Free Hidden Prey (Lawmen) by Cheyenne McCray Page A

made him want to snarl at her. It was all he could do to maintain control and play the loving boyfriend.
    Truth was he did love Tori. He expected her to do as he said and to be where he expected her to be. She was his. No one else could touch her.
    His love for Tori bordered on obsession. Hell, it was obsession. Maybe he shouldn’t also be fucking his intern, but he was a man with extraordinary needs, and Tori couldn’t give him everything he needed. As long as she knew her place was with him, all was fine.
    He clenched his teeth as he dug in his pocket for his keys. They jangled as he pulled them out, then slipped from his hand and hit the welcome mat on the doorstep. Cursing beneath his breath, he crouched and scooped them up. He hesitated in the crouch for a moment then checked beneath one of the flowerpots near the mat. The spare key wasn’t there. Sara must have been here, so where the hell was she now? Maybe they’d passed each other on his drive home. Then why hadn’t she put the key back?
    With a frown he straightened, got to his feet, and tried the knob without attempting to unlock it first. It turned easily in his hand and the door swung open. Even the bolt lock wasn’t engaged. What the hell?
    All of the lights were off and Tori had always left the light in the foyer on. She had a thing about coming home to an entirely dark house. It made her uneasy. He flipped on the light by the door and then shut the door behind him as he set his briefcase down next to her clarinet case and her own briefcase.
    He stuffed his keys back into his pocket and started undoing his tie when he realized a lump was lying at the foot of the stairs. His stomach churned when he realized it was a woman’s body, limbs at unnatural angles, white-blonde hair covering her face.
    “Sara?” His voice shook as he hurried toward her. Had she fallen down the stairs?
    He pushed her hair away from her face. Her face was purple, her eyes wide with terror. In his horror he noticed her neck and the dark band around it—she’d been strangled.
    Murdered. Sara had been murdered.
    “Oh, God.” His hands started to shake and he heard his cell phone, the ring coming from the kitchen where he must have left the phone.
    He needed to call 9-1-1.
    What if the killer was still here?
    Could he take the chance of going into the kitchen to get to his phone? No, he had to get out of the townhouse. He’d go to a neighbor’s and use their phone.
    He pushed himself to his feet and started to turn when he heard a click and felt something cold pressed against the back of his head.
    “Where do you think you’re going?” came a cold voice with a Hispanic accent.
    “You can have everything you want.” Gregory spoke in a rush. “I have money in a safe. You can have it. Just let me go.”
    “A safe. I like the sound of that.” The voice was amused. “But we have more important things to discuss.”
    “What?” Confusion clouded Gregory’s mind.
    With the barrel of the gun still against Gregory’s head, a man stepped into Gregory’s line of sight. He was slender and athletic-looking with a slim mustache.
    In the background, Gregory’s phone started ringing again.
    “Where is Tori Cox?” The man asked.
    “Tori?” Gregory couldn’t quite pull his thoughts together. “She’s not here. Why do you want her?”
    “My reasons are not important to you,” the man snarled. “But if you want to live, you will tell me where she is.”
    Gregory realized two things. One, he wasn’t going to get out of this alive no matter what the man said. Two, the man was going to kill Tori. Gregory had no idea what kind of trouble she had gotten herself into, but apparently it was bad. Real bad.
    Despite any problems they’d had, Gregory loved Tori. He wasn’t about to give up anything. Besides, if he did, this man would immediately kill him.
    “I’m not sure where Tori is.” Gregory’s voice shook. “She took off this morning.”
    “I can tell you she is in