by Lisa Harris
She felt the barrel of his gun jab into her rib cage. “Get in the boat, on your knees. Now.”
She hesitated before obeying, knowing if she got on that boat and left with him, she was as good as dead. The bottom was wet with an inch of cold water, but that was the least of her worries. If someone didn’t find Papps quickly, he was going to bleed out and die. And if she didn’t get away, his family would eventually find her body floating in the water. If she was going to get out of this alive, she had to escape.
She spun around and jammed her elbow into the man’s Adam’s apple. He countered by throwing a wild punch at her, but she managed to duck, then block his punch. She screamed as he swung at her again. This time, she prayed Papps’s boys would hear her. She leveraged her weight to her advantage and blocked another punch, then struck the guy hard beneath his chin. But she wasn’t the only one trained in self-defense. A second later, he swung the butt of his weapon against her temple, and everything went dark.
CHAPTER TWO
JACK SHANNON PULLED INTO the parking lot in front of the restaurant located a couple blocks from Oso Bay where he’d agreed to meet his brother. At 7:00 a.m. the place was buzzing with the breakfast crowd, though he wasn’t surprised. The hole-in-the-wall eatery had the best fish tacos he’d ever tasted, both in and out of Corpus Christi, and had been one of his favorite go-to places back in high school after basketball games.
He and his brother had been close back then, but over the years they’d managed to drift apart. He always made a trip home for the holidays—most years anyway—to their parents’ house in Dallas where the couple had retired, but after he’d left Corpus, things had never been the same between him and Adam. And a big part of him still regretted letting that happen.
Adam was heading toward him as Jack stepped out of his car. His brother looked younger than his thirty-two years and still just as fit as he’d always been.
Jack glanced at his watch. “I’m not late, am I?”
“Early, actually. But we’ve got a problem. I’m sorry to bail on you, but I just got a call from the local sheriff.”
“What’s going on?”
Adam’s jaw tensed. “Grant McKenna was shot, out duck hunting this morning about an hour out of the city.”
“Senator McKenna?”
“Yes.”
Jack frowned at the news. It wasn’t the first time he’d heard about an accidental shooting. Every year there were cases of both stray and self-inflicted pellets, where hunters were shot—sometimes even killed—with their own weapons. It was one of the reasons Adam had gotten involved in the area’s hunter education programs, promoting safe hunting outside his job as a game warden. But this surprised Jack. He knew the senator was not only an excellent marksman but also a stickler about safety.
“Is he going to be okay?” Jack asked.
“He’s in critical condition and en route to the hospital.” Adam’s gaze shifted past him. “But there’s something else, Jack. They don’t believe this was an accident.”
“What do you mean?”
Adam hesitated. “He was hunting with his boys, one of his grandsons, and Aubrey Grayson.”
“Wait a minute . . .” Jack’s fists clenched as he leaned back against his car. “Bree?”
“You were the only one she let call her that, but yeah . . . I thought that might get your attention.”
“What was she doing there? I thought she was living in Houston.”
“She is, but she still comes down here at least once a year to go hunting with the senator’s family. According to Senator McKenna’s son, there were six of them who went out. They got there early to set everything up, and the senator went with Aubrey to watch the sunrise before the hunting started, where he was shot.” Adam glanced at his phone. “Officers first on the scene tried to talk with him, but he was pretty out of it. They’re life flighting him back here and have a team of surgeons waiting, but we’re not going to know anything for a while.”
“What does Bree say? I’m guessing she was a witness?”
“All we know at this point is that the senator took a bullet to his side, and Aubrey . . .” Adam hesitated. “She’s missing, Jack.”
“Missing?” His brother’s words felt like a punch in the gut. “Wait a minute . . . Why would she be missing?”
“That’s what we’re trying to find out.”
“So you have no idea where she is right now?” Jack asked.
Adam shook his head. “Unfortunately, no. We’re thinking abduction.”
“How long has she been missing?”
Adam glanced at his watch. “They found the senator twenty minutes ago.”
Which meant if she’d been abducted, she could be anywhere along the coastline or even miles inland. Jack frowned. They needed something else. A clear insight into the motivation behind the attack. The most logical explanation was that this was related to the senator, but they couldn’t make any assumptions yet.
“What can I do to help?” Jack asked.
“I figured you’d ask that. I could use your help. You know both Bree and the terrain around here as well as I do.”
“Of course. What’s the plan?” He didn’t hesitate with his response. He’d find a way to work around his current case with the FBI, because there was no way he was walking away from helping to find Bree.
“You can come with me now,” Adam said. “I’ve called in the search and rescue team, and they’re organizing a grid search near the spot where she was taken. We can join them there.”
“Then let’s go.”
Jack slipped into the car next to his brother, remembering every detail about one of the last times he’d seen Bree. They’d left campus and gone cycling along the coast, something they’d been doing together for years. But on that day, somehow the sunlight brought out the highlights in her reddish-brown hair more than usual, and her laugh had him wanting to kiss her.
