Page 88 of Jessica's Hero

“Kane.” A hand lands on my arm. Zane. He looks at me with compassion in his eyes. “I get it. We all do. When the woman you love is in trouble, it’s hard to keep perspective. But we have a lead. And if Leo can triangulate the nearest silo to Jess’s last known location…”

“But what if we go there and it’s a dead end?” I shoot back. I know damn well my arguments aren’t helpful and the guys are doing the best they can. But it’s hard to think clearly past the terror tearing at me from the inside out.

“There’s a silo five miles from here,” Leo announces. “I found a website that has a list of all the defunct silos, and there’s one listed near where we last saw Jess. So it’s possible that’s where she is. And if she’s inside, the thickness of the walls would definitely block her signal.”

Cole meets my gaze in the mirror again. “It’s your call.If you want to keep looking, we can. Or we can try the silo. What do you want to do?”

Shit.

I’ve never felt so unsure of a decision before.

The stakes have never been this high.

If I make the wrong choice, I could lose Jess forever.

Taking a deep breath, I try to force myself into the position of investigator and not the panicked boyfriend. I think about what I’d do if this was just a job.

I’d look at the facts. At what we know already.

Someone took Jess into the Adirondacks for a reason. If they just wanted to kill her and dispose of?—

Fuck. I can’t think it.

But they wouldn’t go this far to do it. Not when there’s plenty of places closer.

So this is all part of his plan. To go someplace remote, someplace where Jess would never be found. Someplace he couldn’t be connected to. Like…

An abandoned missile silo.

“Let’s go,” I reply after a few moments’ deliberation. My voice goes rough as I add, “This could be the biggest mistake of my life, but let’s do it.”

“Okay.” Cole glances at Leo. “Which way?”

Over the next five minutes, I second guess myself a dozen times. While Leo guides Cole along a narrow road that winds through the woods, I wonder if my choice just doomed her to death. If we’ll arrive at this silo to find it locked and no sign of Jess or her abductor anywhere.

Then we turn onto an even narrower road, and I spot something that brings me hope again.

Tire tracks in the snow.

Leo clicks away on the mouse pad for a second beforereporting, “They got snow up here last night. A few inches. So these are definitely fresh.”

Hope takes flight.

“She could be here,” I blurt. “Shit. Drive faster.”

“We don’t want to give ourselves away,” Cole replies. “If he’s outside…”

But less than a quarter mile down the road, it’s clear he’s not. All we see is an empty car, mottled with brown and white from the dirt and salt on the road. And as we pull up behind it, I spot the next clue.

Footsteps. Heading into the woods. One set of them.

Which means either he was carrying Jess, or she’s still in the trunk.

Fuck.

FUCK.

“Gear up,” Zane says. He pulls an assortment of guns and knives from the duffel sitting on the seat beside him and hands them to Leo and Cole. I’m already armed, but I pull my Glock from its holster and check to make sure my taser is ready to go.