Kitabı oku: «Abduction»

I want to dedicate this book to Elaine—the absolute

best mother-in-law that a girl could ever have! Elaine,

thank you so much for your support over the years.

This Intrigue is for you.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Introduction

Title Page

About the Author

Dedication

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Extract

Extract

Copyright

Prologue

“Stay away from him, Jill.” Jillian West’s grandmother pointed toward the end of the long, wooden pier. A boy was there, gazing out at the distant waves, a boy who appeared to be just a little older than Jill. “He’s trouble.”

But he didn’t look like trouble. The boy’s blond hair blew in the wind and his faded T-shirt fluttered in the breeze.

“I’ll only be inside a minute,” her grandmother promised as she patted Jill’s shoulder. “Stay here.”

And then her grandmother was gone. She’d drifted into the little souvenir shop that waited near the pier, her voice drifting back to Jill as her grandmother called out a greeting to her friend inside the store.

Her grandmother had a lot of friends in Hope, Florida. It seemed that everyplace they went she met someone she knew. Jillian’s flip-flops slid over the wooden pier as she stared up at the boy with the blond hair. She’d moved in with her grandmother just a few weeks before, but she still hadn’t gotten a chance to talk with any kids in the town.

Her grandmother knew plenty of people, just no one who was close to Jillian’s age. No other kids around thirteen for her to chat with as she adjusted to her sudden, jarring new life.

Just then, the boy glanced back at her. She stiffened, but then Jill found herself lifting her hand in an awkward wave. She even took a few quick steps toward him. His head cocked as he stared at her.

Her hand fell back to her side.

He’s trouble. Her grandmother’s warning whispered through her mind once more.

But he was coming closer to her. His sneakers didn’t even seem to make a sound as he eliminated the distance between them, and then he was there, peering down at her. He was taller than she was, his shoulders already becoming broad, and he used one careless hand to shove back his overly long hair.

“I don’t know you,” he said. His voice was deeper than she’d expected. He appeared to be around fifteen, maybe sixteen, but that voice was so grown-up.

“No, ah, I’m new.” She tucked her hands behind her back. “I’m Jillian, but my friends call me Jill.”

His gaze swept over her—dark brown eyes. Deep eyes. When she looked hard enough—and Jill was looking so hard that she felt herself blush—she saw a circle of gold in those brown eyes.

“You think we’re friends, Jill?” He emphasized her name, just a bit.

She shrugged. “We could be.” She bit her lip and offered her hand to him. “It’s nice to meet you.”

He frowned at her hand, staring at it a little too long and hard, and then his gaze slowly rose to her face. “You have no clue who I am, do you?”

He’s trouble. Jillian shook her head. She felt so silly standing there, with her hand offered to him. Maybe she should drop her hand.

“I’m not very good friend material.” His lips twisted. “Ask anyone.”

She dropped her hand. She felt her cheeks burn with embarrassment. He doesn’t want to be my friend.

“I saw you with your grandmother.”

Wait, when had he seen her? She’d thought that he’d been staring at the water the whole time she’d been chatting with her grandmother.

His head cocked. “I’m surprised she didn’t tell you to stay away from me.”

“She did,” Jill blurted.

Surprise flashed on his face. “So you’re not good at doing what you’re told, huh?” He made a tut-tut sound. “What would your parents say?”

Her skin iced. The pain was so raw and fresh—it gutted her. Jill sucked in a sharp breath and took a quick step back. “They can’t say anything. They’re dead.” And she shouldn’t be talking to him. She shouldn’t be so desperate for a friend, for any friend, that she’d disobey her grandmother. Her grandmother was all she had left. If her grandmother got mad at her...what if her grandmother decided she didn’t want to be saddled with a kid? What if she dumped Jill someplace else? What if—

Jill spun on her heel. “I have to go.” She ran away from him, nearly losing a flip-flop in her hurry. She’d go back to the car. Wait there. And she would not talk to anyone until her grandmother finished her chat. Her eyes stung with tears as she fled and Jill heard the boy call out her name.

