Justin’s eyes widened, his hands lifting to squeeze the brim of his hat as he took a step back. Holy shit, she was pregnant. He knew it was a possibility, of course, but it was a shock nonetheless. He couldn’t decide if he wanted to cry or punch the wall. Whatever deranged psychopath took her had not one but two pieces of his soul now, and the rage he felt was aboutto explode. He tried to steady his breathing and took in a deep, chestful of air through his nostrils.
Chris spoke directly. “Did you know about this?”
Justin let out every bit of air he’d just sucked in.
“No, sir, I did not. But she couldn’t have known long. It’s been just shy of a month since the first time.”
“Well, whoever has her has your future, too. Do you know the passcode to unlock her phone?”
Justin punched in the four digit code and opened her call log and text messages. Damn, did this woman ever delete anything? There were hundreds of texts, nothing significant as far as calls, but as he scrolled, he saw a name—one that only stoked the fire already burning inside of him. Justin flipped the phone to show Chris.
“It’s him. I know it is. That son of a bitch is here, and he’s got her.” Justin turned to speak to Lenny. “We need the security footage of the parking lot.”
How could he have been so careless? How could they have lowered their defenses? They had men watching Blythe’s every move and the ranch for an entire month and nothing suspicious had come up the entire time.
“Damnit!” Justin kicked the trashcan near his foot.
Chris put his hand on Justin’s shoulder. “We don’t know if it’s him, but we’re going to find whoever it is.” Chris put his phone to his ear. “I’m making some calls.”
Lenny pulled up the cameras and started scrolling through the footage from the afternoon. Chris hung up with whoever he was talking to and turned to Justin. “I’ve got some of my contacts in route.”
The two men hunched over Lenny’s chair, eyes narrowing at the screen.
“Stop!” Justin demanded. “Zoom in, then keep going.”
He watched as Blythe got out of her car and started walking toward the doors of the building. A black passenger van pulled up behind her. It was moving slow, and she seemed completely oblivious to it, probably assuming it was just another car coming into the lot. The vehicle stopped, and two men stepped out on either side. One man darted toward her, covering her mouth with his hand. She seemed to slump, and her purse dropped. Both men picked her up and tossed her into the back of the van before casually driving out onto main street. The vehicle turned left. That drag of highway went straight out of town, either to Silo Springs, the private airport, or themiddle of nowhereMontana.
Chris was back on his phone.
“Dave, we know where they are. I’ll drop you a pin. Hurry.” He slid the phone into his pocket and pointed at Lenny. “Don’t call the police. Don’t say a word about this to anyone. I’ll make all the appropriate calls once we’ve secured her. We don’t need local PD racing in and screwing anything up.”
Lenny nodded that he understood. The people in town respected Chris Cole, and they knew his background.
Both men raced back out of the building to where their trucks were parked. Chris nodded to Justin.
“We need to roll in slow. We don’t want to spook anyone. We have to pray they’ve still got her there and not up in the air somewhere. Do you have your piece?”
Justin gave a nod that he did. He always had his weapon ready. Something Chris had taught him as a teenager. Always keep a gun on your person, in your truck, near your nightstand, and somewhere in your kitchen.
Justin prayed out loud as his tires left a trail of smoke, “God, don’t let me be too late.”
The metal on the inside of the hangar wall was biting into her shoulder, but she was not going to sit in his boujee ass car or, heaven forbid, his airplane. She was scoping out exit points. There was only one. She would’ve palmed her forehead if she wasn’t trying to be discreet.
The look on her face couldn’t be hidden though. She was never really good at that part. If she didn’t like you, or she was angry, you knew it.
She watched as Max finished telling one of his toady henchmen something and sent them outside. He began stalking toward her but stopped about three feet from the disgusted look on her face.
“Sweetheart, you’re so much prettier when you smile. How about you wipe that look off your face before I do it for you, ok?” His tone was condescending and cruel.
She loathed him unlike any human she had ever known. She glared at him and her face twisted further. His hand lunged forward, clamping onto her neck. This was no gentle squeeze.He was strangling her. She clawed at his wrist and smacked his forearm, his face lowering to meet hers.
“Did you not hear me, sweetheart? I thought by now you’d understand that I amnota man who allows his woman to disrespect his authority.”
Blythe gasped, sucking in lungfuls of air when his hand suddenly loosened and dropped to his side. She reached up, rubbing her neck where bruises would undoubtedly show in the coming days.
“I am not your woman, Max.” She was still gasping for more air.
His body turned, head tilting to one side, an annoyed and sarcastic look displayed on his own face. “Oh, really? You’re not mine? Seems like you’re here, in my possession, about to fly home to Chicago with me. Sounds exactly like you’re mine, Blythe.”
