“You’re welcome.”
With that, JJ hurried to the back door. She was surprised to find it was unlocked, so she walked outside, not knowing what she would find.
The good news was Sonny wasn’t waiting for her. The bad news was hot, muggy air hung thick around her as soon as the door closed at her back. The sun was high in the cloudless sky, and the August heat was barreling down on her. She ignored the sweat that instantly formed on her brow.
This was definitely a retail center. Or, more specifically, the back of one. Four other doors lined the alleyway. She could see where a dumpster once sat, but it looked like the place had been abandoned. Behind that was a row of hedges that someone had put in to likely disguise the dumpster, hiding it from the houses behind it.
Terrified that Sonny was going to come racing out that door any second and find her, JJ hurried to the other side of the bushes, keeping herself hidden as best she could. She walked along the narrow path between the shrubs and the chain-link fence, making her way toward the end of the building.
Shit. She had to get to a phone.
And she had to do it without running into Sonny. She seriously doubted he was as gullible as Molly. She doubtedanyonewas as gullible as that crazy bitch.
Chapter Ten
1:55P.M.
“My list is complete. No luck.” Reese’svoice, sounding defeated, came through the speakers in Brantley’s truck.
Brantley sighed. He tried to hide his disappointment, but it was pointless. He was losing faith and losing it fast. Where the fuck was that lucky break when they needed it most? Something had to give. And fucking soon.
“What about you?” Reese asked.
“Nothing.”
“And the rest of the team?”
“Same.”
“All right,” Reese said. “Let’s meet at Baz’s. We’ll regroup and figure out what’s next.”
Although he didn’t want to face Baz right now, Brantley knew they needed to come up with a new plan. They didn’t have time to waste.
“Be there in ten,” he told Reese.
The call disconnected, and Brantley kept his attention on the road.
For the past twenty minutes, he’d been receiving similar updates from the rest of the team. Luca wasn’t faring any better despite continuing to come up with places for the volunteers to check out in neighboring towns. They were running out of ground to cover because they couldn’t go door to door in the bigger cities. Not that Brantley wasn’t willing to try. He’d do anything to find JJ. Anything at all.
Well, except for coming face-to-face with Baz. For the past ten minutes, Brantley had been driving around aimlessly, not sure what he was going to say to Baz when he saw the man. His own fear was choking him, so he couldn’t imagine the terror that Baz was feeling. There was no doubt in Brantley’s mind that Baz would trade himself for JJ if it ever came down to it. Brantley understood that reasoning because he would do the same if Reese were missing.
Brantley was still trying to wrap his head around how this happened. How the fuck did that redheaded fuck get JJ to go with him? Did he drug her? Was the baby okay? Hell, was JJ okay? And what were they doing to her? Any possible scenario he could dream up was too grotesque to consider. If Molly Ryan was behind this—and all indicators were pointing toward her and her accomplice—what was her end game? Did she think by getting JJ out of the picture she could have Baz all to herself? And what exactly did that entail? Were they going to kill JJ? Maybe steal her baby?
“Fuck.” Brantley slammed his hands on the steering wheel. “Goddammit.”
He took a deep breath and let it out, willing his blood pressure to lower. His frustration wasn’t going to help anyone. He could break down when it was all said and done, but until then, he had to remain focused on the objective. JJ was somewhere close. He felt it in his bones.
The slow breathing helped him get himself under control as he drove to Baz’s house. The long residential street was lined with vehicles on both sides. People were beginning to come back, reporting in to find out what else they could do. Brantley needed to have a list of things to do next, places to check out, people to talk to. Evan and Jay had come up empty at all three mental hospitals. They’d attempted to coerce the facility manager at the last one, but they hadn’t gotten anything more than a confirmation that Molly and Sonny had been patients of theirs, and yes, they’d been there at the same time. They hadn’t told them a goddamn thing they didn’t already know.
But what had he expected? For the hospital to tell them they knew exactly where Sonny and Molly were because they’d embedded tracking devices in them? He could never get that fucking lucky.
Brantley parked at the end of the driveway, blocking JJ’s SUV and Baz’s truck. He got out and looked around, skimming the nearby houses. Had anyone thought to check those? Maybe Sonny was even crazier than they thought, and they were holed up right across the street. It actually would’ve been a pretty ingenious plan, which was why Brantley knew JJ wasn’t in one of those houses. Yeah, Molly and Sonny had pulled off the kidnapping, but he didn’t see either of them as masterminding something quite that smart.
As he was coming to the conclusion they would have to simply continue searching, Reese’s truck pulled down the street. Brantley waited until he parked, then started toward him.
“You okay?” Reese asked when he got out of his truck, his eyes sliding over Brantley’s face.
“No,” he answered honestly. “I feel like we’re runnin’ in circles.”
