Amanda was relieved. The sooner she got back to the condo without anyone missing her, the better. So far neither man had tried to contact her mentally, and she was doing her best to block them.
After less than a full week to practice, she was amazed by her abilities. Especially since she was under such duress.
She followed Margaret to her office and took the offered seat across from her desk.
Margaret handed her a manila file and a pen. “It’s mostly self-explanatory. I’ll let you get to it. Let me know if you have any questions.”
“Thank you.” Amanda dipped her head, took a deep breath, and got to work.
Twenty minutes later, she handed the folder back to Margaret and stood.
“Excellent. That’s all I need. I’ll let Lucy know you’re good to go for Monday.”
“Thanks.” Amanda smiled at the woman and left the room.
She didn’t realize how nervous she was until she reached the elevator and it didn’t readily arrive. Her hands started shaking, and she clenched them at her sides to keep from being obvious. Sweat broke out on her brow next. And then her mouth grew dry. She tried to lick her lips to no avail.
The woman at the front desk spoke. “Oh geez. Sorry. That elevator doesn’t always cooperate. I usually take the stairs when I’m going down. It seems like if I wait, it never comes. If I leave, it will ping behind me the second I step too far away to catch it.” She giggled and went back to work, lowering her face and leaving the choice up to Amanda.
Ten seconds later, Amanda felt like an idiot. The girl would think she was lazy if she couldn’t descend four flights of stairs. So she finally turned around, opened the door to the stairwell, and stepped out of sight.
When the door shut behind her with a resounding slam from the change in pressure, Amanda nearly jumped out of her skin. “You’re being ridiculous,” she muttered under her breath.
She took the stairs two at a time, her ears perked up to ensure she was alone. Goose bumps rose up her arms and down her back, so she walked faster.
As she rounded the second platform, she came to an abrupt halt.
“Amanda Williams. Tsk tsk.”
That was the last thing she remembered. She never even had time to scream before a syringe was plunged into her arm and she collapsed into the arms of a stranger.
Chapter Thirty
“Where are you?” Sawyer said into Logan’s head.
“Just finishing a hike. You okay? Fire?”
“It’s spreading. Not sure we can get it under control. And Logan…”
“Yeah?” Logan stopped moving to concentrate better on what Sawyer had to say. He motioned for Sharon to finish without him. They were within minutes of the bottom of the trail anyway.
“This bad boy started about a mile above that logging site.”
Logan flinched. “You think it’s going to reach that low?”
“Might. It’s moving slowly, though. I’m hoping we get the upper hand before it comes to that. My boss is calling in a voluntary evacuation now. Hoping to clear out the logging site and everything below it.”
“Including my brothers’ homes.” Logan sighed as he realized the implications.
“Yes. You should head over there and help them get their important documents out. Photos. That kind of stuff. Just in case.”
“I’m on it.”
“Where’s Amanda?”
“At the condo I assume, where you left her. I haven’t communicated with her since early this morning.”
“She isn’t responding to me.”
Logan chuckled. “She’s probably pissed we won’t let her leave and pouting. I bet she punishes us for leaving her there by shutting us out.”
“Probably. Listen, I can’t talk any more. Too dangerous. I need to focus.”
“Of course. Don’t worry. I’ll head over to my brothers’ homes and help them get out. You focus on putting the fire out. And stay alive.”
The connection was broken immediately. Logan understood. He hated thinking about Sawyer up there on the mountain fighting a blaze that seemed to have a life of its own.
When he lifted his gaze to the sky and scanned the horizon, he saw the giant plume of smoke in the distance and cringed. Without hesitating, he hurried down the rest of the path. He needed to get to his family’s homes and make sure they all got out safely.
When he reached his car, he shouted out to Sharon to let their parents know what was happening and then ducked inside and took off.
He tried to reach Amanda, but she didn’t respond. He smirked and shook his head. “Stubborn woman,” he muttered.