But she didn’t stop.

What would your parents say?

She wished they could still say something to her. Say anything to her.

The pier ended. Her flip-flops sank into the beautiful white sand of the beach, sand so white it was like sugar. The first time she’d seen that sand, she’d grabbed it, laughing at how light it felt as it ran through her fingers. She wasn’t laughing now.

She swiped at the tears on her cheeks. The first kid she’d met, and she’d started crying in front of him. What a way to get a good reputation in the town. Jillian’s a crybaby. Jillian’s a baby.

Her grandmother’s dependable four-door sedan waited a few feet away. There were only a few other cars in the parking lot. It was late, nearing sunset, and not many folks were still out.

“Are you okay, little girl?”

I’m not little. Those were the words that rose to her lips. But she didn’t snap them at the man who approached her. He was frowning, looking concerned.

Probably because I’m crying.

“Are you all alone?” He seemed horrified by the very idea.

“M-my grandmother is in the souvenir shop.” She pointed behind her. The man stepped closer to her. “She’ll be out soon.”

The man nodded as if that were a good thing, then his hand clamped over her shoulder. Hard. Hard enough to hurt and he leaned in toward Jill and whispered, “Not soon enough, Jill.”

How does he know my name?

She opened her mouth, but Jill didn’t get to scream. He slapped his other hand over her mouth and yanked her against him. She kicked out, struggling, but he was big and strong. So much bigger than she was. And he was running with her, heading toward a van a few feet away.

No, no, this can’t happen!

“Don’t make me kill you now,” he growled.

Jill froze.

He opened the side door of the van. He threw her inside, but Jill lunged forward, ready to jump back out again.

He hit her. A hard punch right to her face. It was the first time in Jill’s life that she’d ever been hit. For a moment, she was dazed. Her gaze slid away from the man before her—a monster—and...

She saw him...the boy from the pier. The boy with the too long blond hair. He was running toward her.

“Jill!” the boy yelled.

But the man who’d grabbed her...he jabbed something into her neck. Something sharp. A needle?

She fell back into the van, her head hitting the side panel, and darkness flooded Jill’s vision.

* * *

“JILL? JILL!”

Her eyes flew open and Jill sucked in a quick breath so that she could scream.

“No, don’t.” A sweaty hand flew over her mouth. “If you scream, he’ll hear you and he’ll find us.”

Us?

Jill blinked as she became aware of her surroundings. She was in a room with no furniture, just wooden walls. Her hands—her hands were tied together and so were her feet. She was on a dirty, dusty floor. Light burned from overhead, too bright, too stark.

“We can’t let him find us, Jill,” the boy said.

Boy. It was the boy from the pier. He had scratches on his face and his eyes were wide and intense as he stared down at her.

“I’ll untie you, and then we’re going to run. We’re going to run as fast as we can, got it?”

She nodded, tears stinging her eyes.

His hand slipped away from her mouth and he began to work on the ropes that held her. The ropes at her feet gave way quickly, but the ones that bound her wrists—they were knotted, stuck.

“Forget it,” he said and yanked her up to her feet. “We’ll get them later, after we’re out of here.”

She didn’t even know where here was, but she wanted to leave. She wanted to leave right then.

He pushed her toward the window. It was open and the scent of the salty ocean blew in toward her. “I’ll give you a boost. You get out, and you go, got it? You move. You don’t look back at me. Trust me, I’ll be coming. I’ll be right behind you. You just go.”

Jill nodded. She’d go.

He pushed her through the window and she fell out on the other side, hitting her shoulder with a jarring impact, but Jill pounced back to her feet and she started running. Only...there didn’t seem to be anywhere to run to. It was dark and there were trees shooting up all around her, a marshy-like area and she looked back, scared—

He was there. The boy with the too long hair. He grabbed her bound wrists. “Come on, Jill.”

