Alex’s mind raced to stay in control. Fear for Eden threatened to eat him alive, but he pushed it away and forced himself to think like a detective, rather than a man terrified of losing the woman he loved.
“We need access to the security cameras,” he told Garrett.
“On it.”
His partner spun on his heels and disappeared down the hall while Rhys knelt by Zoe’s head. Alex continued putting pressure on Zoe’s wounds as her partner ran a hand over the top of her head.
“I’m here, Zo,” Rhys whispered next to her ear. “Help’s on the way, but you gotta keep fighting, okay? I’m here, but you have to keep fighting.” He kissed her pale forehead then looked at Alex, twin tears falling down his cheeks. “Where the fuck is EMS?”
The words had no more left his mouth when they heard someone holler out, “Let us through, please.” In the next moment, two paramedics and an officer filled the doorway, a wheeled cot sitting behind them.
To the officer, Alex flashed his badge. “Lock this place down. No one in or out until we’ve interviewed everyone here.”
The young patrolman got on his radio to spread the word while Dan gave the medics a quick run-down of Zoe’s condition. Within minutes they had an IV inserted and were transporting her to the gurney.
“Alex…” Rhys looked at him expectantly.
“Go. We’ll keep you posted.”
With a nod of thanks, the other man took his place by Zoe’s side, helping the medics roll her through the club and out to the ambulance.
To Dan, Alex said, “Someone had to have seen something.”
“The woman you’re looking for…you said she was wearing a red sweater and black jeans, right?”
All eyes turned to a young man pushing his way through the growing mob.
Alex nodded. “You saw her?”
“I saw some guy carrying an unconscious woman matching that description out through the back.” The guy tipped his chin toward the emergency exit at the other end of the hall.
Alex’s heart rate sped up. “When?”
The kid thought a moment. “About five, ten minutes ago, maybe? I almost ran into them when I came out of the restroom.”
Fuck.Too much time had passed. If it was Josiah and Eden, they were long gone by now.
Alex got in the kid’s face. “You saw a man carrying an unconscious woman out the back door, and you didn’t think to tell someone?”
“Look around you, man.” The kid stared back at him as if he’d lost his damn mind. “This place is full of girls who are drunk off their asses. I just figured the guy was taking his date home to sleep it off.”
“He wasn’t her boyfriend, asshole,” Alex growled. “He’s a fucking serial killer and he just walked out with his next victim.”
“Bennett.” Dan put a shoulder to his arm. “Easy, man.”
Alex shrugged him off. “No.” He looked at his friend. “He has her, Dan. That bastard stabbed Zoe and now he has Eden.”
“I get that but taking it out on this guy isn’t going to help us find her.”
Goddamnit.Dan was right. The kid was only trying to help and here he was, tearing him a new asshole.
Over the next few minutes, Alex took the young man’s statement, jotting down everything the kid could remember. By the time he was finished, Garrett had returned from tracking down the footage from the cameras.
“I watched the feed. You can see the sonofabitch carrying Eden out the back door about four minutes before you and Dan made it back here.” Garrett grabbed the back of his neck, rubbing the muscles there. “He must’ve had a car parked just outside in the alley.”
“Any cameras positioned out there?” Alex asked, praying they could get a license plate from it. But Garrett shook his head.
“Manager said since they only use that door to take out the trash, the owner didn’t see a need for the added expense.”
