by Natalie Dean
He brought the phone up to his ear. “Hello?”
Immediately, his face went ashen gray. His whole body tensed, which was especially noticeable because he was virtually unclothed. “We’re on our way,” he said.
Uh-oh.
David didn’t get that tone unless something was wrong. He immediately left Adrianna on the bed and pulled on his pants. “Get dressed, now,” he snarled. “Ellie’s missing.”
Chapter 4
Adrianna pulled on her clothes as fast as she could. Her dress slipped right on, but when she tried to put on her shoes, she lost her balance and nearly wiped out. She caught herself before she could fall, but her brain wasn’t working properly. Ellie, her sweet Ellie, was missing.
She’d been dumb to leave her alone. It must have been the guy. John stayed on the phone with David, telling him everything he knew as they ran to the car and jumped inside, leaving Adrianna to stew in her own thoughts. It was like her own little personal torture- to know that something had happened but to not know anything else. Was Ellie taken? Did she just walk off? Was she okay? What had happened?
She’d probably driven faster before, but she couldn’t remember when. A less talented driver would have swerved off the road at least five times by now.
“What happened?” she demanded the moment that he ended the call.
“Someone took her,” he said. His lips were tight and angry. His entire body was hard as a rock. “They don’t know who. She got away from the other girls, and someone put her in a truck before driving off. He said it was a big man and a driver.”
Adrianna felt dread wash through her body. Everything she’d been afraid of, everything she’d feared, had come true. Someone, probably that guy, had stolen their baby girl. Sure, Ellie wasn’t blood-related to Adrianna, but it felt like she was. She’d never forgive herself if something happened to her. She felt her blood start boiling as she imagined what she’d do to whoever had kidnapped her.
They zoomed up into the parking lot to see two police cars with their lights on and parents all around, comforting their kids and leaving. The police officers looked up at them when they pulled in, looking like they might start shooting. Adrianna slammed on the brakes, sending the car screeching to a halt across the gravel parking lot.
The cops were there to greet her, but when they saw she wasn’t armed, they let her go. She had no idea if David was near her, but she was steaming mad. She spotted John from across the lot. He was speaking to some officers, who were taking notes on what he said.
He saw her coming and stepped towards her. “I’m so sorry. I tried to keep tra-“
Adrianna wasn’t interested in hearing what he had to say. He’d failed. He had said he’d keep track of Ellie and he’d let her get taken. She reared back a fist and popped him in the mouth. She heard herself screaming something at him, but honestly, she couldn’t even hear her own words. When she got genuinely angry, she somehow blacked out. The next thing she knew, the officers were trying to hold her back, and John was holding a broken nose.
David was there a moment later. He stepped in front of her, eyes dark and angry. The moonlight wasn’t comforting like earlier at Trees. It was dark, ominous, and eerie. The cold winter air had kicked into a full, chilling breeze that made her very bones shiver.
“This won’t help anything,” she could hear him saying. He was holding her shoulders, trying to calm her down. His fingertips were digging into her soft skin. He was as angry as she was, but he wanted to contain it.
It took her upwards of thirty minutes to switch back to her professional mind. That had never happened before. She rarely, if ever, stayed emotional for more than a few moments. Usually, at the first sign of distress, she’d analyze and figure it out. Even when she was a kid, when people would bully her for being so boyish, she’d consider it intelligently. She’d grown a thick skin, a kind of skin that rarely got punctured.
But when she finally did switch, she had no emotion whatsoever. She felt numb. Even the cold air didn’t do anything to her. She used her senses to search for recent auras. There were so many people there that it was hard to isolate any particular aura, but the twisted one from the huge man at the mall was certainly present. He’d been there. She couldn’t track him. Her mind was entirely too spaced out right then. She needed to be able to focus to track auras, but right then her emotions were so wild that she couldn’t.
She saw a familiar face about an hour later- Agent Stone, her supervisor at the FBI. He was a man mountain and about as rough as his name. He arrived in a small black car driven by someone else. As usual, he acted like he was in charge immediately. His two lackeys spread out to do something else while he walked up to her and David.
“Whetmore,” he said, looking down at her. He was huge, probably about as big as the hooded man. His gray suit must have taken some incredible adjustments. “The FBI’s here. We’re taking over this case. We know the perpetrator.”
He held out a phone that she took. She almost cracked the screen clenching it so hard. It was him- the hooded man in a mugshot. He had the same broken stance, the misshapen bulge on his back. But this time she could see his face. He looked distinctly like a Neanderthal, with an enormous square jaw, small eyes, and a brutish expression. He was as big as he had looked in the mall- the sign next to him said 6’9”, but not skinny. Just… massive.
“His name is Jacob Jackson,” Stone said, who suddenly looked rather frail compared to Jacob. “Arrested eight years ago for the murder of a child. He just got out.”
“Why’d he do this?” David said. “Why Ellie?”
Stone looked at David with a scowl. He’d never liked David. He’d seen him as a distraction to his best agent. All of a sudden, the FBI wasn’t the only thing in Adrianna’s life. That wasn’t good to him. “Looks like he had quite a relation with The Owl. I’d be willing to bet he came for revenge for you two putting him up.” He paused. “But I didn’t come to tell you that. I came here to tell you, Agent Whetmore, to stay away from this case.”
