The Ransom by Chris Taylor

family who loved her. Well, maybe not so much by her stepmother, but no one’s life was perfect. And yet, all of a sudden, she felt a yearning deep inside that things were different and it had everything to do with the very sexy detective.
    Sliding his business card out of her pocket, she looked at it again. Her fingers moved over the plain black text that described his name and rank and the contact details where he was stationed. She flipped it over and stared at the handwritten scrawl on the back. His home number. Her heart fluttered. She pressed the small card to her breast and tried to slow her breathing.
    She wished she had a reason to call him, to hear his voice again. Deep but gentle, it had caressed her skin like a whisper-soft kiss. She’d barely been able to concentrate on the content of his questions earlier, her distractedness something that secretly astounded her.
    The description her little sister gave the detective of the attacker rang a chord of familiarity in her mind and her thoughts turned to the men she’d spied in her father’s office a fortnight earlier. Such a contrast to those he usually met with—they were rough, dangerous looking men she’d never seen before. When she asked her father about them later, he assured her they were undercover police officers, but as he said it, he’d paled and she’d briefly recognized unconcealed fear in his eyes.
    Now, she could only wonder if their visit had something to do with the disappearance of Olivia Munro. She wondered if her father had mentioned the visitors to Lane. She could call him and make sure. It would give her the excuse she was looking for.
    Lane. Already, she was calling him by his first name.
    Heat crept up her neck and suffused her cheeks. She bit her lip against the strange rush of desire that suddenly weakened her. She’d never felt this way before about any man, ever. Nothing came close. The scariest thing was, she didn’t have a clue what to do about it.
    She was a twenty-five-year-old woman who was well on her way to an illustrious career and yet she’d never known a man in the most intimate of ways. She’d never had the time to date anyone seriously; she’d never had the inclination. She didn’t understand why her feelings about all that had changed in the seconds and minutes since she’d met Detective Senior Sergeant Lane Black of the Chatswood Local Area Command.
    Her heart leaped with nerves and excitement at the possibility of talking to him again, but her head issued a cautious warning. Dark undercurrents tugged at her consciousness. A fortnight ago her instincts told her that all was not as it seemed and the feeling of dread hadn’t diminished with time. After listening to Brittany’s description of the man who’d attacked her, Zara’s disquiet had magnified. Why was that?
    Everything came back to her father, a man she loved more than anyone in the world.
    She needed to speak to him. She needed him to explain to her a second time the reasons for the presence of the rough-looking men in his office. Her gut told her he hadn’t been honest with her and she wanted to give him a chance.
    A chance to tell the truth.

CHAPTER SIX

    Saturday, January 27, 1:03 p.m.

    Olivia Munro curled herself tighter into a ball and tried to hold the sobs at bay. She didn’t know where she was or how long she’d been unconscious. The only thing she could clearly remember was arguing with her stepmother about a stupid bikini. After that, there was nothing.
    A rough-looking man dressed in dirty jeans had come and checked on her twice. Both times, she pretended she was still sleeping. He’d come over to where she lay on the floor and had shoved her with his boot, turning her onto her back to face him. Though he no longer wore the leather jacket, she recognized him as the man who’d kidnapped her. It had taken everything she had to remain silent and motionless.  
    Eventually, he’d sauntered out again, locking the door behind him with a