If You Hear Her: A Novel of Romantic Suspense by Shiloh Walker Read Free Book Online Page B

five different times. I think her screaming is what woke me up.”
    “And you’re sure you were awake?”
    “Yes.” She suppressed a sigh as she shifted in the rocking chair. “I was awake, Sergeant. Very awake.”
    “Okay.” The chair creaked under his weight. Paper rustled. “We took a look around the house, didn’t see anything.”
    “She wasn’t around the house.” Lena pinched the bridge of her nose. A headache was settling behind her eyes—a monster bitch of a headache. “I heard her in the woods. Did you look there?”
    “We took a bit of a look around. But, as you can imagine, it’s pretty dark … hard to see much of anything.” He paused, cleared his throat. “However, I can swing by later, after the sun’s up. Take another look around when I can see.”
    Lena grimaced. The woman had sounded so desperate. Could she wait until the sun rose? “There’s nothing else you can do?”
    “I’m afraid not. I had another one of the deputies check the roads, make sure nobody had been in an accident or anything like that. Could have been an accident victim.”
    No. That wasn’t it. She didn’t know why, but she was convinced it wasn’t that. It was … worse.
    Your imagination is running away with you
, she thought. A car wreck could explain it just fine.
    Except there weren’t any car wrecks around.
    Feeling his expectant gaze, she forced a smile. “Well, if you would come back and take a look around in the daytime, I’d appreciate it.”

 
    “H OLY SHIT ,” R OZ BREATHED OUT . “A RE YOU SERIOUS ?”
    Lena rubbed her gritty eyes and said, “Yeah, I’m serious.” She checked the time and then stretched out on the couch, cradling the phone between her ear and shoulder. “I swear, Roz, I feel like I’ve been run over by a bus or something. Last night was the worst night of my life.”
    “You hear some woman screaming for help, it’s not going to make for sweet dreams,” Roz said, her voice wry.
    “You ain’t kidding.”
    “So what is the sheriff’s department doing?”
    Her spine stiffened as she recalled the conversation she’d had with Jennings a few hours earlier. “Right now? Nothing. The guy from the sheriff’s department who came by last night came back over this morning, walked the main trail and didn’t see anything, hear anything. Beyond that, there’s not much they can do.”
    “That’s a fucking load of bullshit,” Roz snarled.
    “That was my first thought, too.” Lena adjusted a pillow under her head. “I was thinking about going to the sheriff’s office, talking to somebody else. But seriously, I don’t know what they can do.”
    “Want me to come with you?” Roz offered.
    “Nah, that’s okay. You’ve got that shower this afternoon, anyway. I’m going to call Law.”
    “Perfect …”
    He stepped back and surveyed his handiwork.
    She slept, her face slack, her breathing deep and steady. Just a little chemical inducement was all it had taken. He had to keep her quiet, after all.
    She wouldn’t get free this time. He didn’t like using the shackles—he liked the velvet ropes better, loved how they looked against a woman’s soft, smooth skin. But she’d gotten free from the ropes and he couldn’t risk that happening again.
    Idly, he palmed her breast. Her nipples were hard. It was cool in his little place and he knew it was more a reaction to the cold than anything else. At least right now.
    He could make her nipples hard for him, and he’d done so.
    Just like he could make her wet for him. Just like he could make her come for him.
    It was erotic, drawing that reaction from their bodies even as they fought against it. Almost as erotic as the way they struggled when he shifted gears and focused on sweet pain instead of reluctant arousal.
    He loved both.
    He loved bringing a woman to climax and he loved bringing a woman to pained screams.
    He loved the response … and she wasn’t giving him one.
    She lay still, practically lifeless. Watching