Mine to Keep (Mine #2)(71)
His laughter slowly faded.
His Skye.
If another man tried to come near her…
I’d destroy the bastard.
“Yes,” Trace whispered, “we are.” Then he kissed her once more.
***
Drake broke through the surface of the waves, his breath heaving out. He’d barely avoided slamming into the dock on his way into the blackness of the water.
“Over here!” A woman’s voice shouted.
Her?
Someone was crouched at the edge of the pier. When lightning flashed, he could see the outline of a person’s body.
He grabbed for the dock. Caught the wooden ladder that would get him out of the water.
Something dripped into his eyes. Water? Or blood?
Her hand reached for him. “Let me help you!”
He grabbed her and yanked her into the water with him.
She screamed. Hell, yes, it’s your turn to scream.
She also…sank?
The woman disappeared beneath the waves. Swearing, Drake dove after her. He caught her hair, long, spider-web like tendrils that drifted in the water, and he reached lower, grabbing for her.
They broke the surface together. She was gasping and shuddering and clinging to him as desperately as she could.
“Anna Jean?” Drake demanded. No, that wasn’t right. Anna Jean could swim for miles. She’d gone swimming with sharks for f*ck’s sake. Anna Jean had no fear. Anna Jean—
The woman was about to choke him with her death-grip on his neck. “M-my…s-sister…”
He dragged her toward the dock. Hauled her up. Dropped her like a sack of potatoes.
She pushed up to her knees. “Y-you aren’t what I thought…”
He still couldn’t see her face. There just wasn’t enough light. Rain pelted down on them, hitting like hard spikes against his skin.
But…her voice was wrong. Too soft and husky, and tinged with the faintest of accents.
“Who the hell are you?”
She shoved wet hair out of her face. “I’m Piper, and I…I believe you knew my sister, Anna Jean.”
Believe? What the hell kind of game was this? “Where’s your partner?”
“I-I don’t have a partner.”
“Sure you do.” And Drake yanked out his weapon. The gun had been soaked, but there was a fifty-fifty chance it would still fire at least one bullet. “The jerk who hit me and threw me in the water. Now tell me…where the hell is he?”
She shook her head.
“Fine, I figure that answer means we get to do things the hard way.” He grabbed her and put the gun to her throat.
She screamed.
***
Trace answered his phone, stopping the peeling rings. “What the hell is it?” At this time of night, it had better be important.
“I’ve got her,” Drake’s growling voice said. “Get to your dancer’s studio. I’m heading there now.”
The line ended.
What. The. Hell?
Chapter Fourteen
“He’s insane!” The woman screamed the instant she saw Trace and Skye. “He has a gun!”
Trace shoved open the door to Skye’s studio. He made sure she got inside first, then he turned to confront Drake. “Have you lost what little sanity you had?”
“No, I found it…when I found her.”
Drake pushed the woman inside.
Trace made certain that he secured the lock behind them all.
Skye hit the lights, and the illumination flooded down on them, giving Trace his first good look at the woman.
This just keeps getting worse.
The woman—a drenched redhead with flashing green eyes—was as pale as death. Her high cheeks gave her a hallowed out, frightened look—or maybe that look just came from the absolute terror that was reflected in her eyes.
“H-he tried to drown me,” she whispered. “Then he put his g-gun to my—”
Drake shoved the gun into his waistband. “I found her at Navy Pier. Right before some * slammed a board into the back of my head and dumped me in the water. Now she won’t tell me who her partner is, but the lady did confess to one thing. According to her, she’s Anna Jean’s sister.”
Trace studied the woman’s face. “Yes, I can see the resemblance.” The eyes weren’t the same shade of green, and her hair was the wrong color. Anna Jean’s face had been more classically beautiful. Cold perfection—that was what he’d thought of when he saw Anna Jean.
“What in the hell is happening down here?” A snarling voice demanded. Then footsteps thudded down from the upstairs apartment.
And Noah appeared.
Noah?
Claire was right behind him, peering nervously over his shoulder.
Noah’s gaze darted over to Drake and then that golden stare narrowed when he saw Drake’s guest. “You.” He lunged toward the woman. “Anna Jean.”
“No!” The woman cried out as she tried to back away from him, and she thudded into Drake. “I’m not. My name’s Piper! I-I’m her half-sister.”
Noah’s doubting gaze swept over her. “Nice trick. Got some collagen in your lower lip. A nose job. Died your hair.” He peered at her. “And I’d wager those are contacts, just to make your eyes look a little different, right?”