“They’ve been gone almost six,” Coop pointed out. “DPD found the rental car abandoned on the side of a road outside the city, right before we landed here. Guy took the plates, so there’s an APB out for any vehicle with those, as well.”
“Ah, fuck.” He placed a palm on the wall next to him to keep from falling. “Six hours?”
This time, his dizziness had nothing to do with his head injury and everything to do with the terror stabbing at his heart.
“Did they find...” His voice cracked, so he cleared it and tried it again. “Was there anything in the car that could help lead us to where he may have taken her?”
“Nothing like that, but the techs did find two empty syringes,” Derek told him. “Homeland’s lab made them their top priority. They found trace amounts of the same drugs the bastard used on Maggie.”
“Ah, God.” He felt like he was going to puke again. The unprecedented fear racing through him nearly enough to end him.
“I know it doesn’t seem like it, Eric. But this is good news.”
“She’s completely helpless, Trevor!” Eric’s raised voice caused several heads to turn. “If he drugged her, he could’ve done only God knows what to her by now. She wouldn’t have been able to eventryto defend herself, so how the fuck is that good news?”
“Trev’s right.” Derek waited a beat until they walked out the automatic doors leading outside. “Think about what this guy’s done to his other vics.”
“Derek, so help me God—”
“Just shut up and listen for a second,” his brother ordered. “I’ve read Maggie’s autopsy results on the local victims, as well as those found in the other cities. This guy didn’t kill those women while they were unconscious. The markings on the necks and wrists showed that they fought for their lives. As much as they could, anyway.”
“Your point?”
“He gets off on their fear. Their pain. For guys like Hayes, hurting an unconscious woman would bring him no satisfaction. Think about how long it took Maggie to wake up. And Hayes would want to make sure he gave Riley enough to knock her out for the ride back to the city.”
What Derek said actually made since. But even so...
“He’s there, and we’re here. How the hell are we supposed to get to her in time?”
“Same way we got here as quickly as we did,” Jake answered the question calmly.
It took him half a second for Eric to catch up. “You brought the jet?”
“You’re one of us, West.” The other man’s blue gaze was sharp. “Fuck yeah, we brought the jet.”
It was the first bit of good news he’d heard since regaining consciousness.
“Come on, man.” Derek squeezed his shoulder. “We’ve got this.”
Even Grant—the stoic former SEAL—chimed in. “D’s right. You’ve had our backs when we needed it most. Now it’s our turn to have yours.”
Emotion clogged Eric’s throat. From both the sentiment and the fear he felt for Riley.
He couldn’t even allow himself to think about what she might be going through. He couldn’t let himself imagine what that son of a bitch Hayes was doing to her.
If he did, if he started to picture those awful, horrible things...he’d fall into a hole he’d never crawl out of.
Hang in there, baby. We’re coming for you.
