Total pages in book: 144
Estimated words: 133531 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 668(@200wpm)___ 534(@250wpm)___ 445(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 133531 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 668(@200wpm)___ 534(@250wpm)___ 445(@300wpm)
“I presume you mean turn them over to the police,” Larrsen said.
“That as well,” Mack murmured.
“Is Rory able to talk?”
“Not so far, although the doctor said she should be coming round soon. We were careful with her clothing. It’s bagged according to protocol. Photos of the damage to her body were taken. The doctor will have a full report for you. She was tortured. When we recovered her, she had a hood over her head, and her wrists and ankles were secured to a metal chair.”
Gideon glanced at his watch. Too much time had gone by. The men who had left Rory in the warehouse had deliberately left open wounds that would attract rats to feed on the blood. They’d left a hood covering her face, knowing she could barely breathe. They had to believe she would die. What did they want?
“They expected her to die when they left her there, Mack,” Gideon said.
“I got that.” Mack’s voice was grim.
“When I thought it was Whitney’s men, it made sense. She didn’t do her job. She was disposable to him. But what could these men want from her? I’m concerned that her friends might be in danger. They were shouting questions, but I couldn’t understand what they were asking her. I think the hood and her lack of oxygen muffled everything for her, as it did for me.”
“I’ll call Larrsen back and tell him to round them up and get them into a safe house. He can bring them to one of ours.”
Gideon nodded. “That might be a good idea.”
“It might tip off our kidnappers.”
“Better that than another one of these women gets taken. Two of them have children, Mack. Javier is an elite tracker. He’s been in that warehouse for some time now. Jacob is with him. You know what he’s like. Nothing gets past his nose. Whoever these men are, they aren’t GhostWalkers. They’re going to leave something for our boys, even if it’s sweat. That will be enough for them to follow. We’ll find them one way or another. Better the women are safe.”
Mack agreed and made a second call.
Larrsen was hesitant. He had to talk to his boss and didn’t seem to think the man would agree. There was too much at stake.
Mack argued: What was more important, protecting the women from kidnap and torture, or finding a cop killer? He ended up hanging up on the detective.
Gideon sent Mack a brief grin. “You still have that edge, Mack. Flares up every now and then.”
“Total bullshit to say they can’t round up those women quietly and bring them to us. We offered our safe house. They wouldn’t be paying for it.”
“It’s possible they are suspects,” Gideon pointed out. “All along, Rory’s been worried that someone has been trying to frame her or one of the other women. Or trying to implicate them in Ramsey’s death. Rory looked as if she could be working in Harvey’s organization because she moved around so much. Working in a bar, she would have a lot of contacts.”
“I could see that.” Mack was already texting his people, setting up at one of the buildings they owned to house the women. They just needed someone to persuade them to come to the apartments.
“Who are you sending?”
“Jaimie and Rhianna. I’ll have Lucas back them up. We own the building across from our home. It’s high-end, secure, and we have several apartments we can rent out. Rhianna and Jaimie can easily persuade them to come look at them. They’re leaving now.”
Gideon had total faith that the women could get the job done. From what Rory had told him, Cindy wanted to move. Janice and Pam had no reason to stay, and if Cindy could persuade Lydia, they could get Sally to move as well. Rhianna and Jaimie would keep the rents comparable to what the women had been paying. Once they were at the apartment building, Rhianna and Jaimie would convince them to stay until it was safe for them to leave. In other words, until they found whoever was responsible for murdering Detective Ramsey and kidnapping and torturing Rory.
19
Gideon knew the predator in him was showing. The three detectives were clearly uncomfortable in his presence, but he didn’t care. He wasn’t about to back off. Rory looked fragile, with her face swollen and bruised, her eyes dark and hollow. She still seemed to struggle for air, and Gideon didn’t want the cops questioning her; he wanted Paul working to undo whatever Whitney had done to make her lungs worse than what she’d been born with.
Rory was nervous with the detectives close to her. The moment Gideon sensed that, he moved to protect her, his killer instincts taking over. He didn’t bother to tone down the piercing stare or the fact that he had warned them to keep a distance from her bed.