Sweetest Taboo (SIN 3)

"Dad," he said. "Of course you weren't responsible. Neither was I and neither was Jane. Colin's the guilty one."

"Damn right. The man's a lunatic. Who knows what he would have done to Jane if we hadn't filed the termination papers? If our Jane lived part of every year under that monster's roof? Sometimes it's best to end things."

"Yes, sir."

"I've been thinking about you and Jane," he continued, and Dallas felt a glimmer of hope. Surely that meant he'd been thinking about the rescission.

"First of all, I want to put you back on the payroll. Return to some level of normalcy, and move on."

Dallas swallowed, hoping that was possible, but fearing it never would be. Not with Bill out there hunting him.

Still, he spoke the truth when he said, "I'd like that."

"I thought so. I hoped so. And I want you as chief operating officer of either our UK or Ge

rman division." He paused and looked at Dallas expectantly. "Well? What do you think?"

Dallas frowned, uncertain. "You think Jane and I would be less in the public eye overseas?"

The minute he said the words, he knew that he'd entirely misread the situation.

"Jane would be here, most likely in her house in LA. That's what you two need, Dallas. What this family needs. Time. Distance."

Dallas stood, propelled to his feet by the force of his fury, a rage he just barely kept under control. "How the hell can you not get it? She's the love of my life. We'd already be married if it weren't for the adoption. And time and distance isn't going to change that. Hell, I wouldn't want it to, and neither would she."

"Calm down, boy. You're being--"

"I'm not being anything but honest. You can't just--"

His goddamn phone rang, but since it was Liam, he held up a finger to his dad. "What?" he snapped.

"She doubled back, Dallas. The bitch doubled back after she landed in London. Do you understand? She's in New York. Adele's somewhere in the city right now."

Liam was still talking as Dallas raced for the service stairs, not willing to wait for the elevator. He was breathless when he burst into the lobby after running down eight flights, but he didn't stop.

He hurled himself toward the door, only to find Charlie hurrying toward him with almost as much speed.

"Where are they?"

"There was a van." Charlie gulped in air. "A van hit your mother in the intersection. She's still there. I've called 911 and a doctor on the sidewalk rushed to help."

"Jane," he demanded. "What about Jane?"

Charlie's eyes went wide. "Gone! A man got out of the van and grabbed her, and then drove away. I didn't know what to do. I told the 911 dispatcher and cops are coming, too, and I--"

But though he kept on talking, Dallas didn't hear a word. His head was too full of rage, and his heart was too full of fear.

My head is pounding when I wake, and though I try to open my eyes, I can only manage to squint. Dozens of spotlights are aimed right at me, and I can see nothing except pure white light and faint spectral arcs in my periphery that seem to be dancing and leaping.

I'm dizzy, and I remember being stabbed with a needle. Some sort of hallucinogen, I think, considering the way the world seems to be all wonky.

A moment later, I realize that I'm standing. I try to raise my hand to shield my vision, but it's impossible. My wrists are strapped behind me, and my back is pressed to a pole. I try to step forward, but there are ties on my ankles as well as one around my waist.

It's the one that encircles my neck that terrifies me the most.

I don't know where I am, but I do know who brought me here. And that certainty makes my blood run cold.

"Adele," I say, though the name is only a whisper. "Please. My mom. Where's my mom?"