Which at the moment seemed crazy.
They’d known each other since they were both eleven years old and had gone to the same junior high and high school together. They’d always been comfortable hanging out, but while they were close, they were never more than friends. Until one day in college, everything changed for him, and he found himself wanting more than just a friendship with her.
But there was a problem. Three months earlier, Bree had started dating Adam, and not only had Jack suddenly realized he was in love with her, he was lost to know how he fit into the picture anymore. He ended up transferring to the University of Texas at Dallas in order to pursue a degree in criminology. Career-wise, it was a smart move. But relationship-wise, in trying to guard his heart, he’d misjudged the situation.
He thought Bree and his brother would eventually end up married, but six months after he left for Dallas, they broke things off and went their separate ways. Jack never said anything to anyone about how he felt about Bree, and now, all these years later, too much time had been lost, as far as he was concerned. Turning back the clock at this point wasn’t possible, even if he wanted to.
He shifted his thoughts from the past and back to the situation they were dealing with as Adam sped down the highway. Any feelings he’d once had for Bree didn’t matter at this moment. Finding her alive did.
“Is there anything else we know at this point?” he asked.
“Not really.” Adam’s fingers gripped the steering wheel. “No one knows exactly what time she left camp, but the senator told his oldest son he was going to join her to watch the sunrise, then they’d both return. About twenty minutes later, the senator’s son heard a woman scream—presumably Aubrey—and started looking for them. They found the senator with a gunshot wound to his side. Bree was nowhere to be found.”
“And they weren’t able to get any information out of him?”
“Just that she had gone looking for the gunman.”
Jack frowned as a string of regrets surfaced. Back then, he’d decided it wasn’t worth fighting his brother over a woman. He’d
ended up with a master of science degree in criminology, eventually joining the FBI and moving to Denver. The past—and Aubrey Grayson—eventually faded into the background. But in all these years, no one had come close to taking hold of his heart like she had.
“Is it possible she fell into the water?” Jack spoke out loud as half a dozen possible scenarios ran through his head. “Maybe she was shot as well?”
“They’ve searched the immediate area where the senator was found, and so far, there’s no sign of her. According to his sons, there have been a number of threats to their father over the past few months, though that isn’t unusual. He’s still a high-profile figure even though he’s no longer in office.”
“So you think this is somehow politically motivated?”
“I don’t think we can jump to conclusions. But with her missing, I think it’s pretty safe to assume this was no accident.”
“Agreed, but why take Bree if they were after the senator?”
“That’s what we need to figure out.”
Jack stared out at the ocean as they sped toward the crime scene. Palm trees framed the blue waters in the distance. He loved the familiar feel of city and surrounding wetlands where he’d grown up along the miles of beaches and shallow flats with their year-round fishing, and winter duck hunting with his family. He swallowed hard, feeling the need to stuff the past back where it belonged. In the past. But there was still one thing he needed to say.
“Listen, Adam. I know there are things that need to be said between us. I know it’s been too long since I’ve been here, and too long since we spent any time together.”
“Forget it.” Adam shook his head. “I’m pretty sure you’ll agree that nothing matters right now except finding Aubrey.”
Jack nodded. His brother was right. This wasn’t the time to dig up any grievances between the two of them, even if it was simply to try and patch them up. There would be time for that later.
They rode the next fifteen minutes in silence. He’d planned on catching up with Adam about his brother’s wife and two little girls over breakfast with a dozen questions he wanted to ask. But at the moment he couldn’t stop thinking about Bree and what might have happened to her.
“We’ll be at the meeting place in just a few minutes now.” Adam pulled off onto a dirt road that ran parallel to the water.
“How are you doing with this?” Jack asked.
Adam glanced at him. “You mean because I used to date her?”
Jack shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “Just because the two of you didn’t end up together doesn’t erase the fact that you once cared deeply about her.”
“No, and I still do. I’d hate to see anything happen to her. But what about you? She was your best friend.”
Jack felt a jolt. He hadn’t just fallen in love with any girl. He’d fallen in love with his best friend. How had he let the past decade come between them?
“She was, and that’s why I’m here with you right now.”
In another couple of miles, Adam pulled off the road where a circle of law enforcement vehicles had gathered.
A heavyset uniformed man in his late fifties approached as they exited the car. “Adam Shannon . . . thanks for coming. I was told you were taking over the case once you arrive. You know these wetlands better than anyone here.”
“And I’ve brought reinforcements. My brother knows this area as well and is willing to help.”
Jack held out his hand to the older gentleman. “Jack Shannon. I’m glad to be of help.”
“We’re glad you’re here. I’m Sheriff Matt Daniels. You’re with the FBI, aren’t you?”
Jack nodded. “I’m down here investigating a case, but I know both Aubrey Grayson and the senator.”
“We can use all the help we can get,” the sheriff said.
“Update me on what’s been done so far,” Adam said.
