* * *
A few hours later, Elle watched Luke out of the corner of her eye as he carefully steered his truck down Jake’s steep, winding driveway in the dark. The Ram’s headlights slashed across massive boulders at each turn and reflected off the deepening fog. After the argument over Richard’s request, Luke had refused to put his sling back on and then obstinately insisted on driving despite his injured arm. He had barely spoken to her since agreeing to take her to meet her ex.
With his cowboy hat pulled down low, most of his face was hidden in shadow, but she could still see his lips pinched into a tight, tense line. His concern was sweet, but she honestly couldn’t understand it since Richard would be no match for Luke or Holmes if he misbehaved. In her opinion, the unknown whereabouts of her kidnapper and the troubling questions about the missing BLM folder were much higher on the Worry Scale.
They rode for half an hour before Luke broke the awkward silence. “Call Holmes. Tell him our ETA is fifteen minutes. Find out where they are.”
The FBI agent answered Elle’s call with a long yawn.
“Are we keeping you up, Special Agent Holmes?” she teased.
“I haven’t had a decent night’s sleep since I met you, Ms. Bradley. And I’m not the only one. Whether you believe me or not, dozens of agents from the San Diego FBI office have been working day and night to track down your kidnapper,” he said with more than a hint of annoyance. “So yes, I’m tired, but tonight seems particularly bad.” He yawned again.
“I’m sorry. And I do appreciate all your efforts. It’s just frustrating that it’s not getting us anywhere.”
Holmes chuckled. “You don’t have to tell me about frustration.” He yawned a third time and muttered, “Damn. The strong Starbucks coffee Mr. Carmichael brought me isn’t even helping. Do you want to talk to him?”
“Not really. And Luke says we’ll be in the Poway Business Park in about fifteen minutes.”
“Fine. We’ll be there in five. Are you clear on where Mr. Carmichael will be waiting for you?”
“Yes. And you’ll have line of sight?”
“If I can keep my eyes open.” He laughed.
“Okay. Thank you for your help.”
He answered with yet another long yawn.
His attitude didn’t give her much reassurance, and she knew it would piss off Luke, so she decided not to mention it. “Their ETA is five minutes. We’re all set.”
“Good. The sooner this is over, the better,” he said, barely moving his lips.
The tension between them was really starting to bug her. “It’s going to be okay, Luke. I swear, you’re acting like an overprotective mother hen.”
His blue eyes were downright icy when he turned them on her. She shivered.
“You haven’t seen anything yet.” Slowly, he returned his gaze to the road.
Well, so much for easing the tension. He seemed even moodier now.
They exited I-15 onto the Scripps-Poway Parkway and headed east. Several silent miles later, they entered a business park of light-industrial, commercial, and retail buildings. Most of them were dark and their parking lots empty because it was well past normal business hours.
When Luke turned the Ram onto the predetermined street, she was relieved to see Richard already standing there so she wouldn’t have to wait in the truck with her grumpy companion. He pulled to the curb in front of Richard and lowered the passenger window.
“I’m watching you, Carmichael,” he said, making the well-known, two-fingered gesture to reinforce his words.
Richard sneered.
“Behave,” Elle said to both men as she climbed from the truck. “This shouldn’t take long, Deputy Johnson. I’ll call when we’re done.”
“Right,” he growled and drove away.
The heavy layer of fog was rapidly descending, creating a claustrophobic sensation and transforming the glow from the streetlights into a ghostly aura. The eerie dampness seemed to be thickening by the second. Elle shuddered despite her jacket.
She waited until the Ram disappeared around the corner before she turned to Richard. “Okay, you’ve managed to inconvenience three people. What do you have to say that couldn’t be said over the phone?”
Richard glanced up and down the street as if looking for someone. Frowning, he checked the time on his Rolex.
“Well?” she said, a nervous tingle at her nape.
He took another look around and cleared his throat. “I’m so grateful you agreed to meet with me, darling. After the rewarding relationship we’ve shared, I knew we needed to talk again face-to-face. We have so much wonderful history, Elle. I don’t understand why you want to throw it away.”
