No Good Deed: A Small-Town Romantic Suspense Novel

20. Epic Phail

Piper closed her eyes until she could only see a tiny strip of the door. She forced her breathing to slow even while her heart drummed and blood raced through her veins.

Feigning unconsciousness wasn’t much of a plan, but it was all she had.

The door eased open without a sound, and she spotted black pants and shiny boots. If she’d been smarter, she would have rolled over to where she’d started, but she’d been trying to stand and hadn’t thought of it in time.

The feet halted abruptly, and a male voice swore softly. He closed the door quietly and turned in her direction. The feet moved her way. No snow on the bottoms and no wet trail. He hadn’t been outside recently. Look at her being all Nancy Drew.

“I know you’re awake. You’re not where I left you, stupid bitch.”

The voice was soft and harsh. Was he hiding her from someone else? If she screamed, would they come running? Except she couldn’t scream with the gag in place. Maybe she should thump the walls or the floor and try to get their attention.

As she thought about how best to make the noise, the man approached her. One foot drew back and kicked her in the ribs, stealing all the breath from her lungs and making her cough against the duct tape.

“You’ve been nothing but a pain in the ass for weeks. Why the hell did you have to make a mess of everything? If I don’t get it back, it will cost me everything, and that means I’ve got nothing to lose.”

The man squatted beside her, and it didn’t surprise her to see Ethan Westerlake. Pompous ass and now a kidnapper.

Ethan had always dressed well, walked with his chin up and eyes above everyone. He’d projected an air of superiority as if he believed his own bull.

It had been a few weeks since she’d seen him and it looked like he’d aged years. The skin beneath his eyes was puffy and slack. The eyes themselves were bloodshot and filled with anger. His hair was a mess, and he didn’t look like he was in control of a single thing.

What was on that USB he’d hidden in her Cloud Gate?

Was it better to keep what she knew hidden or tell him the police had it? If that made him desperate, things could get even worse.

“So where the fuck is my data?”

He seemed to expect her to answer, even with the duct tape covering her mouth. Piper tried to say something, but the muffle was unintelligible.

Ethan scowled at her, then leaned in and pulled out a gun. She was glad she hadn’t eaten before the presentation because the sight of the weapon almost made her vomit.

She flinched away, but it was no good. Ethan’s smile was feral when he pointed the gun directly at her face. “I’m going to take off the tape and you’ll follow instructions. Scream and die. Got it?”

Piper barely managed to get her head to nod. She wouldn’t scream. At least not while there was a gun in her face.

Ethan kept the gun aimed at her while he ripped the tape off her face. The pain had tears forming in her eyes, but she clamped her teeth together to stop crying out. She closed her eyes and focused on drawing in full breaths of air and controlling her reactions to him.

“Now, where the fuck is my data? What did you do with it?”

Hoping her face wouldn’t give her away, she opened her eyes. She tried to keep her voice strong, but it shook anyway. “I don’t understand. What data?”

Ethan’s face reddened, and his eyes widened before he slapped her so hard she tasted blood. She couldn’t stop the cry at the sudden pain, and she tried to roll away from him.

He grabbed her shirt and yanked her up until they were nose to nose. Her shirt ripped at the shoulder. “I want my USB. Where the hell is it?”

She flinched again at the tone and the spit flying from his mouth. “All of my USBs are in the Cloud Gate tin.” Her voice barely reached a whisper.

He shoved her away from him, and she thumped back to the floor, with her head taking the worst of it. As she struggled to remain conscious, Ethan paced the room. When he turned back to her, his eyes were wild and out of control. “I’ve tried finding your fucking tin, but you’ve hidden it. Where the fuck is it?”

He neared, and with the tape holding her, she couldn’t avoid his kick.

He squatted down and pointed the gun at her belly. “This shot won’t kill you right away. It’ll take hours to bleed out, where no one will find you. Now, where is it?”

Knowing the extent of Troy’s security system, she decided her best option was to tell the truth. Troy would be looking for her and wouldn’t be at home. The security system and alarms would let him and Marcus know Ethan was breaking in and they would catch him.

He slapped her again and she couldn’t stop the whimper. “It’s at the house where I’ve been staying.”

“Where? Exactly.”

“In the living room. On the coffee table.”

Ethan’s grin was terrifying. “It better be, or you won’t be the only one bleeding out slowly.”

Then he brought down the gun on her head, and everything went black again.

* * *

Troy paced the garage. “It makes sense that Westerlake won’t take her far. He wants the USB, and he knows it’s here somewhere.”

Marcus nodded. “I agree. I think your theory that there’s a second man involved is probably right. There are tons of empty buildings around here where he could stash her. I’ll put out a call and get people searching. We’ll work in teams of three. It’s dark out there, and I don’t want anyone alone.”