Adrianna must have misheard him. “I know you didn’t tell me that.”
“This case is too personal. We’ll catch the perp, but we can’t compromise the case with having you in it.”
“But I’m the best tracker you have!”
He snorted. “You’re the best damn Hound we have, Whetmore, but I can’t send you on this one. I’ve already put Smith and Johnson on it.”
“Smith and Johnson?” She swore. “Those idiots can’t find anyone!”
“They’re the best we have apart from you,” he said with a tone in his voice that warned against any argument. Stone could arrest her if he thought she’d disobey him. “I’m warning you, Whetmore. Stay away from this case.” He loomed over her like a mountain. “Understand?”
“I can’t promise you anything,” she growled.
Stone nodded. He knew she was going to ignore him, and he also knew he wasn’t going to stop her. Even if Stone arrested her, she’d bust out somehow and chase the guy. He’d given up trying to control her. In a backward sort of way, he was trying to protect her. He wasn’t telling her to stay away near as much as he was trying to warn her that he wouldn’t take it easy on her if she ignored his advice.
He acknowledged David silently and lumbered away to question some of the locals to see what had happened. The FBI would get him, all right…but without Adrianna’s tracking abilities, they had to rely on facts. It could take hours, days, or even weeks to get a lead. As soon as she calmed down, Adrianna could start tracking him with nearly impeccable accuracy.
“So,” David murmured beside her, “When do we start?”
“We need weapons,” she said.
“We got those at the apartment,” he replied.
“Let’s go.”
It wasn’t the time for long, drawn-out conversations. Neither David nor Adrianna felt terribly compelled to have an in-depth discussion. They didn’t have the time to wait around. More precisely, Ellie didn’t have the time. Jaco
b could be trying to scare them by kidnapping her, or Ellie could be in real danger. A murderer had their sweet little girl.
Adrianna couldn’t believe any of this was happening. It made sense. She’d heard of stuff like that before- revenge killings or revenge kidnappings geared toward officers of the law that had gotten someone locked up, but she’d never once imagined that she’d be in the middle of such a tale. The Owl had wide-spread influence when he’d been out, so it made plenty of sense that he had at least a few goons around still.
She’d gone through all her emotion. She’d gone from terrified for the girl to furious at the kidnapper to simply numb. Now, she was starting to level out. She knew the facts of the game. Now she just had to play better than Jacob Jackson. In a few minutes, her emotions would have cooled down enough for her to start tracking, for them to start tracking Jacob. Her emotions would probably be back to normal by the time she got to the apartment.
On the way out of the parking lot, Adrianna caught Stone’s disapproving eye. He could tell she was going to ignore him. She was way too easy to read, and Stone had known her for years. He probably had no doubt that she was off to get weapons to chase him down. Very solemnly, he tipped his head in respect. He’d probably give her a day to get started before he “realized” she was gone. He was a good friend. A bit of a jerk, and quite a blowhard, but someone that she could count on in a firefight.
It wouldn’t be easy. Tracking in a more populated area never was. There were just too many auras to pick out one and follow it. As Adrianna drove them back to the apartment, she tried to figure out a good way to find Jacob. He must have had help. John had told David that someone had driven the truck, so there were at least two people to worry about. The bowling alley was right by a stop light, and kidnappers rarely stop for a red light, so they could probably identify the truck’s license plate through the cameras above the light.
“We’ll get her back,” David said as they drove.
And they would. Adrianna didn’t know how, or when, but she did know that this Jacob guy had bitten off more than he could chew. When they got back to the apartment, she found exactly what she was hoping for- a note slid under the doorstep on the inside of the apartment. A note meant ransom, and ransom meant Ellie was still alive.
David ripped open the package to read the note. Adrianna looked at it with him. Neither one said a word as they read.
Your girl is safe for now. If you want her back, follow these directions: in two days, the Governor is coming in. Kill him, and we’ll let your girl go free. If you fail…you had better look into adoption.
There was, as was to be expected, no signature.
David took the paper to the shredder and put it through. A few moments later, the note was no more than confetti. If the FBI searched their apartment and found that note, David and Adrianna would be detained for protection/questioning. “So…what do you think?”
Adrianna wasn’t entirely sure what to think. She’d been hoping for a simple ransom: pay this amount of money and get her back. Easy peasy, done in fifteen minutes. Killing the Governor was entirely too hard for mere grunts. The Governor had bodyguards for a reason. But for a power couple like Adrianna and David, the bodyguards wouldn’t be able to do much, especially since they were something of celebrities in Calidad. They could get up close and personal like few others could do.
“Well….” Adrianna sighed. “We have two days to find them. If we don’t, I say we kill the Governor.”
He gave her a funny look. “Well, that went a different direction than I was expecting. Let’s stick with finding her.”
And with those words, the search began.
