Four hours. That was how much time had passed since they’d fallen asleep together.
Where was she? And why the hell didn’t I wake up whenever she left?
A rush of emotion threatened to overwhelm him as he rushed around the room like a madman. In record time, Jagger redressed in the same clothes he’d taken off before he and Talia had last made love mere hours before.
Now she was gone, and Ryker was here, and the man was claiming she was missing, and?—
“Wait.” He stopped in the center of the room. Facing the other man, he began tucking the hem of his shirt into the waistof his jeans. “Back up,” Jagger ordered. “Start at the beginning. Tell me everything you know.”
Help me understand what the actual hell is going on!
The worry he found in Ryker’s typically stoic eyes sent a rush of alarming nerves racing through Jagger’s veins.
“I called Talia over two hours ago to let her know Lopez reached out with claims of having additional important intel on Arlo Sanchez,” Ryker began. “We went back and forth about having you drive her into D.C., but she insisted she was fine coming in by herself.”
Ah, hell.
Ryker continued explaining, “I tried calling her after forty-five minutes passed by without her showing. Every time I tried, it just rang several times before going to her voicemail. Talia never texted or called me back. I even tried calling you, too. But those calls didn’t so much as ring. Just kept going straight to voicemail.”
Jagger frowned but then remembered he’d left his phone in his pocket when he got distracted making love to Talia. He reached into his back pocket and pulled it free, his gut tightening with dread when he realized the battery was dead.
Dammit! What if Talia tried calling me, too? What if she tried calling for me help?
It was a dark, dark path, and one Jagger couldn’t allow himself to follow. Not now. Not when Talia needed him to be at the very top of his mental game.
“You put a trace on her location?” He forced himself to think like an operator instead of a man in love.
Ryker shook his head. “We tried, but…” His voice trailed, and it was clear there was more the Homeland agent didn’t want to say.
Jagger froze, the blood in his veins turning to ice from the uncharacteristic avoidance of the other man’s gaze. “But what?”His throat began to tighten, and it was getting harder and harder to swallow with every second that passed. “Dammit, Jason, you said you tried pinging Talia’s location, but what? What is it you’re not telling me?”
“We found her car under a bridge along the George Washington Memorial Parkway.” Ryker’s dark brown eyes finally returned to his. “The doors were locked, and her purse was in the passenger seat. When we got it open, we found her wallet and both phones inside. Credit cards, a little cash, her driver’s license…it was all there. The only thing that appears to have been taken is?—”
“Talia.” Jagger barely managed to choke out her name.
Oh, God.
The air in his lungs ceased to exist, and his legs began to quiver. The shadowed walls around him spun like a top, and it was all he could do not to fall to his knees in utter despair.
How the fuck did this happen? Two hours before, Talia had been sound asleep in his arms. And now…
A thought struck that had Jagger immediately regaining his control before storming out of the room with Ryker hot on his heels.
“Where are you going?” the other man asked as he worked to keep up with Jagger’s broad, swift steps.
“I need to check on something outside,” he explained.
It was all he said as he threw open the door, and the two men exited the apartment.
“You wanna fill me in, or am I just supposed to start guessing?” Ryker’s frustration was impossible to miss.
They walked side-by-side along the sidewalk to the parking lot adjacent to the building. As they moved, Jagger scanned the area with his head on a constant swivel.
“Someone from Echo Team was supposed to be here.” He purposely increased his pace. “They’ve been rotating shifts,staking out the place in case our bomber somehow figured out we were here.”
“I’m assuming Talia didn’t know you were having the place watched?”
“Not at first.” Jagger gave a quick shake of his head. “I knew she’d say no, but I did it anyway.”
