Page 39

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Logan poked at the Chinese takeout someone had shoved in front of him half an hour ago. Fifteen hours. It’d been nearly fifteen hours since Miles took AJ, and the police had nothing. No signs of where they could be, no clues as to what he was planning. Nothing.

Despite not eating most of the day, Logan couldn’t stomach another bite of the fried rice, so he pushed it away and laid his head down on the conference room table.

They’d set up the command center in the conference room off of the detectives’ squad room hours earlier. Logan had been there most of the day. The walls were closing in, and he was getting antsy.

Zara was curled up in a chair in the corner trying to get a little rest. Logan hoped she was actually succeeding. As soon as they had anything, they’d all jump back into gear.

The door opened, and Logan spun around. Maybe they had a clue.

Will came through the door and shook his head. “Wanna go for a walk?”

“What and risk missing something?”

“We won’t miss anything. But I know you, and you need to burn off some steam.”

Logan rolled the chair back and stood. “You aren’t wrong.”

The two friends went through the bullpen where Will told Adam they were going to wander around the parking lot.

Once outside, Will stayed quiet, but Logan’s brain was spinning at a billion miles a second. His thoughts were running so fast, he couldn’t grasp a single one. But they all revolved around what he’d done wrong.

“I really screwed this up, didn’t I?”

Will shook his head. “No, Miles did.”

“But I could have—”

“Stop. You can’t do that.”

“How can I not? I watched him take her.”

“You didn’t know.”

“I assumed the worst. I should have intervened. I should have assumed the worst in the other direction and tried to save my wife’s life. They could be in Arkansas or New York or who-knows-where by now. I may never see her again.”

The thought hit Logan hard, and he stopped walking, unable to move or breathe.

Never seeing her again wasn’t an option. It couldn’t be. He had to find her. He had to save her from this supposed friend.

He had to hold onto the fact that Miles had made it clear he wanted AJ for himself. Surely that meant he wouldn’t kill her … at least not right away. But it did mean he would likely do other things to her.

Heat rushed through Logan, and he clenched his fists. He couldn’t tolerate the thought.

Will’s hand rested on Logan’s shoulder. “Hey. We’ll find her.”

“How?”

“I don’t know. We keep praying. Miles will mess up at some point. I know it.”

Logan looked up into the clear night sky. “Lord, please. Help us find her. Bring her home safely. Make Miles slip up and do something to reveal himself.”

After thirty minutes in the car, AJ had managed to work the zipper of the hoodie all the way down. Somehow Miles hadn’t noticed. Or if he had, he didn’t care.

But now they were miles out of town. She didn’t even know where they were. She’d been so focused on the zipper she hadn’t really paid attention. But if she could get away, find anyone who could help or even a place to hide, she’d be able to eventually get home. She needed to survive, and the best bet for that was getting away from Miles.

Miles turned the car down a long, tree-lined driveway.

Her window of opportunity was approaching.

Miles, who had been fairly quiet for the last ten minutes of the drive, said, “We can be grateful the owners of this house don’t believe in home security and are out of the country right now. Not really sure why the doc told me all about their trip. Sure, I’ve been selling pharmaceuticals to him for years, but he had no idea what I was planning.” He let out a sardonic laugh.

Was this man pure evil? The derision in his voice motivated her more to make a run for it as soon as he let her out.

He drove up in front of a large house. The owners were not going to be happy a sociopath had brought his kidnap victim to their pristine home.

But with any luck, she’d never go inside.

Miles parked and turned off the engine. “Sit tight, and I’ll be right with you.”

She was tempted to spit in his face but resisted the urge. She needed to act like she was submissive, so she could catch him off-guard.

He opened the car door and reached in to unbuckle her. “All right, let’s go have a nice dinner.” He stepped back to give her enough room to climb out.

She had to time this right or he’d grab her, and she wouldn’t get anywhere.

She walked toward the house without waiting for him to take her arm. He pushed the door shut, then put his hand loosely on her back.

Wait for it. He’d have to open the door … maybe he’d step ahead.

He did just that. As soon as he moved slightly past her, gaze fixed on the front door, AJ spun and ran. She let the hoodie fall from her shoulders.

Miles swore and came after her.

