Running Scared Read online

  Rolling over onto his back, he blew out a sigh of frustration as he watched her disappear into the bathroom. Never in his life had he met a more puzzling, infuriating, and maddening woman. Wasn’t it just too damn bad he was falling in love with her?

  The kiss had been a dumbass move on his part. She’d had a violent nightmare. He should’ve held her, consoled her. But no, what did he do? He kissed her. Yeah, she had responded like a wildfire, but that didn’t make him any less of a sleazeball.

  A few minutes later, she returned to the bedroom. Her mask was firmly in place. He also noted regret and embarrassment in her eyes.

  Figuring she would grab a pillow and go sleep on the sofa, he was stunned when she switched off the lamplight on the nightstand and then crawled back into bed. He waited until she had settled beside him, then said, “I’m sorry, Riley.”

  “There’s nothing to forgive. I just have a few million hang-ups, which I’m sure you’ve already noticed.”

  “If I promise to never tell you you’re beautiful again, will you let me hold your hand?”

  She gave a small huff of laughter, and he felt her hand on his. He gave her hand a gentle squeeze and then heard her breath even out. He wondered if she were sleeping or merely faking it to keep him from asking questions. She didn’t need to worry. He had pressed her too much already. He told her she could take her time and he meant it.

  He closed his eyes but it took him a long time to fall back to sleep. He could still hear her screams. The childlike cries of “It hurts!” made him feel physically sick. Who had hurt her? And just where was the son of a bitch now?

  Chapter Eight

  Drake Hotel

  Chicago, Illinois

  “Thank you for agreeing to see me, Mr. McCall. I know your time is valuable.”

  Noah shut the door of the small conference room, then angled his head slightly, acknowledging the comment. He had been highly anticipating this meeting with William Larson.

  After hundreds of interviews over the years, he’d learned to read people. He’d dealt with a sea of humanity across every spectrum. None was perfect. Most of them had good and bad qualities, and he’d learned over time that, for the most part, the good outweighed the bad. Because he saw many of them at their absolute lowest point, he tried not to judge too harshly.

  And then there were those who he knew immediately were pure evil without a hint of real humanity. The moment he met William Larson, he knew his instincts had not failed him. William Larson was one of those people.

  “I’m a little surprised we’re meeting at a hotel. I thought we might meet at an office. I am assuming you do have one?”

  Yes, he had an office, in another city, but not one this asshole would ever see.

  “I meet all prospective clients at a hotel.” Noah didn’t bother to explain why.

  “I see… Well, nevertheless, thank you for seeing me. As you might imagine, we’ve used every resource available to find our little girl. Her mother and I refuse to believe she’s lost to us.”

  “Little girl? When we talked on the phone, I understood she was a grown woman.”

  “Oh, she is. It’s just…” A self-conscious, ingratiating smile slid like an oil spill across Larson’s mouth. “Do you have children, Mr. McCall?”

  “I don’t share that kind of personal information.”

  “Oh…of course. I understand. I was just trying to explain that when you have children, no matter how old they get or how far they roam, they’ll always be your babies.”

  He pulled a slender wallet from the inside of his jacket. Like any proud, doting father, he withdrew a photograph and slid it across the coffee table toward Noah. “She was our pride and joy. So sweet, so smart and talented. We miss her so.”

  Noah took the photograph, thinking most people’s photos of their kids were on their phone these days. He dropped his gaze and took in the image of Jessica Larson. Grateful for his ability to hide all emotion, he said, “What age is she here?”

  “Almost eighteen.”

  “You said she disappeared when she was twenty-one. You don’t have anything more recent?”

  “No. We—” Another slick smile, this time tinged with grief. “I’m ashamed to say we were angry with her for years, believing she just ran away. That anger made us do the unthinkable. We destroyed almost all of her photographs.”

  Bullshit.

  “And you no longer think she ran away?”

  “We’re still not sure, Mr. McCall, but time has softened our anger. What we want more than anything is to be reunited with our precious girl.”

