She glanced out the window, did a little celebratory butt shake when she saw a car in the lot, but stopped and frowned when she saw it was a big SUV.
None of the women who worked at the bakery had a big car like that. She’d never seen a car like that…anywhere in Hope Town.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” she muttered to herself. Just because she’d lived here a few weeks didn’t mean she knew every car,even if it was a small town without a lot of residents. She didn’t care about cars. Why would she know if there were cars around like that?
Then why did it stick out? Why did it feel—
She heard something. A faint crash? Her heartbeat kicked up as she strained to hear, but she only heard the thump, thump, thump of her own pulse.
She moved closer to the window, looked down at the car. Knowing she was being ridiculous, she picked up the pen and notepad she kept on her nightstand and jotted down the license number she saw, and some details about the car.
Paranoid, paranoid, paranoid.
Before she could set down the notepad, she saw a figure. No,twoshadowy figures come out the back door of the bakery. Muffled sounds. Sounds of distress?
It was too dark to see, but it would be easier as they moved toward the streetlight that dimly illuminated the SUV.
“This is an absolute overreaction,” she told herself, out loud, but she moved closer to the window, squinting through the dark. Two figures, one much larger than the other. They were moving in kind of fits and starts.
She couldn’t make out the smaller figure. It was like they had a hat or a hood completely over their head, but Franny got the impression it was a woman.
“Oh God.” The smaller figure was definitely fighting back while the larger figure—a man—pulled her along.
Franny dropped the pad and pen and made a grab for her cell phone sitting on the nightstand. She cursed when she fumbled it, and it fell to the ground. She picked it back up and ran, dialing 911 as she did so.
She didn’t own a gun. She didn’t have a weapon, but Rosalie had left her a baseball bat by the door and Franny grabbed the bat and ran. Her exit was just the stairs to the alley, so she’dhave to run down the stairs then around to the back of the building.
“911. What’s your emergency?” a competent-sounding voice answered.
Franny rattled off her address as she flicked off the security system and jerked her door open. “Send the police please. Someone’s being…kidnapped, I guess? Forced out of the building and she’s fighting back.”
“Who? Can you give me a name?”
“No, I don’t know who. It’s too dark, but she’s fighting him.” Franny made it to the bottom of the stairs. “They’re in the parking lot behind the bakery, the address I gave you.”
“And where are you?”
“I saw it through my apartment window. I ran downstairs—”
“Ma’am, I’m going to need you to remain inside. I’m dispatching a deputy to the address. You need to stay inside—do you understand?”
But Hope Town was so isolated. How long would it take for a deputy to get here? The woman was being dragged to the car now.
Franny looked down at her bat, the woman in her ear just a buzzing now. She clicked End on the call. She didn’t want to do anything stupid, but how could she just let someone be taken against their will?
Resolutely, Franny crept forward, trying to keep her breathing even. She wouldn’t run forward. She would be smart about this. She would help if she could. She’d called for help, and now she would help if she could.
At the corner of the building she could hear the scuffle. A grunt, a hushed word. But it was just…male sounding. Like the woman wasn’t making any sound now.
Heart in her throat, Franny leaned forward so she could see around the corner. She saw the SUV, and a big, hulking figureall but toss the smaller figure in the back seat. It didn’t seem like the woman moved.
Oh, no.
The man was in the driver’s seat now. His hat had fallen off in the struggle and Franny could see him clearly in the dome light of the car. White, bald, but a short brown beard. A mark on his neck—not a tattoo, maybe a birthmark or injury? She couldn’t tell from her vantage point.
She could hear sirens now, blue and red lights flashing somewhere in the distance. She looked toward the sound, willing it to hurry.
When she looked back at the SUV, it was rolling away, but the driver had looked toward the lights too.
