BREAKING STEELE (A Sarah Steele Thriller) Read online

  That’s what I disliked about Dan—he was too direct. His place was an apartment above our office building. He was married, but it was known that he slept around. He had me on his list of subjects to bed. I pretended not to have any idea what a creep he was, and blew him off.

  “Can’t. Besides, your wife might like to have a nice family dinner with you every now and again.”

  He winced and walked toward the door. I’d probably suffer one way or another for that slight on his ego. Either that, or he’d take it as a challenge. Either way, he wasn’t getting what he was after. I’d rather kiss a few more frogs than give in to him.

  Looking over the empty courtroom, I noticed a marble statue of Lady Justice standing over the witness stand like an angel of hope. Her blindfold promised equality, but so many times it was nothing but a chance for those in front of her to try tricks and games.

  Come on, Miss Sentimental, time to get to work. As I hit the main lobby I was bombarded by the media with a thousand questions. I pushed through them and got into a black Ford. It was a company car, and most of the time we didn’t get them, but for this case I requested it because of the media pressure.

  “Ninth and Idaho, please.”

  The driver looked me over in the rearview mirror, and nodded. The unshaven, tan chauffeur took a bite from a large red apple, and then pulled into the road. He said nothing more as we drove through traffic. I did not remember seeing this driver, but they frequently changed.

  I called Joshua and gave him a list of things to do: make an appointment with Hannah Williams, preferably by tomorrow morning; and find out any information he could on Heather Dade … the employee who had filed an abuse claim on Hank years ago.

  I looked up and suddenly noticed The Pour House, a pub that was nowhere near the office. Where was the driver going? My heart sped. The driver wasn’t looking my way. I quietly grabbed my purse and retrieved my phone. With bated breath, I dialed 9-1-1, and looked up as I pressed the send button.

  I stared down the barrel of a gun. “Give me your phone, Miss Steele.” My heart froze and the driver smiled.

  I handed him the phone, and my heart sunk when he disconnected the call.

  “Time to sleep, Miss Steele.”

  He fired. A dart plunged into my chest. A cold rush flowed through my body. I screamed but only a whimper came out. The world started to spin. Reaching for the door handle, I yanked but there was no strength behind my grip. I was blacking out and I knew it. My head slumped forward and I felt the back of the front seat smash into my jaw.

  Then nothing.

  Chapter 7

  I SAT UP WITH a start. My head pounded like a hammer. I tried to pull my hands free but they were bound with zip-tie behind my back, strapped to a chair. I blinked a few times and tested the gag jammed in my mouth. It tasted like mothballs and rum. Not a good combo.

  Think, Sarah, find the markers. Windows, sounds, anything to track this place down later, but I couldn’t see because they had a hood over my head. The sound of footsteps on the concrete floor made me turn my head. Heels. Not a woman’s. Expensive dress shoes.

  “Take the hood off.” The male voice was commanding, yet soft. Like the voice of someone who didn’t fear anything or anyone. The hood was pulled off and a burst of light hit my eyes. A lamp pointed straight at my face so all I could see was a few shadows standing around. They surrounded me like I was some kind of attraction at the zoo.

  I tried to collect my bearings. My legs were untied. My hands were bound tight to the arms of a metal office chair. By the acoustics of the place, and the dampness in the air, I thought we had to be in a basement. There was a strong paint fume in the air.

  The same man spoke again. “Hello, Miss Steele. I am … well, I am against you. We need the Williams case to go away.” It sounded as if I’d heard his voice before. As if it was a voice in a commercial or something. I couldn’t place it.

  I didn’t pull or struggle on my restraints. I wasn’t even sweating. My vision had cleared and I studied the ground. There was yellowed carpet glue in thin lines on the concrete floor. I saw green carpet lint littering the floor.

  I could feel the monster within me trying to get out. But I wouldn’t let it. Not yet, not again.

  “What are you going to do?” I asked in a dark voice. “Bribe me? Rough me up and threaten my family? Or whatever you saw in the latest show of Law & Order.”