Logan drove faster than the speed limit to make the twenty-minute route in fifteen. He headed for Melinda’s house first and found her loading her car. She waved as he approached.
“You have more?” he yelled as he jumped down from the cab and jogged in her direction.
“Yes. Boxes. Just inside the front door.”
Logan ran toward his brother Trace’s home, grabbed the load of photo albums and keepsakes, and hurried back to his truck. There was no way for Trace to be available to help, and there was also no guarantee the fire wouldn’t reach all the way to his brothers’ homes at the base of this mountain.
Melinda ran in and out also, despite the number of times he’d told her to get in her own car and evacuate.
They could see the giant plumes of smoke rising in the mountains, growing incrementally closer by the minute. It was almost two miles away, but the smoke and soot were blowing in their direction and falling around them. It wasn’t safe to breathe.
“Do you really think it will come this far?” Melinda asked.
“No. Sawyer doesn’t think so, but better safe than sorry.”
A car pulled into the driveway, making Logan stop and lift his gaze. Who was crazy enough to come to the house at that moment?
Mimi stepped out of the car. She ran toward Logan and grabbed his arm. “I can feel her in my soul. She’s okay. She needs to wake up. My gut tells me she’s unconscious, but not dead.”
Logan froze, neither moving nor breathing. Something on his face must have registered his complete lack of understanding.
Melinda stepped up to his side. He could see her in his peripheral vision, but even that was narrowing. “What happened, Mimi?”
Mimi shook her head. “You didn’t know.”
Logan stared at her, willing her words to evaporate.
“Mimi?” Melinda prodded.
Mimi swallowed hard and squeezed Logan’s arm harder. “Amanda. She’s missing.”
“What?” Melinda shouted. “That’s not possible. How do you know?”
“I can feel her.”
Logan’s own head began to shake back and forth, slowly at first and then picking up speed. “No,” he shouted. “No.”
Melinda yanked out her cell phone and held it up. “Fuck.” She shook it. “Fuck,” she yelled louder. “No goddamn signal.”
Logan turned his head to stare at her, but the world was spinning around him, and he couldn’t make it stop.
“We have to get out of here,” Mimi shouted. At least he thought she was shouting. In his head it sounded like he was underwater.
Melinda grabbed Logan’s forearm and yanked hard. “Let’s go. Get in my truck.”
Logan shook his head, trying to free himself from the trance. Maybe he’d imagined everything that had happened in the last thirty seconds. “No. I need to drive mine. Half your stuff is in it.”
Mimi tugged his keys from his hand. “I’ll drive yours. We’ll leave my car here. It’s not as valuable. You go with Melinda.” She pointed at the other truck in the circular drive. “Go.”
Melinda started running, dragging Logan behind her.
He had no idea how his feet managed to make the trip. Seconds later, he was in the passenger side, and she peeled out of the driveway and onto the main road toward Cambridge.
“Holy fuck,” he suddenly shouted. He tried to make contact with Amanda nex
t. “Amanda. Amanda. Jesus, baby. Answer me.”
Nothing.
“Shit.” He slammed his fist into the dashboard.
“Logan,” Melinda turned her head to face him for a second, “stop it. Let me talk to Laurie.”
He nodded, pursing his lips and watching her face in a near trance while she communicated with her half sister. In a rare twist of fate, for some reason Mimi, Laurie, and Melinda were able to communicate with each other telepathically in human form, even though they weren’t part of mated groups. No one had ever heard of such a thing. But they were descendants of a line of powerful shaman.
And for that reason, Logan held his breath and let her do what she needed to do.
Somehow she managed to drive and communicate at the same time, even though it appeared she was in a hazy trance while she did so.
When she finally shook her head free of the connection, she turned toward him. “She went to the campus to fill out paperwork with human resources.”
“Are you shitting me?” He leaned forward, gripping the dash in front of him.
“No. I wish. She blocked you and only called Laurie so someone would know where she was.”
