Only Her (A K2 Team Novel)

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Only Her (A K2 Team Novel) Page 23

by Sandra Owens


  Riley gasped. “Mrs. Decker?”

  “So you remember me?”

  “Of course, I do. How-how are you?” Riley was taken aback by the malice in the woman’s eyes. She shouldn’t be surprised, though, since Mrs. Decker blamed her for Reed’s death. Why was she here?

  A plaintive wail sounded from the carrier, and Riley froze. She knew that meow. “Pelli?” she whispered. The odor of urine and feces coming from the carrier reached her nose, and she rushed over, opening the door. Pelli sprang out, right into her arms. As a thinner Pelli snuggled against her neck, Riley turned, intending to give Reed’s mother a piece of her mind. The words died at the sight of a gun pointed at her chest.

  “Stupid cat cries all the time,” Mrs. Decker said. “Here’s how this is going to go.” She tossed a canvas tote onto the exam table. “You’re going to put on a wig and glasses, and then we’re leaving by the back door.”

  “I’m so sorry about Reed, but I’m not going anywhere with you.” It had not once occurred to her to suspect Reed’s mother, and it now seemed stupid not to have considered her. But she’d tried so hard to bury her past, leaving any thoughts of him and his family behind.

  “Now, Riley.”

  She shook her head. If they left through the back, the K2 guy would never know she was missing until it was too late. With a gun pointed at her, though, did she have a choice?

  “I have no problem with shooting you right here.” She swept her arm across the counter next to her, knocking things to the floor, causing Riley to jump. “You took everything away from me. Reed was going to make it to the pros and give us a better life. After our son died, Larry got depressed, lost his damn job. He worked odd jobs here and there, but we fell behind on the mortgage, and the bank foreclosed on our house. Six months ago he sat in our car in the garage with the motor running. You took everything away from me.” Spittle flew from her mouth as she yelled the last part.

  Riley had never seen so much hate in another person’s eyes, and she backed up a step. Because she’d made a point of not keeping tabs on the Deckers, she hadn’t known that Reed’s father was dead, which was another reason she hadn’t considered Mrs. Decker when she’d read that damn profile report. As far as Riley had known, Mr. and Mrs. Decker were alive and well at their home in Gainesville.

  Mrs. Decker waved the gun. “Put the damn wig on.”

  Although she’d always heard you should do anything possible to keep from going anywhere with your abductor, she wasn’t willing to take the risk. If she tried to stall and Brooke came in to see why things were taking so long, what would happen? She could be taken hostage, too, or worse, be shot.

  As much as she didn’t want to put Pelli back into the nasty carrier, she did so. He would be safe left behind. Brooke or someone would find him soon. His pitiful cries tore at her heart, but it was for his own good. She just wished he understood that. The wig was a shorthaired, red one, and once she had it on, she put on the oversized glasses.

  “Take off the lab coat.”

  “I can’t. I don’t have anything on under it.” Not true, she had a T-shirt on, but her phone was in the lab coat, and she might have a chance to call for help at some point.

  “No matter. If anyone sees us leaving, I’ll just shoot them.”

  The woman had always been high-strung, but now she was acting deranged, which made her frightening. “You have a chance to walk away before you do something you can’t take back. What you’re considering won’t bring them back.” Even though Mrs. Decker had never shown her any affection, Riley felt sorry for her. She’d lost so much, and Riley had played a part in that happening. “I’m so sorry. I loved Reed, too, and I’d give anything to bring him back.” As soon as she said it, she knew she’d made a mistake.

  “Shut up! You’re not worthy of saying his name. I never should have allowed you in my house. What my son saw in you, I’ll never understand.” She sneered. “It was probably because you put out when the nice girls didn’t. He didn’t love you. It was lust, nothing more.”

  If Riley knew nothing else, it was that Reed had loved her until the day he loved his drugs more. But the words still hurt. She’d often wondered why Reed, one of the most popular boys at school, had chosen her. But all that was history, and she loved another man now. She almost chuckled. It took having a gun pointed at her and facing death for her to admit the truth. She loved Cody, deeply, truly, and irrevocably, and she’d spent the last two days shutting him out. If she didn’t make it through this, that would be her big regret.

