War and Peace by graf Leo Tolstoy (latest ebook reader .TXT) 📕

“That Duke is the friendliest dog in the world, and it doesn’t take much to lure him off. I think he was used as bait.”

“Are there security cameras?” Harrison asked.

“No,” Xander started. “We never—”

But Ty was already running for the house. He bolted up the front porch and through the door. He took the stairs two at a time, racing for their third-floor room.

His duffel bag was still where he’d left it, his work boots kicked over by the chair. But all traces of Paisley and Duke were gone. Her absence struck him like a fist, but he couldn’t take the time to absorb it. He lunged for his laptop, even as footsteps sounded on the stairs.

“What the hell?” Xander asked from the doorway.

“I installed cameras when we moved in.”

“Are you serious?” Ty couldn’t quite tell if there was censure beneath the shock in his boss’s voice.

“I’m a paranoid bastard. They aren’t permanent.”

He pulled up the system, scrolling back the video feeds to about forty-five minutes before as both Xander and Harrison peered over his shoulders.

“Where the hell are these?” Xander asked. “I didn’t see a thing outside.”

“Hidden in the eaves of the house. They’re small.”

“We used all kinds of fun surveillance equipment in the Army,” Harrison added.

“There.”

Duke came into the frame, tail high as he performed his familiar sniffing examination of the side yard. Abruptly his head shot up, ears pricking, and his tail began to wag. He bolted out of view. Toggling over to a different view, Ty could just make out a figure, head down, beckoning the dog from the edge of the woods. He crouched down, giving the dog an easy rubdown, clearly offering him treats that Duke gobbled down without even chewing.

“C’mon, you fucker. Stand up and show your face,” Ty muttered.

As if following orders, the guy snapped a leash on Duke and rose, taking one last look toward the front of the house and giving Ty a clear view of his face.

“Oh, fuck no.”

Chapter 14

Muted but frantic barking jerked Paisley to consciousness.

Duke.

She turned her head toward the sound, straining to see. But there was only blackness, and the motion made her muscles scream. Everything hurt and her mind seemed shrouded in fog. She tried to swallow, only to find something blocking her tongue. The strangeness of that dragged her back to awareness.

Not something. A gag. And she couldn’t see because she was blindfolded. Her arms and feet were immobilized. Bound to a chair? Wood creaked as she strained to move. The rest of it came back in a rush. The woods. She was attacked. Drugged.

Fresh fear spiked beneath the remnants of the drugs. Where was she? How long had she been out? Where was her kidnapper? She couldn’t hear anything over the roaring of her pulse and Duke’s continued barking. He was alive, and he was nearby. That was…something. Struggling to calm herself, she inventoried her body. Aches from the fall, soreness from where her arms had been wrenched back. But she didn’t feel any major injuries or signs of violation.

For the moment, she seemed to be alone. No doubt, that wouldn’t last. What was her kidnapper’s end game? This whole thing had begun as such comparatively benign contact to have escalated this far. What the hell did he want? Was he planning to keep her, Misery style? Was she expected to be some kind of plaything?

Closing her eyes, she wished desperately for Ty. Did he even know she was gone? If he knew, he was looking for her. No matter what headspace he was in, so long as she was in danger, he wouldn’t stop trying to find her. She knew that beyond the shadow of a doubt. He was going to come for her. She just had to hold on until he did.

The shriek of rusty hinges echoed through the space. A space that sounded far larger than she’d imagined. Paisley repressed a scream as footsteps made their way across a creaky wooden floor, wondering if she should pretend to still be unconscious. But she couldn’t stop from jerking her head toward the sound, trying to track the movement as the person circled around her. Clearing the room? Rescue? Ty?

A low, male voice cursed and rushed toward her. At the sense of hands near her face, Paisley flinched. The blindfold slid away.

“It’s okay. I’ve gotcha.”

She blinked unfocused eyes at the man kneeling in front of her chair. Not Ty. Joel Fisher.

He holstered his service weapon and moved behind her to work the gag free. As soon as it was out of her mouth, she flexed her jaw, trying to get feeling back.

“Are you okay?”

She was too stupefied to see him to focus on anything else. “I…what are you…how are you here?”

With a wry half smile, he began to work at the knots on her ankles. “Just call me the cavalry. I was already on my way up here, so I joined in the search when you disappeared.”

“How long have I been missing?”

“Since this morning.”

So it had been hours, not potential days.

“Why were you even coming here?” Where was here? Was she still somewhere in Eden’s Ridge?

“Deputy Brooks called to discuss the transfer of your protective detail. I understand you’ve had some problems up here. We’ve got a safehouse ready back in Nashville.” Joel paused, his hands on her knees, and looked up with an expression she couldn’t quite read. Earnestness mixed with…a sort of manic adoration. “I’m going to keep you safe.”

Something about this didn’t feel right. Ty didn’t like Joel and wasn’t particularly impressed with him as a detective. Maybe that was colored by jealousy, but even if he was abdicating his own role in her case, he’d find someone he knew and trusted to pass it to.

“Let me get your hands loose.” He straightened, and her gaze dropped to his feet and the dark brown boots he wore. Mud was splattered across the toe of one. Paisley angled her head, squinting at the