“Hedid. We have the kidnapping on video.”
There was a heavy pause.
Cody ground his back teeth. “He could kill her, Mrs. Rain. Yourdaughter. I know you two haven’t had the best relationship, but surely you don’t want her to die. Just one piece of information could help. Anything.”
The silence stretched so long that Cody was on the verge of giving up, when Harper’s mother finally spoke. “When Rodney heard she was in Misty Peak, he mentioned something about a friend he’d met in prison who has a place out your way. I assume that’s where he’s been staying. If hedidtake her, maybe she’s there.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
Cody cursed. “What about a name for the homeowner?”
“Timmy? Or Tony? I don’t know. It was something like that.”
If it was all she had…
“Let’s hope that’s enough.” He hung up and turned. “We need to find someone Rodney befriended in prison by the name of Timmy or Tony or something similar, who owns property near here.”
Eastern started tapping keys on his laptop, while Liam put his cell to his ear, no doubt calling his team at Blue Halo Security.
Too many seconds ticked by as he waited, and every one of them bled slowly into the next.
Kayden clamped a hand on his shoulder. “We’ll find her, brother.”
Cody could only nod, because in the moment, words felt too fucking hard.
Ten minutes later, Liam hung up and turned. “Rodney shared a cell with a man by the name of Timmy Cellar, who owns an old farmhouse a few miles out of Misty Peak. I have the address.”
Cody’s heart thudded against his ribs. That was it. It had to be. “Let’s go.”
CHAPTER 28
Harper breathed through the ache in her ribs and head. She wasn’t sure how much time had passed—it could have been minutes, or it could have been hours. Everything felt skewed and blurry.
Her fingers ached from digging the nail out of the floorboard, but she’d done it. The nail sat in her hold, and she wasn’t letting go.
The thought of using it as a weapon made her feel sick to her stomach, but her father hadn’t been lying about keeping her captive for years. If there was one thing she knew about him, it was that he didn’t dish out empty threats. If he said he was going to do something, he did it. And she couldn’t just sit and wait, hoping someone saved her.
She curled into a ball, trying to warm herself. Christ, the basement was cold. The chill had seeped beneath her skin, almost distracting her from the aches of her injuries.
He couldn’t have given her a sheet? A thin blanket or a pillow? He expected her to sleep on this old, ratty mattress with nothing else.
He was an animal. And when he was locked up again, whichhe would be, she hoped they threw away the key.
Closing her eyes, she pictured Cody. The heat of his chest against her cheek. The strength of his arms around her.
She would return to him. She had to. She’d never told him she loved him. Sure, she’d said she wasfallingin love, but that wasn’t the same. She needed to tell him that her heart belonged to him. That he’d changed everything. Given her hope for the future. Allowed her to trust in the good of people for the first time in her life.
A shudder rocked her spine, and she curled tighter into herself.
Was it nighttime? She was tired but she wasn’t sure if that was because of the stress of the kidnapping or because it was late. She didn’t want to fall asleep here because that made her vulnerable, but if her father didn’t return, she’d have no choice.
When footsteps thumped against the floorboards above, she held her breath. Was her father coming down? Steps had sounded a few times since she’d woken up, but her dad had yet to return.
Then the click of the lock unlatching rang through the room, and Harper’s body tensed. She remained on her side, eyes half-closed as she saw the bottom half of him from the top of the stairs. She watched as he slid the key into his right pants pocket.
Her heart started to beat faster in her chest, nerves trickling down her spine. One chance. That’s all she’d have. And if she failed…God, she didn’t know what he’d do. Hurt her again? Tie her up? Worse?
