Imminent Danger (Adrenaline Highs) (19 page)

The screen test took place in a different building than the dance auditions. People moved in and out of a single wood door. A small sign with an arrow pointing upstairs read Casting Office, and they made their way up the narrow staircase. The stairs turned right and another flight opened into a giant waiting area filled with people. Four numbered doors indicated different studios and they were all closed.

“I’m good. I need to sign in,” Abbey said, pointing to the small desk with paperwork in the corner of the room. She gave him a finger wave before walking away.

Satisfied she was safe, he went back downstairs and waited. Down the hallway, Blake saw a man moving boxes into an office, before he stepped outside. After waiting thirty minutes, he got fidgety. He opened the door as it was pushed open from inside and came face-to-face with Abbey. Her green eyes were lit with excitement.

“Oh my God, that was so awesome, you have no idea.”

“Awesome enough for another celebratory ice cream and walk through the park?”

She gave him her
Julie
face. One eyebrow lifted while the other eye narrowed. “I think you’re looking to score another kiss.”

Didn’t he wish. He gave her his best smile. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

She swatted his bicep.

Rubbing the spot, he laughed. “Seriously, you have to admit, that was a great first lesson. I don’t see why you wouldn’t benefit from another one.”

“I just see
you
benefiting from another one.”

“Why can’t it be both?”

She shook her head and snorted. “I need to call my agent. I told her I’d give her the scoop as soon as I left.”

Abbey made the call from the SUV, and Blake heard about every second of the audition as Abbey relayed it to her agent and then hung up.

They got halfway back to Troy and Julie’s place when Abbey’s phone rang.

“It’s my agent again,” she said, glancing at the screen. “Hi, what’s up?” She listened. “No way. Now? Seriously?” She patted his arm and motioned the other direction with her thumb. “I’m on my way. I can be there in twenty minutes.”

Shit. He didn’t want to know.

Abbey disconnected the call. “You need to go back. They want to talk to me again.”

“That’s crazy. They just saw you.” But Blake turned the Explorer around and headed back anyway.

By the time he returned to the building, there was no street parking because of traffic. Blake drove to the lot in the back and waited for a truck to move so he could park.

Abbey’s leg bounced with nervous tension as she glanced at her watch. “I’m gonna run in,” she said, checking her makeup in the pull down mirror.

“No.” Blake saw a spot on the other row and tried to move around the truck, but it started moving…albeit very slowly.

“I can’t wait,” Abbey said, unbuckling her belt. “Don’t worry. I’m just going to run in. It’ll take me a few seconds.”

“Abbey, no!” But she was already out the door and sprinting to the building. “Wait, Ab!” Blake slammed the SUV in reverse and burned rubber, pulling into the parking spot in the next row. He didn’t want her out of his sight for a minute.

Abbey bounded into the building, her jitters as plentiful as the hope busting in her chest. This whole process had felt right from the very beginning. These people liked her and she felt her luck shifting for the first time in years. Granted, working for Julie was awesome and the lady treated her like gold, but Abbey’s dream was to dance for a living, not be Julie’s assistant.

The best move she’d made was to take the choreographer position with her dance troupe when Stacy had moved. Choreographers had more clout, were taken more seriously. This credit on her resume said she could not only handle the dancing, but she could create as well. She’d been dying to prove herself. Dancing was the one place she could let go and just be. She had no worries, no cares, only the music and her body to express the emotion harbored in her chest.

This job could mean the life change she’d worked so hard for. She’d miss Julie and Julie’s mom, Elena, and the excitement of the movie sets, but she’d get to trade it in for the love of her life. Dancing.

She started up the stairs, looking forward to this next interview. Had someone come late and wanted to meet her or did they want to mix and match her with another choreographer or the host of the show?

“Abbey?”

She almost didn’t hear her name and backtracked down the few steps. A man leaned out of a doorway from down the hall. He had shaggy brown hair and looked vaguely familiar as he smiled and waved at her. “We’re in here this time,” he said.