  Mrs. Decker gestured toward the door, using the gun. “Time to go. You so much as step wrong, I’ll turn this place into a shooting gallery, starting with you.”

  Riley believed her, and she had no choice but to obey.

  Cody was happy. Tom had agreed that he could handle going back to active duty. Cody knew his issues hadn’t evaporated into thin air. He still had a lot of work to do, and he would keep his appointments with his head doc. But remembering the rest of his dream had been the breakthrough he’d needed to move forward. The nightmare hadn’t returned either. It seemed he had only needed to remember the rest for it to go away.

  The guilt was still there for his part in what had happened, but as Tom said, “It was war, man. Instant decisions are made based on what is known at the time, and your intention was to protect the family. You didn’t go to the Taliban and tell them Asra was feeding you intel. It was her decision to do that. She had to know the risks. How they found out, you’ll probably never know, but you’re going to have to forgive yourself and let it go.”

  He was going to damn well work on that. And if a successful therapy session wasn’t enough, Riley had answered his text. On top of that, Wizard had e-mailed, saying that the lead on Layla was a strong one. Life was looking pretty damn good.

  As he made the turn into the clinic parking lot, a police car—siren blaring—raced up, coming in behind him. A sick feeling churned in his gut, the instincts he’d honed in a war zone screaming that Riley was in trouble.

  Mike Kilpatrick exited the police car, arriving at the clinic door at the same time as Cody. “What’s going on?” Cody asked, pushing in ahead of Mike.

  “Not sure. Brooke called in a panic. Said she couldn’t find Riley.”

  “How long?” And where the hell was Baker, the K2 guy assigned to guard her today?

  “About three minutes ago. I was cruising the area. Why I got here so fast.”

  Brooke skirted around the corner and ran right into Mike’s arms. “We can’t find Dr. Austin anywhere.” She burst into tears.

  Mike wrapped his arms around Brooke. “We’ll find her, I promise.”

  They damn well would. Cody turned in a circle, looking for Baker. Why hadn’t the man called him? As soon as the question entered his head, his phone vibrated, Baker’s name showing up on the screen. “Talk to me.”

  “You need to get to the clinic. Dr. Austin’s missing.”

  “I know. I’m here. Where the hell are you?” At Baker’s hesitation, Cody knew the man had taken offense, because yeah, his question had been an accusation. Baker’s job had been to protect Riley.

  “In her office, getting ready to watch the security feed.”

  Cody disconnected. “Come with me,” he said to Mike and Brooke. The other employee—Michelle, he thought—was standing behind the counter, tears streaming down her face. “Cancel the rest of her appointments for today and send these people home,” he told her. Fortunately, there were only two women waiting, one with a dog, and the other with what looked like an iguana sitting on her lap. Both were staring wide-eyed at him and Mike.

  “What should I tell them?”

  “Just say there’s been an emergency and that you’ll call them tomorrow to reschedule.”

  Anxious to see the security recording, he headed to Riley’s office, Mike and Brooke following him. “Tell me what happened.” To keep from putting his fist through the wall or going off half-cocked, he fell back on his SEAL training. G
et intel. Analyze. Act.

  “We were running behind, and I poked my head into the room to see if Dr. Austin needed any help,” Brooke said, two-stepping to keep up.

  Cody stopped at the open door to Riley’s office. “And?” It wasn’t easy to curb his impatience, but he managed it.

  “And she wasn’t there. Mrs. Napier wasn’t either.”

  “Mrs. Napier?”

  “Yes. She brought her kitten in. It’s still in the room in the carrier.”

  “Have you touched the carrier?”

  Brooke shook her head. “No, why?”

  He stuck his head around the doorjamb. “See if you can find where Dr. Austin goes missing on the feed. I’ll be back in a minute.” He’d have a talk with Baker about how he’d lost track of Riley later, but he had a funny feeling about exactly what he’d find in the carrier.

  At Baker’s nod, Cody turned back to Brooke. “Show me this carrier that was left behind.”

