Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 63082 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 315(@200wpm)___ 252(@250wpm)___ 210(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63082 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 315(@200wpm)___ 252(@250wpm)___ 210(@300wpm)
His knees nearly gave out again. He caught himself on Haisley’s desk, a sound somewhere between a growl and a sob tearing from his throat.
“Nash.” Kane’s hand landed on his shoulder. “We’re all doing everything we can to find her.”
“I’m so fucking afraid it’s already too late. I’ve been at this all day, and…” The words came out broken.
“You’re gathering evidence. You’re following the trail. We all are and—”
“It’s not enough! Those other women… They just vanished. Like they never existed. And now Haisley… I can’t lose her again. Not like this,” he choked. Then, with a primal growl, he pounded his fist into a doorframe before shaking off the sting. “Fucking breaking down won’t bring her back.”
“Then channel that emotion,” Kane said. “Use it. We’re all behind you.”
Nash gathered the shattered pieces of himself and vowed he’d move heaven and earth—burn down the world if he had to—in order to bring her home. To do that, Haisley needed him to be the cold, calculating operative he’d been trained to be.
Sucking in a breath, he snatched up her laptop, but his gaze caught on a sticky note beside her keyboard. A reminder to add coffee creamer to her grocery list. Such a small, everyday thing. Would she ever do something that ordinary again? Ever have the freedom to?
“Let’s go.” Kane gestured him toward the door. “You’ve got a woman to save.”
With a resolute nod, Nash locked her door, the quiet finality of the click echoing like a death knell. But he couldn’t think that way. Couldn’t let himself imagine a world without her in it.
Because if he did, he’d lose whatever control he had left. And Haisley needed him focused. Needed him whole.
Even if he felt anything but.
As he made his way back to his truck, his phone buzzed. His heart slammed into his ribs as he yanked the device from his pocket. Was it possible someone had a lead? Had somehow located Haisley?
A message from Trees flashed across his screen.
I’ve got something you need to see ASAP.
CHAPTER TWO
Somewhere in the Caribbean
Haisley’s head throbbed as consciousness slowly returned, each pulse like a hammer against her skull. Her mouth felt stuffed with cotton, her limbs heavy and uncoordinated. She pushed at the cold, hard floor until she managed to sit up, fighting a wave of dizziness as she tried to pierce her mental fog. She had to figure out what had happened and where she’d been taken.
The janitor. The mall. A hand clamping over her mouth. Being shoved into that old brown van.
She’d fought hard—kicked, screamed against the hand silencing her, clawed at her attacker, even broken his nose. But the sharp prick in her neck had ended her efforts to escape. As the drug took hold, she’d tried desperately to focus on the men in the van. The hulk who had grabbed her. The driver with the ball cap pulled low. Their accomplice with terrifyingly dead eyes waiting for her with the chilling smile. She’d demanded answers and tried to reason with them. But they’d ignored her completely as darkness claimed her.
Now she forced her eyes open, blinking against harsh fluorescent light. A cell. Maybe eight by ten feet. Concrete walls, a tiny barred window too high to reach, and a steel door with a small observation window. A narrow cot beneath her and another against the opposite wall where a woman in nondescript gray scrubs huddled, knees drawn to her chest.
“Where are we?” Haisley asked, her voice a raspy whisper.
The woman—girl really, probably around twenty—glanced nervously at the door. “An island,” she whispered. “That’s all I know. I’ve only been here a few days.”
Haisley’s heart hammered. An island. That meant they’d transported her somewhere—probably out of the country—on a plane while she was unconscious. How long had she been out? God, what day was it? “Do you know what they plan to do with us?”
The girl shrank further into herself. “I’ve tried to listen. Earlier, I heard chatter about some big event coming soon.” A guard shuffled in the hallway just outside their door. She gasped and paled. Then her voice dropped even lower. “No more questions. They’re always watching, and we’re not supposed to talk.”
Haisley glanced up and found a pair of cameras in the corner of the room.
“I understand. Has anyone hurt you?” Haisley tried to catch her eye, to forge a connection.
But the girl turned toward the wall. “Sorry. I don’t want trouble.”
Haisley’s throat tightened as she took in their prison. No obvious weaknesses in the walls or door. The narrow window might as well have been decorative. From outside, dusk poured in. Waves crashed against rocks. Normally, she would have found the sound soothing, but now it only emphasized how isolated they were.
She should never have gone to meet that janitor alone. She’d been so excited about the potential lead that she’d thoughtlessly put herself in the deserted hallway and walked right into their trap.