“Not too fucking horrible.” Kyle stood and shook her hair out. It spiked up, and she ran her hands through it. “Let me rinse off quick. I’m getting hair splinters.”
Livia nodded. “Sure, I’ll clean up your other grooming station.”
She got the vacuum and sucked up the hair before replacing the sheets and laying out a fresh comforter. She wandered to the window, trying to think of ways to keep Kyle busy for the next few months when she saw a man walking casually out of the backyard. After a spike of fear, she pulled out her phone and snapped a picture. Since Emme was approached, she couldn’t be too careful. Falling prey to her concerns, she dialed her dad.
“Yup. Hey, kiddo.”
She breathed a sigh of relief when she heard Emme’s happy chatter and Kellan’s baby blabber in the background. “Everyone okay?” Livia turned and watched her sister go from the bathroom into her walk-in closet.
“Sure thing. My granddaughter is painting my toenails. Got to say—that’s a first.”
Livia busted out laughing. “Wow, I think Kyle and I need a picture of that.”
“Don’t worry, Kathy’s taken a ton of blackmail pictures. And Kellan just had a bath.” John paused, listening before adding, “And I guess he’s about to have his bottle. Everything okay there?” His concern slipped into his voice.
Her sister came out of her closet in comfy clothes.
“Yes. We’re doing makeovers here too. I just wanted to give you a heads up that I saw someone walking through Kyle’s backyard. Keep an eye out.” Kyle pushed Livia out of the way so she could look out the bedroom window. Livia switched to speakerphone and gave her father a complete rundown of what she’d seen as Kyle examined the picture on her phone.
“I really think this is my neighbor from down the road. His dog is always coming over here.” Kyle shrugged.
Livia listened to her father’s warnings while she mouthed to her sister, “That’s because you’re a filthy bitch.”
Kyle responded by giving Livia creative variations on the middle finger.
After promising their father they’d stay put until the men returned, Livia finally hung up. Her sister had moved on to spanking her own butt with two proud middle fingers, which gave Livia hope that Kyle might be able to work through the sadness. Laughter always made the girls stronger.
“Can I make you something to eat?” Livia kicked her sister’s rump gently.
“Ugh. I’m cramping. Everything makes me nauseous.” Kyle headed for the door, walking slowly. “I need to get a fresh ice pack for my sin muffin.”
Just as they stepped into the hallway, the alarm system sounded. First a beeping, but then sliding into a high, piercing, and unrelenting wail.
Kyle had just moved to disarm it at the panel in the bedroom when Livia pulled her back inside the room and shook her head. They locked the door and worked quickly to push Cole’s dresser in front of it.
Someone was breaking into the house.
Cole was driving again, and Blake wished they had a better plan. Chaos had texted, saying he wanted to see him for some tattoo maintenance, which they assumed meant an update on their brother.
“Should we contact Beckett? Even if we figure out how?” Cole made a right onto Chaos’s street.
After scanning the area for Chaos, Blake responded. “I’m not sure. I think he’d kick our asses if he knew we had questions for him and didn’t at least try.” He nodded to the left. “Here he comes.”
Chaos opened the back door and slid in. “Gentlemen.”
Cole looked in the rearview mirror. “You staying out of trouble?”
The man smiled, and Blake noticed the inside of his lip was tattooed. He ignored the question. “I’ve got a lead on your brother. I’m a little tight on cash, though. Makes it hard to think.”
Cole started the car and headed to his bank for an ATM. True to his word, Chaos said nothing until they arrived.
“How much?” Cole asked as they pulled into the parking lot.
“Forty thousand dollars.” Chaos appeared to be about half kidding.
Cole turned in his chair and slid his sunglasses down, giving Chaos a very male stare.
“A thousand, if possible. My anxiety meds are expensive as fuck.”
Blake passed his ATM card to Cole. “I’ll do half. That work for you?”
After the two transactions were complete, the cash disappeared into Chaos’s jacket. “There’s a little town in Maryland, and the rumor is Beckett’s all over it. Some assbag got the shit kicked out of him boss style a couple months ago. He’s been looking for a hit on Beckett. Now, I can’t be sure. These are just rumors.” Chaos cracked the back window.
