She jabbed him in the side. “Don’t go weird on me, Gabe. I like you just the way you are.”

As she walked to the back to sign for a milk shipment, it occurred to Aravena that that was quite possibly the kindest thing anyone had ever said to him.

It was five o’clock, quitting time, and Gabriel had the check in his hand. He removed his name tag and headed toward his car. He still had not chosen a destination. But no matter. There were many possibilities, and in his position, one was much the same as another. He was actually looking forward to the drive more than the arrival-being out on the open road, feeling the wind whistling around him, knowing he was on his own and no one and nothing could ever possibly-

“Hello, Gabriel.”

His jaw dropped. The check fluttered to the ground. “You.”

“Good to see you, too, Gabe. Could we talk?”

“Stay away from me,” Aravena said, backing away. “I want nothing to do with you.”

“I’m sorry. But that’s not an option. I need you.”

“I do not want to be a monster!”

“Ah, but it’s too late for that, isn’t it, Gabe?” The sun was setting, and a shadow clouded Aravena’s face. “You already are.”

Hayley Bennett was tearing her office apart, ripping through the files with such speed that a mess was guaranteed. And someone would have to clean up this mess, she told herself. But that did not stop her. She had to know.

She’d been going through the files for a long time, too long, but at last, she found the one she wanted. An old file, but one she still kept, one she likely always would. She pored through it, throwing the pages onto the floor as she finished scanning them.

It took her less than a minute to find what she sought.

How could she have been so stupid? She tossed the file down, disgusted with herself. It had been right in front of her all along, but she had been too stupid to see it. All that time she was talking to the lawyer, anytime in the past seven years, if she had just realized-

But she hadn’t. There was nothing she could do about that now. She could make a difference in the future, however. Could and would.

She grabbed the receiver on her desk phone. She would call Kincaid back, then call the police. One way or the other, she would make it right.

“Hello,” said the voice on the other end of the line. “Kincaid & McCall.”

“This is Dr. Hayley Bennett. I need to talk to Ben Kincaid.”

“I’m sorry, he’s out of the office at the moment. Could I take a message?”

“Is there someplace I could call him? Because it’s really-”

An instantaneous clicking noise, followed by dead space.

“Hello?” she said, furiously pushing the disconnect button. “Hello? What happened?” She tried to hang up and start again. No dial tone. “Hello? Operator? Is anyone there? I have to call-”

“I’m afraid I can’t allow you to do that, Hayley.”

Bennett looked up-and gasped.

“I was afraid you might do something like this. Something stupid.”

Bennett took a defensive position behind her desk. She flipped the receiver of her cordless phone around and brandished it like a club. “I won’t let you hurt me.”

“You will not have any choice in the matter.”

A figure emerged from the shadows.

Bennett’s lips parted. “Gabriel?”

He held his arms up, palms outward. “I am sorry, Doctor.”

Despite the hormonal influence of the drugs he had been taking, she knew he was a strong man. Powerful. There was no way she could outmuscle him.

Aravena walked slowly toward her until he stood on the opposite side of the desk. “Come.”

Bennett’s pulse was racing. She felt hot, tired, and more scared than she had ever been before. “Why are you doing this, Gabriel?”

There was a distinct note of sadness in his voice. “Because I have to.”

“You don’t have to, Gabriel. You don’t. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do.”

“I have no choice.”

Bennett made a break for it. She shoved hard, knocking him backward, then raced toward the door. She never even got close. Aravena grabbed her right arm and jerked her backward. There was a cracking sound. Had he broken her arm? she wondered. It hurt enough.

She tried to club him with the cordless phone receiver, but he deflected the blow easily. He hammered her hand down on his knee, knocking the phone away.

He swung her around again, hard, and Bennett gasped at the pain that radiated up her arm. He pinned the same arm behind her back, causing further agony, then clutched her by the neck, pulling her close to him. She was completely under his control.

“Very good,” the other person in the room said. “She’s yours now, Gabriel. Do with her as you please. Have fun. I know you want to. It’s been a long time, hasn’t it? So enjoy yourself.” The voice paused, and in that pause, a shudder raced down Bennett’s spine and chilled her to the bone. “Just make sure you kill her when you’re done.”

What the hell was that all about? Christina wondered as she hung up the phone.

Dr. Bennett had always struck her as somewhat eccentric, what with the butterflies and all, but that was just weird. Hanging up in the middle of a sentence. Had a patient flashed her or what?

The tone in her voice bothered Christina. She seemed… not herself. Distraught.

Or maybe Christina had just imagined it. It was so hard to tell with phone calls. There might’ve been a bad connection, static on the line, interference, something…

She looked up the number, then dialed Bennett’s office. No answer. She didn’t have a receptionist, Christina remembered. She was the only one in the office. She tried Bennett’s home number, but no one answered.

Not that that meant anything. But it did make Christina… concerned.

What had the woman said? She wanted to talk to Ben. Immediately. And then she cut off.

Or had been cut off.

Christina called the operator, pleaded a false emergency, and asked them to check the line.

“The line seems to be dead,” came the response, a few minutes later. “Probably damage to the line.”

That was enough for Christina. It could be nothing, she realized. But she’d also been in enough tough scrapes to know that if something seems wrong, it just might be. And that you’d better not wait until the last minute to check it out.

She considered calling Mike, but decided that was premature. What would she report-a disconnected phone call? That wasn’t even for her? No, he was busy enough. She’d check it out discreetly. Then call if there was anything amiss.

A minute later, Christina was in her car, driving toward downtown. Bennett’s office was a little off the beaten track, but the nice thing about Tulsa was that unless it was rush hour, it never took too long to get anywhere. In only a few minutes, she turned onto the street in front of Dr. Bennett’s office…

Just in time to see two people piling into a BMW parked outside. One was a dark, strong, dangerous-looking man. Just a glance at him gave her shivers. The other, the driver, she didn’t get a good look at.

The sun had all but set, and with her lights dimmed, it was hard to see. But as they started their car, Christina thought she spotted something through the back window. Something brownish, with a trace of red. Auburn.

Hair? Hayley Bennett’s hair?

She glanced at the office. The front door was open. She couldn’t see much of the interior, but she saw enough to know there was a gigantic mess. A table overturned. Papers strewn all over the floor.

The car was pulling away.

For the first time, Christina really wished she had splurged on a cell phone.

If something had happened to Hayley, and she let that car get away…

She shifted into drive. This could be the stupidest thing she had done in her life. But if she’d been stuffed into the back of a car, she’d sure as hell hope someone had the guts to follow.