I woke up cold and shivering. My head ached and my stomach was rolling, and I had snot and drool pouring off my chin. Stun gun. I always forget about the friggin' stun gun.

I turned my head to the side and looked around. I was flat on my back on top of a large metal table. The table was in the middle of a large metal room. I tried to move my arms and legs, but they were tied down. My dress and shoes had been discarded, leaving me in only my panties and bra. Thank God I still had those.

I blinked a few times and looked around the room. A couple low-watt overhead lights were switched on. It was familiar, but I couldn't place it. I closed my eyes and told myself to think. And then it hit me. I was in the freezer at B & S.

I struggled against the restraints, but it didn't do any good. The ropes were too tight. I didn't know how long I'd been there. A couple hours. Maybe more. I was confused and hungry. And I was scared.

My heart was racing, and I felt my throat close up. Don't panic, I told myself. Tank was watching. Probably he knows something's up. And he'll call Ranger.

Except Ranger was on his way to Miami.

The door screeched open and Forbes walked in. He was still in his tuxedo. He cocked his head to the side and looked down at me. Then he pulled a handkerchief from his back pocket and blotted my chin. I turned my head away from him, and he grabbed me by my hair and held me still.

"There," he said, blotting the last of the snot and drool from my face. "That's better." He folded the handkerchief and laid it on one of the shelves on the far wall. Then he turned and walked through the door, and came back with the turntable from his office. He wheeled it over to a small corner and plugged it in, and the room filled with creepy music. "I hope you don't mind," he said. "The music helps me think."

"W-what are you doing?" I asked him.

Forbes let out a sigh. "I've been asking myself that same question for thirty years. Do you know what it's like to be stuck doing something you hate?"

"Yeah," I said, "I m-might know something about that."

Forbes shook his head and tightened the ropes on my wrists. "This place is a money pit. I can't sell it. I can't close it. It's a family business. I didn't even want it, but I got stuck with it. And when Jimmy decided to pull out . . . well, I couldn't let him do that. We were partners."

"So you killed him."

"Something like that."

"And Warner found out," I said, trying to piece everything together. It was starting to make sense. "That's why he was blackmailing you."

"I wouldn't call it blackmail." Forbes crinkled his nose like he was giving it some thought. "More like, we formed a new partnership. He's a good kid, but he's got one hell of a temper. Has authority issues. Doesn't like to be told what to do. If he'd taken care of you like I asked him to..." He trailed off and shook his head. "I guess I'll just have to take care of this myself. But don't worry, you won't feel a thing."

He pulled out the stun gun and pressed it to my shoulder, and then . . . ZAP!

I opened my eyes and tried to focus. The room was darker. A couple of the lights had either burned out or had been switched off. It was colder than before; I could see my breath fog every time I breathed. I was so cold I was numb, and yet my body ached all over. My mouth was sour and pasty, and tasted like copper. Blood. It took me a while to remember what was going on. And then I heard the music, and it all came back to me.

I looked around for Forbes and saw him standing by the door. He was still in the tuxedo, but he'd lost the tie. His shirt was untucked and splattered with blood. My blood. He was wearing a pair of black gloves. I looked from one hand to the other, and saw a piece of thin wire tied around a wooden handle like a whip.

He looked at me and our eyes locked, and a rush of fresh terror ran through my body.

"Just like a cow," he said, and I thought he sounded a little disappointed. "We stun them, and they're not supposed to wake up. But they do. They always wake up. You'll see them on the line, and they'll be looking at you, and you'll know they're not stunned. Nowhere near it. But you just go on. Can't stop the line just because one of them didn't get enough juice. You'll see them, and they got their hooves cut off, and their tails cut off, and they'll be shaking and their tongues will be sticking out. And you just go on, because you figure they'll die eventually."

So that's how it was going to happen. He was going to torture me until I died, and there wasn't a damn thing I could do to stop it. My heart sank. This wasn't the first time I'd thought I was going to die. But it was the first time I'd been sure of it. I closed my eyes and thought about TastyKakes. I would miss TastyKakes. And my parents. I would miss them, too. And what about the Sea Monkey? I'd never wanted kids. Sure, there were times when I got those maternal urges, but for the most part, I'd managed to push those aside. But now I was thinking maybe Morelli had been right. Maybe having a kid wouldn't be so horrible. Too bad I'd never have the chance to find out.

I turned my head to the side and threw up. Forbes dropped a bucket by the edge of the table to catch the run off while I coughed and choked and tried to take in a few deep breaths.

"I've had enough," he said. And so had I. I was tired and confused, and if this was how it was going to play out, then so be it. I just wanted it over with. Forbes walked across the room and dropped the whip on the floor by the door. Then he picked up a sledgehammer and looked in my direction.

