Chapter Two
Standing by his car door, Ryan thought about his conversation with Angelo and hated to admit that he agreed with his smug co-worker.
He had taken several peeks at the photos inside the Ajana Bennett file.
She was stunning with not quite black hair that almost touched her shoulders.
Huge, pecan-colored eyes hypnotized him from a gorgeous oval face.
But what he was fascinated by the most was how the blue wraparound dress brought out the perfection of her cocoa skin.
His fingers had traced a path from her shoulder all the way down her bare arm in the photograph.
He wondered if her voice sounded as good as he hoped it would.
"Man, you can't be drooling over the suspect in an ongoing investigation.
" Shaking his head, Ryan unlocked his car, tossed his bag on the passenger side, and got inside.
Starting the car, he pulled out of the parking lot and headed for his house.
He stopped at a red light and watched several kids trick or treating when he felt a gun shoved in the back of his head.
"Don't turn around or say a word. I know how to use this and I don't have a problem pulling the trigger," a muffled voice threatened behind him.
All his years of training still hadn't prepared him for this moment. His heart started to pound inside his chest like a drum. "What do you want?" he asked, trying to think of a way out of this situation without getting his brains splattered all over the windshield.
"Didn't I tell you not to talk?" His captor shoved the gun further into the back of his head. "But since you did, I might as well answer your question. I want you to take me to your house."
"No, I can't do that. How about we go back to the station and talk about this?" Ryan asked as the light finally turned green.
"Don't argue with me, Officer Lerner. Either you drive me to your house or you'll regret it more than you could ever imagine," his attacker threatened again.
The sound of car horns blowing behind him finally made Ryan pull away from the light and go in the direction of his house. He didn't have a clue what this person wanted there. How long had he or she been waiting in his car to kidnap him?
"What do you want with me?" he asked again, hoping for an answer this time.
"You'll find out soon enough, after we're inside your house, Officer Ryan Lerner.
Now stop asking me so many questions and drive.
Oh, and don't try to get cute when we get to your house.
Pull inside your garage and close the door behind us.
We don't want the neighbors meddling in our business now, do we? "
Idea after idea raced through Ryan's mind, but none of them would be good to act on. He couldn't let this person hurt anyone if things got out of hand. When he finally reached his house Ryan pressed the garage opener and drove his car inside, making sure it shut behind him.
"Okay, we're here. What do you want from me?" Ryan asked, turning off the car.
“First, take you gun out to holster and toss it in the back seat. I don’t want you trying to shot me.
After you’re finished with that I want you to get out of the car and slowly move to the back door that leads to your kitchen.
Don't try any funny business. I’ve been watching you for a while.
I know how your house is set up[S3], so do as I ask.
Because I don't want to hurt you, but I can if you make me. "
Ryan took his gun out and debated if he should try to disarm his kidnapper. Would it be worth the risk of both of them getting shot?
“Don’t even think about playing with me. I don’t have anything to lose. I’ll shoot you without thinking twice about it.” His kidnapper shoved the gun in the back of his head to prove their point.
He tossed the gun over his head and it landed it the seat behind him. “There you go. Now let’s not get crazy. I did as you asked.” Ryan got out of the door, and soon as he slammed it shut the gun was shoved in his lower back.
"Let's get moving, Officer. I hate to be kept waiting."
Ryan walked as slowly as he could while he wondered what would happen to him after they made it to his kitchen[S4].
Did this person bring him all the way home just to kill him?
Walking up the steps, he twisted the door knob, then stepped on the sandy colored tile that covered his kitchen floor.
"Talk to me. Maybe we can find a way to work this out," he uttered as the door clicked shut behind them.
He had to get this person to think he was on their side, so the first chance he got he could find a way to disarm them.
"Will you please stop trying to talk me down and move toward the living room? I'm the one running the show, not you. When we get in there I want you to handcuff yourself to a chair and be quiet until I ask you a question."
The hell he would do that. He wasn't about to be defenseless when he didn't have a clue what this person had in mind. "No, I'm not going to do that. If you want to talk with me I can do it without the handcuffs." He flinched as he heard the barrel cock behind him.
"Do you want to die tonight? I know I wouldn't want to die on Halloween. Now get in that damn living room and do as I said."
Ryan placed one foot in front of the other until he came into the living room, then paused at the entranceway. "Can I turn on some lights? I can't see one hand in front of my face."
"You did fine in the kitchen and the lights weren't on."
"Yeah, but the street light shining through the windows helped."
He heard a low groan before his kidnapped muttered, "Go ahead, but remember I do have a gun."
Twisting slightly to the side, Ryan turned on the light with a flick of his wrist and the room light up like a baseball field at night. "See, I did as you asked."
"Good, now I see a chair in the over there in the corner that would be perfect for you to handcuff yourself to. Get over there and do it."
He wanted so badly to spin around and knock the gun out of the person's hand, but he didn't. He had to find out what this person's agenda was first, then he could act later on it. When he turned to sit down he was stunned to see how short his captor was. Tilting his head to the side, he noticed the person wore several layers of clothing. He was having a hard time determining the age and build. Plus the black gloves and ski mask weren’t helping him any either.
"You're a lot smaller than I thought you would be." He pulled his cuffs out of his back pocket. "Are you positive we can't talk about this? You can get into a lot of trouble of holding a cop hostage."
"Shut up and do as I asked you to." The gun didn't move from his direction as the person moved closer to him. "You talk way too much. It's starting to give me a headache."
Ryan stuck his hands behind him and quickly locked the cuffs.
He didn't want to push his luck. He had already gotten away with a lot.
"Finally," the person muttered, tossing the gun down on the couch.
"Now you stay here and be a good boy while I change out of these clothes.
I'm not about to stay covered up in this mess. "
Ryan watched in astonishment as the person went to his hall closet and pulled out a duffel bag. How in the hell had that gotten in his house? He was just in that closet yesterday and that bag wasn’t there. He was always paying attention to what was going on around him.
"I'll be right back. Don't you get into any trouble while I'm gone." His new house guest waved at him, then disappeared into the kitchen.
Ryan still couldn't believe this shit. He was an officer of the law and he hadn't known an intruder had been inside his house.
Maybe Sergeant Carelli was right, he was off his game since his last assignment.
He was usually better than this when it came to his job.
Being an undercover cop he was always on guard even when he was off duty.
However, his last case really got to him and he almost ruined everything by slipping up.
"How in the hell am I going to get myself out of this mess?" he wondered out loud in the empty room. “Furthermore, when did this person have time to get their stuff into my house?”
"I can answer that if you want me to," a soft voice offered, breaking into his reverie. “I did it after you left for work this morning. I waited across the street at the park and when I saw you leave I broke in and hid my stuff in there. You really such get a different routine, Officer.”
Ryan swung his head back over to the kitchen and his eye widened even further from utter disbelief at the person standing there. No, it couldn't be. Angelo Jones and the rest of the Atlanta police force would laugh their heads off if they saw this right now.
"It can't be you."
Sauntering across the room, his guest grasped either side of his chair and leaned into his face.
"Yes, it's me, Officer Lerner," Ajana Bennett gloated into his face.
"Since you so badly wanted to know where I was, I thought I might as well hide out at your place until you cleared my name.
I can't show my face on the streets because of you, and you're going to fix that. "
Moving back from him, Ajana crossed her arms over the white sweater she was wearing and glared at him. "So, where do we begin?"