  “No, miss,” the man said. I heard him take a step forward. “It’s not as if we could mess up your family any more than it already is. Your mother’s in jail for murdering your father.”

  No matter how many times I’d heard it, the fact still sent a searing pain through my chest. It hadn’t dulled over the years. He was right, the situation couldn’t get any worse. And he didn’t even know the half of it.

  I pushed back the pain and raised my chin. The light dried out my eyes, I squinted to see better.

  One of the men to the side shifted, and I could see his features through the dim light. He wore a smooth black suit and a red tie. He stood around six feet tall. He was well groomed, with a small goatee and trimmed black hair. First born and very type A. Not one wrinkle or piece of lint in sight.

  The man in charge spoke again. “I know that no matter what I say, you will go on your way and do your best to win your case. So I’m going to make you a promise.” With a click, the room went dark. My heart quickened. “If you don’t let this trial go, I promise Hank Williams will do to you exactly what he did to Tracy Mulligan.” My mouth went dry. “Except he’ll take much longer with you.”

  Bile rose in my throat, I swallowed it down. I needed to get out of here. Now. What did I have? My legs were free. As if a reflex took over, I got to my feet, bent in half from the chair. With a feral cry I charged the voice. The light clicked back on, blinding me. But I was moving too fast to be stopped. I lunged at the middle shadow.

  My head hit his chest and he caved, dropping to the floor. My weight knocked the wind out of him. I twisted in the chair, and the metal back socked him in the jaw. Moving again, I rolled to my knees—just as something hit my head.

  Before I lost consciousness I saw a face. A face that looked identical to Hank Williams.

  Chapter 8

  MY HEAD FELT LIKE it was stuck under a truck tire. I rubbed my eyes and felt something sticky—blood. I looked around to find myself back in my apartment and in my own bed.

  I sat up—too fast. The room swam as I steadied myself, and then stumbled to the door. My apartment looked the same as I had left it. My purse was on the table and my phone and keys laid out neatly in front of it. I cursed.

  It was 8:13 at night, two hours after I’d left the courthouse. Which meant wherever they had taken me had to be close.

  I fumbled for my phone, hands shaking. There were six missed calls. One from Joshua, two from Dan, one from Angela, and two from my best friend, Mandy. The screen was still on my disconnected call to 9-1-1. I pushed redial.

  “9-1-1.What’s your emergency?” a male voice answered.

  “I’d like to report a kidnapping—” my voice broke as what had happened to me sunk in. Tears came to my eyes and my throat clenched. I swallowed down the rising panic attack.

  After giving him a few details in a hoarse voice, and getting a promise of a detective headed my way, I hung up.

  Glancing around the room, it seemed as if all my blinds were open. I rushed to each window, eyes wide in panic, yanking them shut. By the time each one was closed, tears poured down my face and I curled up in the corner and gave in to my grief.

  Sobs tore at my chest. This wasn’t just about the fear I felt clawing at me, it was about mourning the loss of my safety—the belief that nothing like that would ever happen to me.

  Chapter 9

  THE POLICE ARRIVED 25 minutes later. Which was exceptionally fast for them. They probably recognized my name. I knew a lot of the homicide detectives but not many in petty crime.

  Detective Ross came with his partner, Dete
ctive Monroe. They were professional and thorough, asking me everything about the driver, the man I’d seen in the basement, and all the details I noticed. Detective Ross kept clearing his throat, as if he either had allergies or he was nervous. His eyes were full of compassion, though, and he was patient with me as I slowly told them everything I could remember.

  Halfway through the interview I called a locksmith. The kidnappers had carried my keys, I needed new locks and I wanted them in before the detectives left. Luckily, I got a hold of one who was available and he was over within the hour with a new handle and deadbolt. I wished he had installed two deadbolts, but I knew that was overkill.

  I also texted Mandy: I need you. Please come.

  “I hope you understand the need for discretion.” I said as Ross filled out the report form.

