Page 129 of Secret Squirrel

“It was your son that went missing,” he laughed.

I knew it was Roth based on his voice, but his face was blurred in my vision.

He snapped his fingers in front of my face, but he didn’t get whatever he wanted. “Do it.”

I wanted to ask what he was going to do, just out of pure curiosity, but that was answered moments later when I felt the burn on my leg. I looked down and screamed as one of the guys ground salt into the wound on my leg, effectively cauterizing it. Black spots danced in my eyes as I took deep breaths, trying to control the pain. He wanted me awake, and he got it.

“So, Duke Mason, former Ranger. Very impressive. You served until five years ago, but when you got out, your wife had left you for my good friend Michael Williams. That must have stung.”

I laughed at his implication. “I was relieved.”

“Then why come out here in search of the boy?”

I swallowed hard. I couldn’t give away too much. I needed to give Rae a chance to find me. “I’m a Ranger. It’s what I do.”

“And you dragged your girlfriend into it. I’m impressed.”

How the fuck did this guy know so much? I knew he had reach. He was powerful and full of money. It would be stupid to assume he didn’t have connections, but we left the meet only a little bit ago.

I glanced around again, noticing there was a window in this building, but I hadn’t really seen it because it was dark outside. Fuck, I was out longer than I thought.

“She’s a feisty one. I like her. She really had me going, too. I’m surprised she had the guts to take me on. Until I knew who she was, I was tempted to take her up on her offer. It could have been a very beneficial relationship, both personally and professionally.”

I snorted at that. The fact that he thought he could take Rae on was laughable.

“Something funny?”

“Just that you think you could ever get a woman like Rae to do what you want.”

“Women bend,” he bit out. “They’re weak.”

I looked up at him through swollen eyes. “Clearly, you don’t know all women.”

He smirked at me, as if this whole thing was funny. And it was. It was fucking hilarious. He had no idea who he was up against. He was predictable because we knew he felt invincible. He was the typical rich guy that was power hungry and used that power to get everything he wanted. But his mistake was thinking Rae’s vagina somehow made her incapable of doing a job and succeeding.

“So, you came for the boy. Why not just approach me?”

“There’s no negotiating with assoles,” I muttered. “Did you kill Carolyn to get the kid?”

“The woman?” He laughed. “Hell no. That was all Michael. I don’t deal with the petty shit like misbehaving wives.”

I nodded in agreement. “Wish I’d known that before I married her,” I said, mostly to buy myself time.

“She didn’t turn out to be the wife you wanted?”

“I didn’t even know her,” I admitted. “She was knocked up and I was headed back to war. It seemed like the right thing to do at the time. Though, I would have just walked away if I’d known all the shit she was involved in.”

He nodded. “Very touching. You’ll make a great husband to someone someday. Not to Rae, though. I’m afraid I have other things in mind for her. And she will come for you. I saw it in her eyes in the garage. I think she’d do just about anything for you, including trade her own life for yours.”

It was cute that he thought that. Yes, Rae would trade her life for mine, but only after every last option was taken off the table. She was too much of a strategist to ever give in so easily. And if she did give herself up, it would be with a plan in mind. But I didn’t have to worry about that. When Rae came for me, and I had no doubt she would, it would be with the full force of OPS at her back. The difference was, his guys were trained thugs, where OPS were highly trained ex-military. His men didn’t stand a chance in a fight against all of them. They fought for a single man, but OPS fought for each other.

“I hope you enjoy that fantasy for as long as you can,” I finally said. “I’m sure she’d love to hear your plans. She’d get a kick out of hearing just how much you think you can control her.”

“Why control her when I could use her as a weapon? Imagine what she would do for me to keep you alive.”

I started laughing again because this guy really was funny. I didn’t stop laughing until one of the men kicked me in the chest and the chair flipped backward, smacking my head against the floor. And even then, after I regained my wits, I started laughing again.

“Boss, you want me to take care of him?”