She didn’t see the man who’d taken her. She was afraid he was out there, watching them. That he was going to attack them. Going to hurt them both.

Kill them.

They ran into muddy water, and it was cold, chilling her. Her teeth started to chatter, not from the cold, but from the terror clawing at her. “H-he...hurt me.” Her jaw still ached. “He...took me...” Kidnapped her from right out in the open. A parking lot.

“I saw him.” His fingers fumbled with the ropes that bound her wrists. The knots came free and he rubbed at her skin, being so careful with her. “I wasn’t going to let you vanish.”

Vanish.

That’s what would have happened to her, Jill knew it. She just would have vanished without a trace. “I want to go home,” she whispered.

Home...

The house she’d shared with her parents in Georgia. Her haven. Her safe place. She wanted her mom. She wanted her dad. She wanted this to be a terrible nightmare.

But the boy wrapped his arms around her and he held her tight. “It’s okay. We’re going to be okay.”

She believed him. He’d found her, someway. Gotten her out of...there. He saved her. “I don’t... I don’t even know your name.”

He pulled back and stared at her. “I’m Hayden. Hayden Black.”

Hayden. Such a good name for a best friend.

They ran until they reached the road. They ran and ran, but each time a car came by, Hayden made her hide.

He was afraid the kidnapper was coming for them.

Hours ticked by and then they finally made it to the small sheriff’s station. Lights blazed from inside the square building and patrol cars filled the parking lot. Hayden’s fingers were laced with hers as they walked up the wooden steps that led to the station. He opened the door, and they slipped inside.

There was instant silence. Every eye turned toward them.

Jill looked down at herself. Her clothes were torn and muddy. She’d lost her flip-flops. Her feet were raw and blistered.

And she was sure her jaw was bruised. It still hurt so much.

“Jillian!” Her grandmother ran to her and yanked Jill close in a crushing hug. “My little Jilly!”

Jilly. Her mother used to call her that, too. Jilly went up the hilly... Her own version of the rhyme.

The tears were falling again. Jill couldn’t stop them. Her grandmother wasn’t mad. She wasn’t going to send her away. Her grandmother smelled like sweet vanilla. Like apricots.

Like home.

“What in the hell did you do, boy?” It was a man’s voice, rough and demanding. And that voice...the man...he was nearby. A big, bearlike man wearing a sheriff’s uniform and sporting a gleaming badge. “You took that poor girl? You hurt her?”

No, no, of course Hayden hadn’t hurt her. Jillian struggled out of her grandmother’s desperate embrace. That big man had grabbed Hayden. His face was angry as the sheriff snarled, “You’re just like your father.”

All of the color bled from Hayden’s face.

“You pulled the wrong stunt today,” the man snapped. “You—”

Jill pushed her way between the sheriff and Hayden. Her whole body was shaking. “Hayden is my friend.”

Pity flashed on the sheriff’s face as his gaze peered down at her, lingering on her jaw. “Sweetheart, why don’t you just relax with your grandmother? You don’t have to be afraid. You don’t—”

“Hayden saved me.” Her dirty hand reached back and grabbed Hayden’s. She held him tight. “A man...took me...from the pier parking lot.” Her words were whispered and terror clawed at her as she remembered those desperate moments. “H-he hurt me. Tied me up. But Hayden got me out... Hayden helped me.” Hayden saved me.

The only sound she could hear was the ticking of the big clock on the wall. Jill’s desperate gaze flew around the room.

Her grandmother was crying.

The sheriff who’d been yelling at Hayden was staring at her in shock. And...

“I can take you back to him,” Hayden said, his voice oddly calm and still sounding so deep and...strong. “When he took Jill from the pier, I followed him on a bike. I wrecked it near the cabin, smashed it good. So we had to run on foot to get back, but I remember everything about the place. I can take you there.”

* * *

AND HE DID.

