38. Chapter 37
People won't always tell you how they feel about you, but they'll show you in ways that matter.
“Hope?” Bradford frowned as he stepped back inside the mudroom from the garage.
She wasn’t anywhere downstairs and a prickle of panic had settled at the base of his spine. Had she… left again? No. His brain rejected it even though that fear tingled at the back of his head. Moving fast, he hurried outside. Her car was here. So was his truck.
But her trunk was open.
Withdrawing his pistol, he scanned the surrounding area as he moved toward the back of her car.
A shattered picture frame was on the ground…
It was of them on their wedding night in Vegas.
She was wearing heart-shaped neon pink sunglasses that matched her bright pink cocktail dress, and a sparkly white veil.
He had his arms around her as she threw her head back laughing at something dirty he’d just whispered to her.
Whoever the photographer had been at that chapel, they’d captured the greatest moment of his life.
The happiness on both their faces was crystal clear .
And now she was gone. No way it was of her own accord.
Everything funneled out around him as he sheathed his weapon and palmed his key fob. The second he started his car, he called Berlin.
“I think someone took Hope. Track her now,” he growled out.
“Shit… Okay… Working on it… Her cell phone tracker is static at her house but the tracker in her watch is in motion.”
“Send a mirror to my nav system—” Even before the words were out, a map popped up on his dash showing him a little dot moving toward town.
Heart racing, he gunned it, tearing down the driveway, dust kicking up as he raced for the main road. He knew Berlin had questions, but was grateful she wasn’t asking any of them. Because he didn’t have any answers other than the woman he loved was missing.
The only thing he could hear anyway was his own blood rushing in his ears as he sped down the road. If someone tried to stop him… Just let them try.
“It looks like she’s headed straight downtown…to the courthouse,” Berlin murmured. “Her tracker is moving at a fast clip. I’m hacking into nearby security cameras.”
He heard her words but couldn’t respond, couldn’t do anything but drive toward that blinking red dot. To his Hope.
To his entire world.
He couldn’t imagine a future without her in it. Wouldn’t.
“You still with me?” Berlin asked softly.
“Yeah,” he rasped out. “I’m almost there.”
“Good, good.” He could hear the faint clack of her keyboard in the background, and it centered him. Hope had people looking out for her—the best people. His people. “There’s only one vehicle she could be in… Oh shit. It’s a sheriff’s department vehicle.”
Ice slicked down his spine. “Do you have eyes on her? ”
“No, but looking at the camera feed right outside the courthouse, she’s gotta be in the back of that SUV. I don’t have a good shot of the guy. He’s wearing a hat and sunglasses. Okay, he’s pulling into the parking garage.”
“I’m on Main Street.”
Berlin sucked in a breath. “Don’t panic. The tracker went offline. But she’s in a parking garage.”
He gunned the engine, ready to drive right over a median, but spotted two sheriff deputies parked across the street.
And while he wanted to tell them to go ahead and try him, if he got stopped it would only slow him down and take longer to get to Hope if he had to disable them.
So he slowed to just above the speed limit. “I’m turning into the parking garage now.” He felt hollow as he managed to rasp out the words.
“She’s back!” The relief in Berlin’s voice was so palpable he felt it over the phone line. “Sweet dancing pandas, she’s back,” she whispered. “The tracker is moving. She’s on an elevator.”
Stark relief punctured his chest and he managed to drag in a breath. “Where’s she at now? Can you see the cameras inside?”
“Hold on, pulling up the schematics of the building. It’s a new one thankfully…
Okay. You need to park, ride the elevator from the garage to the first floor, go through security, then you’ll take the interior elevators to the third floor.
Keep your comms in. I’ll guide you. And you won’t be able to take a pistol. ”
“Yeah, I know.” He didn’t care. He briefly wondered why this guy was taking her to the courthouse but it didn’t even matter.
“Or a knife,” she whispered.
“Jesus Berlin, I know. And…thank you.”
“We got you. We’re already headed back.”
“Thank you.” It wouldn’t matter when they got here, that much he knew. They’d left hours ago and Hope didn’t have that much time. She only had him.
