Spencer read off the plates and, as he waited, checked his watch. It had been ten minutes since he had called Jordan. The hair on the back of his neck rose. Why did this not feel right? He reached for his hat. It would take him fifteen minutes to drive by her house and confirm she was fine. He was hurrying across the lobby of the Rangers’ headquarters when the dispatcher got back on the line.

“Ranger Spencer, I have a name.”

“Who?”

“Rogan Malone.”

As total darkness surrounded Jordan, she listened for signs of movement. She advanced a step, her arms stretched out in front of her. “Who are you?”

Footsteps shifted in the room as the man crossed back toward Avery. Her sister whimpered.

“Turn the breaker on, Jordan,” he whispered.

Whenever she felt cornered, she knew only pushing back worked. She was not armed, but she and the darkness had been getting acquainted for more than a week now. “Why? If I can’t see, why should you?”

“I want your sister to see what’s going to happen to her.”

The ragged whisper was so familiar she immediately rejected the connection her brain made. “Is that supposed to convince me?”

Plastic rustled near Avery. “I’ve done this enough. I don’t need that much light,” he said. “And in case an audio cue is required, I’m putting a gag in her mouth.”

His familiar tones hit Jordan hard. It could not be him.

Her sister’s cry was cut off and muffled. Jordan imagined a gag being jammed in Avery’s mouth as it had been two years ago.

“Men who prey on women half their size think that they’re strong and dominant,” Jordan said. “But they’re exactly the opposite. They’re weak cowards. If they were real men, they’d say what was on their minds, face-to-face, isn’t that right?”

Avery’s muffled screams mingled with the rustle of plastic.

Jordan’s resolve wavered, and she nearly begged him to let Avery go. Instead, she pushed back. “You’re worse than a coward. Avery’s small. I can’t really see. What next? Puppies and children?”

“Turn the breaker on,” he repeated.

“Why should I do that, Rogan?”

His silence confirmed the truth. The realization that her ex-lover and confidant had betrayed her cut deep. The man she had kissed and trusted was a monster. She nearly crumbled under the weight.

“She’s going to suffocate,” Rogan said. “It’ll take a little time, but she’ll die.”

Her anger reignited. “You’re going to kill us anyway. Why should I make it easy?”

“Hearing her die will make you suffer.”

“Rogan, why hurt me after all we shared?”

“You were so overwhelmed when you first came to me for counseling,” he said. “You were so worried about Avery, and helping you became a calling for me.”

“You saved my sanity,” she said honestly.