Page 30 of Still Burning

Startled immediately spun into fear as it dawned on me what was happening.

“Hello, sister. It’s long past time that we meet,” a thick Irish accent said close to my ear. “Yer a hard one to find. My little trackers were all over the fookin’ place. Damn shite city too,” he murmured.

I’d thought he had the wrong woman until he mentioned the trackers. The sister comment still made no sense. I didn’t have a brother, and if there was one I didn’t know about, he wouldn’t be Irish. And this man was definitely Irish. He wasn’t dirty. His hand didn’t smell bad. It smelled like a cigar. The same scent that Eamon often had on his hands after coming in from a business meeting where he’d had a cigar. I’d never liked it when he smoked them, but he had said, sometimes, he had to when offered one by someone he was doing a real estate deal with. Turning it down would be considered rude.

“Here’s what we’re going ta do,” the man said as he began walking me farther into the trees I’d been heading toward. “I’llleave yer biker and his club alone if ye behave and do as I say. If not, then I’ll send my men after him, who’re currently situated outside the doctor’s office he went into over an hour ago.”

I sucked in air through my nose at his words. How did he know all this? Who was he? Why did he want me? The Landiagos weren’t Irish. This was someone different. I just couldn’t figure out who I was dealing with.

“And the few men inside that building right now aren’t a match for the men I’ve ready to go in and destroy the place, leaving no one alive. Not even yer redheaded friend.”

Goldie.

He knew she was inside. How had he even gotten past the security? There were cameras everywhere.

Panic was morphing into terror. If I tried to get free of him, then those I loved were in danger.

“Are you…are you with the Landiagos?” I asked him although it was muffled through his hand.

“Repeat that,” he said lifting his hand from my mouth by an inch at best.

“Are you with the Landiagos?”

His hand was back over my mouth before I had gotten the last word out completely as if he thought I was going to follow my question with a scream.

“Do I sound Latino to ye? No, but I had to kill the majority of the bastards. Whoever found yer trackers and planted them around the restaurant the Landiagos run their disorganized operation out of was rather creative. It took up more time than I wanted to spend here, and I’d like us to be far away by the time someone finds the slaughter I left behind,” he told me as if he were discussing something as casual as the weather.

“Right up ahead, there’s a ladder waitin’ on us, and we’ll be up and out. They didn’t make it easy on me. Gettin’ a rubber mat to go over the electrical spikes was a bit of a hassle. It’s not like yecan just buy those things anywhere. Do ye have any idea who ye were mixing up with? They have the feckin good ole boy Mafia at their disposal.” He sounded disappointed.

Who was this man, and how long had he been stalking me?

“Soon, we’ll be long gone and back on our merry way home,” he said with a lilt, as if this were a pleasant conversation between friends.

I didn’t want to go to his home. But if I screamed or did anything to get free, people I loved would be hurt…or worse. I wasn’t sure how deranged this man might be.

I racked my brain to think of an Irishman I’d met through Eamon who would want to do this. None though had seemed overly flirty or interested in me. Surely not to the point where they’d stalk me and then abduct me. And he’d called me sister. That was the oddest part.

We reached the fence line, and like he’d said, there was a ladder and a rubber mattress draped and tied down over the top. How had he known this would work? He had to be a seasoned criminal. One who smoked expensive cigars.

“Now, Salem, are ye going to remain quiet if I remove my hand from yer mouth? I don’t want to stir the pot here any more than I already have but if I have to kill people, I will. Starting with yer biker.”

Kill. He’d kill Rome.

I shook my head. I wouldn’t scream. I’d do whatever he said if it meant he would leave Rome alone. I’d brought this to their door. The man was here for me. Not them yet. If I didn’t obey, they’d all pay a horrible price for protecting me.

His hand fell from my mouth, but he kept his arm around my body. “Good. Didn’t want to have to keep a muzzle on ye. Now go on up first. When ye get to the top, Emmett, one of my fellas, will help ye over and onto the ladder on the other side.”

I hated ladders. Staring up at it, I swallowed hard, and myhands trembled. I was being abducted and forced to climb not just a ladder, but one that was ten feet tall. Gripping the cool metal, I took a steadying breath. I was doing this to protect Rome. There was no other choice. This man had killed the Landiagos. He would kill everyone inside the club if they tried to stop him.

Slowly, I placed my foot on the first rung and looked straight ahead. Not down. When the ladder shook slightly as the man behind me began to climb, I let out a whimper but continued on. If I fell to my death, that might be better than what this man had planned for me. I glanced down then and knew I couldn’t willingly fall. I’d get through this. Whatever it was. Turning my focus up, I reached where the rubber mattress padding began, and then a man leaned over from the other side.

He had black hair pulled back in a ponytail with strands too short to fit hanging loose. He reminded me of a pirate. Were they going to put me on a ship and take me somewhere to sell? I wasn’t exactly young. I didn’t think the monsters that did that sort of thing wanted women so close to forty.

There was also the possibility the man behind me had some weird psycho obsession with me, but he’d called me sister. He wouldn’t call someone that who he intended to rape…would he?

The pirate man, who I assumed was Emmett, held out his hand. I was going to have to let go of the ladder and trust this stranger to keep me from falling. Ten feet probably wouldn’t kill me. That was a tad dramatic, but it would injure me, and I could break my neck.

Stop thinking about it, Salem, I scolded myself.

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