Page 61 of My Cowboy Temptation

McCall considers this. “Seeing as how Childs has been in proximity to a pregnant woman who was recently attacked and now seems to be missing, along with Childs, I’m comfortable signing an affidavit saying there’s probable cause to believe he’s involved in the commission of a crime. I’ll get it over to Judge Albright as soon as I can.”

“Damn it. How long do you think that’s going to take?” I growl, knowing that the more time that passes, the farther away Callie is getting—and the increased chance of harm coming to her.

“I promise I’ll make this my only priority,” he says, meeting my gaze.

I study him for a minute before finally nodding. “Let me know when you do.”

* * *

Callie

It feelslike hours have passed since I’ve been in this tiny windowless room, all concept of time lost on me without my phone or the presence—or lack thereof—of sunlight. I squirm on the chair that I’ve been sitting on since I arrived, trying not to rub against the plastic ties holding together my wrists, and each ankle to a chair leg.

Whatever time it is, it definitely is past time for me to eat—if my increasing morning sickness is any indication—not to mention use a bathroom, seeing as how my bladder is full and becoming painful. Childs let me use the bathroom when we first arrived, however long ago that was, but I haven’t seen him or anyone else since he settled me in here to wait.

There’s a sound outside the door, the first I’ve heard in a while, and I strain my ears trying to hear.

Low male voices. A chair maybe pushing against the floor.

Then there’s the rattling sound as someone unlocks the door and pushes it open. Childs walks in, appearing impossibly more nervous than before as he casts his eyes everywhere but on me. Then another figure comes in, one that has my stomach sinking and my heart racing with fear.

Roger smirks as he sees me, his blue eyes cold and terrifying. “I told you we’d be getting to know each other. And this time, your friend won’t be here to interfere.”

He walks over to me and leans over, running his hand along the side of my face, leaving me biting back a round of nausea. Just when I think he’s going to move his hand away, it comes down hard and fast against my cheek, the sting of it taking my breath away.

“Don’t you think you should wait for the boss before you go taking liberties?” Childs asks from across the room as I blink back tears of pain and increasing rage. “Our orders were to wait for him to arrive.”

“I doubt he’ll mind if I get things started.” He stares back at me. “Especially when he confirms for himself that we’re in the presence of not just one Castle”—he rests his hand on my stomach, and this time I rear back, trying to get away—“but two.”

Childs is silent another moment. “Well, you’ve checked on her, like you wanted. She’s exactly where I said she would be.”

Roger stares at Childs as if he’s quietly strategizing how to kill him, before he finally straightens up and heads to the door, where he pauses to look back at me. “I’ll see you real soon,” he drawls and gives me a wink that has my skin crawling.

Childs is about to follow him out, but I stop him. “I need to use the bathroom again. I’m going to pee all over the floor if I don’t go soon.”

With a sigh, he comes over and pulls out a knife that he uses on the ties around my ankles and then my hands, before helping me out of the chair. My legs feel wobbly as I step out of the room and into the kitchen.

I can see past the curtains that it’s dark out now. There’s also a bucket of chicken in the middle of the kitchen table and some biscuits that have me both hungry and nauseated at the same time. I’ve discovered that with my morning sickness, eating a little bit of food frequently through the day—preferably bread or crackers—keeps the vomiting at bay.

There’s a door just beyond the fridge, the same door we entered through, and I count two deadbolts that would need to be twisted open if I were to try and make an exit. There’s another room past the kitchen where I can hear a television playing and where I assume Roger is holing up. Meaning right now I only have Childs to deal with.

When I get out of the bathroom, Childs is waiting to lead me back to the room, his body between me and the door. I turn my attention to the food on the table. “My morning sickness is pretty bad. If you don’t want to be mopping vomit from the floor, maybe you’ll spare me a biscuit?”

He glances to the table and the box of biscuits, taking a second to decide, before he walks over, leaving nothing between the exit and me. With his back momentarily turned, I creep over. Knowing the seconds are precious, I twist the knob and pull. It’s unlocked, and I’m momentarily relieved that I don’t have to fumble with the locks. I open the door wider as quickly and quietly as I can and am just slipping out when I hear Childs call my name.

I slam the door shut behind me, hoping the extra seconds it will take Childs to open it will buy me some time. There’s another shout from inside, but I’m running across the porch and down the stairs, heading toward the darkness and what I remember to be a wide, barren field from when we pulled up to the old, abandoned farmhouse earlier.

I’ve only run about twenty feet when the door of a dark sedan I hadn’t noticed before opens, and a big, hulking figure gets out and steps in front of me. But it’s not the figure that has me slowing, but what he’s holding, and I stare into another gun, this one directed right at my belly.

I don’t recognize the guy holding the gun on me, but I do recognize the man who clambers out of the back seat, his old, wrinkled face grinning at me. “Why, Miss Callie Castle, I hope you weren’t thinking of leaving so soon. The party is only starting.”

A second later, firm hands grip me and drag me back inside as I get the last glimpse of my near freedom over my shoulder.

* * *

Brody

From the overgrownfield that I’m slowly stalking through, I can see the old farmhouse ahead, along with three separate vehicles parked around the front. The only other sign that there’s life inside is the light that peeks out through the drawn curtains. Curtains that prevent me, Lucas, McCall, and the three deputies he could wrestle together on such short notice from getting a line of sight inside the house,

It had taken three long, agonizing hours for the warrant to be issued and another half hour for us to discover that Childs’s phone, like Cal’s, is no longer emitting any data and hasn’t since this morning when he likely chucked it for a burner. But with the help of a map we were able to narrow down where the guy has spent any time in the past week, including the ranch, Everly’s office, Callie’s gallery, Callie’s apartment, and an old property miles out of town. According to county records, it was once owned by the aunt of Zeke’s girlfriend, Margene, but it’s been abandoned for at least a decade.

With no time to waste, we headed here with the promise that Lucas and I would follow every order that McCall gave, even though I know that my obedience would only go so far, since nothing will stop me from plowing forward if I see Callie is in danger.

One of McCall’s deputies has been scouting the vicinity around the house and is now returning to us. “There’s activity in the front of the house and some around the back, but I wasn’t able to get any visual on Childs or the vic.”

McCall levels a look at Lucas and me, sensing our impatience. “We’re not ready to move in yet. Spread out. You two head around the back while we secure the front,” he says, nodding to me and one of his deputies. Probably figures it’s safer for the operation not to allow Lucas and I to work together, knowing we’d be more likely to barrel inside if we needed to. “Wait for my signal.”

I eye Bragdon, the guy I’m partnered with, remembering him as one of the officers on the scene at Cal’s place after the vandalism.

Young, biddable, and someone I could easily overpower if it comes to it. “Let’s go.”

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