“Oh. Okay.” Had she seen him earlier? She definitely remembered him from somewhere, but something was different. She moved down the hall toward him and he gestured into the room and followed her in. A pine desk occupied the right side of the small room and two gray filing cabinets sat along the back wall. No sign of any camera equipment or producers.

This didn’t feel right at all. The hair on her neck prickled as she felt his presence behind her. Her heart rate soared as his beefy arm wrapped around her from behind, but Abbey was already moving, twisting, spinning out of his reach. He lunged before she formulated more of a plan than just
get the fuck away from him.
His weight bore her into a stack of boxes that toppled over. She followed them down to the carpet and struck out with long fingernails against his cheek.

He trapped her hands in his large one. “Fucking bitch,” he swore. “Don’t fight me, little girl. You won’t win.” His hot breath panted over her face and his dark eyes glared into hers.

Fresh fear sent adrenaline shooting through her veins. Her pulse raced and her lungs threatened to seize. She couldn’t lose it now. Time, she needed to buy a little time. “I have forty bucks in my wallet, it’s all yours. Just take it.” She only wished that was what he wanted. It suddenly dawned on her why he looked familiar. It was the man from the Sports Center. He’d not only shaved off his mustache, but without the hat and sunglasses, she hadn’t recognized him. “You,” she whispered.

His eyes narrowed.
Shit on a stick!
Why did she have such a big mouth? Fresh panic had her squirming until his grip tightened painfully on her wrists.

“Stop fucking fighting,” he growled.

“Okay, okay!” She gave up, her heart racing frantically as he stared down at her. He got to his feet and pulled her up roughly by her bicep. Abbey grabbed her stomach and bent over. “Ah!” she moaned. “Wait a sec. I think you cracked my rib.” He bent toward her and she clasped her hands together and lifted up hard. Using her momentum and the strength of both fisted hands, she slammed him in the cheek. The force snapped his head and Abbey followed up with a kick. She’d aimed for his groin, but he swiveled and she caught his thigh instead. She bolted for the door, but he caught her before she made it. “Hel—”

A sharp fist to her kidney cut off her air. Pain exploded in her back and ricocheted in her torso as Abbey dropped like a rock. “I’m not supposed to damage the merchandise. Don’t fucking get me in trouble,” he growled. Abbey struggled to get air in her lungs and he wrapped a huge arm beneath her stomach and yanked her up like a rag doll. Despite her renewed fighting, he trapped her arms against her midsection and placed a white handkerchief over her mouth. Abbey struggled not to breathe. She wiggled in his grip and finally slammed her head back against his chest over and over until she was dizzy. One, two, three. The guy wasn’t budging. The exertion was too much. Her lungs burned. She had to take in air. Instead she took in the rank chemicals in the handkerchief. Her vision blurred and her strength ebbed until even the pressure of his arm around her disappeared as everything faded to nothing.

Blake heard the tussle and his heart nearly beat out of his chest as he bolted in the room. Seeing Abbey hanging limp in the big man’s arms sent every caveman instinct roaring for vengeance. The guy’s bloody cheek told him she’d put up a hell of a fight.

“Set her down nice and easy,” he growled. Sweat prickled his spine.

Nodding slowly, the guy assessed Blake with narrowed eyes as he set Abbey down. Before he stood up, he launched himself at Blake and they slammed into the back wall. Blake had expected the attack and shifted just enough to get leverage after impact. He landed on top and planted a fist in the guy’s face, exactly where Abbey had scratched him. He got in another shot before something slammed into his arm. Pain ripped up his shoulder as the blow knocked him over. He scrambled to get his footing and looked up just in time to see a massive fist make contact with his face. A lightning rod of agony exploded in his head before he fell back.

When he opened his lids, a twenty-something redhead with wide frightened eyes kneeled next to him. “Are you okay?” she asked.

