paige, she was in here talking to Avery. Avery was upset about something.”

Hot guilt slid down to the pit of my stomach. I was the reason she’d been upset. She watched Richie’s men all but drag my ass from the club. She’d probably been terrified, and I hadn’t been able to explain anything or tell her that I was all right once the deal was done. I’d been so consumed with returning to the outpost and checking the trackers that I hadn’t called her until…until it was too late.

“When was this?” I barked.

“Forty minutes ago. He said I had an hour.”

“Did you call the cops?”

Reed shook his head. “He said he’d kill her.”

His voice was thin, barely above a whisper.

“Okay. We’re going to get them back.”

“Do you need to call it in? Get back up?”

I hesitated a moment. I knew Richie—far more than I’d like to—and if I knew one thing about him, he was a man of his word. In the worst way. If he said he’d kill Paige—and Tori—he meant it. And God forbid he had some of his other idiots there, wherever he held them. Richie liked to put on a show, to display his power and prominence within the Sanderson family.

A shiver snaked down my back. If Dalton held Tori, there was a good chance that someone would recognize her from the Paul Sanderson bust. And if that happened, there was no question Richie would kill her on the spot.

“No,” I snapped. “That’ll take too long. Let’s go.”

It went against every protocol in the book, everything I’d been trained and taught, every command I’d ever been given. And I didn’t give a shit. This wasn’t business as usual. This was fucking personal, and I was going to handle it…personally.

And I knew just where to start the hunt.

“Come on, Parkston. Let’s go kick that son of a bitch’s ass.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Tori

There was no point in bitching about the way things had turned out. It wouldn’t change anything. But in the unbearable silence, I found myself saying, “I thought I finally had a shot.”

Paige moved behind me, craning around as far as she could. “What do you mean?”

“I thought I was finally going to have a normal life.” A dry laugh slipped from my lips. “You know Eric?”

“Richie’s Eric?”

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