Already Trapped (A Laura Frost FBI Suspense Thriller—Book 3) Read online

  Whatever they could. It didn’t seem like much, given that Amy was still in the lion’s den.

  Laura opened the shopping bag she’d carried back to her small apartment, reaching in to pull out the items inside. She’d only intended to go out for essentials. A new shirt, necessary after a recent case in which she’d had to tackle a suspect to the ground and managed to rip the fabric of the one she was wearing. Rondelle seemed to be throwing her into every group investigation possible, keeping her busy while there was nothing in particular to work on with her partner, Nate.

  Which was good, because Nate kept trying to ask her questions she couldn’t answer whenever they were alone together. Questions about how she always knew where to be and when. There were things she didn’t want him to know, both for her own safety and the sake of their friendship. A friendship that was quickly dissolving all the same, no matter what she seemed to do.

  And being kept busy going after local suspects in conjunction with other law enforcement agencies was also a bad thing. Because even if it was keeping her occupied, it was in no way keeping her mind off the issues that plagued Laura and kept her from sleeping through the night. Amy, and how badly her father might be hurting her either now. Lacey, Laura’s own daughter, and the custody hearing that was rapidly approaching. Nate.

  The fact that she was still distracted was clear from the other thing that had been in the bag, besides the shampoo and the new shirt and the cleaning spray.

  The soft, plush toy rabbit, which Laura had been utterly unable to resist after seeing it in the store.

  She stroked the silky fur absentmindedly, running her fingers along the toy’s long ears and touching its button nose. She hadn’t even known, when she bought it, which little girl she had in mind. She could give it to her daughter at the custody hearing at the end of the week, if her ex, Marcus, would let her. If things went badly—a possibility she couldn’t quite let herself entertain fully, because it might send her off the deep end—it might be all Lacey had of her mother.

  Marcus had been cooperative lately. Letting Laura see her daughter for a couple of hours at a time. Even letting her take her out, away from his watchful gaze. But would that last, if the judge ruled that Laura had no right to see her at all? Would Marcus pull back and stop her from seeing Lacey entirely?

  The only thing Laura could see happening after that was the bottom of a bottle. A spiral that would be the worst she had ever been down. She’d been so strong lately, keeping up her sobriety even in the face of awful revelations. Nate’s impending death, delivered to her not by a vision but by an ominous shadow that gave frustratingly few details, was one. But Laura had thought of her daughter’s face each time and managed to keep going.

  But was this rabbit for Lacey? She couldn’t even be sure herself. There was also the possibility that she’d bought it with Amy in mind. The last time Laura had seen her, she’d been clutching a toy rabbit just like this one. Laura had driven by Governor Fallow’s house a few times, despite the instructions from Rondelle, and found it heavily guarded. He’d employed a couple of bodyguards to stop anyone from entering the home without his permission. Still, there might be a way. Laura pictured herself driving up to the back of the house, somehow, throwing the rabbit over the fence. Or, better: giving it to Amy when her father was finally arrested, and the little girl was free.

  The smile that played across Laura’s face at that thought was wiped clean by a sudden stab of pain in her head, so strong she could barely stand it. She gasped out loud at the sign of an incoming vision, a pain she couldn’t control, a pain that warned the vision was going to be about something happening very, very soon—

  Laura was floating above the room, looking down. She found herself dropping, like she was suddenly prone to gravity in her visions. With a heart-wrenching jerk she stopped at what might have been her own shoulder level, looking ahead into the room. A room she recognized all too well.

  She’d been here in a vision before. She’d been here in person, too. It was Amy’s bedroom at her father’s house. The room where she should have felt safest in all the world, but she didn’t.

  She was in there now. Cowering on the bed with her hands over her ears. Laura could only just glimpse her face, red and wet with tears. She was shaking. She had pulled all of her toys in front of her, as if to create a barrier between herself and the rest of the room. Laura’s heart broke, watching her. She was so afraid. So young and yet so afraid. Because she knew what could happen—what would happen, when her father came into the room.

  What was she hearing that made her want to cover her ears? Laura tried in frustration to look around, but the vision was out of her control. She could only watch Amy crying, powerless to reach out and comfort her. Even if she could, it wouldn’t matter. This was a vision of the future, not the present. Laura had no physical body here. No ability to interact with or change anything. It was only a window, and she could only look through it.

  She found herself turning, her view shifting until she was behind Amy, as if she could move through the wall itself. Now she was looking at the closed door of the room. She realized she was holding her breath, trying not to make a sound. Straining her ears.

  And then she heard it.

  A heavy footfall—a stomping noise coming up the stairs.

  Below her, Amy whimpered. Laura felt like she was hovering above her as a guardian angel, a protective force. But she knew that wasn’t true. Whatever would happen to Amy right now, there was nothing Laura could do about it. Not until the vision was over and she could spring into action in real life.

  But there was no way to control the vision. No way to know when it would be over. No way to stop herself from seeing what she was about to see. Even if she wanted to, Laura couldn’t close her eyes now.

  The door thundered open, ripping back so quickly it seemed like it would come off its hinges, hitting the wall behind and bouncing back. Framed in the doorway was Amy’s father, Governor Fallow.