  “Unless the woman wore gloves, we can get fingerprints off it,” Mike said.

  “Yep, but I’ll have someone from K2 do it.” At Mike’s frown, Cody said, “We can process them immediately. How long will it take the police department?”

  “Point taken,” Mike said, “but the detective on the case since Riley was hit on the head is on his way. He might have some problems with you guys ramrodding right over him and the department.”

  “Tough shit.” No one cared as much about finding Riley as he did, and he had resources the police department didn’t even know existed, not to mention a team consisting of the best of the best if he needed them.

  Mike gave him a hard look. “Should get interesting then, but I’m of the opinion you people know what you’re about, and finding Riley is all that counts. I’ll back you up as much as I can.”

  “Appreciate it, man.”

  Brooke opened the door to an exam room. “Here it is.”

  “Christ, that smells,” Cody said, peering into the carrier. A long meow responded to the sound of his voice. “Grab me a paper towel.” When Brooke placed one in his hand, he used it to open the carrier door so as not to add his fingerprints. A cross-eyed Siamese kitten bounded out and latched onto his arm. “Well hello, Pelli.”

  Brooke’s eyes widened. “Oh my God, that’s Dr. Austin’s missing cat.”

  “Yes. Where are my dogs and her other cats?”

  “In the kennel. They’re together.”

  He peeled the kitten’s claws out of his shirt and handed him to Brooke. “Get him cleaned up, and then put him with the others. They know him.” The poor thing was a mess and stunk to high heaven. “See if he’s hungry.” Who knew the last time he’d eaten. To Cody’s eye, Pelli was thinner than when he’d last seen the cat.

  “Let’s go see what we can learn,” he said to Mike.

  Mike eyed him. “You’re being damn calm about this. If Riley were my girl, I’d be freaking out.” He swiped a hand through his hair. “Hell, I’m freaking out, anyway. I’ve never had a friend kidnapped before.”

  “You think I’m fucking calm?” Cody stilled, holding out his arm. “Cut open a vein and you’ll see how furiously my blood is boiling. But rage won’t find Riley. Intel is what we need, and I’m counting on the cameras providing that.” Before he did lose it he entered Riley’s office.

  “Start the feed.” At his abrupt command, Baker opened his mouth, then apparently thought better of whatever he was going to say, which was wise of him, since the man currently headed Cody’s shit list.

  Baker pushed Play, and a woman carrying a cat carrier entered. She paused and looked around before going to the farthest corner of the waiting room. A dog whined, and Cody shifted his gaze to the opposite side of the screen where it showed Sally straining against his leash, his ears straight up and his tail wagging.

  Damn. Sally knew it was Pelli in that carrier. Cody pressed his lips together. If he’d been with Sally right then, he would have understood what his dog was saying.

  “Sally was with you? Whose idea was that?”

  Baker paused the video. “Dr. Austin’s. She said I’d look like I was waiting for an appointment that way.” He glanced up at Cody. “Look, man. You can’t make me feel any worse than I already do for losing Dr. Austin. It’s not an excuse, but unless I shadowed her every move, which she wasn’t having, there was no way I would have guessed that woman was our target. When she came in, the smell coming from that carrier was god-awful, and I thought that was what your dog was reacting to.”

  There was no way Baker could have known that Sally was reacting to Pelli being close. Not only that, but Riley had refused to allow any of her guards into the exam rooms with her. None of them had considered that would be how the woman would get to her. Some of Cody’s anger at the man eased.

  “That’s what I would have thought, too,” Mike said. “Your dog knew, though, didn’t he? That the missing kitten was in there?”

  “Yeah, he knew.” Cody could beat himself up all day for not being the one sitting in that waiting room when the woman came in, but that wouldn’t help them find Riley. “Where is he now?”

  “Brooke put him back with your other dog after we realized Dr. Austin wasn’t anywhere in the clinic,” Baker said.

  “Okay, good. Start the video over.” This time, he zeroed in on the woman’s features. She was tall and skinny, with dirty brown and gray hair and a long, thin face. Along with Baker, there were two other women with pets in the waiting room, and both of them wrinkled their noses as they turned their faces away. Did Mrs. Napier—and who the hell was Mrs. Napier?—let the carrier get so disgusting that people would stay away from her?

