More Than Rum (The Maple Leaf Series Book 3) (13 page)

Abducted.

The word flashed inside his
head like a neon sign, and he raced up his deck stairs, nearly breaking his
neck. He grabbed his phone off the couch and poked at the screen, his mind
going in a thousand different directions at once.

“Did you convince her to stay
with you, stud?” Diana asked.

“Didn’t get the chance,” Adam
said. “She’s gone.”

“Gone like you fucked up or
gone like an asshole got out of jail and went directly into revenge mode.”

“Choice B, and all my tires are
slashed.” Frustration raged inside him. Why did he let Hope go out into the
dark backyard alone? Why hadn’t he insisted on taking Olive out? Why was a
criminal walking around in Danton, free as a fucking bird?

“Kevin and I are on our way,”
Diana said.

Adam hung up and immediately
dialed again. “Orion, get over here. Now.”

“What’s wrong?”

Adam got his buddy up to speed,
hoping Orion would arrive quickly, then jogged to his bedroom. He opened his
closet and pushed his clothes aside to reveal a safe. He punched in the code
and retrieved his gun. It been a long time since he’d touched the thing, and he
wasn’t sure he wanted to touch it now. One thought of that slimeball having his
hands on Hope—
his
Hope—and he closed his fingers around the weapon.

His last mission had failed. He
wouldn’t fail again.  

Something dug into Hope’s
wrists, and something wet rested on her cheek. She cracked open an eye to see
only darkness. Blinking several times, she tried to pick her head up, but
something was covering her. Something that smelled like sweat and smoke.

A warm wet tongue swiped at her
nose, and she realized Olive was right there, half her little body tangled up
in Hope’s hair. Hope tried to speak, but her throat was so dry only a raspy
sound came out. Clearing her throat, she attempted to get up again. Her mind
started putting the pieces together.

She’d rescued Olive from the
pond just before that branch crashed down.

She’d walked back toward Adam’s
place.

She’d thought Adam had been
waiting for her and Olive on the patio.

She’d been wrong. Very wrong.

Suddenly, the covering over her
was ripped away, but it was still dark. Olive let out a squeak and tried to
burrow deeper into Hope’s hair.

“Finally waking up,” a
gravelly, familiar voice said. “About damn time. I didn’t hit you that hard.”

Her attacker? Why the hell was
he out? Quickly, her mind woke up, and she could see she was in a car—her
car—in the backseat, lying on her side. Her head pounded, and her wrists were
painfully bound behind her back.

“Why are you here?” She tried
to sit, Olive making noises of protest at having her nest of hair slip away,
but Hope couldn’t quite manage to get all the way up.

“I missed you.” He let out a
scratchy chuckle that chilled Hope. “It’s cute how you thought I could be
contained. Don’t you know who my friends are?”

How the hell would she know who
his friends were? She didn’t want to know anything about this shitbag. She just
wanted to be back at Adam’s side. Safe. Warm. Un-kidnapped.

“Dicky DiNoble is my friend,
and he wouldn’t let any of his good ol’ boys waste away in some jail cell. I’ve
done a lot of work for him. Loyal and everything. He always said he’d take care
of me, and his word was good. Look at me. Free. Driving your Jeep. Getting
whatever I want. Including you.”

Hope felt the Jeep turn a
corner, but she had no idea where they were or how long she’d been knocked out
in the back seat.

Adam must be looking for me.

She clung to that thought.

“Where are you taking me?”

“Don’t want to spoil the
surprise, sweetheart.” He turned to look at her. His eyes were a dull brown and
bloodshot. “Rest assured though, it’ll be romantic. You’ll forget all about the
musclehead who saved you last time.”

The musclehead’s probably on
your trail right now, asshole.

“I slashed his tires. Some of
them looked brand new too.”

Fuck.
Hope squirmed
against the restraints on her hands, but whatever he’d used was secured good
and tight.

Olive had crawled onto her hip.
She kept pushing her nose into Hope’s side as if to say,
Do something,
Mommy. Do something right now.

She raised her foot and slid
the tip of her boot under the door handle. Slowly she moved her foot away from
the door, hoping to open it, roll out, and have Olive be smart enough to jump
with her. She extended the door handle all the way, but the door didn’t pop
open.

