Page 53 of The Captive Missing

Val absorbed the scene quickly. Eyes darting about before landing once more on Jason. Her husband was here. At Cambric. And the look on his face as he watched her willingly embrace another man was pure and utter torture.

Closing her eyes against the pain, Val bit down hard on the inside of her cheek. She bit down until the welcome taste of blood passed over her tongue.

“So, you can see this silly court order is all for nothing,” Shane spoke easily, rubbing at her shoulder. “There are no black eyes, no bruises, she hasn’t been forced to do anything she hasn’t wanted to do. Am I right, Val?”

Charlie’s last words to her echoed now in her mind. Don’t say anything. So that is exactly what Val did, she remained perfectly silent. Opening her eyes, she caught Jason’s gaze briefly before re-focusing on the floor.

“Regardless of the circumstances, this nurse is here to perform a full examination.” Jason’s lead attorney spoke, his booming voice took up all the air in the meeting room. “And you can save your demonstrations for another crowd because we aren’t buying it.”

Shane waited quietly for a bit. His hand moved to her waist where his fingers traced taunting circles. She didn’t have to look up at him to know the expression of cold pleasure that had taken up residence on his face. He wanted all of these people, but especially Jason, to feel the exact breadth of his power. He could touch where he wanted and no one could do anything about it.

For her part, Val kept her arms around Shane’s body. He hadn’t given her permission to let go yet, and that was a step she could no longer skip. Because if she did, then she would be responsible for what happened to Ben, a fellow captive who had given her his trust in return for her own. There wasn’t anything more valuable a captive could trade than that.

“Come on, Val.” Jason’s voice cut right through her. “You can come over here. He can’t hurt you. We’re all watching.”

But Val did not move. She kept her breath even and calm. The blood inside her mouth tasted of iron and salt. She focused on it.

Shane threw back his head then and laughed. In that instant, Val let her eyes shoot up to Agent Finn. He caught her gaze and held it. Ever so slightly, he shook his head to one side. No, he was saying, you aren’t safe.

Whatever had passed between them before, whatever betrayal he had been party to, she knew he regretted delivering her to Shane. Agent Finn had witnessed what the man was really like and so she would listen to Finn now. She kept her arms wrapped around Shane’s body and patiently waited to be released.

“Val dear,” Shane said finally, tilting her chin up to peer into her face. “You have to let this nurse examine you. Go ahead and have a seat over there.”

Dropping her arms, Val walked to the chair indicated and sat down. She crossed her legs, letting the line of her body hike up her gray dress to reveal the full length of her thigh.

Jason darted forward. Skirting the table, he came around to kneel beside her. Val avoided his eyes. If she looked at him now, she just might give herself away.

Keeping her face averted, she focused on the nurse instead. But out of her periphery, her husband lingered. His arctic eyes swept the side of her face, she could feel his gaze on her skin. Then his hands came up to cup her chin, and his touch almost undid her. Ever so slowly, he forced her to look at him.

“It’s me, Val,” he whispered, before pressing his lips against hers. “It’s me.”

Hot tears clenched at her throat, threatening to unleash themselves over her cheeks. It took everything she had, everything inside of her, not to break. It was the feel of Shane’s calculating stare that prevented it. It gave her enough fear to grab on to. Because Jason might be in this room at the moment, but soon he would be gone. When he left, his attorneys and all their protection would go with him, leaving Val alone once more.

“Please-” Val closed her eyes, refused to kiss him back. “Please don’t.”

“You’ll have to forgive her,” Shane chimed. “She’s just been re-trained today, so she’s probably not up for another round.”

“Trained?” Jason’s voice was tight, but his thumbs smoothed gently over Val’s skin.

Her eyes shot open then, the guilty misery overflowing from them. Heart breaking silently inside her chest, she wished she could tell him that nothing had happened. Wished she could explain that it was all a ruse, a scam, that Ben had helped her. But she couldn’t. She couldn’t say anything at all.

“Yes, she couldn’t get enough of Ben.” Shane smirked, letting the implication roll over Jason. “The session lasted well over six hours.”

It was that final sentence. It did something to her husband. In a word, he snapped.

In a split second he was off the floor, lunging for Shane. Cambric security surged forward. Shane laughed. Agent Finn stepped between them with the police officer not far behind. Senior kept shouting while the attorneys punched furiously at their phones. The nurse covered her mouth with one hand.

In the midst of it all, Val sat perfectly still. Blinking and blinking at a blank wall, a solitary tear traced a wet path down her cheek. If she ever made it out of here, if Jason ever succeeded in freeing her, what exactly would she have left?

“Get your hands off me you son of a bitch!” Jason screamed at Finn who braced his shoulders, keeping him back.

“You! Out!” Agent Finn barked at Shane, angling his head towards the door.

“You have no right to-” Shane began, but was cut short by the police officer. He stepped forward, his baton slapping loudly against one open palm.

“I’m the court’s hand in this matter.” Finn continued to hold Jason. “And I say you’re out.”

“The judge will hear about this.” Shane eyed the officer a moment longer before walking calmly from the room.

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