The officer’s dark, steady gaze grabbed onto her and held tight. “Ma’am, I need you to wait in the back of the vehicle. Everything is going to be okay.”
She didn’t believe him. Not for a second. There were too many ways this could go, and all of them were bad, as far as she was concerned. “But, wait—I—”
But he didn’t wait. And he wasn’t listening. The officer merely grabbed her above her elbow, opened the cruiser’s door, and shoved her into the backseat like a common criminal.
Was he arresting her? Elise was floored. Angry. Fearful. Damn men! They never listened!
She watched the officer take a stance at the front of the car and drop to one knee, his gun once again drawn. He had his head turned, his eyes fixed on the cabin, as he spoke into the walkie strapped to his shoulder. Elise couldn’t hear a damn thing outside of her rapid breathing and thundering heartbeat.
What if Marcus or his partner—or both—barreled out that door, guns blazing? She wasn’t certain about Marcus, but Driver struck her as the take-no-prisoners type. No way wouldn’t he go down without a fight.
She was plotting another grand escape that involved kicking out the window and shimmying through the opening, when she heard sirens blazing in the background and growing louder by the second.
Turning in her seat, Elise watched as a flood of cop cars zoomed up the long and winding drive, appearing out of the wood as if from nowhere. And it felt wonderful.
For the first time all day, she felt like she could breathe again.
Police burst from their vehicles and surrounded the place. Soon, a helicopter’s spotlight shown through the trees overhead, the loud beat of its blades joining the chaos. A spectator, Elise watched as they encroached on the old house and called to the men inside to come out.
Soon, a few disappeared inside, and she held her breath then, waiting to hear gunshots. How would she feel seeing Marcus carried out in a body bag? She hoped it wouldn’t come to that.
It didn’t.
Sometime later, a number of the officers that’d gone in came back out, followed by Marcus, who had hold of one side of Driver, and an officer who had hold of the other. The remaining officers pulled up the rear.
Everyone seemed to be in good spirits.
Except for Marcus.
Elise’s jaw hung open, puzzled over why his partner was in handcuffs but Marcus wasn’t. “He’s one of them! He kidnapped me too!” she shouted, but no one was listening. They probably couldn’t even hear her, considering all the noise. She was drown out completely. “Hey! Listen to me!”
Marcus and the officer shoved his partner into the back of a paddy wagon and slammed the doors behind him. Elise was horrified to see a couple of the officers then pat him on the back as if they were pals. They were even smiling!
“What kind of seventh hell is this?” she asked no one in particular. Just like that, she’d become an island unto herself, watching as her abductor walked right past the people who were supposed to be protecting her as if he weren’t a violent criminal.
It was then, as Marcus broke away from the group, that he looked up…and straight into her eyes.
Elise had spent days keeping a stiff upper lip. She hadn’t backed down, even in her darkest hour.
But she did now.
Elise was all but trembling in the backseat as he marched up to the car and opened the door. “Elise…”
She was already sliding across the bench to the opposite side, as far away as she could get, all things considered. “Don’t come near me,” she warned.
Crouching down, Marcus held his hands up in front of him. “I’m not going to hurt you. I would never hurt you.”
“Why aren’t they arresting you? What lies did you tell them?” Her eyes widened. “Are they working for you?” Were the police in on it? Did he work for some organization that had people on the inside, like the mob?
Oh, my God, Elise, what have you gotten yourself into?
“You’re not far off,” Marcus said, his expression strained. “Can I sit?” He pointed to the seat beside her, but he didn’t wait for her to tell him to take a long jump off a short bridge. Standing, he folded himself into the backseat.
“I’m going to tell them everything,” Elise threatened. But she was now painfully aware that, if he did have people on the inside, she could easily find herself in another sticky situation. It was quickly becoming a lose-lose. Who could she trust?
“Good, I expect you to,” Marcus said with surprising force. “Make sure you don’t leave out any detail.”
“Wait, why?” she asked, confused.