Meet Me at Midnight

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Liam continued, “You’re a demolition man, Ty, not a negotiator. So I’ll say it one last time before the deal’s off the table. You give me the woman and I’ll tell you how to find Grant Davis.” He paused. “Think about it. You’d be trading a nobody for the vice president of the United States. A man you’ve sworn to take a bullet for. How is that a bad bargain?” Liam paused again, and his voice took on a note of sly calculation. “Unless she’s not a nobody. You tell me, Ty. Just how much do you know about Gabriella Solaro?”

Gabby froze, her heart lunging into her throat. Ty hadn’t called her by name, so how did Liam know who she was?

Ty went silent, no doubt wondering the same thing. She could sense his tension, feel the battle inside him. Or was that just wishful thinking?

“Fine,” he said abruptly. “Take her.”

Before she could react, before she could run for the door and scream for help, Ty closed on her, grabbed her by the upper arm and tugged her further into the church. He shoved her, sending her stumbling forward three paces. She banged into the corner of a pew and cried out, then shrieked again when fingers closed tightly on her arm.

“Shut up,” Liam said, his voice inflectionless. Then she felt him shift against her as he turned back to Ty. “Follow the campaign trail.”

There was a pause before Ty said, “Explain.”

“No,” Liam said, and pressed his weapon to Gabby’s head. “Now, if you’re half as smart as I remember, you’ll start running. You have until dawn. Sunrise is at 5:38 a.m. You might want to set your watch, because you’re going to get a hell of a show. Unless, of course, you manage to find and defuse the bomb.”

It wasn’t until Gabby heard Ty’s receding footsteps that she realized he wasn’t planning on rescuing her.

No, he’d handed her over for real. And he was leaving.

Wait! she wanted to shriek. What about me? But she didn’t dare because of the gun pressed to her temple, and because of the burgeoning fear that he wouldn’t turn back even if she did cry out.

Instead she whispered, “Ty.” A tear spilled over as the image of an Internet lover shattered in her heart, and she realized she’d done the dumbest thing possible—she’d fallen for a man who didn’t exist.

“Come on.” Liam uncocked the revolver and put it away somewhere, then tugged at her arm. “I didn’t plan on having company in the little hideaway the boys and I have been using, but I’m sure we can find something to do to pass the time.”

Gabby shuddered when his touch softened to a rough caress, though the gesture seemed mechanical and somehow off. She dragged her feet a few steps, then intentionally bumped into a nearby pew. Drawing on a childhood spent as the consummate drama queen, she let a quaver enter her voice. “I…I can’t see where I’m going.”

“Bonus for me,” Liam said, unperturbed. “I won’t have to blindfold you.” He dragged her another few steps before he growled a low oath and said, “You were walking just fine earlier. Either knock it off or I’ll shoot your boyfriend.”