Chance Encounter (42 page)

The wife, kids, and grandkids had been a hoax. The security company had bought Vincent’s lies…and, dammit, so had Brennan.
 

The fact that Vincent didn’t seem to care that he would be found out wasn’t the least bit reassuring. He didn’t expect to be caught.

“We interrupt this program with a special news bulletin. Carlton Lorrance, the journalist who might well have been the last person to see Kacie Dane before her disappearance, has announced he will be making a public statement today at three p.m. regarding new developments that he has uncovered.

“Be sure to join us at three. Now, back to our regularly scheduled program.”

“Son of a bitch,” Brennan growled. “He’s planning to make a name for himself any way he can.”

“You think he has anything?” Justin asked.

“No. But we need to make damn sure, just in case. One thing’s for sure, he’s done dragging people’s names through the mud.” Pulling his cellphone out, Brennan punched in a number he still knew by heart, even though he hadn’t used it a years.

“Roy, it’s Brennan.” Before the man could speak, Brennan got to the point. “I know it’s been forever, sorry I haven’t called, but I need a favor.”

As he described what he’d already put in place, and what he wanted done, both Justin’s and McCall’s eyes gleamed with humor.
 

His former manager, Roy Gilson, still had a large amount of influence in the city. Brennan had seen him use it with the precision of a skilled surgeon, slicing and dicing careers until they were shredded and blew away like ashes. Before the day had ended, Lorrance’s career would be demolished as if it never existed.
 

Brennan already knew enough to bury the man. Knew what he feared, what kept him awake him at night, what secrets he’d buried deep. He hadn’t intended to use it, had wanted the info just in case. Now, he would use every ounce of shit and slime he knew about the jerk to bury him for good.

He would tolerate a lot of things, put up with shit that might infuriate most people, but he’d be damned if that asshole used Kacie’s abduction to further his career.

The ringing cellphone brought silence to the room. It had been years since Brennan prayed. He’d prayed for his son to be alive, and his prayers had gone unanswered. He’d prayed for his mother’s recovery, and she had died anyway. Without a doubt, he knew God existed. What Brennan didn’t have faith in was that his prayers made a damn bit of difference. Whatever was going to happen would happen. No matter what he asked for.

However, the second that phone rang, everything within Brennan was praying, pleading.
Please, please, please, let this be information that will help us find Kacie, alive
.

McCall answered and then clicked on speaker so everyone could hear. “What have you got, Angela?”

“Vincent’s family owns a vacation cabin.”

“Yes, close to Watertown,” McCall said. “We already knew that. The police already checked it out. It was empty.”

“No, not that one. He had a foster sister, at least for a short while. She said she hadn’t heard from him in years, but he called her out of the blue a few months back. He didn’t give her any details about himself but asked her a lot of questions. She remembers mentioning that she had a vacation home in Vermont, close to the New York state border, that she’d been trying to sell with no luck. She said the place is empty.”

 
Brennan met McCall’s dark eyes, questioning. Hell, it was better than anything else they had right now.

“Okay, Angela,” McCall said, “thanks. Send me the coordinates. But keep looking, just in case.”

“Will do, Noah. Everyone stay safe.”

McCall stood beside Brennan. “Kelly, you and Ingram get your gear and come with Sinclair and me. Thorne and Fox, find this lowlife, Carlton Lorrance, and grill his ass until he tells you something or admits he was lying and has nothing.”

Brennan pulled out the bag he’d stored beneath Kacie’s dining room table. It had been packed and ready to go for days. Even though he told himself it was useless, he once again found himself praying that he would need the contents of the bag, because they were going to save Kacie.

As he headed out the door, the television news blasted once more
. “As we reported earlier, online journalist Carlton Lorrance had called a press conference to reveal what he said was pertinent information related to the disappearance of model Kacie Dane. However, we’ve just learned that Mr. Lorrance has been arrested on charges of money laundering and influence peddling, and therefore, his press conference has been canceled. More news as this story develops.

Eyes heavy with exhaustion, Kacie blinked to clear her vision. Vincent had put her to bed hours ago, but it was still dark outside. What had woken her? A noise, a voice? Was Vincent talking with someone, or was that the television?

This would be the fourth…or the fifth day of her captivity. She had lost count. Every day was the same. She woke and was allowed to go the bathroom. Most of the time, he made her walk, and she knew he did it only for his amusement and to reinforce her helplessness. By the time she got to the toilet, her need would be so bad, she’d almost collapse with relief.

After she finished in the bathroom, he would carry her into the bedroom and dress her for the day. Dresses, no underwear, no shoes. Then he would carry her into the kitchen, seat her at the counter, and prepare breakfast. All the while, he would talk to her as if they were just a regular couple. Politics, sports, where they might go on vacation,
 
places he had visited. He rarely asked her questions, which was good, since if she opened her mouth at all, she figured it would be to scream or curse. But she did listen, hoping at some point he would share something of import.

After breakfast, she was allowed to go to the sofa and watch movies or read. Lunch would be a light meal, usually a salad. Dinner was more substantial. Her appetite wasn’t great, but when she had refused to eat the first dinner he’d prepared for her, he’d shoved her face into her food and told her she had no choice. She had obeyed simply because he was right. Until things changed, she had no choice but to do what he said.

Bedtime was the most frightening. She wasn’t quite sure why, since he could rape her anytime he liked. But bedtime was when he bathed her, and his eyes would roam over her in an oily, sick way that made her want to vomit.

That had been the routine since she’d been here, and he’d given no indication things would change any time soon. She wasn’t allowed to watch regular television, and she assumed it was because the news of her disappearance must be everywhere.