  On the screen, Brooke called Mrs. Napier’s name. “Speed up the video,” he said after Riley entered, closing the exam room door behind her. He watched until the door opened. “Stop it.” According to the timer, Riley was in the room with Mrs. Napier for ten minutes.

  A woman stepped out, wearing large glasses and what was obviously a wig. “Stop.” He leaned closer to the screen. “That’s Riley. Start it again.” Right behind her, Mrs. Napier appeared. “Stop it again.”

  “She’s got a gun,” Mike said.

  Cody took several deep breaths, his hands fisting at seeing Riley with a gun stuck into her back. “Start it.” He had to figure out who Mrs. Napier was and fast. They watched the two women walk down the hall to the back before they disappeared. “Go to the parking lot camera.”

  That video showed the women walk toward an older model Chrysler. “Is that a Sebring?”

  “Yeah. My dad had one,” Baker said. “Let’s see if we can get a license number.”

  Mike huffed out a breath. “Dammit, there’s mud smeared over the tag.”

  There was, but Mrs. Napier hadn’t done a good job of it. The partial outlines of some of the numbers were visible. Cody thought they could decipher the tag at K2 with the resources at their disposal. He was counting on it.

  The women got in the car, Mrs. Napier driving and Riley in the passenger seat. They drove past the security company’s car that Kincaid had hired, the man sitting in it giving them a wave. Cody wanted to scream at the man to open his eyes, but he’d been hired to guard the building, not the people in it. That had been his job, and he’d screwed up. Again.

  A rabbit hole opened up, welcoming him with open arms, and he almost let it take him. He’d let both Asra and Riley down, and how was he supposed to live with that?

  A strong hand clamped onto his shoulder. “We’re going to find her,” Mike said.

  He took deep breaths, the way Tom had taught him. “Whatever it takes.”

  Since an IP camera—an Internet protocol camera—had been installed at his request, he said to Baker, “Send everything to Maria and tell her I’ll call her. You stay here and keep an eye on things. Send Brooke and Michelle home. There’s a kid who comes in around six, I think. He spends the night. Stay with him and guard this place with your life. I won’t have Riley losing this, too.”

  “I won’t
let you or her down,” Baker said.

  Cody nodded. “Good man.” He headed for the door, Mike on his heels. If the cop thought he was coming, the man needed to think again. When they reached the waiting room, Cody said, “We’ll need that cat carrier so we can dust it for fingerprints. Why don’t you go grab it while I call Maria at K2 and tell her we’re on the way in?” Mike wasn’t going to be happy about being ditched, but tough. The last thing he needed was a cop telling him what he could and couldn’t do.

  “Be right back,” Mike said.

  The front door opened, and the detective that Cody recognized from before walked in.

  “I need a status report,” the man whose name he couldn’t remember said.

  Cody walked past him. “Your officer’s down the hall. He’ll bring you up to speed.”

  “Hey. Where you going? I need a statement from you.”

  “Just getting something out of my truck. Be right back.” Cody got in his truck and turned left out of the parking lot, the same direction Mrs. Napier had taken. He instructed his Bluetooth to call Maria.

  “It’s Cody,” he said when she answered. “Riley’s been taken—”

  “What?”

  “Someone has kidnapped Riley. All I know is that it’s a woman named Mrs. Napier. We just sent over the video with the woman’s car in it. There’s mud smeared on the tag, but can you see if Kent can do his magic and laser trace the numbers or whatever it is he does?”

  “Where are you?”

  He hated lying to her, but if Kincaid knew one of his men was going rogue, he wouldn’t be pleased. “At the clinic. Call me as soon as you have a number for that tag or any other information you come up with.”

  “Okay, but you need to come in. Logan will want to start planning a rescue.”

  And that was the problem. The boss operated on the theory that there couldn’t be enough planning for an operation. What if Riley didn’t have that much time? “We got some things to finish up here, then I’ll be there.”

 

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