“Where you getting these rumors from?” Cole made a few more turns, and they looked out over the choppy Hudson River.
“Around.” Chaos opened the door and got out.
Cole rolled down the window. “That’s not even a hundred dollars’ worth of information.”
Chaos pulled out a pair of sunglasses and covered his dark eyes. “Rockvale. It’s by the water. He’s supposedly living with two ladies.”
Blake lifted an eyebrow. There had to be more.
“He’s got a liquor store. There’s only four in that town. You see him, you tell him everybody’s getting jumpy. This place will be a shitfest soon.” Chaos nodded at them. “See ya around.”
The brothers watched the tattoo artist’s receding form.
“Well, that’s helpful.” Blake shook his head.
“I guess we make some calls. But crap—if he’s started a life with a woman, should we really drag him back here?” Cole locked eyes with Blake.
“I don’t know. I don’t like that someone knows who Emme is. And I think I want Beckett’s advice, at the very least.” Looking out on the dark river, Blake thought of all the things that could go wrong. He couldn’t keep Emme out of school forever. Right now they were living on lockdown. His kids needed to be able to go to the park, be kids.
Cole looked at his phone. He spent some time staring at it before finally dialing. His eyes were worried when he looked at Blake as he listened. “The alarm went off at my house a few minutes ago. Back door. Kyle hasn’t turned it off yet.”
Blake pulled out his phone as Cole switched to speaker so he could drive at top speed. After three rings it switched to voicemail.
“This is Kyle. This is my phone. Tell it what you think!”
Cole hit redial. The phone went straight to voicemail again. Blake listened on his to the sound of Livia’s voicemail. “Sorry, my phone’s at the bottom of my purse. I’ll call you back as soon as I find it.”
“Shit.”
Cole took the turns like racecar driver and sped through intersections, barely stopping to make sure they were clear.
Blake called John on his phone and texted Kyle “you okay?” on Cole’s.
“Sir, have you heard from the girls?” Blake could hear his daughter singing in the background.
“A little while ago. They were doing makeovers. What’s up?” Blake could almost hear John sitting up.
Cole shook his head. “The alarm still isn’t reset. Ah, here’s the alarm company calling.” He went through the process of notifying the alarm company that he did, in fact, have a problem. “Send the cops.”
“John, please take Kathy and the kids upstairs,” Blake finally continued. “We have no idea what’s happening, but bring your gun. We’re sending the police to Cole’s, and we’re almost there. It’s probably just the girls forgot it was on and went out somewhere. That happens.” Blake ended his call as Cole pulled into the driveway.
Cole reached under his seat and recovered a pistol. Blake had no idea his brother kept a handgun, but at this second he was grateful. From the front, the house looked fine. Livia’s car sat in the driveway next to Kyle’s. It was such a sunny day, the windows glinted with an almost blinding reflection of the sun. The house alarm pierced through the quiet. If they’d had any close neighbors, they would surely have come run
ning by now—or called to report a noise complaint.
Cole and Blake ran to the front door. “Go through the back,” Cole ordered. “Grab a hammer or something.”
Blake sprinted around the house, and his stomach dropped. The back door was wide open. He ran through it and slipped. As he landed hard on the floor, he registered the moisture. He lifted his hand and saw it stained red. Blood. Oh God. He turned and scanned the woods behind the house. No movement. He pulled a knife from the block in the kitchen, the alarm blaring in his ears. It was so loud it felt like he was going crazy. He swept the rooms visually and noted the red drops of blood continuing up the stairs.
His heart pounded, and it took him a second to realize there was another pounding noise—apart from the alarm filling his ears. He found Cole in his bathroom, pulling a flat iron out from between the handles of the linen closet as someone kicked from the inside.
When the flat iron pulled free, Kyle fell out, tears streaming down her face. She rushed to get past Cole, screaming, “They took her! They took her!”