  Laura felt a scream building inside of her, wanting to tear out of the throat she did not have here. Fallow was angry, his face contorted and twisted into an evil mask. His hands were fists. His body was heaving up and down with ragged, uncontrolled breaths.

  Most frighteningly of all, he was covered in blood.

  It was splattered and splashed all over him. His face. Great bursts of it on his shirt, once white, the sleeves rolled up messily to the elbows. His fists were awash with it, and Laura saw also that there were tears in his own skin, contributing to the blood. Like he’d punched something hard enough to hurt himself.

  Something that had splattered blood up over his forearms, with so much force that it had sprayed far wider and higher as he punched on.

  “Amy,” the Governor said, his voice raw and cracking, like he’d already shouted and screamed enough to damage his throat. “Amy, come here.”

  She only whimpered and sobbed, her pathetic hiding place belied as much by the noise as by the fact that he could easily see her. Her distress became louder as he walked closer, a deliberate stride that had inexorability written through it.

  “Amy, I’m your father. Come over here right now,” he said. His voice was almost strangely calm, though it snapped through the air like the tongue of a whip. Like cracking thunder. So heavy it was inescapable.

  Laura didn’t have to see the rest to know what would happen next.

  She prayed she wouldn’t have to.

  And when the darkness from the edges of her vision flooded in to cover the rest, to cover the approaching form of the Governor, for once she was grateful that she didn’t have to watch it to the end.

  Laura gasped for breath, unable to hold back the visceral response the vision brought upon her. She dropped the rabbit she was holding on the floor, her hands flying up to cover her mouth and hold back the bile that wanted to come up her throat. Hot tears stung her eyes.

  She’d seen so many people die in her visions, in so many awful ways. She’d seen gunshots, stabbin
gs, strangulations. Innocent people. Even her own father, wasting away in a cancer ward.

  But of all the things she had seen, this was the second worst. And the worst thing had driven her so deep into the bottle, she’d spent years clawing her way back up and fighting not to drown.

  A drink was the first thing on her mind, even now. It was an immediate, gut-deep response. A desperate need to drown out what she had seen and forget. To never have to think about it again.

  But there were two things that stopped Laura from walking right to the nearest store and buying a bottle of the hardest liquor she could find.

  The first was that it wouldn’t work. She knew enough now to know that, no matter how far under she buried herself, eventually she would have to come back up. The memories, the nightmares, would still be there waiting for her when she surfaced. And this time, she might not just lose her relationship and her daughter and her home. She could lose the things she had left—her job, Nate, the hope of ever getting Lacey back.

  The second was that the pounding headache in her temples told her something she couldn’t ignore. The pain of the vision was directly linked to how soon it would occur. Something this bad—almost on the level of a migraine—meant that what she had seen was imminent.

  She didn’t have any time to waste.

  Laura grabbed a bottle of painkillers from the counter and downed two of them without stopping to get a drink of water, snatching her car keys from beside them. She needed her head to be as clear as possible, but there was no way to get rid of the pain entirely. She had to shoulder it, to move, to go. She had to get there before it happened. She had to stop it.

  Laura rushed out of her apartment without even picking up a jacket, the cold of the fall day hitting her as soon as she stepped outside. It didn’t matter. She half-ran to her car, fumbling with the keys, her phone. By the time she slid into the driver’s seat, she had the call ready to dial. She stuck it on the dashboard and let it ring as she started the engine.

  “Come on,” she muttered. He couldn’t ignore her now. Not today. Not today of all days.

  If what she had seen was true, Amy was about to die. Someone else, too, given the amount of blood on the Governor’s shirt. And if she was wrong, this was going to cost her her career. She’d been told time and again not to go near him. And not just her career; if she was caught going up there and nothing happened, she would probably end up doing jail time.

  It didn’t matter. None of it mattered. Only saving Amy’s life.

  “Come on!” Laura said again, half-shouting it as she pulled out into the street, willing the dial tone to turn into something more concrete.

  “Laura?”

  Her breath caught in her throat at the sound of Nate’s voice. “Nate, I need you,” she said, her voice coming out strained and rushed, brimming with tension and urgency.

  “What’s going on?”

  For a brief moment, Laura’s heart clenched in her chest with gratitude. Even though things between her and Nate had not been amazing lately, he was there for her. When she said she needed him, he stepped up. She knew she could count on him.

  That was part of the reason why she couldn’t bear to even contemplate the possibility of losing him.

  “I need you to meet me at Governor Fallow’s place,” she said, checking her mirrors desperately and making a dangerous turn in front of oncoming traffic, not willing to wait for it to pass by. A horn honked loudly at her as she sped away.

  “What?” Nate’s voice was instantly on edge. “Laura, you can’t go there. You’ve been told—”

  “Please, Nate!” Laura said, putting everything into it. “I don’t have time to explain. I just need you to be there, now!”

  “This is serious,” Nate said. “Division Chief Rondelle—”

  Whatever he could say to her, it wouldn’t matter. Laura knew the situation. She knew what she was risking. She knew, too, what she was asking him to risk.

