“Exactly.”
I began to glance around wildly. “We need to find him.”
“We will,” Clark said confidently. “Jackie already called in backup.”
I raised a brow. “How long will that take? And how the hell is it going to help when we don’t even know where to look?”
Before Clark could answer, the thrum of an engine caught my ear and Myke’s Ford came into view, the afternoon sun making the silver paint sparkle and shine.
“Hey guys,” Myke greeted, wincing dramatically when he looked over the edge of the road to where the car was wedged in the trees. “Ouch! Everyone okay?”
Before I could respond, Clark gave a slight shake of his head and jumped in. “Oh, yeah. Luckily, it was a controlled crash,” he said with a light chuckle. “Sheriff’s office wants it out of thereor they’ll tow it, though.”
“I gotcha,” Myke said easily, rummaging around under the rear seat in his truck and coming out with a bright orange webbed tow rope. “Won’t take a minute.”
He was as good as his word and after backing his truck down the hill, he hooked onto Shelly’s car and easily pulled it back to the road. “You want to make sure it’ll run before I leave? Or do you want me to just tow it?”
“Ah, yeah,” I said quickly, fumbling for the spare key that was on my ring. Except I didn’t need to because Shelly’s keys were swinging from the ignition, making the ball of dread in my stomach tighten further.
The car turned over easily and I breathed a sigh of relief, knowing it was less likely that my Omega had been injured in the accident if the engine wasn’t damaged. “Thanks, man. I owe you.”
“What are friends for?” Mike brushed me off easily. “Tell Mitch I’m sorry about missing out on the goats this morning, yeah?”
“Wait, what?” I climbed back out of the small car while he unhooked the tow strap. “You talked to Shelly this morning?”
Myke narrowed his eyes at me. “Well, yeah. We met at his office to do the paperwork on the goats I wanted to adopt but someone was already there when I showed up. He didn’t tell you?”
I shook my head. “Did you see who he was with?”
“Naw. Just saw the car. He laughed and told me that he’d thought it was mine until he found out I had a truck.”
“Yeah, okay. I’ll tell him.” I waited until Myke pulled away to catch Clark and Otto up. “We need to go check the surveillance footage at All Things Wild,” I said, already folding myself back into Shelly’s tiny car.
“Why?” Clark hesitated. “We don’t know if these goat people are involved.”
“No, but I’m positive the car is,” I told him. “The reason he thought that car was Myke’s was because he thought Myke had a crush on him and he kept seeing it around.” Otto and Clark were both staring at me. “He thought Myke was following him,” I clarified with a sigh, “because he associated the carwithMyke. He’s been seeing the car everywhere for weeks.” Something niggled to the forefront of my mind. “Hell, he even said it followed him home from work one night.”
Otto’s brows shot up. “Did he report the stalker?”
I huffed, annoyed at the delay. “No, because he didn’t realize it was a stalker at the time,” I said more slowly. “He thought it was just Myke. Now do you understand?”
“I think so,” Clark said finally, walking back to his Charger. “Let’s drop Mitch’s car at your place and then we can go check the cameras.”
Chapter Thirty-One
Mitchel
One big problem with being tossed blindfolded into an abyss is that it is very difficult to track the passage of time. I tried to gauge how many hours had gone by through the smells that accompanied different meals or the longer blocks of unbroken silence when I assumed my captors were at work or sleeping, but it really resulted in little more than wild guessing.
After that first visit, my two jailors returned regularly with more water and small scraps of food. I’d kind of guesstimated it to about every six hours, but definitely wasn’t sure. After their first visit, I’d gotten the hang of exploring my prison when I thought I was alone, even picking a corner furthest from the door to pee in when they simply laughed at my request for toilet facilities. Wiggling my pants around to get my dick out and then putting it back was a challenge but I had lots of free time to master new skills while I sat in the dark and waited.
After four visits, the headphones were removed so I could hear their instructions as they posed me for pictures, balancing what they said was a newspaper against my stomach. When I asked what they were doing, they claimed it was a simple kidnapping and that I’d be released as soon as the ransom was paid, but the story sounded a little too rehearsed. Especially with how long I’d been sitting in the cellar between the time they grabbed me and when they supposedly started trying to collect a ransom.
Besides, my father was in prison and my mother hated me for putting him there, so who the hell did they think would pay to get me back? Still, I kept my mouth shut and strained my ears for anything I could hear that might give me more information while they worked.
It didn’t help, so the next time they appeared with water, I tried a different tactic.
“If you want a ransom for me, shouldn’t you be taking better care of me?” I tried to sound sullen and spoiled. “You’ve barely fed me and I’m pissing all over myself since you won’t let me go to the bathroom.”