I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to go to my happy place. I could hear his footsteps on the floor as he walked over. Then he stopped. I heard him heave the sledgehammer up and braced myself for the impact. The door screeched open, followed by a series of loud pops. Gunshots. The sledgehammer landed with a clang on the floor, and something slumped over me on the table. I forced my eyes open and saw that it was Forbes. He slid off the table and landed with a thwack on the floor. My vision was blurry, but I could see Ranger standing beside the table, dressed in his SWAT clothes. He holstered his Glock at his side and stripped out of his windbreaker, and draped it over me. Then he called out to the other guys in the room, and they all shuffled around, working at the ropes.

"Can you move?" Ranger asked me. His tone was steady and even, but the lines around his eyes gave him away. I blinked my eyes a couple times and he nodded to Tank and Cal. Then he hoisted me up and carried me into the front office, and laid me on the row of chairs by the door. Tank and Cal both stripped off their jackets and passed them to Ranger, and he covered me with them. Then he turned and said something to Tank.

My vision was getting dotty again. Sirens were whirring nearby. They were getting closer. Police, and probably an ambulance. Ranger was crouched beside me. He was saying something, but I couldn't make out the words. I tried to concentrate, but it was no use. Everything ached, and I was just so tired. My eyelids fluttered a couple times, and then I was out like a light.

I was feeling warm and comfy, and very relaxed. The room was dark when I opened my eyes, but I could hear the buzz of machines and the shuffle of people in the hallway, and I knew I was in the hospital. And more importantly, that I wasn't dead. I looked down and wiggled my toes under the covers. Still had feet. I tried to do the same with my fingers and noticed a large cast on my left arm. My fingers were red and swollen, sticking out from the plaster. Ranger was sitting upright in a chair by the bed. His arms were folded across his chest, and his head was leaned back against the wall. He was sleeping.

"Hey," I croaked. Ranger didn't move. I reached out and touched his arm, and his eyes shot open. He looked in my direction and a tiny smile played at the corners of his mouth.

"Welcome back," Ranger said. He leaned forward and tucked a curl behind my ear. "Are you thirsty?"

I nodded. Ranger filled a plastic cup with water from the pitcher on the side table, and held the straw to my lips. I drank half of it, and motioned the rest away.

"Thanks," I said to Ranger. "What time is it?"

"Late. Or early, depending on how you look at it. You've been in and out of it for a few hours. How do you feel?"

"I don't know yet."

Ranger nodded. "Do you remember anything?"

I sank back into the pillow and thought for a moment. "Not a lot. I was getting ready for the wedding, and then Forbes came in. He stunned me a few times, so I was out for most of it. I don't remember this," I said, gesturing to the cast on my arm.

"Fractured wrist," Ranger said. "It'll take some time to heal, but it was a pretty clean break. You'll be sore for a few days. There's some bruising, and a couple lacerations needed to be sutured. They want to keep you a few days for observation, but there's no sign of any permanent damage."

"He was going to kill me," I said. "There was no doubt in my mind. And I couldn't do anything about it." I paused for a beat, and then asked, "How did you know?"

Ranger eyed me for a moment. "I didn't," he said. "Tank called my cell when he realized you were missing. Your mother found your dress hanging in one of the dressing rooms. Everyone just assumed you'd climbed out the window."

I grimaced.

"Cal was watching Warner," Ranger continued, "so we knew he wasn't involved. At least, not directly. Sally gave Tank a copy of the guest list, and he cross-referenced it with the information we had on the missing women. Forbes was the only common denominator. He must have carted you out in one of the speaker cases. We searched through four different locations before we came back to the slaughterhouse."

I looked at Ranger, not quite sure what to say. Thank you, came to mind, but it seemed inadequate. Ranger gave a tight smile and slipped his hand under mine, and gave it a slight squeeze.

"What about Warner?" I asked him.

"Warner's in police custody," Ranger said. "They have his confession on record. You have Morelli to thank for that."

"He can be pretty persuasive."

"So I hear."

We both went quiet. There was something I wanted to ask, but I wasn't sure how. I looked around the room for a moment, and then asked in a low voice, "Is there anything else I should know?"

"Nothing comes to mind."

"So I'm still . . . you know."

Ranger's cop face was back on. He nodded once, and I let out a sigh of relief. Wow. I hadn't expected that. I was so used to the fear and uncertainty that relief never crossed my mind. Go figure.

I looked over at Ranger and managed a half-smile. "So I guess we need to have that talk," I said to him.

Ranger sucked in some air and let it out slowly. Then he met my half-smile with one of his own. "Babe."