Chapter 5
The first thing Adrianna and David needed was ammo. If they found the guy, they needed a way to nab him that didn’t involve the police. If it came down to it, as an officer of the law, Adrianna could shoot and kill him. Honestly, given a choice between shooting to kill and shooting to incapacitate…
Let’s just say someone had better think of good things to say at his funeral.
She grabbed the chrome handgun that her father had given her. She’d lost it the year before while trying to survive The Owl, but the cleanup teams had found it and returned it to her.
David went off into another part of the house and returned with his own gun. He slid it into his pocket, which is when Adrianna realized she needed to change. Wearing a dress into battle wasn’t too logical. That’s why she tended to wear jeans and a shirt for her FBI work. It was tough, efficient, and stylish at the same time. Sure, she probably looked more sophisticated with a dress, but sophistication didn’t matter when things got real. Sometimes she even wore a bulletproof vest, but she didn’t own one herself, and she doubted the FBI would give her one right then.
She grabbed her good jeans, her worn combat boots, and a long sleeve shirt. It was winter, and where she was from it tended to get quite cold. The last thing she needed was to freeze while tracking. She was just hoping that it didn’t rain or snow. That tended to really jack up her extra senses.
By now, she was less worried. They had two days until Ellie was in true danger. They had to be subtle, of course. If Jacob learned that an FBI agent and MMA fighter was right on his doorstep, he might do something drastic. Other than that, he probably didn’t expect them to find him in two days. An average person couldn’t. Without her tracking abilities, it’d take her at least a day to get access to the necessary tapes and another day to start tracking.
Having this sixth sense had its advantages.
Come to think about it, she really had no idea why she had this sixth sense. Neither of her parents had it. When she’d told her dad, he’d just shrugged and said “some of us got more gifts than others. That’s life. Life just gave you a whole bunch of lemons.” But lemon analogies aside, it was something she liked having. She’d only been wrong once back in high school before she’d really started honing in on her skill. Every other time, she’d been able to get a perfect read on a moment’s notice. The agency had been surprised by her prowess and her ability to track people down at first. When they’d finally decided to question her about it, she chose not to tell them about her sixth sense. She just said she had a hunch about what direction to look. They knew there had to be more to it, but chose to look the other way.
She’d ignored the agency only once before. They had ordered her to bring David in, back when he was accused of murder. She’d realized he was innocent and disobeyed them. It ended up okay, but that was her one straw. She doubted they’d be so understanding the second time around. Few agents had disobeyed them even once. None had ignored their instructions twice, especially not twice in two years. Agent Stone might give her a head start, but then again- it was his job on the line. If he got caught giving her a head start, he’d be in major trouble. He might be waiting outside the apartment to catch her. She had no idea. But she knew she had to try.
“I can’t believe this craziness is happening again,” David grumbled. “I’m starting to think you’re bad luck.”
There was just the slightest hint of humor in his voice. He was as mad as she was about his daughter being taken, but he was trying to stay calm. Staying furious would do nothing short of getting him into a bunch of arguments with Adrianna. They both were stressed. They were both eager for revenge. They needed to work together. David knew more about The Owl’s group, and Adrianna knew how to track better.
“Where are we headed?” David asked as they got into the car.
“Dunno yet.”
By that time it was late- just before midnight. Adrianna had never been good with staying up. She could get up bright and early, but at about 10 p.m. she was zonking out. Because of this, if she tried to drive, they were probably going off a bridge. David, on the other hand, could stay up all night and be happy as a clam. David took the wheel as Adrianna tried to isolate the aura.
“You getting anything?” David asked as they drove back towards the bowling alley.
She tried
to find the aura, she really did, but trying to isolate it was nearly impossible. She knew her own limits. It had been too long, and there had been too many people there to truly get a good reading. She might have been able to see it if she’d been there to witness the kidnapping, but between the auras of the policemen, the FBI agents, the parents, the kids, and the kidnappers, she got a general taste but not enough. It was like tasting a meal and knowing it had some sort of meat in it. What kind? Chicken? Beef? Pork? Sometimes hard to tell.
They would have to rely on methods other than her failing sixth sense.
Luckily, she knew exactly who would have those resources.
“We’re heading to the agency.”
David looked over at her. “The agency? Are you crazy?”
“Crazy like an actress.”
“I think you mean crazy like a fox?”
“I prefer actress.”
Nevertheless, he steered towards the agency. Adrianna could tell he had no idea what she was thinking. He’d been there when Stone had told her to stay away from the agency. Adrianna wasn’t planning to go straight into the main complex, anyway. She was headed to her friend’s section in the tech department.
As they drove, she told David what her plan was.
“I have a friend in the tech department. She always forgets to lock her door. I mean, nobody usually cares because her department is just surveillance and nobody ever busts in there, but it’ll be helpful for us.”
“You’re talking about breaking into the agency.”
“I’m talking about going through an open door in the agency. No law against that.”
But they both knew the truth. What they were doing was illegal. Sure, it might hold up in court, but Stone could easily just arrest them on suspicion right then.
Fun stuff.
The agency was illuminated. It was always open, throughout the entire day and night. Sure, there were times when ordinary civilians couldn’t go in, but Adrianna had the keycode. They’d let her in, and David could follow her.