“When?” he shouted. “When did she fucking go missing?”
Melinda cringed. “Earlier this morning.”
“Fuck.” He slammed his palm against the dash again, making Melinda jump. And then the blood drained from his face. “What if she’s dead?”
“She isn’t,” Melinda was quick to respond. “I can feel her. Mimi can feel her. Hell, Laurie can too. She’s unconscious.”
“Where?” he asked the wind. “Where are you, Amanda?”
»»•««
“Fuck.” Roger paced back and forth in front of his office trailer, running his hands through his hair as he thought about how to get out of this mess.
“What do you want us to do, boss?”
“Keep loading. We need to get as much of what is already cut off this mountain in a hurry. Can you get another truck up here?”
The guy shook his head. “They aren’t letting anything more up the service road. There are deputies at the entrance to the road. Even though the evacuation isn’t mandatory yet, all traffic is flowing out, not in.”
“Shit.” Roger’s hands shook. “Doesn’t this guy realize we’re trying to run a business up here?”
The man said nothing.
Roger blew out a breath. “Fine. Let’s get whatever we can out of here. Have men move the equipment out. Get as much timber moving as possible. I’ll be in my office packing up paper work.”
“When are you going to leave, boss?”
“I’ll be the last one off this mountain. Just hustle.”
The guy turned and ran toward a group of workers to yell instructions.
Roger stepped back inside his trailer, grabbed his coffee mug from his desk, and threw it against the far wall. He was in way over his head. Too many precious commodities were at stake.
»»•««
“Amanda, baby. Please. Wake up.”
Nothing. Just like the other two billion times he’d shouted into her head. He agreed with Mimi. He could feel her. Faintly, but he could feel her nonetheless. She had to be alive. He couldn’t accept any other possible outcome.
As Melinda pulled into the parking lot at the junior college, Logan finally connected with Sawyer. He sat with his head hung low and nearly cried as he let his other mate know their woman was missing.
“What the fuck do you mean you don’t know where she is?”
“Just that. She went to the college to fill out paperwork and didn’t return. I thought she was simply blocking us. Who knows how long she’s been gone.”
“Find her,” Sawyer shouted into Logan’s head. “Oh my fucking God, please find her.”
“I will, man. Just concentrate on your job and put that fire out. Let me handle this end. You’re no good to me dead, and I don’t want to have to worry about your sorry ass out there getting yourself killed because you can’t concentrate.”
“Logan, I swear to God. If you don’t stop talking to me and find our mate…”
“On it.” Logan snapped the connection closed and jumped from the car.
Two minutes later, Melinda and Logan burst into the foyer where Amanda was last seen. The young girl at the desk was petrified as she darted around a corner and returned with a woman named Margaret.
“What happened?”
Melinda grabbed Logan’s arm and squeezed. Good thing too. Logan knew for certain Melinda could be far more diplomatic and calm. “Amanda Williams. Was she here earlier?”
“Yes. Of course. She filled out her paperwork and left.”
The receptionist rounded her desk and grabbed her phone. Suddenly, she hung up as campus security stepped out of the stairwell.
“What’s going on?” the older man said.
Logan stared at him a moment, wondering how this overweight gentleman who could barely keep his pants over his belly was going to pose much of a threat against any assailant. “Amanda Williams was just in here to fill out paperwork…and she never made it back home.” He felt stronger as each word left his mouth. This was important. He needed to pull it together. For Amanda. For his own sanity.
Margaret looked pale. “I can’t believe this. I mean, I know people are opposed to Dr. Burnhart’s research, but I can’t imagine why anyone would go to any sort of extreme to stop it.”
“Maybe she stepped into a restroom? Women can take a long time in there.” The guy, Reynolds according to his nametag, hiked up the front of his pants.
