Defending Everly (Mountain Mercenaries, #5)(74)

Everly scrolled through the text conversation.

Kim: You should’ve seen Mr. Thompson. His face got all red, and I thought he was gonna lose it.

Elise: I bet that was hilarious! Hang on a sec . . . gotta open my door.

Kim: It was! I still laugh just thinking about it. I wish someone had gotten a picture.

Kim: Elise?

Kim: You there?

Kim: What happened?

Kim: Fine, I guess I’ll talk to you later.

And that was it until her own text, telling her sister that she’d be home sooner than she’d planned.

A funny feeling welled up in her throat—and Everly suddenly felt lost. Even though she was a cop, for a second she had no idea what to do. Should she call 911? And tell them what? She couldn’t find her sister? They’d just tell her what the police out in LA had . . . that she was a kid, she was probably visiting friends.

But no . . . her coworkers knew what had happened. They wouldn’t do that, would they?

They’d take her concerns seriously, especially after Elise had already been kidnapped.

Too many thoughts ran through her head, and Everly simply stood in the middle of her apartment, breathing way too hard, trying desperately not to panic.

Turning, she stared absently down at the floor in the hallway . . . and saw a small red spot.

Falling to her knees, Everly stared in disbelief at the patch of blood.

Bile came up her throat, and she forced it back down. She couldn’t panic. Not right now. Elise needed her to be strong. To be smart.

And just like that, as if a switch had been flicked inside her, the fear that had almost overwhelmed her turned to fury. An anger like she’d never felt before covered her like a shroud.

Thick, pulsing, and potent.

She’d been taught to be cautious and only use deadly force in cases of extreme danger, but Everly knew at that moment if the person responsible for hurting her sister had been standing in front of her, she’d have blown him away with absolutely no remorse and no hesitation. She was that angry.

She got to her feet and put Elise’s phone on the kitchen counter. Then she reached for her own phone to call Ball, to get reinforcements, but before Everly even touched the screen, it rang.

Startled, Everly stared at the unknown number on the screen . . . and a strange calmness slipped over her. This was him. The asshole who’d stolen her sister. She knew it.

Clicking on the icon, she answered, “Hello?”

“If you want to see your sister again, you’ll follow my directions to the letter. Are you listening?”

“Yes.” This wasn’t the time to be tough. Everly needed information. And she needed it now.

There would be time to take this asshole down later. After Elise was safe.

“I’m watching you. Right now. I put a few cameras in your apartment so I could keep my eye on you.”

Everly’s head swiveled, trying to spot one of the cameras.

“You won’t find them. Well, you would if you had the time to look, but you don’t. My point is, don’t do anything stupid. If you call anyone after we hang up, I’ll kill her. Slowly and painfully, and I’ll make sure she knows it’s your fault. And I really hope you don’t, because I don’t want to kill Elise. She’s so pretty. And quiet. That’s calming. I can’t stand when they scream. I plan on keeping her for a very long time.”

Everly wanted to scream herself. She wanted to tell the man on the other end of the line to fucking drop dead and leave her sister alone. But the fact that he didn’t want to kill Elise was good . . . if he was telling the truth. He could be lying, there was a chance he’d already killed her, but she didn’t think he had. She’d learned to read people pretty well from her years on the job. And this guy sounded obsessed.

“I’m listening,” she told the man.

“Good. I’m sure you’re wondering why I’m bothering to call you, aren’t you? Why I’m not already gone like the wind with my prize.”

The thought had crossed her mind. “A little,” she said.

“It’s because you’re a cop. A dirty, stinkin’ cop. If you weren’t, I’d already be starting my new life with my beautiful bride. But you aren’t going to give up looking for her. I know it. You’ll be a thorn in my side forever. And I can’t have that. I have to take care of loose ends.”

That didn’t sound good, but he was absolutely right. There was no way Everly would ever stop looking for her sister. No matter how many years went by.

But . . . neither would Me-Maw and Pop. Or Ball. Or his friends. For that matter, neither would her friends and colleagues at the police department. This guy apparently hadn’t factored in any of those people, which made no sense, but at the moment, she wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth. He’d called her. It could be traced. He was getting sloppy and leaving clues that would eventually lead right back to him.

“What do you want?” she asked.

“Once we’re done talking, you need to put both phones in a drawer and leave. Lock the door behind you, and come outside like nothing is wrong. If you tell anyone what’s happening on your way, I’ll kill Elise. If you warn anyone, I’ll kill her. If you even look like you’re doing something that will draw attention to yourself, I’ll kill her. Got it?”

“Yeah.”