His head hurt like a bitch. Blake shook off the cobwebs and wished he hadn’t when the room got fuzzy. What the hell had hit him? He’d had the first guy pinned so someone else must have joined the fight. How long ago—

Abbey!

He scrambled to his feet. “My friend. Did you see where they took her?” He checked his watch and headed toward the door. He’d only been out a couple of minutes. He looked up and down the hallway. “Two guys just took her out of here. Did you see anything?”

She shook her head no. “I was upstairs in the casting office. I heard a commotion, but I didn’t see anything. I heard tires squeal out back—”

Blake ran for the back parking lot. Nothing. Then he bolted through the hallway to the street side of the building. Nothing again. His heart pounded and his stomach rolled with nausea. He ran back into the building where the redhead waited by the stairway.

“Maybe you should sit down. You look a little pale.” She motioned to her cheek. “You’re bleeding.”

Wiping at the throbbing knot under his eye, Blake came away with blood on his knuckles. “You must have seen something,” he pressed.

“I’m sorry. I wish I could help. I called 911. Police are on the way.”

A sick bubbling of apprehension made Blake’s pulse beat faster. “Maybe someone else in your office saw something.”

“There’s no one left. We finished all the auditions over an hour ago. I was wrapping up.”

“But you called my friend back for another audition. Abbey Washington. I was with her when she got the call.”

“Oh, Abbey. I remember her. We saw her last today. The guys loved her.”

Blake swallowed back his panic. “So you didn’t call her back for a second interview after the original one today?”

She shook her head. “No. Sorry. The guys still need to look at everyone’s tapes and make decisions.”

He needed reinforcements besides the police. “Can you hang on one second?” Blake pulled out his cell phone and called Troy.

“Hey, everythi—”

“She’s gone! She’s fucking gone!” He ran a hand through his hair as every muscle tensed. “She jumped out of the fucking truck before I parked. She couldn’t wait for me.” Blake quickly told him what he saw and what happened. “It was a setup! She’s fucking gone right under my nose!”

“Blake,” Troy said sharply. “Pull it together. Call the police. Find people in the building. Ask questions. You’re no help to her if you can’t think straight. The fact that they took her instead of leaving her body is a good sign.” The idea that he might’ve walked in to see her dead body made his stomach clench and Blake took a deep breath. “She installed that cell phone tracker app on her phone, right? We’ll find her. I’ll get working on that while you talk to the police.” Troy paused. “We’ll get her back. We’ll get her back.”

Blake disconnected the call, shut his eyes and exhaled hard.
Get your shit straight, St. John.
Desperation made his chest ache as he went back to the redhead. He had a few minutes to ask questions before the cops arrived. “You said she was the last interview you saw for the day.”

She nodded. “Yes, that’s right.”

“But her agent called and told her to come back. She said they wanted to see her again.”

“Nope.” She started up the stairs and Blake followed. “I’m the one who would’ve called the agent and I didn’t. Who’s her agent? I can’t imagine how this happened.”

“I don’t know.” He’d have to find out though.

She went into the far studio and started rifling through headshots on the table. “Here she is. Her agent’s name is at the bottom if you want to call.” She checked her watch. “Although they’re probably gone for the day by now.”

Maybe Troy could find her.

Blake took the headshot. A label at the bottom gave her agent’s name, agency, address and telephone number. Something like this could very easily be on the Internet. What if the guy had somehow got her audition information from her agent? All he had to do was pick up a phone in the building and the caller ID would give the building location. He could pretend to be the casting agency and her agent would send Abbey back to the place in hopes of bagging the job. Then they pull off the snatch and grab. “Fuck,” Blake muttered again. “Look, if there’s anything you can remember that might help us find her, it would be great.”

She shrugged. “I’m sorry I didn’t see anything.”

Blake paced the front of the building, his nausea growing worse as time ticked by. Every second that passed was another second Abbey got farther away from him. He should’ve walked in with her. Should’ve been by her side every second. How could he let this happen?