Cole went to the nearest alarm panel and finally silenced the noise. Incoming sirens replaced the alarm’s wail.
“The place is clear,” Blake said before approaching Kyle. He set the knife on the dresser. “Who took her? What happened, Kyle?” Blake watched her mouth as she delivered the worst news.
“Livia. They took Livia. She and I came in here, and she was going to get in the cabinet. But when I got in this closet, she locked me in. I could hear her fighting. I heard a gunshot.” Kyle wiped her nose, tears choking her.
Cole had secured his gun when the police burst into the room, hollering, “Get down! Put your hands up! Get down!”
John McHugh pushed past the other officers. “Where’s Livvie? Put the guns down. These are my kids.” His hands were two fists.
“There was a blood trail out the back door,” Blake blurted. “Let me follow it.” He could barely verbalize anything, but John nodded. Blake pushed through the officers and ran down the steps. People along the way told him not to touch anything, but he ran at top speed anyway. No one was better than he was in the woods.
Blake slowed a bit as he followed the drops of blood through the backyard and into the trees. He tracked the crushed foliage and broken branches. All of the sudden the path was clear to him. He began to run again, hopping and ducking around the nature that ruled the place.
The blood was tapering off, which was good, he hoped. Branches slapped at him, thorns catching on his pants. He saw where there’d been scuffles. He prayed Livia had fought—fought so hard they left her here. But the dread was solid in his lungs. When he made it to the road that ran behind the woods at Cole’s place, it was deserted in both directions. He closed his eyes and waited. After a time he thought he heard some crunching gravel to the east. My wife was taken. Taken.
John came up behind him, and they shared a look of complete desperation.
The sun crashed in on Blake, fracturing and turning into shards, embedding itself and tearing him apart. Livia. Livia. He could hear John issuing commands over the racket of his mind imploding. Livia. He bit his fist, and blood filled his mouth. Blake felt two hands shaking him.
“Son. I need you. The kids need you. I’m not sure what the hell kind of fancy bullshit my daughter used to make you into a stand-up man, but I don’t have any of that.”
Blake tried to focus on John’s face. He felt like his pupils were too large to actually see with. He made his eyes wider.
“Ah, shit. Snap together, Blake.” John walked away, leaving him standing in the horror and pain of the sun.
He should never have left her alone. He knew better. Damn it. He knew better. The second Emme was approached. Emme! Kellan! He ran to catch up with John, stopping the man with his hand. “The kids? Where are the kids?” He was asking for information, but it felt dramatic. Too much. Oh God, she was taken.
John turned from issuing orders. “The kids are with two patrolmen and Kathy at your house. She just called to say they’re fine. Here, call her.”
Blake looked at John’s phone for a moment before hitting redial.
He had to do this. He had to fight for his mind. Livia needed him to focus. Kathy picked up on the first ring. “Kids?” he asked.
“Kellan’s napping, and Emme is watching her favorite show. The boys from the station will keep us safe.”
“Okay. I’ll…be in touch.” Blake ended the call and handed the phone back to John.
They walked carefully through the woods. Should he be taking the car and going to hunt her down? He didn’t know. Cole came from the front yard with his arm around Kyle. Blake walked close to his brother. “You guys staying with us?” Me. Just me and the kids. Livia. Oh God.
Cole nodded. “They need our place for evidence.”
Kyle refused the paramedics as they approached. “She stuffed me in the linen closet. I couldn’t get out. The hinges were on the other side. I tried so hard to break the door down. Where is my sister? Where is my sister?”
Blake walked away from his frantic sister-in-law. He took out his phone and Googled Rockvale liquor stores. He called two in a row, each responding negatively to his request for Beckett. Then he called a third.
“Liquor store. We get you hammered quicker store. How can your day be more awesome?” His brother’s familiar voice rang true in his mind.
“Beckett. They took her. Someone took Livia. I don’t know—”
“Brother, I’ll be there in four hours. Keep your phone close. Call Eve.”
The call disconnected, and Blake stared at the phone. Beckett couldn’t be any help—he was still wanted for questioning about Chris Simmer’s murder. But he just didn’t know how to find his wife. Beckett would burn Poughkeepsie to the ground to find her.