“Please, Richard, I don’t want to rehash why we broke up. It’s over. Let’s say good-bye and get on with our lives. Okay?”
As she spoke, a black SUV drove past and parked at the curb a short distance away.
A cruel grin spread across Richard’s face. “I’m afraid not, Elle.”
Chapter 25
Luke frowned as Special Agent Holmes’s phone continued to ring. He disconnected, rechecked the contact information on his cell, and tried again. When the agent still didn’t answer, suspicion slithered along Luke’s spine. He spun the Ram in a tight U-turn and sped back to the corner.
Darkness and fog significantly decreased visibility, but he spotted a parked SUV and knew it hadn’t been there when he’d dropped off Elle only minutes earlier. He could also barely make out two figures, who had to be Elle and Carmichael. They appeared to be embracing. What the hell?
After tossing his hat on the passenger seat, he stuck his head out the open window to better squint through the fog and listen. The combination of distance, traffic noise from the nearby parkway, and sound-muffling fog prevented him from hearing their voices. But wouldn’t he be able to tell if Elle was yelling for help?
Straining to see through the dense blanket of moisture, he suddenly realized Carmichael had Elle wrapped in a bear hug and was dragging her toward the SUV. A colorful cloth hung from her mouth.
“Shit!”
Before Luke could stomp on the accelerator, an old blue van screeched to a stop at the curb adjacent to the struggling couple. A man bolted out the driver’s door, raced around the front of the vehicle, and aimed a handgun at them.
“Fuck!” Luke exclaimed.
He killed the engine, grabbed his Glock from the glovebox, and jumped from the truck. Now grateful for the low visibility, he darted behind a hedge of bushes separating the parking lot from the sidewalk. Hunched over, he sprinted past the empty spaces until he could see the SUV on the other side of the hedge. The vehicle had an Uber placard stuck to the windshield, and the driver looked freaked out by his customer’s behavior and the appearance of a gunman. Seeing Luke peek over the hedge must’ve been the last straw because the car instantly sped away.
Luke ducked back down, ran the remaining distance across the parking lot, and peered through the bushes. He was close enough now to hear their voices.
“Let her go, you bastard, or I’ll shoot,” the man with the gun shouted. He wore a black hoodie, completely hiding his face in shadow.
“Wh-what are you doing? P-put the gun d-down. I’m n-not hurting her,” Carmichael whined. “She’s m-my fiancé.”
“No, she isn’t, asshole. Elle doesn’t want to go with you. And take that goddamn gag out of her mouth,” the guy ordered.
Luke focused on the stranger while his memory rattled off a description. Black hoodie. Check. Under six feet tall and about two hundred pounds. Check. Dark spot on the back of his hand. Check. Old blue van. Check. Sliding passenger-side door. Check.
Luke’s eyes widened. The guy with the gun was Elle’s stalker, Mike Milton, aka Blue Van Man.
How had he found Elle? Was he trying to save her? Or abduct her? Would he hurt her? More questions raced through Luke’s mind, but he had no answers for them either.
His cop training reined in the macho urge to barge into the situation,
gun blazing. Too many ways the headstrong approach could go wrong—deadly wrong. If Milton only wanted to play the white knight and impress Elle by stopping Carmichael, Luke would gladly let the guy do the good deed. But if things started to go south—with Carmichael or Milton—he was ready to intercede in a nanosecond. Tightening his grip on his gun, he forced himself to be patient.
“D-don’t shoot, okay? S-see, I’m removing the g-gag.” Carmichael shook so badly he could hardly speak.
“Now step away from her,” Milton said.
“Wh-what?”
“You heard me. Let go of her…and get lost.” Milton waved the gun in a dismissive gesture.
“O-okay, sure.” Carmichael held up both hands and backed away.
“Richard! Where are you going?” Elle cried, her eyes darting between the two men, most likely trying to figure out which one posed the bigger threat. Undoubtedly, the better-the-devil-you-know theory was part of her calculation.
“It’s okay, Elle. I’m not going to hurt you.” Milton moved forward, grasped her arm, and then turned the gun on Carmichael again. “Get lost now.”
