Page 79 of Rough Ride

“Boss,” Danny called out. No answer. “I’ll go check upstairs.”

She nodded and set her purse on the newel post and walked into the kitchen. Again, everything was in its place, but she knew there was something odd about the way it looked. That is when she saw a piece of paper on the floor. The writing was barely legible, but she could make out a few of the words.

Stay away.

It was Eli. Something had happened and he was warning her. Fear clutched at her heart as she tried to think of what to do. Dillon was on Oahu and while he could help, he wouldn’t be here in time. Whoever had Eli wouldn’t wait that long if they wanted him dead. He could already be dead.

“No,” she whispered.

“Crysta, did you find him?” Danny asked. She looked at him and noticed that he was worried too.

“I only found this.”

“A warning. For the boss?”

She shook her head. “That’s his writing, although it’s kind of messy.”

Which was one thing she didn’t want to think about. Because if she did, there was a good chance she could come up with all kinds of reasons his writing was a mess. None of them were good.

“Can we call Conner Dillon?” Danny asked.

“No. I mean, we can, but he headed back to Oahu. He has a jet, but…it will take a while to get here, yes? What…forty-five minutes?”

Danny nodded. “We have to call the police.”

“Yes, you do that,” she said as she went for her purse. She dug through it until she found the business card she had gotten a few weeks earlier. There was only one person she knew she could trust.

She set the card on the counter and grabbed her cell phone. He picked up on the first ring. She didn’t let him talk.

“Sean, this is Crysta. I need you at the ranch.”

twenty-five

Eli awoke to water being splashed in his face. He blinked, trying to see what was around him, but it was dark. He was sitting on something and his head was pounding. He tried to move his arms but found them tied behind his back.

“Elias,” a woman said, almost as if she were calling a lover. It sent ice racing through his blood.

“Rose.”

Bile rose up in his throat. The woman who had betrayed him all those years ago; the one that he never thought to see again because she was dead. There was a click and then light flooded the space. He blinked against it and then he saw the outline of her body. She stepped closer, the sickly-sweet scent of her perfume surrounded him. Then, he could see her.

She looked no different than before. Oh, a little older, but not much. And she had the same sadistic smile on her face. Her eyes though…there was something off about them. She had been mental before, but now, craziness darkened her golden eyes.

“It’s been so long, Elias.”

Again, she sounded as if she were talking to an old love. Like this was a fucking date and not an abduction.

“What are you doing here?” he asked biting back the nausea.

“I’m sorry you don’t feel well,” she said. “Sam here used too much of the sedative.”

She frowned off to the right of Eli and he glanced over. A sharp pain exploded in his head.

“And you hit your head. I’m sorry,” she said. “I told you to be careful with him.”

“Oh well. I think St. John will survive. At least for a little while,” the younger Kaheaku said.

“Such a shame that little slut you’re living with wasn’t around,”

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