  Ross took off his glasses and ran his hand over his dark goatee. He had a full head of black hair and olive skin. I figured him to be an ex-football player, maybe even for Boise State … Ross … I scanned my memory, but came up blank.

  “This is a high profile case and any leak of this kind would start a media frenzy,” I said. “And if there’s a leak, my boss is the one who wants to start it.”

  “I understand, Miss Steele.Has anything else happened to you that might have to do with this case?” Detective Ross looked up over the top of his reading glasses at me with dark, brooding eyes.

  I shrugged. “There have been phone calls with no one on the other line, but I can’t say that is out of the ordinary.”

  He wrote something down. “I’ll check your phone history,” he said. He tapped his pen on the paper. “Their threat is very specific. They said it was Williams who was going to kill you—”

  “Yes,” I said slowly, not understanding the question.

  “It’s just interesting,” he said.

  Monroe came up beside me and put his knuckles on the table. “I want you to be careful,” he said. “No late nights out alone, change your phone number, and maybe stay with a friend for a month or two.”

  “Come on,” I objected. “I’m not going to stop my life for this guy. He’s behind bars.”

  Ross sighed and leaned back in his chair, which groaned in protest. “Fine, Miss Steele, but you might look into getting some mace. Do you own a gun?”

  The question caught me off guard. “Uh … yes.”

  It was a lady GLOCK, a gift from my father before his premature death. He’d taught me how to load and clean it. I’d shot a few rabbits with it when I was younger, but I hadn’t done much with it since then. But I kept it close, in a drawer in my bedroom table.

  “Do you know how to use it?” Monroe asked.

  “Well ...” I’d shot it recently when I was camping with Mandy and Rick, but that was it.

  “I know a guy,” Monroe said. “He can put you through a safety course and get you to the top of the list for a concealed weapons permit. I think it might be a good idea in your line of work. Times are not getting better. But you need to know how to use it, how to be safe. The worst thing is an untrained person with a gun.”

  “I can’t believe you’re saying this,” I said.

  “Why?” Monroe said, standing straighter. “Because I am a cop? Look, the more people out there—good people—who carry, the better off we all will be.”

  I eyed him like he was crazy. If I was hearing right, it sounded like he was encouraging people to carry.

  “If every house had a gun and people knew how to use them, imagine the crime rate.”

  “What about accidental shootings, kids getting a hold of their dad’s gun?” I said.

  “Most accidental shootings come from untrained people. If you know what a gun is, how to clean and fire it, then you won’t shoot yourself or anyone else on accident. Most people just don’t know; don’t want to know.So when they come in contact with a weapon, they are more prone to hurt themselves. I had a gun by the time I was ten years old. I never came close to shooting myself because my dad taught us kids how to respect and use weapons.”

  I imagined a much shorter version of Monroe toddling around with guns at his belt. The thought of knowing how to use a gun was certainly appealing at the moment. I slouched and hugged myself, thinking about the possibility of those men coming back.

  “I will look into it—if you think I should.”

  “I do.” Monroe handed me a piece of paper with a name and a phone number. “Call him, he will hook you up.

  I nodded and stood up. This was not what I was expecting. I have dealt with the police before, but most of the time it was a representative or someone higher up, not the guy on the ground.

  I looked at the phone number and the name written on the torn paper.

  Solomon.

  Next, they took pictures of the cut and bruise on my face. The only part of the story I’d left out was the last thing I’d seen. I wouldn’t tell them, I couldn’t even believe it myself. It was ridiculous. After all, I’d just seen Hank Williams in handcuffs that morning.

  The detectives left, giving me their cards and promising they’d find results. It was a kind thing to say, but I knew they didn’t have much to go on. The men were still out there, and unless they attacked again there wasn’t much the police could do about it. The creepiest part was that if their promise was correct, I’d be in the most danger once I won the case.

  I looked in the bathroom mirror and winced as I dabbed the small cut above my eye. After I cleaned it I saw that it wasn’t much of a cut, but I could feel a bruise forming underneath. Nothing some foundation couldn’t fix. I had to be in court in the morning.

