Page 59 of Cold Light of Day

Grier quietly but quickly maneuvered through the alley. A noise from behind drew his attention, and he pressed back against the wall and remained still.

He startled when he spotted Autumn creeping toward him, and she had already made it to within arm’s length. He was getting rusty.

“You stay this course, come in from this side,” he said, “and I’ll approach from the other. We’ll trap him.”

She nodded.

He rushed back up the passage, cut across the front of the building, and then ran around to the back. Pressing his back against the cold wall, he waited and listened. He didn’t see the man’s shadow this time. Carefully, he peered around the corner of the building.

No one was there.

Where did he go?

Holding his gun up and ready to fire, Grier crept forward and studied the back door. Had the man gone inside already? Heart pounding, he crept up the steps and tried the door.

Locked.

Quietly bounding down the steps, he hurried toward the other corner, then paused.

Autumn was waiting in that alley. Had she already apprehended the guy? If so, he would know that by now. Maybe she’d had trouble. His breaths quickened.

Please, God, let her be okay.

He peered around the corner again into the dark—empty—alley.

Huh?

Had she circled back around? What? Grier tracked down the back alley behind the buildings and surveyed the area until he reached the end of the block.

Nothing.

Not. Good.

Gripping his pistol much too tightly, he raced toward the front, then stopped. No sense in rushing out into the open and getting shot. After making sure it was safe, he stepped around to the front of the Lively Moose. He glanced up and down the street. No Autumn.

No bad guy.

A knot twisted in his gut.

Where are you?

How could he have lost her? Fear squeezed his chest. Something was wrong.

He waited and listened, sending up a silent prayer that he would find her safe and sound. All he heard was his pulse pounding in his ears.

Until... A vehicle started up. He sprinted toward the sound coming from a block away. Grier watched in horror as a man tossed a body into the back of an SUV.

“Hey!” Grier sprinted toward the SUV, anguish squeezing his chest.

This couldn’t be happening.

The man climbed into the vehicle and sped away and out of Grier’s reach. He raced back to his truck, fumbled with his keys, then peeled away from the curb, accelerating down thestreet. He called 911 to ask for backup, stating someone had abducted the chief.

At least he hoped she was still alive. She wasn’t someone who could easily be taken, and he had no idea what had happened. He could have misread the situation.

But...he hadn’t. She was in the back of the fleeing SUV. The rear lights grew dim—he was getting away.

No, no, no.God, please let me catch him. Please keep her safe!