“We’ve searched the immediate vicinity where the senator was shot, looking for Detective Grayson and any evidence of what happened, but so far there is no sign of her. We’re currently expanding the search and have just sent the first two teams out on the water.”
“I’ve arranged to have drones and a K9 unit here in the next thirty minutes,” Adam said.
“Good.”
Jack walked over to the hood of one of the law enforcement cars where a map of the area was spread out. “Can you show me where they were hunting?”
“Here.” The sheriff jabbed the map with his finger. “About fifty yards to our east, at the edge of this small island of mangroves.”
Jack frowned. One of Bree’s favorite spots.
“And where did they find the senator?”
The sheriff pointed to a spot highlighted in yellow.
Memories of a brown-haired girl with big brown eyes and a dash of freckles across her nose and a fondness for dark chocolate, pizza, cycling, and country music flooded through him. He was surprised he remembered so much about someone he’d tried to forget for so long. He forced himself to switch gears, shoving the memories aside, and instead worked through a list of probable scenarios. He knew the area from his own time on the water growing up. He and Adam had spent hours duck hunting, fishing, and boating, and the majority of the time, Bree had been right there with them.
What he couldn’t forget, though, was that she was no longer the fresh-faced teen he’d grown up with. She was a well-trained police detective, smart and capable. Whoever had taken her had better be on their guard, because she wouldn’t go down without a fight.
But even that knowledge didn’t take away his anxiety.
Jack zoomed in on the map. “If someone took her, they’d probably head east by boat toward the main waterway here. That would be the quickest way out if someone was trying to avoid being seen.”
Adam nodded. “Agreed.”
“Okay then.” The sheriff pulled out his radio. “We’ll send out two more teams and have them spread out toward that point.”
The plan was solid, but Jack knew they were looking at miles and miles of terrain. If they were off the mark at all, finding her would be almost impossible.
“I want to go out there on the water,” he said.
“Done,” Adam said. “We’ve got two more boats ready to go. I’ll send an officer with you, so you can concentrate on finding her.”
“Good.”
“And Jack . . .” Adam caught his gaze. “Thank you.”
Jack nodded, but he wasn’t doing this for his brother. He was doing it for a best friend his heart had never forgotten. And not only because he’d once loved her. As anxious as he was to find her, he’d come to terms with her not being a part of his life. He’d moved on, and he had no doubt she had as well. But none of that would ever take away the place in his heart she’d once held.
A minute later, he was introducing himself to his pilot, a young game warden named Christopher Beckett, who didn’t look a day over twenty-one. They quickly went over the route he wanted to take, then Officer Beckett started the engine of the Majek boat. Jack scanned the familiar terrain as the boat headed out onto the water, looking for anything that seemed out of place.
We’ve got to find her, God . . . Please . . .
A wave of guilt surfaced. The night he’d told her he was transferring schools, she’d said that, as much as she was going to miss him, she couldn’t blame him for jumping on the chance to follow his dream. She’d probably have done the same thing if she’d been in his place. And yet, he hadn’t missed the disappointment in her eyes.
On top of that, he’d always regretted not telling her the truth about how he felt that day. But would it really have mattered? His best friend was falling in love with his brother. Staying wouldn’t have changed anything. It would only have put a wedge between them.
Which was exactly what had ended up happening anyway.
He stared out along the slow-moving waterway that had been his backyard growing up. Signs of life were everywhere throughout the marshy bay, but there was no sign of
a second boat. No sign of Bree.
He held on to the grab rails in the middle of the boat next to Officer Beckett, trying to imagine what Bree would have done. If she could, she would have left some kind of clue. Something that would point them in the right direction, like Hansel and Gretel’s bread crumbs. And yet nothing but the morning sunlight reflected off the waters.
Where was she?
They continued chugging through the choppy water, the banks flanked by reeds and the gray horizon in front of them.
He signaled at Beckett, then shouted above the motor. “Slow down. What’s that up ahead?”
Beckett shifted the boat into neutral. “Looks to me like it’s the sun reflecting off something in the water.”
Jack tried to swallow his disappointment, but the man was right. His stomach tightened. The problem was that every minute they were out here meant she was another minute farther away.
Beckett maneuvered the boat down the middle of the waterway. “Did you know the missing woman?”
“I did. She was . . . an old friend of mine.”
“I don’t know her, but I met the senator a few times. He’s a good man. One of those politicians that from what I could see always tried to do what was right for his constituents.”
“He is a good man. I met him a couple times as well and always liked him. She was like a daughter to him. We need to find her.”
“Keep looking. We will.”
He wanted to believe that, but the reality was that whoever had taken her had enough of a head start that they could be miles away, depending on which direction they had taken. By land, they could be on the way to Houston, Laredo, or San Antonio, but there was also the port that was filled with vessels going in and out constantly. They needed to find a way to narrow down the search.
Adam’s voice crackled over Jack’s hand radio. “Anything yet?”