And he wasn’t going to fail her.
“Adalyn’s contacted Hazel so she’s en route too.”
He wasn’t sure if that was necessary but he didn’t care. Someone had taken Hope for a reason. Though the reason didn’t even matter. Just saving her mattered.
“I’m in!” Berlin shouted again right as he parked.
Though he hated to leave his weapons behind, there was no other choice. “I’m making my way to the elevators.”
“Yeah…” The rest of her response was garbled as he slammed open the door to the stairs. There were three people waiting at the elevators and he wasn’t wasting time.
He barely remembered the sprint, but he made it to the first floor and managed to drag in a breath and try to calm the chaos of his mind as he opened the door into the lobby.
There were three metal detectors and three old men wearing sheriff’s uniforms all talking and laughing with each other.
Get it together , he ordered himself. Normally he was good with people, but he was keyed-up and knew that the energy rolling off him was too much. If he didn’t get himself under control, they might pick up on his murderous vibe.
“Ask where Judge Collins’s floor is. She’s traffic court and it’s the most common place for people to go. Say you’re going there for a speeding ticket. She’s in session right now,” Berlin said. “And try to relax.”
Thankful she was in his ear, he did exactly as she said and somehow managed to keep his expression neutral—or at least not look like a killer ready to go on a rampage—as he asked about the judge’s floor.
“What do you see on the cameras?” he demanded once he was on the elevator, heading up to the third floor.
“She’s with a man in a sheriff’s uniform.
She…looks scared, but she’s alive. They’re heading down one of the corridors.
I’m sending you a map to navigate on your phone.
Okay…they’re stepping into courtroom 3-H.
From the schedule it doesn’t look like there’s anyone in there today.
I’m running his face through facial recognition now,” she added.
“Send me a feed to the cameras.”
“I can’t. There’s no feed that I can find in the courtrooms. Any of them.”
Shit. So he was going in blind. “What do the third-floor corridors look like? Any guards up there?”
“Ah, yeah. Two on the south end and one on the east. There could be more in the courtrooms.”
“What’s the lone guy doing?” he asked.
“Talking on his phone, staring out at the parking lot. Seems like he’s on break.”
Okay, he could work with that. “What kind of weapons can you see on him?”
“Standard-looking pistol and Taser. Might have more, but those are visible on his belt.”
“Thanks. Drop me his location and be my eyes. Can you kill security in that hallway for a couple minutes?”
She cursed, but said, “Fine.”
The man was still at the end of the hallway as Bradford rounded the corner. He slowed himself so he didn’t look like a bull racing at the security guy. Then he held his phone to his ear and pretended to talk to someone.
“I’m on the third floor. Yeah…I’m not sure. All the hallways look the same. No, babe, I swear I don’t see you.” He could see the security guy out of the corner of his eye look over, but then dismiss him as he went back to his own conversation .
Which sounded rife with drama.
Bradford tuned it and everything else out as he made his move. He struck without warning, hitting the guy in the temple enough to stun him. Shocked, the man sprawled into the glass windows with a rattling thud.
Bradford moved in fast, pinning the guy in place as he wrapped his forearm around the guy’s neck. He hated hurting someone like this, but the only thing that mattered was getting to Hope. It didn’t take long until the man fell limp in his arms.
“Two guards will be on you in three minutes. Drag him into the nearby bathroom,” Berlin said.
After gagging him and tying him up, he secured him to the toilet in the handicap stall. Then he locked the door and crawled out underneath.
It wouldn’t be a deterrent for long, but it gave him enough time to get away with two weapons.
“She’s on the move.” Berlin’s voice sounded urgent. “I’m not sure where she is…the layout isn’t making any sense. Oh shit, I think the guy is taking her to a judge’s chamber. They’re behind all the courtrooms.”
He nodded politely as he passed the two guards, let out a breath when they didn’t pay him any attention.
“You’re coming up on the courtroom she originally walked into. There’s got to be exit doors somewhere near the judge’s bench, but I can’t see anything.”
“I’ve got this.”
He had no other choice. Hope was depending on him.