Without another word or a backward glance, Carmichael ran, not toward where Holmes was supposed to be monitoring the situation, but toward the parkway.
“Richard,” Elle hollered. “You coward.”
Milton lowered the gun. “It’s okay. He’s gone. Are you hurt?” He tugged Elle closer to him.
Luke watched her anger morph into confusion and fear. She drew back enough to look up into Milton’s face.
“No, I’m n-not hurt, thank you. Y-you’re…Mike Milton, aren’t you?” she asked tentatively.
He pushed the hood away from his face and gave her a huge smile. “Yeah. How did you find out my name?”
Probably afraid of how he would react to the source of her information, she hesitated and tried to step away. Instead of releasing her, though, he pulled Elle against him and wrapped his arm around her waist.
Luke’s free hand curled into a fist.
“Oh, the FBI mentioned it to me…in passing,” she said with an unconvincing, nonchalant shrug.
Milton’s smile turned into a scowl. “The FBI? Why do they know my name?” His head swung back and forth as he looked up and down the street. “Where are they when you need them, right?” he asked with a nervous laugh.
“Well, I guess I didn’t need them. You saved the day. Thank you so much, Mike.” She tried again to push out of his embrace.
When the guy still didn’t let go, Luke’s instincts went on high alert.
“I-I’d like to…to pay you for your help,” Elle said. “Give me your number so I can get in touch with you.”
“I don’t want your money, Elle. I want you. Richard doesn’t appreciate what an awesome woman you are. But I do. And I wanna take care of you, honey. Always.”
Shit. Luke’s jaw clenched. Any hope Milton was just being a Good Samaritan evaporated. The situation was going downhill fast.
As Milton hauled her toward the van, Elle struggled and yelled. After stuffing his gun into his pants pocket, he shoved her against the vehicle and slid open the side door.
Time to intervene, but not in a way that put Elle in more danger. Luke jammed his Glock into his back waistband and charged through the hedge.
“Hey, Mike. Holy shit, man. Did you do a number on Carmichael or what? Great job.”
Milton and Elle spun around.
“Luke, he has a gun,” she warned.
Milton pushed her behind him and into the opening, but she spread her arms out to the sides and held on to the doorframe.
“Yeah, I know. I saw Mike use it to take care of business with your damn ex. Dude handled himself like a pro. Way to go, man,” Luke said as casually as he could.
Milton studied him with narrowed eyes but didn’t make a move for his weapon. “I know who you are. You’re a cop.”
“Yep. And you just saved me a bunch of trouble. Thanks.” Luke made eye contact with Elle over the guy’s shoulder. “We both thank you.” He gave her a slight nod.
“Y-yes, seriously, Mike. Thanks so much.” Her gulp was audible.
Slowly, cautiously, Luke strolled closer. “How the hell did you find us?” he asked, cocking his head in a friendly manner and stopping after a few steps. He forced himself to relax and assume a nonaggressive demeanor. Last thing he wanted to do was trigger a bad reaction from the guy.
Milton snorted. “Duh. GPS tracker. Bought a whole kit of them on eBay.”
Luke blinked. “You’ve been tracking my Ram?” All sorts of possibilities flashed through his head, none of them good. Did Milton know where he lived? Did the stalker know about Stone’s fortress?
“Yeah. Easy-peasy. Put one on Mr. Asshole’s Benz, too.” He puffed up with pride and leaned back against the van.
“Anyone else?”
Milton hesitated. “I didn’t tag the fed. Thought it was too risky. And he doesn’t always drive the same government vehicle.”
With a fake chuckle, Luke shook his head. “Smart man. Ya don’t wanna screw with the feds.”
Milton laughed. “Shit no.”
While he shuffled a couple more steps toward the van, Luke stole a glimpse at Elle. She looked pale and panicky. Keep it together, babe. Please don’t bolt. “So, Mike, when did you get to California?”
“Why do you want to know?” Milton straightened away from the vehicle and put his hand in his pocket.
Damn. Did I spook him? “You seem like a real resourceful guy. Figure you did something super clever.” C’mon, c’mon, flattery should work on this dickhead.
