Take the Key and Lock Her Up by Lena Diaz Read Free Book Online

out the clip, and handed the gun back, all so quickly,
     so smoothly, she’d barely had time to blink, let alone try to stop him. He tossed
     the clip on the floorboard and wrapped his hands around her upper arms, giving her
     a gentle shake. “Do you honestly think I’m going to hurt you?”
    She glanced longingly at the magazine of bullets.
    Devlin cursed and let her go. He studied her for a moment, then grabbed the clip off
     the floor and tossed it in her lap. He’d surprised her again, but this time she didn’t
     hesitate. She shoved the clip into her gun and pointed it at him.
    Obviously not considering her a threat, or just not caring, he didn’t bother to look
     at her. Instead, he stared out the windshield. “You may not believe this,” he said,
     “but I wouldn’t hurt you. Not on purpose, anyway.” His mouth quirked in a wry grin.
     “Ever since I left that basement I’ve been wanting to get you horizontal again. And
     I promise, if I did, the only pain you would feel would be from an overload of pleasure.”
    The sexual promise in that statement sent a shiver of longing straight to her core.
     Her entire body flooded with heat. She should tell him not to talk to her that way,
     but that would just make her a hypocrite. Since the moment he’d touched her, pressing
     his hard-muscled body against hers, she couldn’t seem to stop fantasizing about what
     it might be like to roll around on a mattress together for a couple of hours, an entire
     day, a weekend. She’d love to slide her fingers into his short, wavy hair. Or get
     a better look at the tattoos that peeked out from the edges of his T-shirt sleeves.
     But being so obsessed about a virtual stranger was insane. And besides him being a
     stranger, he was the only lead she had right now to find Mrs. Hawley. She didn’t have
     time to be distracted, no matter how sexy that distraction happened to be.
    Devlin was certainly distracted right now. But not, apparently, by thoughts of her. He was
     quietly staring through the windshield, his mind seemingly millions of miles away.
     The angry stranger was gone. The sexy bad boy was gone. In their place was a man who
     looked . . . resigned, tired, even a little . . . vulnerable.
    She looked down at the gun still in her hands. Once again, she’d handled the situation
     all wrong. She holstered her gun.
    “Mr. Buchanan . . . Devlin?”
    He raised a brow in question and looked at her.
    “You stopped the truck because you thought I knew something that I wasn’t telling
     you. You’re right.”
    His gaze sharpened, but he waited, without interrupting.
    She cleared her throat. “The coroner has to perform tests to try to determine not
     only a cause of death for Carolyn Buchanan and the others in that basement, but a
     date of death as well.”
    He blinked. “ Date of death? What are we talking here, days, weeks?”
    “Months. Maybe . . . longer.”
    He cursed, surprising her with his creative way of stringing together a phrase.
    “What did the bastard do? Hold those women as his prisoner that whole time? Torture
     them?”
    “I . . . I honestly don’t know.”
    “What about the coroner? He must have expressed some opinions specific to Carolyn,
     even without the autopsy.”
    He had. There was evidence of several old fractures in her bones, a lot more than
     was considered normal. The coroner believed Carolyn had been tortured for some time,
     probably years . She bit her lip, reluctant to share such devastating information.
    The truth must have been revealed by her expression. He swore bitterly and threw the
     truck into drive. But he didn’t take his foot off the brake.
    “Buckle your seat belt,” he spat out.
    Surprised and grateful that he would consider her safety after that revelation, she
     hurriedly clicked the belt into place. As soon as she did, he stomped the accelerator
     and took off down the road.
    Moments later, he braked and turned the wheel hard right. She braced her