This had trouble written all over it and, of course, we’d find a bakery girl in the middle of the situation.
“What would you like us to do, sir?” Colt asked.
Sloan pushed his chair back from the computer and waited for my answer.
“I’m going after her,” I said. I didn’t need to think about it. There was no other answer. If Cassandra was in trouble, I’d rescue her. Plain and simple.
“I’ll go with you,” volunteered Sloan, taking a step away from the computer.
I shook my head to stop him. Whatever trouble Cassandra and Vonnie had gotten themselves into wasn’t as big as Ridge and the rest of the team tracking down the Grand Master and his rogue henchmen. In fact, I hoped it was merely a misunderstanding. The odds were slim, but I wanted to maintain a positive outlook.
“No, we need every man here helping Ridge. I’ll head out alone and report back once I have a feel on the situation. I’ll give the local police a heads up on my way there and see if they have anyone they can send for backup.”
“Are you sure?” Sloan asked as he followed me out of the room.
I nodded. “Yes, stay here and get those images figured out for Ridge. I want to know who was walking on that ship and how he fits into this entire operation.”
I had a woman to save, but they had a kidnapper to capture.
24
CASSANDRA
The sticky tape pulled on the little hairs of my arm like I was getting the worst pluck job of my life. They did a thorough job of duct taping Vonnie and me to the folding chairs in the creepy house’s basement, but did no one stop to think about what we’d do if I had to visit the bathroom? Did they not plan to let me go pee?
The more I considered it, the more I needed to use the bathroom. I had to stop imagining running water and lakes, but once the thought hit my head, I couldn’t get it out. We’d been in the basement at least an hour if not longer.
More than likely there wasn’t a bathroom where he’d forced us in, anyway. From what I saw from our vantage point directly in the middle of the sizeable space, it was basically concrete walls. A few of them had this black ooze running off the side, which it slowly made its way across the concrete. Like maple syrup black mold. It had to be great for a person’s lungs.
The sound of ripping tape busted through my thoughts as our captor finished double securing Vonnie into her chair. She complained he’d only used one wrap of tape the first time and he promised to do a better job.
Vonnie Vines was freaking crazy.
From the pissed-off expression she wore, having to go to the bathroom was not the first thing on her mind. “Her boyfriend is going to be fucking furious when he catches you.”
“Vonnie!” I yelled, and both of them jerked back to attention before turning their glances at me.
She shouldn’t call Riley my boyfriend or threaten the man in the process of kidnapping us.
“He’s not my boyfriend. I mean, we haven’t discussed it or anything. I’m not opposed to a boyfriend slash girlfriend classification, but I don’t want to rush him. You don’t force men into a relationship. I can’t make him commit,” I said, trying to explain the situation.
Vonnie pursed her lips together as I spoke. “I totally get it. I understand my boyfriend is off doing military crap, but I want him to call me because he wants to call me, not because I tell him to. He has an important job, but I shouldn’t be an afterthought.”
I didn’t realize Vonnie had a boyfriend. She hadn’t really spoken about him. She twisted her chair just right, and it scraped against the concrete floor. It drew my gaze downward and to one corner of the basement, sitting beside a gray plastic tote—one of the few items in the room—was a pile of… tiny black things. I gathered a small breath and calmed my stomach by promising myself it wasn’t mouse poop.
Because it was too big.
More than likely, it was probably rat poop.
They were going to leave us tied to these chairs among the animals to eat us overnight. Did coroners have a code for being eaten by a rodent? How would they report that to my insurance agency? I bet there was a code. 514 Chewed by Rat. This was America. We classified everything.
I’d probably end up on a television show highlighting the worst ways to die. Ugh.
It was more productive to focus on happier things. “Are you dating one of Ridge’s guys?” I asked.
I couldn’t see one of the bulky security dudes letting Vonnie run all over town the way she did if she was dating one of them. They’d have a body camera on her at all times.
She smiled and tilted her head to the side, lost in thoughts of this boyfriend. “No. He’s a few years older than me and in the Navy right now.”
