Page 116 of Valor

“Why are you doing this? If you want money, I can get you money. Please just let me go.” Tears stream down my cheeks. I struggle against the bindings, but I’m helpless. Completely and totally at the mercy of my abductor.

They clean the line with an alcohol wipe, then flush it with a saline syringe.

“Please, stop,” I plead, tears slipping down my cheeks. I struggle against the hold, trying desperately to get free. “Please, stop. I don’t know?—”

They inject the medicine, and seconds later, my mind begins to cloud all over again, my thoughts running together. I try to hold a rational thought, cling to anything that will keep me grounded, but everything blurs. Gibson’s face swims into view. His smile. His touch. Kiss.

The stranger leans in and shines a light in my eyes. I try to blink the brightness away, but my movements are too slow. As they remain leaned in, checking my pupils, the chemical smell is momentarily replaced with the scent of fresh flowers.

They step away and shut the door, plunging me back into blackness.

And then—there’s nothing.

GIBSON

It doesn’t matterhow long I stand here in the living room of Lani’s apartment, it doesn’t feel real. It doesn’t matter that I already called her parents. That I consoled a sobbing Ruth while trying my best to navigate a furious Tommy.

Itcan’tbe real. She can’t be gone.

I’ve tried every way I can to get in contact with her brothers, but until they check in on the satellite phone, there’s no hope of reaching them where they’re currently at. Given they’re the best trackers around, I’d seriously hoped to have them on the first plane back to the States.

Honestly, the convenience of Lani going missing while her brothers are out of town doesn’t escape me. This was planned. It had to be.

But why?

By who?

There’s been no call for a ransom, so unless they’re biding their time to build up fear in Ruth and Tommy, I can’t see that being the reason.What am I missing?

I survey the apartment again, letting my gaze travel from the front door all the way through the living room. The blood on the carpet belonged to Lani, as did the droplets that led into the kitchen.

The dress she’d been wearing last night is nowhere to be found, which means she was wearing it when she left.

My heart twists, nausea burning my throat.

Would she be gone if I’d just come back like I’d wanted to last night?

How soon after I dropped her off was Lani in the fight for her life?

Tears sting my eyes.God, why? Why her?

Someone knocks on the door, so I head over and open it. Deputy Brown is on the other side, her expression serious. Her blonde hair is pulled out of her face, slicked back without a strand out of place. She slips through the crime scene tape and steps into the apartment.

“Anything?” I ask.

She shakes her head. “None of the cameras picked up on anyone leaving.”

“They couldn’t have just vanished.” Frustration pulls at my frayed nerves. “It’s not possible.”

“There are blind spots,” she says. “But someone had to have been really looking for them.”

“This was planned.” I study the damage. “To abduct her during the two weeks her brothers are out of town? It’s too coincidental.”

“So it has to be someone who knew their movements. Do we have a list?”

“Tommy and Ruth are working on that.” I swallow hard. “I’m headed over there in just a few to check in.”

“How are they doing?”