“Your worst fuckin’ nightmare. Why’d you take Savannah?” Ian asked.
The man just smiled. “Fuck you.”
“Richard?” Laken tried to get close but Sawyer intercepted her. “Let me through, I want to talk to him. I want to find out what’s going on.”
“Laken? Is that you, my darling girl? You left, you went back to your old, dirty ways. Come back to me, darling. Let me make you clean again.”
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
Duncan handed the asshole off to Ian. Everything clicked together. Stepping over to Laken, he pulled her close.
“Oh, God, it was you? You’re the one who took me? Who killed all those women?”
“Savannah, no,” a loud voice interrupted.
Everyone looked over to find Savannah pulling out of her men’s grasp to walk over to them. She winced as her bare feet connected with sharp rocks. Finally, Logan picked her up, but brought her closer. Her face was drawn, almost gray, but her gaze was furious.
“He told me everything,” she said. “He’s killed a lot of women and he was going to do the same with me. He said they were all dirty and that he had to punish them, just like his wife. He said he only let one go free, because she was meant to be his. But that she needed to be punished for straying. He was talking about Laken. He planned to punish Laken by killing me.”
“Oh, God,” Laken cried. “I’m so sorry.”
Savannah’s gaze was intent as she stared at Laken. “Not your fault. Lock him away. Promise me he won’t get out.”
Duncan pulled Laken tight, holding her close.
“I promise, sweetheart,” Jake told her, staring at both Savannah and Laken. “I promise both of you that he will never hurt any woman again.”
Chapter Eighteen
Laken sat on the wooden corral, looking out at the hills around her. She shouldn’t be out here; she should be inside with the others, having dinner. But she’d needed some air, some space. Lila was her best friend and her men were fast becoming good friends as well. But she wasn’t ready to act as though everything was normal and okay.
It had been four weeks since Richard had kidnapped Savannah. How had she not known it was him? She had worked with him for years. Admittedly, she hadn’t had that much to do with him, but never once had she connected him with that psycho that had kidnapped her.
Part of her still couldn’t believe it. Richard, prim and proper Richard was a murderer. They now believed he had killed his wife, even though her death had been ruled a suicide at the time. Although he wasn’t talking, from what he had told Savannah, his wife had wanted to leave him, had been cheating on him with a man who owned a BDSM club.
They had brought Ricky in for questioning as well but then released him. There had been nothing to connect him with his father’s crimes.
“Want some company, sugar?”
A warm arm surrounded her waist as Duncan came up behind her and leaned against the corral.
“Dinner’s almost ready,” he told her.
“Sorry, I’ll be in soon.”
“Do you want to go home?” he asked.
r /> Was it her home? She wasn’t so sure. Even though they spent every night together, they had yet to speak of the future.
“Duncan, do you still want me?”
There was a long silence then he turned her, pulling her down to stand in front of him.
“What are you talking about?”
“I feel like I’m in free-fall without a parachute. I’m spiralling this way and that. I went from having this threat over my head one day to having it gone the next and now I don’t know where things stand. Do you want me now that you don’t have to protect me?”
He placed his hand in her hair, gently tugging it back until she looked up into his gaze.