  “I’m surprised your wife didn’t come with you.”

  “Loretta’s not well. I’m afraid the trip might have been too much of a strain. Besides, she needed to stay behind with Keira.”

  “And Keira is?”

  “She’s our other daughter. We adopted her a few years ago.”

  Oh, holy hell.

  “How old is Keira?”

  “She turned sixteen just a couple of months ago.”

  Two years younger than when Jessica’s life went to hell. Was the bastard raising Keira for the same damn thing?

  Not noticing Noah’s utter stillness, Larson continued, “Besides, talking about Jessica upsets Loretta so much. We’ve exhausted ourselves trying to find her, and I’m just not sure she can take much more. It’s been years since we’ve seen her. A mother’s heart is fragile. Loretta’s is almost broken.”

  “You don’t believe Jessica’s dead?”

  “No, I can’t accept that. We’ve searched for her for years, though, without any hope. As your organization’s name implies, Mr. McCall, you are our last chance…our last hope. We must find her.”

  The last line was said with such conviction and emotion that Noah would’ve probably believed the man loved his daughter if he didn’t already know better. So why the emotion, almost desperation? His gut was telling him the reason, and he didn’t like the answer.

  “Do you think she could she have been abducted? Was she dating anyone? I’m assuming you checked with all her friends. Is she staying away because she doesn’t want to come home? Could she be afraid to come home?”

  Larson was too skilled to show his surprise at the rapid-fire questions, but the dilation of his pupils gave him away. The idiot apparently thought he could give the barest facts and Noah would take him at face value.

  “She has nothing to fear. Her mother and I love her dearly.”

  “I see.” Noah allowed just a tinge of doubt to color his tone.

  The slight twitching of his mouth was Larson’s only sign of irritation. That was okay. Noah would put him at ease later if necessary. For right now, putting him on edge would reveal more of what he wanted to know. Despite only just meeting him today, Noah already knew more than this man could ever fathom, but there was still more to learn. Like, why?

  “Why don’t you tell me about Jessica?”

  “We always called her Jessie.” Larson expelled a sad sigh. “She’s a bright, intelligent young woman, but she’s disturbed, Mr. McCall. So very disturbed.”

  “In what way?”

  “She’s quite delusional. Made all sorts of heinous accusations about her mother and me. We tried so hard with her.” He paused to allow a little sobbing breath. “So very hard.”

  “And her doctors? What did they say?”

  The sound he made, between a snort and a pfft, made it clear what he thought about doctors. His words bore that out. “They know nothing. A few act as if she’s just a disobedient child.”

  Noah cocked his head. “Not one of them gave you a medical diagnosis?”

  He shifted his eyes away. “Of course they did.”

  “And?”

  “I don’t see why her mental diagnosis has anything to do with you being able to find her.”

  “If we have no idea what’s she suffering from, it makes it almost impossible to narrow down where she might have gone. We need everything we can get on Jessica. In fact, I’d like
to see her full medical history. If you can’t share, then I’m afraid this meeting is at an end.”

  “That’s ridiculous! I’m not going to—” A cold, dark look entered Larson’s eyes as he leaned forward. “Do you know how much money I have, McCall? I could bury you without blinking.”

  “Please try, Mr. Larson,” Noah said softly. “I would love to take you on.”

  Larson’s face puffed up like an angry blowfish and turned red. Noah couldn’t deny he was enjoying the show. Apparently, Larson had only a limited ability to play the concerned, loving father before his real nature surfaced.

  A giant, rasping sigh released, bringing a more normal color to Larson’s complexion. “My apologies, Mr. McCall. My love for my daughter is so overwhelming sometimes that I tend to lose my temper. Your request, of course, is reasonable, but I’m afraid I don’t have that information with me. Would it be appropriate to send those documents to you at a later date?”

  “That would be acceptable. Why don’t you, in the meantime, tell me more about Jessica? Where did you last see her? Where would she feel the safest place to hide? Does she have any relatives or friends she might have turned to?”