Blake dialed Eve’s number.
“What?”
“Eve, someone kidnapped Livia from Kyle’s house. There’s blood everywhere.” He started to sob.
“I already know. You take a deep breath. I will find her.” She hung up.
Between John, Beckett, and Eve he’d released the worst he could on whoever took his wife. He tried to stop shuddering. He wanted to punch everyone. He wanted to find his kids, his wife and take them into the woods where he could keep them safe. Livia. Oh God. Where are you?
Eve ended her call and slipped her cell phone in her back pocket. She looked up at the entrance to Mary Ellen’s mansion. There was a decided lack of activity. After Ryan had bolted from lunch, she’d known she was doomed to go back to the bitch’s place today.
Ryan had been shocked when the call came in. “What the hell? She was taken in the middle of the day? What the hell? Yeah, okay. I know. I’ll check in at the station in just a few.”
He shook his head at his phone. “Shit. I got to run. You okay?”
Eve had nodded. “Who?”
“My captain’s daughter. Keep your eyes wide open?”
Ryan had run to the parking lot, and Eve went to pay the bill. She got to her own car just in time to see a tidal wave of shaving cream fly out of Ryan’s truck as he drove away. Someone, most likely the illustrious Trish, had filled the bed with what had to be an entire store’s supply.
Then Blake had called on her way to Mary Ellen’s, and she’d decided to fabricate a story involving progress with Ryan and see if Livia’s name came up. Hopefully her timing was good. The kidnapping must have happened within the hour.
She observed as much of the property as she could before entering. No speeding cars or yelling. Just peaceful. A bodyguard opened the door for Eve. She nodded at him.
“Quiet day.” She waited for his reply, hoping for something.
“So far.” He locked the door behind her.
“The boss home? I have an update.” Eve kept her sunglasses on so she could inspect the inside of the mansion as well.
“Yup. I’ll let her know you’re here. She was getting her nails done, so it might be a while.” The bodyguard hit a button near his earp
iece and relayed the news to someone else. “Go ahead into the ballroom. She says she’ll see you.”
It was a maddening wait, and Eve wondered several times if this had been the best place to come. This first few hours were critical. But this had to be Mary Ellen’s work. She seemed to be throwing everything she had at Poughkeepsie, rather than waiting for any one of her efforts to pay off. Why the big hurry? Eve wondered. Just impatience and inexperience, or something more? But Livia was connected to both the police and the brothers, so Mary Ellen was escalating—whether the irrational bitch realized it or not. Eve kicked herself for not seeing how vulnerable Livia and Kyle were. She’d focused on the kids.
Mary Ellen’s arrival broke her concentration. The woman smiled as she waved her hands dramatically. “My manicure refuses to dry! You know how it is…” Mary Ellen looked at Eve’s hands and made a face of displeasure at her unpainted nails. “I do hold my girls to a certain level of expectation.”
Eve stopped herself from sighing. “Ryan likes his lady unadorned. Makeup pisses him off.”
“Very well. But that would never work for something like the party I’m throwing this evening.” Mary Ellen gasped as her phone started to vibrate. “Oh no. Could you please, January? I don’t want to ruin my nails.”
Eve approached her and lifted her little pastel blue jacket. Her tailored skirt had a small pocket, and she lifted the phone out and held it for Mary Ellen. As the woman swiped her unlock, Eve read her text message upside down.
Package secured. Delivery now?
She glanced up and met Mary Ellen’s eyes.
“Did you like my message?” the woman asked.
Eve shrugged, kicking herself for getting caught.
“Well, you already have your nose in my affairs, type this back to him…” She turned her back on Eve. “Take the package to the safe house, and send me pictures for the database.”
Eve typed the message to Wren. While doing so, she glanced at the preceding messages and noted the time of “Package acquired”—about ninety minutes ago—before offering the phone back.
She patted her pocket, so Eve pulled up Mary Ellen’s jacket to slide the phone back in place.