  Someone pounded on the door. I jumped, my heart in my throat. And then I realized it must be Mandy. Creeping down the hall, I looked through the peephole and saw my best friend’s shock of red hair and signature black leather jacket.

  “What happened?” Mandy asked when I opened the door. “If that creep Dan did anything to you, so help me—” She stopped when she saw my face.

  At the sight of her, my bottom lip trembled. Taking a shaky breath I tried to get a hold of myself. She followed me inside, her face pale. Even paler than it usually was.

  “Who did that to you?”

  “I was kidnapped,” I said. Mandy gasped. “My driver tranquilized me, and I woke up in a basement …” I told her the rest of the story as I made us some tea. Thoughts and emotions were so strong inside me I couldn’t sit still.

  “And then I charged him. Rammed him with my head,” I said as I poured honey into my cup of green tea.

  Mandy grabbed me by the shoulders, speechless. Which was rare for her. She just looked me in the eye. I looked back, taking in all the love and concern and sympathy she sent through her expression. There were no words, I knew that. I didn’t need words. I just needed her there.

  My phone buzzed.

  “Could that be them?” she asked quickly.

  “What? No,” I said automatically, and then realized that it actually could be. But it turned out to be Dan, calling for the ninth time. “I better get this,” I said.

  The moment I answered he began yelling. “Where are you, Sarah? Do you know what kind of hole you’ve dug yourself into? You’re so far behind, you know everyone is working late and you’re a no show. I’m taking you off this case and putting—“

  I interrupted him. “I was kidnapped, Dan.”

  Silence.

  “You were not.”

  “I was,” I said gravely, and then took a sip of tea.

  “I’ll be right over,” he said.

  “No!” I almost shouted. “Don’t come. The police just left and I have my best friend with me now.”

  “It was Williams, wasn’t it?” he said.

  “It was Williams,” I said. “Some guys took me to a basement and threatened me. And then knocked me out and I woke up in my apartment.”

  “Tell me everything,” Dan said. I’d rarely heard him sound so serious.

  I recounted the story again, this time with less nervous energy. The
facts had settled and I could talk about them with objectivity.

  After I finished, Dan heaved a deep sigh. “I’m so sorry,” he said. “That shouldn’t have happened to you.” I was surprised at how genuine he sounded. And sad. He usually didn’t get affected, no matter what. “If you want off the case I completely understand.”

  “No, Dan,” I said. “I’m more devoted to it than ever.”

  Without missing a beat he said, “Then will you give a statement to a reporter friend of mine about your experience, and about how far Williams is willing to go to win?”

  I should have known he’d have an angle. “Of course,” I said.

  “Good. I’ll send him to your place tomorrow morning.”

  “No,” I objected. The thought of more people knowing where I lived was uncomfortable. “I’ll meet him at the office. I need to go in early anyway. Like you said, I’m in a hole.”

  Dan paused. “We’ll get him,” he said.

  I couldn’t speak, just nodded.

  Mandy had set out my pajamas and turned down my covers, as if I were at a hotel or something. This was a side of her people rarely saw. She was a brilliant architect and computer engineer who owned her own business, she even got contract work with the police department. She rode a huge Chopper, and frequented drag races on the weekends. Her past was rough; she’d even been in prison once for hacking a bank’s security system while in college. She’d calmed down a lot since she met Rick, her boyfriend of eight years. But this is the Mandy I knew—a growling fox to the rest of the world and a mother hen to those she loved.

  After a cold shower and pulling back my hair in a pony, I felt like a new person. I had a few sensitive spots on one rib and my mid back. Nothing showed, but I felt it nonetheless.

  Mandy and I finished the rest of our tea. I asked her about her day and listened as she recounted a computer account she’d saved for a panicked employee. It was good to get my mind off of what had happened. She talked about a fight she’d had with Rick, and then I blushed when she told me about how they made up.