Brennan would be looking for her, as would Noah, Gabe, and several other LCR operatives. She knew they would do everything possible to rescue her. Again.

Skylar must be frantic with worry. She doubted that her mother would be too concerned, but it must be driving her crazy not to be able to admit that Kacie Dane was her daughter. Sonia did so love to play the martyr.

Kacie didn’t intend to wait around for rescue. Vincent had already threatened Brennan’s life. No way in hell did she intend to give him the chance. This time she would rescue herself, or die trying. Now if only he would give her an opportunity.

Yesterday, for the first time, Vincent had disappeared outside for a substantial amount of time. When he’d walked out the door, leaving her tethered to the chain beside the couch, he’d grinned at her and said, “Don’t go anywhere. Will be back in a bit.”

Kacie had waited five minutes. When he didn’t return, she’d gotten to work. Though it had taken her a while, she’d managed to make it to a long sideboard that was shoved up against a wall in the living room. She’d been eyeing it for days, wondering if she’d be able to find anything inside that she could use. It was the only furniture of significance that she could reach. When she’d opened the cupboards, she’d found a treasure trove of items.
 

Now she just needed the opportunity to use them.

The door opened, and Vincent came into the bedroom. She had stopped tensing up when he entered, no longer expecting an immediate attack, but she was still wary.

“What time is it?” she asked.

“After midnight.”

So he’d put her in bed only a few hours ago. What was he doing in here? He never woke her at this time of the night, never bothered her after her bath. Why…
 

Breath caught in her throat. She knew why. He was tired of waiting.

He came closer and then sat on the bed. Pushing the sheet aside, he rubbed his fingers lightly on her bare leg. Kacie couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe. She had thought she would have more time, thought she would be given a chance to move around freely before he did anything more. Hadn’t he promised he would give her time?

“Vincent, please, I don’t feel as if we know each other well enough yet.”

His fingers stayed on her skin but stopped moving. “We’ve known each other almost two years, Kacie. Some people marry and divorce in that timeframe.”

“But you promised.”

“I’ve spent the last few days telling you about myself, my hopes and my dreams. You know me better than anybody.”

“But what about my hopes and dreams?”

“Oh, sweet Kacie, I know all about those hopes and dreams. Unfortunately, they aren’t consistent with the future I have planned for us. So you’ll just have to adjust.”

“What do you mean?”

“Simply that you can’t continue to model, be in the public’s eye like you have been. You’re exclusively mine from now on.” His hand went back to rubbing her leg. “No one gets to enjoy this body but me.”

Kacie worked to settle the terror rising inside her. Okay, this wasn’t a surprise. She had known where this was headed from the beginning and had given careful thought to what she would do when the time came. Even if he succeeded in raping her, she would never be the victim she had once been. Never be broken again. Those days were over. But she didn’t intend that to happen. She would get free of him. However, she would have to endure certain things to gain his trust. Could she get him to take off the cuffs at her ankles?
 

Kacie closed her eyes, willed herself courage that she knew she had within her, and said, “Maybe we could try kissing for a bit?”

Having his mouth touch hers might well backfire, as she wasn’t sure she wouldn’t throw up. However, if she just outright offered herself to him, he’d see right through her. Acting shy and hesitant went with the persona he’d built up in his mind about her.

“I would like that,” he whispered.

She prayed he kept the lights off, because if he saw her eyes, the revulsion on her face, there was no way in hell she would get him to believe she wanted this.

Leaning over her, he pressed a kiss to her cheek, then her mouth. Her lips trembled under his, and she couldn’t breathe.
Don’t panic!

“You taste good, sweet girl.”

“Th-thank you.”

“Open up, and let me in.”

She opened her mouth and had to swallow back bile. The strangled sound she made hopefully sounded like a gasp. She didn’t know. Blood was rushing in her ears, drowning out everything but the panic.

He pushed his tongue deep into her mouth, and tears swam in her eyes. Brennan was the last man she had kissed and the only man she wanted.

At last moving his mouth from hers, he licked down her chin, to her neck. One of his hands was wrapped in her hair, the other moving slowly down her stomach, toward the juncture of her thighs.

Shuddering, she managed what she hoped was a convincingly sexy laugh. “Don’t I get to touch you, too?”

He stiffened for a moment, and she figured she’d gone too far. Then he surprised her by saying, “You really want to touch me?”

“I think to enjoy lovemaking, we should be partners, don’t you?”

Without questioning her further, he reached up and unlocked the chain attached to her cuffs. “Let’s see how tonight goes, and then I’ll consider uncuffing your wrists tomorrow.”

No way in hell would there be a tomorrow night. Even if she had to die, there would be no repeat performance.

As if she was thrilled to have the freedom to touch him, she caressed his hair and squirmed slightly as if she were getting excited.

His hand covered her mound, and it took every bit of her willpower not to scream at him. Fortunately, he realized that to be able to penetrate her, he would have to unlock her ankles. It would be the first time her legs had been free since he’d brought her here, and her heartbeat went wild with anticipation.

“Let’s get those legs free, so I can get in between them and show you what a real man can do.”

And I’ll show you what a real woman can do.

The instant the lock clicked and her ankles were at last separated, Kacie bent her knees and, with a quick jerk, slammed them into Vincent’s face. She felt the give of bone and cartilage, knew she’d broken his nose. She didn’t wait around to see if he was unconscious. Springing from the bed, she wasted no time in running from the room. She stopped briefly for the small arsenal of supplies she’d hidden, and then she opened the front door. The furious shouting behind her told her she had only seconds before it would be too late.