They jumped into the squad car and returned to the deputy’s office. There were landlines and maps there, and it was more central. Easier to pull in people to help.

Dozens of people came when they called. All the people from Midnight Lake had stayed in town, and they helped with the calling. Troy’s cousins. Nimii. Stan. Jim and Carl. The Guptas. Janine Jefferson. Anna and Nina. Kimi. And so many more.

Piper had touched so many people in the short time she’d been in Phail. Everyone who’d been at the meeting wanted to help.

Troy was proud of his town’s response, even as his stomach twisted itself into knots with worry.

Where the hell was she?

Where would he take her?

The buildings across the street? The ones she wanted to take down? Any of the empty houses near the BB would work. As would the old farmhouses that surrounded the town.

Too many options.

“Hey.” His cousin Fiona squeezed his arm and dragged him over to a chair. “Sit.”

She sat herself and tugged him beside her. “No heading to Worst Case Scenario Land. We’re going to find your lady.”

His lady. His. “I didn’t even tell her—” His voice broke, and he swallowed hard

Fiona pulled him into a hug. “She loves you. You’ll get your chance. We’re going to find her. And not just because we want to hear the rest of her ideas.”

That almost made him smile. Fiona pulled back and put her hands on his arms. “From the way she looks at you, she feels the same way.”

Hope bloomed in his chest. “You think?”

Fiona smiled. “I do. Her heart’s right there in her eyes whenever she sees you. I like her a lot, Troy. You’re going to be very good together.”

If he could convince her to stay.

After they found her.

He patted Fiona’s hand. “Thanks, Fi.”

Marcus whistled sharply and everyone stopped speaking. The deputy held up his hand and spoke into the phone. “Hold him on suspicion of assault and kidnapping. The name is too coincidental. Once you have him in custody, I need to do a video interview. I have fingerprints we can check.”

Troy crossed the room until he stood beside Arrow. His friend hung up the phone. “One of the deputies to the south of us pulled over a silver Accord. The owner and driver is a Chad Westerlake. His driver’s license shows a Chicago address. He has to be connected to Ethan, but he won’t talk. The deputy is taking him into custody. I should be able to talk with him soon. I’ll get answers.”

He would. Arrow could intimidate the hell out of anyone with just a look.

But soon wasn’t now. And if Ethan wasn’t with his cousin, there was a good chance he was still here. “Let’s get searching.”

Troy found himself teamed with Jim and Carl. They would check out the empty homes around the BB. Most of the empty driveways hadn’t been plowed, so it wouldn’t be difficult to spot footprints or tire tracks on the properties. They’d check out backyards, too, because it was easy to park elsewhere and walk through the woods. As Westerlake knew from when he’d tried to break into her car.

They decided to walk in case they spotted any clues along the way. Their pace was more jog than walk, and it didn’t take long to reach their street. “There just aren’t that many open buildings hidden from view. It takes effort to break into a building, even when it’s empty.”

Jim agreed. “At least with Doc’s and the saloon being opened, there are two fewer places to check.”

Troy nodded, but after a few steps, he slowed. Jim and Carl turned to look at him. “What’s wrong?”

Troy let the idea sit in his head for a minute. It seemed ridiculous, but it was also possible. “You guys go ahead. I’m going to check something quick, and then I’ll catch up with you.”

Carl shook his head. “We’ll go with you. Marcus said for us to stick together. Safer that way.”

Jim nodded. “And better to take down this bastard. What are you thinking?”

“I’m wondering why no one spotted him taking Piper out of the saloon. It might be because he never did. It’s a big building. We used the main floor, but no one has been upstairs. Other than Piper’s presentation, no one has used the building in years. Oreo was barking at the bottom of the stairs earlier. I thought he was just confused and looking for her. Maybe he knew she was up there.”

Carl frowned. “You think she’s been upstairs all this time? Wouldn’t we have heard her? Or him?”

Troy shook his head. “No one’s been inside since we realized she’s been taken. She could be tied up. Or gagged.” He refused to think anything worse.

The men nodded, and Jim spoke. “It’s worth a try. Let’s go.”

They raced back to the building, but when they reached it, Troy called them to a halt. “We’ve got to be quiet. If he’s inside, we don’t want to alert him. There are two sets of stairs. One in the front room and another from the kitchen. I’m going to head up the back. You guys wait in the front room. Put your phones on silent and update Marcus.”

He opened the door, and they eased inside, closing the door behind them.

No sounds from anywhere, but Troy felt the rush of blood and adrenaline he’d often felt on missions.

She was here.

She had to be.