Hayden led the cops back to that little cabin that was nestled near the marsh. The authorities went in with sirens screaming and guns blazing. Jill sat huddled in the back of a patrol car, her grandmother’s arms constricted around her. Hayden was beside them looking watchful, intense.

The sheriff and his deputies searched the cabin. They brought in dogs to track the man who’d been there, but he was long gone...

“It’s okay, Jill,” Hayden whispered.

Her head turned toward him.

“I’ll make sure you stay safe.”

Such a big promise but...

She believed him.

Hayden Black wasn’t trouble. Her grandmother had been wrong about him.

He was a hero.

And he was her friend. Her very best friend in the whole entire world.

Chapter One

The world was dark and twisted. It was filled with monsters and evil.

FBI special agent Jill West kept a strong grip on her service weapon as she rushed into the little house at the end of Clover Lane. Her teammates were with her, moving quickly, efficiently. They were the agents on the Southeastern Division of CARD, the Child Abduction Rapid Deployment team, and their job was to find missing children.

Or in this specific case...one missing child. A sixteen-year-old girl named Jessica Thomas. Jessica had been gone for three days, but they’d tracked her abductor to this location, they’d followed their leads, they’d raced against time and now...

Be alive. Please, please, be alive.

There were too many cases that ended in tragedy, in funerals with grief-stricken families. Funerals with mothers and fathers who were too devastated to even speak. Her team needed a win...because those tragedies were pushing them all too close to the breaking point.

“Stay the hell back!” A man ran from the back room of that little house, a bloody knife gripped in his hand. “You ain’t taking her from me! No one’s taking her from me!”

In that instant, Jill realized three very important things.

One...the knife had recently been used on someone. The screaming man before her showed no injuries, so odds were high that the perp had attacked Jessica.

Two...the jerk was definitely on something. His speech was slurred, and he was weaving as he staggered toward her and the other agents in their bulletproof vests.

And three...this man wasn’t going down easy. He was lunging forward to attack her—

“Stand down!” Jill yelled. “Drop the weapon, now!”

He didn’t. He just screamed louder and lurched toward her.

Jill fired. Not a kill shot, she’d never taken that shot yet, but a shot that blasted into the man’s right shoulder. The knife fell to the floor with a clatter as he screamed and his blood soaked his shirt. “Perp down,” Jill snapped. She was wired—all of the agents were—and her earpiece had a microphone that would pick up her words so she knew the agent monitoring the team would immediately dispatch medical personnel. Then she hurried forward, kicking the knife even farther out of his way.

Agent Henry Shaw was at her side. He kept his gun leveled at the man howling on the floor. Henry, a tall, distinguished African-American agent, was the leader of their team. A damn good leader. “I got this guy, Jill,” Henry told her, his eyes never leaving the perp. “Find the girl.”

Jill gave an abrupt nod and hurried to the back room. She kept her gun at the ready. All of their intel had indicated that they were only looking for one assailant, that Neal Matthew Patrick had become obsessed with the sixteen-year-old victim after first meeting her in an online chat room. He’d abducted her, determined to live out that obsession.

But just in case the guy did have a partner, in case someone else was waiting to attack in that back room, Jill didn’t lower her guard.

The door was partially open. She used her foot to swing it all the way inward and then—

“Help...me...” Such a weak whisper, completely at odds with the desperate howling coming from Neal.

Jessica was on the floor, her hands pressing to her stomach—trying to stem the heavy flow of blood that had already soaked her shirt. Her face was stark white, her eyes so big and scared in her young face.

“Victim needs assistance!” Jill called out, knowing the monitoring agent would act immediately. “Get help in here, now!” And Jill ran to the girl’s side. She needed to see just how bad the damage was but the fear in her heart already told her...

Bad...it’s too bad.

“I—I want...m-my mom...” Jessica whispered.

Jill looked at the wounds—multiple stab wounds. So deep. A pool of blood was under Jessica’s body. “We’ll take you to your mom, don’t you worry, okay?” She applied pressure, fear nearly choking her.