Milton scrutinized Luke as if he was trying to figure out whether the cop was playing him. Then he glanced nervously up and down the street. Was he expecting someone? Finally, he drew a deep breath and grinned. “Okay, you’re cool, dude, so I’ll tell ya. I got here the exact same time Elle did.”
What the hell? Is Blue Van Man working with the kidnapper? It took every ounce of Luke’s restraint to stay under control and to continue acting unconcerned. He scratched his head. “I’m surprised, man. I figured you for the independent type.”
Milton bristled. “What are you talking about? I am independent. No one helped me.”
Luke laughed and slapped his thigh to hide his confusion. “I knew it. I just knew it. Ya gotta tell me how you pulled it off.”
The guy leaned back against the van again and draped his arm across Elle’s shoulders. She stiffened and shot a fearful look at Luke.
He inched closer.
“It went down like this. I’d been keeping an eye on Elle for a while already, so when she went to meet her confidential informant in that shitty part of town, I tagged along.”
“You put a GPS tracker on my Beemer?” she asked incredulously.
“Of course.” He smiled down at her. “I told you I want to take care of you, honey.”
“And you saw her get kidnapped?” Luke asked to get the guy’s attention off Elle.
“Yeah. Man, it was crazy. If I’d had my gun, I would’ve stopped the dude. But since he was armed, I decided to follow him instead.”
“Way smart, man.”
Milton nodded. “Anyway, I followed him all the way out to Leesburg, Virginia. Bunch of wide-open space out there. He had his RV hooked up in some stupid run-down trailer park outside of town. Being the middle of the night and all, no one but me saw him carry Elle from his truck into the RV. I hung around for an hour, expecting him to hightail it out of there, but he didn’t. I managed to peek in a window and spotted him asleep on the couch, so I figured he wasn’t going anywhere real soon.”
Luke fought the urge to ring the guy’s neck for not immediately calling the police. The obsessed fool probably wanted to be Elle’s white knight then also and to save her himself. Luke bit his tongue to keep the criticism to himself and allowed the jerk to yammer on. At some point, Milton would let his guard down enough for Luke to make his move. He just had to be patient.
“I sped back to my
apartment in Arlington and packed everything I could think of. I camp in my van a lot, so it was pretty much set to go. But I also grabbed the whole GPS tracker kit, clothes, more food, water jugs, my laptop and printer, my gun, and a burner phone. Oh yeah, and cash. I didn’t know how long I’d be staking out the dickhead, but I wanted to be prepared. I had no idea I’d drive all the way to California and be gone for a month.”
“When did the kidnapper leave Leesburg?”
“The next morning. By that time, I’d put a tracking device on his truck and RV, you know, just in case he took off. Damn genius move, if I say so myself.”
“Damn genius. Did he ever notice you tailing him?”
“Nah, never.” He paused and turned toward Elle.
Luke tensed and reached around to the gun at his back.
“Let’s sit down, honey,” Milton said before gently guiding Elle onto the floor of the van. He sat beside her and repositioned his arm on her shoulders.
With the guy preoccupied, Luke crept forward a few feet. Things were looking up. While sitting, Milton wouldn’t be able to draw his gun from his pants pocket rapidly. With the weapon unavailable to threaten Elle, Luke knew he could take Milton in a physical fight. Now to wait for the right moment.
“The idiot never caught on,” Milton continued. “I used the tracker so I could stay out of sight. Most nights I just slept in the van so I could be nearby. The dude obviously didn’t want to attract attention by speeding, so following him wasn’t even much of a challenge.”
“What happened to the dickhead after Elle got away Sunday night?”
“Huh?” Milton dropped his gaze and fidgeted.
Luke studied him. Milton’s bravado had suddenly turned to uneasiness. I’ve hit on something he doesn’t want to tell me. “Where did the kidnapper go after Elle escaped?” he asked, rephrasing the question.
Nervously rubbing his free hand back and forth on his jeans, Milton glanced over his shoulder into the van.
The right moment had arrived. Luke sprinted across the remaining distance in a heartbeat.
“Move,” he shouted at Elle, who jumped up a second before he launched himself onto Milton.
Only Obsession (Rogue Security Book 3) Page 21