  Larson leaned back in his chair. Having regained his composure, the man was now in his element. Both eloquent and emotional, the act was impressive. No doubt, all the practice he’d had over the past few years enabled him to recite the details from memory.

  The pitch of his voice, the husky tone when he talked about his little girl, the sheen of tears in his eyes—all a masterful performance. There were many reasons Larson wanted to find his daughter, but love, especially a father’s love, had nothing to do with it.

  If this bastard and his wife ever found their beloved Jessica, Noah could only wonder who would try to kill her first—her loving father or sainted mother?

  No. That didn’t make any sense. No way would the man spend money on trying to find his daughter just to murder her. Killing Jessica would not be his ultimate goal. He would do to her again what he’d done when she was eighteen years old. He would turn her over to a monster.

  It was Noah’s responsibility to make sure none of them ever found her.

  But now there was a new concern, even more alarming. Someone else was in just as much danger as Jessica had once been in, perhaps even more so, if that was possible. If what he feared was true, then they had only a short amount of time to act.

  The question was, when this was over, would he have destroyed a young woman he had once saved? But he had no choice in the matter. Besides, if there was one thing he knew for certain about her, Riley Ingram would face this challenge head on.

  Chapter Nine

  Alexandria, Virginia

  Her knees were knocking as she readied herself for her meeting with Noah and Samara. All morning long, she’d been telling herself that this was her choice. No one was making her take this step. She could still call Noah and tell him she’d changed her mind. Things could stay as they were. She didn’t have to do this.

  But didn’t she?

  The trip down the mountain yesterday had been excruciating. The trek up had been no gabfest, but going down she hadn’t uttered one word. Justin had made a few remarks, but when she’d barely responded, he gave up. Her lack of words had been from extreme embarrassment and shame. She supposed Justin’s had been from bewilderment and confusion.

  A normal woman would not have been offended by being called beautiful. A normal person would have taken it as a compliment and moved on. Or maybe blushed, giggled, simpered. Whatever a normal woman did when she was told she’s beautiful.

  How stupid for her to try to pretend to be someone other than the damaged woman who wouldn’t recognize normal if it came up and kicked her ass. She had learned to live with her limitations. She told herself that her strengths far outweighed her handicaps. She could shoot like a pro. With some well-targeted fist strikes and kicks, she could bring down a three-hundred-pound man. Her logistical skills were excellent, and she could strategize an op to perfection. And when called upon, she could assume any role LCR set out for her to play. She had saved numerous lives and would continue to do so until she died. Those were the things she needed to concentrate on, be proud of. The other things were superfluous.

  She bit her lip as she acknowledged the truth. No, those other things weren’t unimportant. Her feelings for Justin were real, as authentic as any she’d ever had. But he deserved someone who could be normal, not someone so messed up that the very words you’re beautiful put a cramp in her stomach and had her heart pounding in horror.

  Dropping down into her kitchen chair, she propped her elbows on the table and buried her face in her hands. It had been so perfect until she’d messed it up. Never had she imagined a kiss being so wonderful. Why, oh, why couldn’t she have just let his words slide off her? He had meant them as a compliment. What girl didn’t enjoy hearing nice things said to her?

  Disgusted with her indecision, she grabbed her keys and headed out the door. It didn’t matter. Either way, it was long past time to deal with her past. Hypnosis had been moderately successful. She would try that again first. Maybe there were new techniques that would work better for her. If that failed, drugs were her only other option. She would do what she had to do. The nightmare at the cabin had been one of the worst she’d had in years. Maybe if she finally remembered everything and was able to bring the sick, twisted fiend to justice, she could find some peace. Maybe she and Justin could—

  She stopped that thought before it could be completed. No, she and Justin couldn’t. They were partners and nothing more. Romance and intimacy were for other people. Normal people. Wasn’t it just too damn bad that normal had never been part of her life?