“Great thing about these newer
model Jeeps,” the dickweed said, “is the child safety mechanisms. Door and
window locks are real handy in my line of work.”

Trapped in my own car.
It seemed utterly ridiculous. This night was supposed to be about finally
connecting with Adam. Now she was riding to an unknown location with a lunatic.

And isn’t Dicky DiNoble that
mob boss?

Wonderful. She couldn’t run
into just your regular bad guy. No, Hope had to outdo the rest of the victims
of crime and get tangled up with the super bad guys.

“You should be honored.” Again
brown eyes connected with hers when he turned around. “When I got released, I
immediately made you my first priority. Stopped in that tavern in town for a
quick bite, because you don’t want to do what we’re going to do on an empty
stomach.” He winked at her, and Hope’s stomach flip-flopped.

“That bar owner is real
friendly. A wealth of knowledge too. Prattles on like a woman almost. Finding
you couldn’t have been easier.”

Dammit, Jake.
Why did
the guy have to be so damn friendly to his customers?

“People are going to look for
me,” she said, trying to find a more comfortable position, but her head ached
and her wrists were on fire.

“I bet they will, especially
the musclehead. He in the military or something with that haircut?”

Hope didn’t answer. Instead she
tried to think really hard about Sage, hoping to use some ancient twin powers
to get help. She was willing to try anything at this point.

“He sure looks military. He
felt military too when he took me down the last time you and I met. He nearly
broke my skull. I sort of hope he does come after you. Wouldn’t mind crossing
him off my list too.”

Hope couldn’t contain the
scoff. As if this guy was any match for Adam.

“Oh, I see,” the guy said. “You
think I’d tangle with him myself. Nah. I’m about self-preservation, honey.
Dicky’s got guys bigger than your musclehead. They’ll take care of him. I don’t
have to do a thing but enjoy myself. With you.”

  “You can try.”

The car came to an abrupt stop,
tires sliding on the snow-covered road. Hope got jostled to the space between
the two front seats, and Olive rolled off her lap with a yelp.

“I
will
try, Hope
Stannard,” the douchebag said as he turned around to face her, “and I’ll get
exactly what I want.” He turned back to the steering wheel and navigated up a
narrow driveway to a small, dilapidated cabin. Nothing warm or inviting like
Adam’s barn.

“I’m Daniel, by the way. I know
your name. You should know mine.” He stopped the car in front of the cabin and
got out.

A plan. I need a goddamn
plan.
One that ended with her getting herself and her pup free before…
before… shit, she didn’t even want to imagine what
Daniel
was about to
do to her.

He opened the back passenger
door and Olive let out a growl. Had she been a 110-pound German Shepherd the
growl might have been effective. Daniel reached in and grabbed Hope by the arm,
yanking her out into the cold. Olive prepared to follow, but he closed the door
before the dog could jump out. He pulled Hope toward the cabin.

“You can’t leave the dog in
there.” She dug her heels into the snow.

“I can and I intend to. I’m not
really a dog person.” He pushed her in front of him and grabbed onto her wrists
secured at her back.

Hope let out a cry of pain.
Whatever he’d used to bind her felt like barbed wire on her flesh, and her fingers
were like icicles since she didn’t have her gloves.

“I like the sound of your cry.”
Daniel’s breath was hot in her ear, and she fought not to vomit. “Wonder what
other sounds I can get you to make?”

Hope clamped her lips shut,
intending to make no other sounds whether they be ones he liked or not. She
climbed the three snowy stairs leading to the front door of the broken down
cabin.

“It should be open,” Daniel
said. “Go on.” He laughed. “What am I thinking? You’re all tied up. Let me get
the door.”

After he’d opened it, Hope
stepped inside, immediately assaulted with the scent of dead mice. She heard
Olive’s high-pitched barking in the Jeep and wished she could go to her. She’d
do anything to get away from the stench and whatever was coming next.

“I’ve been a bit lax in my
cleaning,” Daniel said. “Hard to keep a tidy home when you’re locked up in
jail. Your fault.” He shoved her forward so she stumbled over some empty boxes
in her path. Pointing to a beaten-up couch, he said, “Sit.”

She lowered herself to the
couch, her eyes darting to every corner of the room, looking for an exit, a
weapon, a miracle.

