“I—not really. They said I just ran right off the road and didn’t brake to try to stop. Plowed into a tree.”
His eyebrows shot up. “Seriously?”
“Yeah.”
He tightened his fingers. “You never were a drinker and didn’t do drugs. But did they do a tox screen to check that?”
“Not that I know of.” She sighed and thought about what the accident scene must have looked like. She’d been alone. Coming from or going to where? She had no idea. She hadn’t gotten the details from anyone yet.
He stood, looking at her, his eyes narrowed. “Have the police interviewed you?”
“No. I remember them being in the ER. They wanted to ask questions, but the doctor told them to come back later. Surprisingly, they complied.”
“Do you remember any of the accident details at all?”
“I have hazy vague memories.” She closed her eyes, hoping her thoughts would sharpen. “I remember feeling like I was outside of my body when it happened. Like I was watching from above and seeing myself but not feeling like myself.”
He frowned. “Is there any way you could’ve been drugged?”
“Doubtful. And by who? No one is trying to kill me.” She opened her eyes and forced a smile, though in her line of work threats did occur, so it was possible she supposed.
“What about the investigation you needed Cam’s help with? Could someone connected to that case want to hurt you?”
“I—” she started to say, but she couldn’t come up with any details or reason for why she’d called him. “I don’t know. I can’t remember why I left you a message. Maybe my supervisor knows. Or Warren even.”
“Warren?”
“He’s a longtime agent in my office. I think of him as my work dad. I bounce ideas off him sometimes.” She took a deep breath. “My supervisor is coming by this morning to update me on the investigation and bring me a new phone.”
He arched a brow. “It wasn’t in your car?”
“No. I don’t know what...” A fragment of the accident flashed into her mind, and she paused to let the memories flood in like a river rushing over a cliff. “Oh my gosh! That’s it. I remember being in the car after the accident. Before I blacked out. A man. Masked face. Fuzzy memory.”
She pinched her eyes closed and let the memory play. It was vivid. Bright. Real. “He had a deep voice. I had my phone in my hand. He said I didn’t want it, and he took it from me. Told me to relax. I remember being fine with that. Not afraid at all.” She flashed her eyes open. “He also said this was a wake-up call. To keep Mom and me safe. Then he said to relax and let the drug take hold.”
“He drugged me. But whoishe?” She frantically searched her memory for a face. Didn’t see one. “Why did he want my phone? And the warning. My mom. Is she in danger? Am I in danger?”
Stunned, Mack dropped back onto the chair and swallowed, trying to wet a dry throat. He didn’t like hearing what happened to Addy. Didn’t like it at all. A strange man taking her phone. Drugging her. Warning her off. Why?
The accident clearly wasn’t an accident. Addy could’ve died. Right there in the car.
Mack’s heart nearly refused to beat. He couldn’t think. Couldn’t focus. But she needed him to. And that meant he had to remember God was in control and gave him strength.
“The Spirit Godgave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.”Mack repeated his mantra once. Twice. Focused on the problem.
He looked at Addy.
“Maybe he took my phone to stop me from calling 911,” she said. “From getting help. He wanted me to die.” Her eyes darkened in anguish. Raw. Terrible. Living, horrible anguish, and she wrapped her arms around her slender waist as if she could protect herself.
It took everything Mack was made of not to come off his chair and take her in his arms. He missed holding her. Missed everything about her. And yet his touch wouldn’t comfort her right now. It would add to her pain. The thought was like a sucker punch to the gut.
“I’m assuming you use your phone to log on to your network using a VPN,” he said and didn’t explain the abbreviation. She would know he meant a Virtual Private Network that masked the physical location of a person’s internet access.
She nodded. “You’re thinking he took the phone to gain access to our network.”
“It’s possible, but I would think if he just wanted the phone, he could’ve found an easier way to steal it.”
“You’re right. This still seems to be about killing me,” she said matter-of-factly as if talking about her grocery list, not her potential murder.