  ***

  LCR Headquarters

  “Do you think you should give her some notice before she arrives?”

  Noah gazed at Samara, who’d been pacing his office floor for over an hour. She showed nervousness now, but he knew when Riley arrived, she’d be the calm, supportive friend and counselor Riley needed. It was one of the many reasons he loved her.

  “I’d prefer telling her in person. She didn’t return until last night. We’d already set up this meeting.”

  “She’s going to be blindsided. Devastated.”

  Noah held out his hand for Samara to join him at his desk. They’d been married a little over six years now, and not a day had gone by since then that his heart didn’t melt when he looked at her. His life had been far from easy before he met her, having gone through more hells than he could count. But he knew to his soul that if going through those same experiences again would lead him to this woman, he’d do it in a heartbeat. She had been and would always be his greatest blessing.

  Settling onto his lap, Samara locked her arms around his neck and held him close. They were both unsettled. They had watched a traumatized young woman grow into a strong, independent adult. Her incredible strength had surprised them. Neither of them wanted to see her hurt.

  “We knew she’d want to delve deeper at some point. And even though this isn’t the way I would have chosen, at least she won’t have to endure more hypnosis or resort to drugs. If this way works, we can find the bastards without putting her through additional trauma.”

  Every LCR operative at some point made a choice to deal, or not deal, with their past. Some chose to go on as if nothing terrible had happened to them. Most, however, chose to confront their demons.

  For just about anyone besides Riley, Noah would encourage the latter. He’d faced his own demons, and though it had almost gotten both him and Samara killed, in retrospect, he was grateful that the most painful part of his past had been settled.

  But Riley? Riley was different. Would this destroy her or make her even stronger? After yesterday’s meeting, there was no other option. Whether she was ready or not, it was going to happen.

  Apparently seeing the worry in his eyes, Samara hugged him tighter, now trying to reassure him instead. “She’s stronger now than she’s
ever been.”

  Noah acknowledged that truth with a nod. Yes, she was. When he’d met her years ago, Noah had never seen anyone more beaten down or broken. At that first meeting, he’d feared that she would barely be able to function as a human being, much less have a reasonably normal life. She had surprised the hell out of him and Mara at every turn. Not only had Riley recovered her spirit and her courage, she had become a force to be reckoned with—a formidable opponent of evil. She might not be his most-skilled operative or his strongest, but what Riley possessed couldn’t be taught. And since her parents were, in his opinion, the spawns of Satan, she’d definitely not inherited her strength of character from them.

  “She is strong,” Noah agreed. His mind went back to several months ago. They’d been on an op to rescue Kacie Dane. He remembered the look of distress on Riley’s face when she’d seen the chains and handcuffs on the bed, her small moan of pain. In her time as an operative, she had encountered similarly horrific scenes, but that one in particular had brought a memory to the forefront.

  What would happen to her when she was forced to confront the man who had inflicted those wounds on her soul, those scars on her mind and body? Would she endure, or would they lose her to the darkness?

  He wished they had a choice or more time. They had neither. If what he suspected was true, all hell was about to break loose. He just prayed to God that it didn’t destroy Riley in the process.

  ***

  Riley stood outside Noah’s office, feeling the need to remind herself once more that this decision was hers. It always had been. She could turn and walk away. No one would think less of her, especially Noah and Samara. They knew what she had endured, knew how far she had come. She knew they admired her. Though, in her estimation, much of that admiration was undeserved. She had overcome a lot, but every day she had to fight a battle not to succumb to the terror.

  Having no roommates or lovers gave her the ability to hide certain facts. Such as, she woke almost every night in extreme panic. Not always from nightmares, at least not ones she could remember. But she’d often wake in a cold sweat, thinking that he had found her, that he would force her to go back with him. On occasion, she would wake in extreme pain, as if she actually felt the sting of the whip tearing into her skin. Other times, she would wake gasping for breath, the claustrophobic feel of imprisonment literally pressing the air out of her lungs.