As she ran, she lifted her arms into the air and slammed them down against her abdomen. The plastic gouged into her wrist before it finally snapped. She reached up and ripped the gag out of her mouth and tossed it to the ground.

With her arms free, she increased her speed and ran down the driveway.

She didn’t know where she was going, but she didn’t care. She had to get away from Miles.

Lights from a neighbor’s house flashed as she ran past the trees. She dared to dart that direction. She couldn’t see, but neither could Miles. If she could get to someone, she could call 911. She could call Logan.

Miles gained on her.

Her toe caught on a root. She flailed but managed to keep her feet underneath her and not fall. But it slowed her down.

She needed to get out of the woods. Once on the neighbor’s lawn, she’d be able to pick up her speed again.

But was it worth running to the front door? What if they weren’t home?

As soon as she broke through the trees she yelled, “Help! Someone please help me.”

Miles caught up, and he tackled her.

She flew forward and slammed into the grass. Her head narrowly missed an edging stone around a flower garden.

Her breath was gone. She couldn’t scream. The seizing of her lungs finally eased, but with Miles’s weight on her, she still couldn’t catch her breath. Not enough to scream anyway.

No lights flicked on inside the house. No curtains shifted to indicate someone was checking on the noise. No one was home.

And she was back in Miles’s grasp.

God, no, don’t let him—

Miles cut off her prayer by flipping her over and slamming her onto her back. Nasty words flew from his mouth. He slammed his fist into the side of her face.

She swung her arms at him and hit him as best she could. It wasn’t much, but it blocked his attempts to punch her again.

He caught her wrist. “Stop it. All I wanted was a nice dinner with you. Why would you run from me?” He called her a derogatory name.

He jumped to his feet and yanked her up too.

She jerked her arm and twisted it trying to break free from his grasp. But his hand was too large, and he had a tight grip on her.

He hauled her back through the woods and to the house. He didn’t let go, and she couldn’t get free.

He took her into the kitchen and to a dining-room table set with candles and beautiful china.

If this man wasn’t a deranged stalker, it might have been a beautiful dinner.

He shoved her into the chair. With his free hand, he grabbed a roll of duct tape. He pressed his knee into her lap and wrapped the duct tape around her body and the chair. Then he taped each of her legs to the chair.

She wasn’t going anywhere until he decided to cut her free. The adrenaline from running faded, and exhaustion hit her. What was she going to do?

Miles snatched the plates off the table. He was fuming.

His behavior confirmed he was indeed a sociopath and not a psychopath. That anger was indicative of someone who still had emotions, unlike a psychopath. Why did she know so much about this? Probably the podcasts her co-worker Emily liked to listen to at the station.

Miles came back with plates filled with pot roast, potatoes, and carrots. It smelled amazing.

Against AJ’s will, her stomach grumbled.

“See what wonderful food I’ve prepared for you? Now because you’ve been so naughty, I’m going to have to feed you, aren’t I?”

“You could always free one of my arms.” Then maybe I could stab you in the eyeball with a fork .

“Not hardly. It’ll be more romantic this way anyway.” He put a small piece of potato on the end of the fork and lifted it to her mouth.

She refused to open it. She wouldn’t eat anything he made for her. Her conviction about that had not changed.

“You will eat the food I made you.”

She shook her head.

Miles leaned closer and took her jaw in his other hand, working his fingers into her cheeks and between her teeth until he was able to slip the potato in her mouth.

The savory flavor touched her tongue. It tasted incredible, but she wouldn’t eat it.

He leaned back. “It’s good, isn’t it?”

She spit it in his face. It landed square between his eyes. She’d have to thank Logan for teaching this homeschooled kid how to shoot spitballs.

Miles set down the fork and slapped her, hitting the same place he’d punched her not ten minutes ago.

Her cheek stung. The metallic taste of blood filled her mouth. Her lip was split.

Yet she didn’t regret her actions.

“You going to eat now?”

“No.” She hoped her defiance came through her eyes as much as her word.

“I will—”

“Do your worst, I don’t care. I will not do anything willingly.”

“You better think again.”

She glared at him.

“Fine. I’m going to eat, but by morning you will pay.”

A shudder rocked her body, but she tried to contain it. She didn’t know what he planned to do to her, and if it would be before or after he tried to kill Logan again. As much as it all horrified her, she wouldn’t take back or regret her actions. She’d best him … somehow.