“I’m sorry...” Jessica’s voice was even softer now. She was starting to shake. “T-tell her...s-sorry...n-never...should have...g-gone...”

Because Jessica had made a date with Neal. She’d snuck out of her house to meet him at her high school football field. She hadn’t realized she was going to meet a man who’d long gone over the edge. She couldn’t have known how dangerous that meeting would be for her. Just a date. A sixteen-year-old going on a date. That was all it had been, to Jessica.

“It’s all right,” Jill told her. “You’ll be with your mom soon and you can—”

Footsteps rushed behind her. Help, finally coming. The EMTs ran into the room and pushed Jill back. She watched them, hoping, praying, so very desperate.

Jessica was shaking even harder now.

Jill looked down at her hands. The girl’s blood covered her fingers. Her hands fisted. Her breath heaved in and out. Every heartbeat that passed seemed to echo in her ears.

Jill was still standing there, still watching them, when Jessica’s eyes closed, when the girl took her last breath. The EMTs didn’t give up, they kept trying to work, kept trying to bring her back but...

Jessica’s body had gone still.

She had just...

Another victim. Another child taken.

Jill stumbled outside, her stomach in knots. The night air hit her face, slightly chilled, making goose bumps rise on her arms. The cases weren’t supposed to be like this. She was supposed to help, not arrive in time to see a young girl die.

Tears pricked her eyes. The perp—that jerk Neal—was in the back of a nearby ambulance. He was alive. He was yelling at the agents with him.

Jessica was gone. Life was so unfair. So cold and dark and violent. She looked at the scene around her, the chaos, the pain, and then Jill glanced down at the blood that covered her hands.

I have to get away. I can’t do this. Not anymore.

“Jill?”

She put her hands behind her back and glanced over to see Henry frowning at her. Henry had been her mentor from the moment she signed on to the team. He’d trained her from day one when she joined CARD. As he stared at her, she saw the pity in his dark eyes.

He knows I’m close to breaking.

“We’ll need to tell the parents,” Jill said, trying to make her voice sound strong. The mother. They’d have to tell the mother. Jill swallowed.

“I can do it,” Henry offered. He always handled the families so well. He seemed to know exactly what to say to them. How to give them sympathy. How to let them grieve. “You did good work on this case,” he told her, his voice soft. “You were the one to find the house, to trace Neal here, you were—”

“I was too late.” That was the stark truth.

“This time,” Henry said, his jaw tightening. “But there will be other cases, other children. You of all people know how important our job is.”

Because of her past, yes, she knew. She also knew... “I have to talk to Jessica’s mother.” She needed to look the woman in the eyes and tell her that at the end, Jessica had been thinking of her. That her daughter had loved her. When she took a case, Jill saw it through to the end. But after she met with the Thomas family... Jill’s breath shuddered out. “Then I think I’ll take some of that vacation time I’ve been saving.” Hoarding, more like. Work had become her life in the last few years. Only now, that life seemed to be tearing her apart.

“Good idea,” Henry murmured. “Maybe you can go someplace warm. Someplace where you can forget about this coldness for a time.”

She thought of Jessica’s last words. “I think I’m going home,” Jill said. Home. The spot of her greatest happiness...

And her most desperate moments.

* * *

HE SAW HER the instant she came into town. It wasn’t as if it were easy to miss a woman like her. Jill West had always been able to stand out in a crowd. The sunlight hit her dark red head, making it gleam. She wore a pair of jeans that hugged her long legs, and she walked with an easy grace as she headed toward the pier.

Hayden Black stood inside of the bait shop, watching her as she moved with such purpose. It had been far too long since he’d seen Jill... Too damn long.

What were the odds that when she came back to Hope, he spotted her on that same damn pier? He hadn’t thought that she would come back. Hell, he’d been planning a trip to see her in Georgia, but for her to show up now...in that spot...

