“I can,” she said, but shuffled her feet.
He got it. She wanted in on the bust, but she was putting her needs aside to help him.
“Thanks. I owe you big time.” Reid turned to Jack. “Let’s move.”
They charged out of the hospital.
“The manager also told me Smith hasn’t shown up for work since his encounter with Fowler at the station,” Jack said
The news fired off a red-hot alert in Reid’s brain. So the guy hadn’t returned to work. Gave him plenty of time to take care of Fowler and stalk Megan.
Meant he had nothing to lose, and if he had Megan—she had everything to lose.
Megan’s heart pounded wildly. Her mind flooded with terrible possibilities. And her heart broke for Ella, her baby waking up to find her mommy gone.
All because of this lunatic named Billy Smith seated next to her in his ratty pickup truck. The interior was as gross as he was. Vinyl seats had split open, and the cracks were filled with trash, as was the floor. They’d been traveling for ten minutes in this mess, heading deeper into the city. She kept her gaze trained out the window, searching for help. A police car, fire truck, anything—anyone not too busy trying to get to work in the snow to stop and notice her. Plus, it helped her know exactly where she was at all times, in case she had a chance to escape.
Escape how? He held a gun trained on her, and she knew she couldn’t get the door open and run away faster than a bullet could pierce her body.
“Here we are.” Smith pulled the vehicle into a grocery store parking lot.
Odd. Why would he be taking her to a store?
He eased into a space next to a small blue sedan near the outskirts of the lot. He turned off the engine and took out his phone, resting it on his knee.
“I just need to type a little text.” He jabbed the gun into her ribs. “Try anything and you’re dead. Then your little brat will get the same treatment.”
She bit back the pain from the gun and desperately glanced around. The lot was nearly empty save snow plows mounding up the fresh snowfall in the distance. She was alone. A crazed man sat with a gun in her side and no one cared. He tapped on his phone, but she barely heard it above the pounding of her heart.
“There.” He held the phone out to her. “Read.”
Kill the kid now.
Her blood turned to ice. Four little words, but so deadly.
He retracted his arm. “You so much as try to run, and I’ll press send. The text will go straight to my buddy, and he’ll snuff out Ella on the spot.” He lifted the gun and rubbed the cold hard muzzle against her cheek. “Got it?”
She closed her eyes and swallowed, but she couldn’t form the words.
The gun barrel ground into her cheekbone.
“I got it,” she said through clenched teeth.
He tucked the gun into his belt then held his thumb over the send button. “Stay here.” He climbed out and ran around the truck to her door. “Get out and get into the car.”
Keeping her eye on his cell in case he got distracted and she could grab it, she did as told. Once in the new vehicle, he fired it up and took off, merging into traffic. So all he wanted to do was ditch the truck to confuse the police. Her hopes of anyone finding her plummeted.
If anyone was even looking for her. The hospital staff might wonder where she was, but there was no one else on this earth who would miss her right now.
Ella’s and her lives were in her hands. Hers alone. But what could she do when only the tap of a thumb could end Ella’s life? Nothing, right? Nothing.
No. No. Fight off this desperate thinking. Clear your mind.
She focused on the streets, memorizing their route until Smith pulled into a gas station.
“Time to call your accountant. I want you to tell him to deliver the money to the Starbucks on the corner, where you’ll be waiting inside for him.” He pointed across the street. “Make sure he comes alone.”
Megan let her focus stay on Starbucks. Once Smith had the money, he would kill her and maybe have Ella killed. She had to delay. “I don’t have my phone.”
