Page 69 of Married at Midnight

“Here’s what we’re going to do,” Amanda said. “We’re going to make a phone call. The only words you will say are ‘I’m fine. Give them what they want.’ That’s it. Nothing more or I’ll shoot you, and Loverboy will see every gory detail. Understand?”

Amanda was calling Connor? Ellie racked her brain, trying to figure out how to convey more in the message without tipping Amanda off.

Amanda stepped back and righted the lantern, casting more light around the room and on Ellie. She pulled a cell phone from her jacket. With the phone in one hand and the gun in the other, she turned the camera on Ellie.

Ellie knew after their tussle she must look disheveled. She didn’t want Connor to worry, so she lifted her chin and tried to look confident. “I’m fine.” She hesitated as her brain scrambled for a way to warn him who held her captive. “Give her what she wants.”

Amanda ended the call and threw the cell phone against the wall, shattering it into a hundred pieces.

Ellie tensed as the phone splintered across the floor, fearing Amanda had noticed the subtle change she’d made to the message.

Then Amanda smiled. “Very good. Now we wait.”

Ellie released a pent-up breath. Amanda hadn’t noticed. Then in an attempt at bravado, Ellie hitched her chin up another notch. “What if Connor doesn’t meet your demands?”

Amanda moved back to where she’d originally dumped Ellie and snatched up a length of rope. “If he doesn’t, then it’s bye-bye Ellie.”

Amanda motioned for her to turn around, then jammed her against the wall while she tied her hands behind her back. “There, that should keep you out of trouble.”

She picked up the lantern and drew out another cell phone from her coat pocket. She typed in something, then put the phone back in her pocket before heading for the door.

“Please . . . leave the light,” Ellie asked, the words fracturing as a ripple of fear chased across her nerves.

“No.”

The word echoed in the stillness of the room as Amanda closed and locked the door, pitching Ellie into darkness once more.

Give her what she wants?

“Anything? Any ideas who has Ellie?” Trevor asked as the connection went dead.

“I know who has Ellie. Amanda Frost.”

“Your old girlfriend?” Trevor asked. “The one who stole your research and prototype once before?”

Connor nodded.

“Run her name. Let’s see what she’s been up to lately,” Trevor said to his team before his gaze returned to Connor. “Anything else you can tell me that would be helpful?”

“There’s not much to tell. I hadn’t seen Amanda since college. Then four weeks ago, she appeared at a party Ellie and I attended.”

“Okay. Let’s see what comes up in the computer. Meanwhile, we’ll run her plates and get her cell-phone records,” Trevor said with a worried frown.

“I never should have left Ellie alone,” Connor said, raking his hands through his hair, trying desperately to hold back his frustration, his fear.

“Don’t do that to yourself, man. You had no way of knowing.”

The pain of his mistake was enough to cripple him. “I should have been more suspicious of why Amanda suddenly reappeared in Seattle. Her company is based in San Francisco. Some people don’t change.” He hadn’t changed either until . . . Ellie. Five weeks ago he hadn’t believed in love. He hadn’t believed in happy endings. He’d never wanted to share his life with anyone or grow old together.

Until her.

Life without Ellie wasn’t something he wanted to contemplate. He would give everything he had to get her back. His self-driving car was, after all, simply a car. Ellie was priceless.

His heart screamed the truth. He loved her more than he’d ever loved anyone or anything else in his life.

“Let’s get everything we need to make the exchange,” Connor said to Trevor. “They sent us the drop location. I’m going to give them everything.”