He’d never been a particularly lucky guy. The luckiest day of his life had been when he’d met a cute redheaded girl on that same pier.

A girl with the greenest eyes he’d ever seen. A girl who’d turned one of the most hated punks in that town into a hero.

“You gonna watch her all day?” Jeff Mazo, the owner of the bait shop asked. “Or are you actually gonna go over there and tell that woman hello?”

Jeff didn’t get it. The woman in question might not exactly be thrilled to see him. He and Jill hadn’t ended things on the best of terms.

I lusted for her during my teens. When I became a man, she was all that I could think about...

Then she’d joined the FBI and he’d become a SEAL. Two different paths. Two different lives.

Now they were back. Both back in Hope.

Maybe it’s not luck. Maybe it was more than that. Maybe.

“Never realized you were the nervous sort,” Jeff snorted, as if he’d just found this discovery incredibly amusing. “Bet that made for some real interesting missions, huh?”

Hayden just shook his head, refusing to let the guy needle him. “Don’t worry, Jeff, I’m just planning my move.” More like hoping that Jill didn’t tell him to get the hell away from her. He gave a little wave. “See you later, buddy.”

He headed out on the pier, and the old wood was sturdy beneath his feet. The scent of salt water tickled his nose. Hope. The town was gorgeous, a sweet little hideaway on the Florida Gulf Coast. It was early spring, so the place hadn’t gotten overwhelmed with tourists, not yet. Sure, a few hours away, the college kids were running amok at some of the bigger beachside cities, but Hope was quieter.

Softer.

Nothing ever happened in Hope.

Except for the abduction of a sweet redheaded girl...

The man who’d taken Jill had never been caught. And Hayden... For years, he’d woken up from nightmares in a cold sweat because of that fact. He’d been so worried that someone would take Jill from him.

And in the end, I’m the one who lost her. I did that all on my own.

He marched toward her. The wind ruffled her T-shirt and her hair, but she didn’t seem to care. She kept staring out at the waves, turbulent swells because a storm was coming.

When he was just a few feet away from her, Hayden stopped. “Hello, Jill.”

She didn’t whirl toward him in surprise. Didn’t give any shocked explanation. That wasn’t Jill’s style. Instead, she slowly turned to him with a look in her guarded green gaze that said she’d known all along that she was being watched.

But her green eyes widened just the faintest bit, a small show of surprise that told him... Jill had expected someone else to be on that pier. She just hadn’t expected that someone to be him.

“Hayden?” Her delicate brows arched as her gaze swept over him. “What are you doing here?”

He gave her a small smile even as he stalked a bit closer to her. That was the thing about Jill, she always made him want to get closer. Always pulled him in, even when he knew he should be staying away from her. Mingled with the scent of the ocean, he caught her fragrance. Sweet vanilla.

“I could ask you the same question,” he murmured. Damn but she looked good. Better than good. Heart-shaped face, wide eyes, full lips. She had just the faintest hint of freckles across the top of her nose, a little bit of the girl she’d been still hanging on to the woman she’d become.

She took a step toward him and her hands lifted, as if she’d reach out and hug him. Once, she would have done that. Once, she would have run right into his arms and held him tight.

And she would have fit perfectly against him. The way she always had.

But she faltered. Her hands fell. Uncertainty flashed on her face. “I’m here for a vacation. Isn’t that why most folks come to Hope?”

It wasn’t why he was back in Hope, and he didn’t believe for an instant that it was why she was back there, either.

His gaze swept over her. Jill was definitely grown-up now. She stood close to five foot six, and that meant his six-foot-three frame towered over her. When they’d been kids, she’d joked and asked him when he’d ever stop growing.

Every good memory I have is tied up in Jill West. So he didn’t stop, he didn’t falter. He closed the last bit of distance between them and wrapped her in a hug. Probably too tight, but he couldn’t really help himself. It had been far too long since he’d seen Jill. Even longer since he’d held her.