Living On The Edge. Susan Mallery

people spend their whole lives looking for the perfect way to do just that.”

      “Not me.” She stared at him and had the odd thought she very much wanted him to like her. “I’m not what you think.”

      He looked instantly bored. “I’ll be right back.”

      He walked out of the room, leaving the door open. Madison stared at the narrow concrete hallway and wondered if his actions were a test to see if she could be trusted. It didn’t matter. She had no plans to bolt for freedom. Right now Tanner was all that stood between her and Christopher. She already knew what her ex-husband was capable of. For now she was more than willing to put her fate into the hands of a stranger. With Tanner, the odds were a whole lot better.

      If Madison had been asked to guess, she would have said the drive had taken about forty-five minutes. She’d been put in the rear of a van of some kind. There weren’t any seats, but there were plenty of blankets. She’d curled up on them and listened to the sound of the engine and the road. Exhaustion had claimed her a few times and she’d dozed for a second or two.

      When the van stopped, she straightened. She heard a garage door opening, then the van moved forward and the garage door closed behind it. There was the click of the lock followed by the creak of metal as the rear of the vehicle opened.

      “You can take off the blindfold now,” Tanner said.

      For reasons that had made no sense to her, he hadn’t tied her hands. She reached up and pulled off the blindfold, only to find herself in a dark box inside a van. Of course, she thought, knowing that if she’d been less exhausted she would have found the situation humorous. He hadn’t tied her hands because once she was in the van it hadn’t mattered if she’d removed the blindfold. There was nothing for her to see.

      Very slick, she thought as she crawled to the end of the van and stepped down.

      Lack of food and sleep made her shaky. She stumbled as she tried to stand. He grabbed her by the arm and held her steady.

      “You’ve been tough all through this,” he said gruffly. “Don’t faint on me now.”

      “I won’t,” she promised, although she wasn’t completely sure of her facts.

      “Come on. I’ll give you the quick tour, then you can crash for a few hours.”

      Sleep sounded like heaven. Maybe here, with Tanner watching over her, she would feel comfortable enough to relax.

      He released her arm and motioned for her to step around him. After closing the back of the van, he led the way into the house.

      She wasn’t sure what she’d expected—perhaps some high-tech, modern space done in shades of white. What she found instead was a sprawling single-story ranch-style home with a few modifications.

      From the garage they passed through a laundry room and into a hallway that led into a large family room. There was a big-screen television and several electronic components, along with two black leather sofas. The house itself might be forty or fifty years old, but the paint and the furniture looked relatively new.

      Madison glanced at the ceiling, looking for cameras or some kind of monitoring device. She didn’t see any. She did notice a strange screening material over the windows and pointed to it.

      “No one can see in,” Tanner said. “And you can’t get out. But the windows all open if you feel the need for fresh air.”

      She was less worried about that than being trapped. “What if there’s a fire?”

      “There won’t be.”

      He walked into a large kitchen and pointed out the basic amenities. There was already plenty of food in the refrigerator and pantry. Simple things that were easy to prepare.

      “Help yourself,” he told her.

      She nodded, knowing she had to eat something eventually, but right now all she wanted was sleep.

      Next up was what would have been the formal living and dining room. Instead she saw several desks and shelves, all crammed with electronic equipment. None of it made sense to her. There were screens and keyboards and odd display units.

      Tanner stepped inside and grabbed something from a nearly empty desk. She didn’t see what it was until he returned to her side and snapped it on her wrist.

      “What on earth?” She stared at the gray metal bracelet. There was no visible catch, no markings of any kind.

      “My game, my rules,” he said. “You play by them or I return you to your ex.”

      “Why?” she asked, not sure if she was asking why he’d done it or why she didn’t get a say in the rules.

      “I don’t trust you,” he said flatly.

      Good to know where she stood. “You could just let me go. I’ll be fine on my own.”

      “If he’s everything you say, he’ll find you within twenty-four hours. Is that what you want?”

      No, but she didn’t want this either, she thought as she rubbed the bracelet. “What does it do?”

      “Keeps you safe and keeps you here.” He motioned to the control center of the house.

      Madison glanced at him, then back to the bracelet before taking a step forward.

      “You have entered an unauthorized area,” a female computerized voice said. “Please return to an authorized area or an alarm will sound.”

      She jumped back. “It’s some kind of monitoring system.”

      “Exactly. You can go anywhere you want in the house except for in here and within five feet of the front and back door. There’s a patio off the family room. You can go as far as the overhang.”

      She tried to make herself feel better by thinking that at least an alarm sounding was better than him blowing off her hand, but she wasn’t all that comforted. Tanner might be her only shot at staying alive, but she’d just exchanged one prison for another.

      “My rules,” he repeated.

      “I got that.”

      She had a choice. She could accept them or she could be returned to Christopher. On second thought, not much of a choice at all.

      For the first time since she’d been kidnapped, she had the overwhelming urge to cry. She wanted to slump down on the floor and sob until everything was better. Instead she sucked in a breath and forced herself to stay strong. Tanner was her only hope. She needed him on her side. He seemed to appreciate strength, so that’s what she would show him.

      “Anything else?” she asked, feeling her exhaustion down to her bones.

      “No. Your room is down here.”

      He led her along another hallway before turning into a cheery bedroom. There was a full-size bed, a dresser with a television on it, two nightstands and a small desk. One door led into a closet, the other to a small bathroom, complete with a shower.

      Madison had only been allowed to bathe every third day while she’d been kidnapped. She longed for some serious water time. But first, sleep.

      He glanced at his watch. “Why don’t you rest for three or four hours. Then you can eat.”

      “Fine.”

      He walked to the door, then paused and turned back to her. “No phone, no contact with the outside world.”

      She wasn’t even surprised. “So you could kill me and no one would ever know where I’d been or where to find the body.”

      His dark gaze settled on her face. “That’s right.”

      “Good to know.”

      That bit of bravado took her last ounce of strength. When he left, she collapsed on the bed and let the tears flow. She wanted to scream that this wasn’t fair—that