Logan glared at him. “She isn’t in a bathroom.” He couldn’t very well explain how he knew this. It wasn’t as if he could tell the man he had a mental connection with Amanda that would allow him to reach out to her anywhere. No way was she avoiding him. She wouldn’t do it for this length of time, and according to Margaret, it had been a while since Amanda left her office.
The door burst open again, and Trace strode in. “What happened?” He ignored everyone else and came straight toward Logan.
“Amanda’s missing.”
Trace’s brow furrowed as he listened to all the details Logan had already been over with Margaret and then the security guy. Another woman entered as they finished speaking and introduced herself as Lucy Burnhart, Amanda’s new boss. “I can’t believe this. Are you sure she never left the campus?”
Logan shook his head. “I’m not sure of anything. I’m just starting where she was last seen.”
Laurie exited the stairwell next, looking frantic. “I went by the condo. She wasn’t there. I don’t believe she ever went back there.”
Two minutes later, they were scouring the building, but they found nothing.
They regrouped at the entrance. Trace looked at Logan. “How did she get here? Does anyone know where her car is?”
“I’ll start looking in the lot.” Laurie turned and ran out the front door.
“I can’t believe this,” Lucy said. She ran a hand through her short blonde curls and started pacing. “Where could she be?” she asked the room at large.
Logan felt as if his world was collapsing around him. He couldn’t breathe.
Trace grabbed his bicep with one hand and backed him up a pace. “Do not freak out. There has to be an explanation.”
“Amanda sure has a lot of good friends for as long as she’s been in town,” Lucy commented.
“Yeah,” Trace turned toward her, not giving her any more details. “Thanks for your help. We’ll head outside and start searching the area around this building.”
Laurie ran back in, holding something in her hand.
Logan’s blood ran cold when he saw the envelope. “Fuck.”
Trace grabbed the envelope from Laurie and tore into it. He scanned down the page.
Logan closed his eyes and held his breath. At least if someone left a note, maybe they would be willing to negotiate. “What does it say?” he gritted out.
Trace blew out a breat
h. “If you want to see her alive again, back off.”
Logan’s heart raced. “Then she’s alive.”
“I’ve been saying that all along,” Melinda muttered. “Trust me. She’s alive.”
“And look at the handwriting.” Trace held the piece of paper out for Logan to see.
Logan nodded. “Same as the previous two notes we received at the condo.”
Fifteen minutes later, every available sheriff in town surrounded McField Hall and panned outward, checking for clues or any signs of struggle.
It was after noon before they gave up. They found not a single trace of evidence she’d ever been anywhere near the building. They’d been hoping for a dropped object—a phone, purse, keys…anything. They asked every person inside and around the building if they’d seen her. No one had.
Logan leaned against the brick wall on the side next to the parking lot and pressed into his eyes with the thumb and middle finger of one hand.
“It’s not your fault.” He heard Trace’s low voice laced with sorrow, not blame.
“Like hell it isn’t.”
“It’s not, and you know it. So shake it off and let’s move to the next step. It could have happened anywhere any day. You couldn’t have stayed glued to her every hour for the rest of her life.”
Logan didn’t respond. He kept reciting that message over and over in his head. Back off. From what?
The logging site? Her job? Their ménage?
He dropped his hand and met his brother’s gaze. “What the fuck are we going to do now?”
“Keep looking.” Trace nodded behind him. “I have men going door to door in the dorms as we speak. Corbin is headed for the logging site.”
“Sir?” A timid voice spoke from Logan’s right, and he whipped his head to the side to see a student standing two feet away, wringing his hands.
“What?” Logan twisted his body and stepped closer.
So did Trace. “Do you know something?”
“No.” The kid shook his head. “I mean, I don’t know where Amanda is, but I think I know who has her.”
Chapter Thirty-One
An hour later, Logan paced the precinct, unwilling to accept even a cup of coffee from his brother or any other deputy. The clock was ticking, and still no answers. They had nothing to go on but a handwritten note on a piece of paper that looked exactly like the previous notes they’d received.
Amanda's Wolves Page 27
