Sandman (Unknown Identities #3) by Regan Black Read Free Book Online

His eyes narrowed with anger. “Your captor was a coward.”
    “ How –” She had to clear the lump of terror from her throat. “How do you know my captor?”
    “ We met briefly after an exchange of gunfire.”
    “ He drove me out here?”
    “ To sell you to me.”
    A sharp, freezing pulse lanced through her system. He said it so casually, as if he bought stray women on a regular basis. Maybe he did. She didn’t know anything about him. He could be anyone now, have changed or been changed by any number of circumstances.
    “ You’re pale. Do you need to lie down again?”
    “ No. Of course not.” She needed to find an escape. At the very least, she needed to determine if he was a threat or salvation. “What about you? You must have been on watch for hours.”
    “ I’m fine.” He smiled gently. “Marines are tough, remember?”
    She remembered that smile, the way it had warmed her when she thought love would be enough to keep them together forever. Looking away, she fiddled with the frayed stitches running along the edge of the blanket. Her thin blouse was no match for the cool air, but she didn’t care. She needed to feel, her body craved every sensation, rediscovering how to react and adapt and accept her newfound freedom. Assuming she was free.
    “ Renata? Do you remember anything else?”
    “ Nothing I’d call useful.” She pushed a hand through her hair, caught him tracking the movement. “One minute I was walking down the jet way to board my plane and the next I was tied to a chair, blindfolded and alone.”
    “ No voices? No one said anything to you?”
    She shook her head.
    “You don’t remember anything about leaving the airport?”
    “ No. Logically, I knew I’d been drugged.” She sipped at the water, grateful. “We’re taught how to fight back, how to prevent being taken, but I didn’t have a chance to resist.”
    “ Where were you headed?”
    “ Madrid,” she replied, but she had the sinking feeling he already knew that. “Are you testing me?” Suddenly indignant, her temper flared. “I’m the victim.” And she didn’t want to compound the bizarre situation by making a mistake and trusting Matthew based solely on her old feelings.
    Soon she ’d be an unemployed victim. This security breach would, by necessity, bump her right out of a job. She drew her feet up to her chest and wrapped her arms around her knees. “How are you tied into my problems?”
    She didn ’t like the way he hesitated before answering her.
    “ The kidnapper was working under the order of a man who was taken into custody a few days ago by my boss.”
    Boss . Not commander or even C.O. Matthew had obviously parted from his beloved Marine Corps. It added to her mountain of worry and uncertainty. “Who is your boss?”
    “ That isn’t something you should know.”
    She pinned him with a sharp look. He had no idea about her security clearance, the people she ’d met, chatted with, or the bigger responsibility she’d taken on. It shouldn’t matter that his ignorance protected him, but it did. She sat up straight, ignoring her aching limbs. “The best course of action is to go back to my apartment. Then I can make contact with my boss and report this incident properly.”
    “ Wouldn’t a proper report be handled better in person at the embassy?”
    Curse him for knowing that. “I’d rather speak with my boss first.” And she needed to see if anything had gone missing from her apartment. Unlikely, but necessary. “No one interrogated me. I think it’s better not to make a scene just yet. Can we go now?”
    “ No. The trip to your apartment is impossible.”
    “ That’s absurd.”
    “ Your apartment was broken into and sustained minor smoke damage.”
    “ Someone looted my apartment during a fire?”
    His gaze narrowed, assessing her reaction. “No,” he said slowly. “Smoke and flash-bang grenades were employed during a robbery. You know what those are?”
    “ Of course,” she