He offered me a crooked grin, and his dead eyes sized me up. “She’s mine and always will be.”
“Sick fuck.”
He shrugged and looked up the alley to the sidewalk. “Carved out a nice little life here. Heading north into the cold, that was a nice twist. Then that little trap in Nevada. Almost got me.”
Almostbeing the operative word. And a word I wanted obliterated from the dictionary when it came to him. And in about fifteen seconds it would be.
“Took me a while to find you.”
“Now that you have…”
“I’ve foundyouand your Angelina. But you know who I really want.”
“Never.”
He slowly shook his head. “Careful, son. It’s interesting how quickly things can change. One minute you’re feeling safe and confident, then the next three guys up and attack you. Set your therapy back. Set the fear of God back in you.”
Shit, he’d hired those thugs at the college to attack Lina.
“She complied so nicely by isolating herself right back where I needed her.”
“Needed her?”
He grinned. “And those guards. Where did your handler find them? At the Barney Fife wannabe training camp?”
My gut hardened. If he knew the guards…right where he needed Lina—Shit!He had Lina.
“I see the light of realization flickering on. You never were very bright. You should have picked up things much sooner. Didn’t I teach you to stay ahead of the game?” He tsked me. “But, like I said, you were a little slow.”
“What have you done with her?”
He picked at his fingernails like he didn’t have a care in the world. “Nothing yet. But I need my Lisa like you need your Angelina, so we’ll do a little exchange.”
How the hell had he gotten to her?
Shit.
“You have twenty-four hours to get it arranged. I’ll contact you.”
“And if I refuse?”
He turned toward the alley. “Then you’ll have the blood of yetanotherwoman on your hands.”
I lunged at him, red flooding my vision and grabbed the back of his neck. I spun and rammed his forehead into the brick. Hammering his stomach allowed for no relief of the fear storming through me. Fear for Lina. God, who had her, and what were they doing to her? Where was she?
Faster than I could track, Dad spun and punched my chin so hard my eyes watered from the sting of it, distorting my vision. He ducked and kicked my shin. He’d probably meant to go for the knee, the one thing that could bring me down, but he’d misjudged my size.
I fisted my hand in his hair and slammed his head down as I raised my knee. His nose caved.
“Tell me where she is.”
Dad gurgled, then coughed.
I cuffed his neck and smashed him against the wall. “Tell me! Or I’ll kill you.” But I knew I’d kill him anyway.
“Never…find…her.”
“Oh. I will. You know I will.” With Dad gone, whoever was helping him or working with him would fall apart. “So, really, I don’t need you alive.”