Page 10 of Dark Horse

The blood chills in my veins, and I can’t shake it. I call her one more time.

It rings once, twice, three times, and then it goes to voicemail.

A bleak feeling creeps up my spine.

I glance back, and the handyman’s working away under the sink, completely unaware that I’m worried the tenant might have been kidnapped. I pull out my phone and shoot off a text to my brother Levi.

Can you check the cameras at Seven Sins?

Dakota and I have never discussed the security system at the bar in much detail, so I never bothered to tell her that I’m still plugged into it and can view it remotely from the casino. I promised myself that someday when she got proper bouncers at the door, I’d stop checking in at night. But then she was adamant that she and her bartenders could handle it all just fine and that the baseball bat under the counter was security enough. I’m hoping like hell it was if something happened last night.

My phone dings, and my heart skips at the prospect of it being her telling me to go fuck myself for bothering her in the morning. But it’s Lev’s name on the screen.

LEV:

Sure, anything in particular I’m looking for?

Find what time Dakota goes into her apartment last night, and when she left. If she’s alone or not.

We have a problem?

She’s not here, and I had to let the handyman in. The place looks… messy. More so than usual.

On it.

Thanks.

“All right.It’s just a few quick parts that need to be swapped out. I think that’ll have her up and running again. I just need to run to my truck for one I don’t have up here,” the handyman announces.

“Sounds good.”

“Is it all right if I leave the back door ajar so I don’t have to ring again?”

“Sure thing.” I nod. I could keep an eye on it from the apartment’s front door anyway, and hopefully, this guy would be quick.

“Thanks.” He disappears out the door, and I hear the clod of his boots on the steps.

I take the time alone to survey the room again, and my eyes land on her computer once more. I’m torn. The last thing she was doing could give me a clue about where she is. But I could be reading too much into everything I’m seeing, and then she’ll be furious I invaded her privacy.

I pick up my phone again and dial her number. This time, it doesn’t even ring. It goes straight to her voicemail. My chest feels tight. I barely register the handyman’s return as my mind reels with possibilities.

I fucked up when I couldn’t protect her brother. I can’t do it again. If something’s happened to her, I’ll never fucking forgive myself. He’d never forgive me.

I return to the couch without considering the consequences any further. I move the mouse, and I’m immediately stymied when the computer screen is locked with a six-digit passcode. I rack my brain for ideas. Unless…

I type one, two, three, four, five, six into the screen… and it unlocks.

Fucking hell. We’ll be having a conversation about that the second I find her.

The screen lights up, and my jaw drops.

My heart stops.

I’m not sure I’m even breathing anymore.

That conversation would have to wait because this one… what I’m seeing right now is going to be a much harder one to have. One I could have lived the rest of my life without having.

“Fuck me.”

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