“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Krista said as she placed her hand over her swollen belly.
“Something to drink?” I asked.
They both declined.
“Let’s head into the living room where Krista will be more comfortable,” I said as I motioned for them to head that way.
“Your house is beautiful, Liam,” Krista stated.
“Thank you,” I said with a polite smile.
MaryAnne stated, “I’m going to go check on Mallory. If I don’t come back, it’s because I passed out next to her.”
Chad frowned as Krista looked confused.
“They both nearly finished off an entire bottle of scotch earlier.”
Hiding her laugh with her hand, Krista took a seat on the sofa while Chad sat next to her. He chuckled and said, “I remember those days.”
“Me too,” Krista added. “No more drinking like that for me!”
I grinned and sat down opposite them.
Chad looked at me, then Billy, then back to me. “What’s going on?”
My neck instantly ached, and I rubbed my hand over it. “I’m not even sure where to begin, so I’ll just put it all out there. The woman you met, Mallory?”
“Yeah?”
“She was kidnapped by someone and held captive somewhere near here. She escaped, and I found her in one of my pastures, passed out from running for two days.”
Krista gasped and reached for Chad’s hand.
“What?” Chad said, sounding and looking utterly shocked. “She was kidnapped?”
I nodded. “Yes. But that’s not the worst of it.”
“Oh my God,” Krista whispered.
“No, she wasn’t harmed, other than being hit a few times,” I said as I tried to reassure Krista. I turned to Chad. “She was kidnapped from her hotel room in Chicago and driven here. She was held in a basement below a barn for a few days before shemanaged to hit the guy who held her over the head and ran. She said she ran as fast and as far as she could for about two days. We think she was being kept near, or around Old Baldy, or that area.”
Chad sat back and stared at me. He opened his mouth to say something, then shut it.
I nodded. “I know, there’s more.”
“How could there possibly be more?” Krista asked.
“The guy told her he’d kept other women there, toyed with them for a few days before he did unthinkable things to them.”
Tears rolled down Krista’s cheeks. “Thank God she got away.”
I looked at Chad. “Mallory found a necklace in the dirt. She put it on, she doesn’t know why, but when I found her, I took it off of her.”
Reaching into my pocket, I pulled the necklace out and put it on the coffee table. Chad leaned forward and closed his eyes.
“Emily?” Krista asked. “Wait, your Emily?”
All I could do was nod.