This night was supposed to have
gone in a very different direction. She had been about to finally have Adam.
Really have him. He wasn’t going to say no to her tonight, but Daniel had taken
her yes away.

And he’d locked her puppy in
the Jeep.

If Daniel thought he was going
to have a yes—the yes she’d been saving for Adam—he was about to be properly
introduced to
hell no
.   

****

“From what I can gather,” Diana
said to the assembled group in Adam’s living room, “this jackass, Daniel Ciatta,
is mixed up with Richard “Big Dicky” DiNoble.”

“The gangster in Boston?” Orion
asked. “I saw something about him in the news, didn’t I?”

Kevin nodded. “Big Dicky is a
big deal. The Boston PD supposedly has a guy on the inside of DiNoble’s
organization.”

“And it looks as if DiNoble has
cops under his thumb.” Adam paced away, not liking how much time had gone by
since he’d last seen Hope. This jerk could be anywhere with her by now. He
could have done something to her.

“Big Dicky’s got all sorts of
people under his thumb. Hell, he’s using his whole hand. Both of them. He’s
even got ins with FBI, so I’m told.” Diana shook her head. “That explains why
it was so easy to get a simple assault case brushed under the rug.”

“Small potatoes for a guy with
DiNoble’s connections,” Rick said from his seat on the edge of the couch. Sage
had called him as soon as Orion had told her Hope was missing. Then she and
Lily had gone to Joy’s to break the news.

Adam rubbed a hand over his
buzz cut. God, Hope’s mother would be crushed if anything happened to her
daughter. So would he. She’d managed to scale his walls. She’d given him a chance
to climb out of his depression and be happy. Be happy with her. He wasn’t going
to let that slip away. Not this time.

“So what do we do?” Orion
asked.

“I don’t know how much help the
police are going to be,” Kevin said. “DiNoble’s reach is pretty far, and I
think the St. Jamesbury PD is scared. Both Diana and I were told to butt out of
this case by worried superiors.”

“Do we know where this guy went
when he was released?” Adam asked.

“A supposed relative picked him
up at the station.” Kevin leaned back on the couch and stuck his hand in the
front pocket of his jeans. Unfolding the paper he’d pulled out, he said, “A
blue sedan with Vermont license plate HRK 458. I’d see who it belongs to, but
fear that may get me on a list I don’t want to be on. You get me?”

“Understood,” Adam said,
holding his hand out for the paper.

Kevin gave it to him, but
didn’t let go right away. “This is the part where I tell you to officially
report Hope missing to the police and let us handle it.”

“I can take your report right
now,” Diana said, pulling out her phone.

“One of these guys can give you
a report.” Adam gestured to Orion and Rick. “If DiNoble’s got people inside the
police, I can’t put my faith in them. I also can’t sit here and wait anymore.”

The search and rescue Marine in
him was on full blast. So was the sharpshooter. For the first time in a long
time, he was thinking clearly. All his senses were online and they all screamed
for him to find Hope.

Kevin unclipped his badge and
tossed it onto Adam’s coffee table. Diana added hers and gave her partner’s
shoulder a squeeze.

“We’re with you, Adam,” she
said.

“I can’t ask you guys to do
this.” The last thing he wanted was to cause trouble for his friends.

“You’re not asking.” Kevin
stood. “We’re offering. It’s bad enough that we caught this dickwad once and
he’s out. It’d really tick me off if we didn’t get the chance to right that
wrong.”

“I’ll second that,” Diana said.

“We’re in too,” Orion said,
looking at Rick who simply nodded, fierce expressions on both guys’ normally
peaceful faces.

“The thought that this bastard
has my cousin makes me want to break something. Preferably his jaw,” Rick said,
his own jaw clenched.

Adam knew Rick was protective
of both Sage and Hope. He’d had no idea how much until he’d looked into the
guy’s eyes right this very moment. The weird thing was that Adam felt exactly
the same. Hope didn’t belong to him. He had no right to her, but he knew he’d
do whatever it took to save her.

He looked at his gathered
friends—his makeshift squad—and felt a connection to each and every one of
them.

“Let’s find this fucker.” He
grabbed his coat, checked that his gun was tucked into his waistband, and led
the way out of his apartment. “We’re coming, Hope.”