  But it wasn’t so much of a risk when you knew what you were walking into. Laura and Nate would be vindicated when it emerged they’d prevented serious violence. Nate didn’t know that. Couldn’t know that. And she didn’t have time to go through all of this.

  “This is serious!” Laura half-screamed at him, feeling her throat strain. “Nate, I need you to trust me. Please. If you’ve ever trusted me in your life, trust me now—I need you at the Governor’s house!”

  There was a short pause. Laura was too busy changing lanes, passing on the wrong side, dodging around the cars of the city as much as she could to feel that pause too much. But she registered it. For a moment, she thought he’d gone, that he’d just hung up and refused to help her.

  “You’re asking me to risk everything,” he said. “And you won’t even tell me why.”

  “Nate, please…!” Laura said. It was all she had. The minutes were ticking by so fast, she could swear that time had conspired against her to speed up. They were losing time. Losing the chance to save Amy. Laura hadn’t seen a clock in her vision, had no idea of the exact time when it would be too late. But she knew that every minute took her a step closer, and she couldn’t bear it.

  “I’m already on my way,” Nate said, making Laura wanted to cry with relief. “But, Laura, I can just as easily turn around and go back home. I’ll meet you there, but you have to come clean.”

  “I’ll tell you when we arrive,” Laura agreed easily. Anything. Anything, so long as he helped her save Amy’s life.

  “About everything,” Nate pressed. His voice faded out a second, as though he was turning away from the phone, looking around. He must have been in his car already. “I mean it, Laura. Everything you know and how you know it before anyone else does. You have to promise me you’ll tell me.”

  “I promise,” Laura said, gasping the words out, because it was all she could do. She couldn’t say no. She needed backup. She needed him.

  It didn’t matter what she needed to say.

  “I’ll be there in five,” Nate said, and ended the call.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Laura’s car screeched to a stop half on the sidewalk outside the Governor’s mansion, her head whipping around in search of Nate. She saw him, his own car, coming in from the other direction and parking in front of her as she jerked her seatbelt away and sprang out. He lived closer. She’d hoped he might be here before her, but—

  “What’s going on?” Nate asked, approaching her at a light jog. His tall and muscular frame was already encased in his standard black suit, as though he’d been on his way to work when she called him. Laura half-ignored him. There was a constant whine in the back of her head, a noise that was getting louder by the moment, telling her what she needed to do. A scream. Amy was in danger. Amy couldn’t wait.

  “We have to go inside,” Laura said, pushing right by him and walking toward the gate. It was set a little back from the road, blocked, but for now unguarded. She drew her gun out of the holster, feeling the familiar weight of it in her hands.

  “Whoa! Laura!” Nate barked, rushing to keep up with her. “Slow down! What the hell is going on?”

  “In there,” she said, keeping single-minded focus on the gate. She pushed it open. It was unlocked. Whenever she’d been here, it was always unlocked. She guessed that with guards in place now, Fallow didn’t feel the need to keep the gate shut—but where were they?

  Every time she’d been past here before, there was one stationed outside, if not two. Where had they gone? Were they—

  “Laura, stop!” Nate said, moving around in front of her and blocking her way. His arms were spread out to either side, like he was trying to catch her, and his face was flooded with panic. “What’s happening? Why do you need your gun?”

  “He’s dangerous,” Laura hissed, moving to go around him. They were only a short walk from the front door of the mansion. There was no one there, either. She couldn’t stop to explain everything now, not yet. She’d promised him, but there was too much to unpack. And Amy needed them. She needed
them now.

  “I’m not disputing that, but a gun?” Nate said. “We don’t know if he’s armed. We can’t just barge in here. He’s the Governor. What’s going on? Do you have a tip?”

  “I heard something,” Laura said, her attention snapping to the house. “A scream. Just now. Didn’t you?”

  “What? No,” Nate said, turning his head to the side all the same, trying to catch any noise from the building.

  Laura hadn’t heard anything. Not just now. But it didn’t matter. If they waited outside here for too long, there would be a scream. The scream of a little girl being hurt in ways that she couldn’t come back from. Laura wasn’t going to wait for that.

  “I heard it,” Laura said grimly. “And the bodyguards are gone. Something’s happening, Nate.”

  Nate hesitated, his arms dropping by his side. It was all Laura needed. She pushed past him, rushing forward. She kept her gun low but in front of her, clasped in both hands, ready to pull it up and aim if she needed to. She heard Nate swear under his breath, then follow her, making it back to her side just as she reached the door.

  “Dammit, Laura,” he said, under his breath. “You better be right.” He reached out before she had a chance to, yanking the door open.

  They both held their breath. Laura couldn’t hear anything from inside. There was no sign of anyone. No housekeeper. No guards. No maids. When she’d been here in the past, she hadn’t been able to get far without running into someone. Now it was so deadly quiet, it made her hair stand on end.

  She moved forward swiftly and silently. She didn’t call out a warning. She knew she was breaking protocol, but it didn’t even enter her mind. She didn’t want Governor Fallow to have a chance to run, or to stop whatever he was doing so he could look innocent. She wanted to find him, about to commit the act. When Nate saw it too, there would be no way for the Governor to deny it.