Chapter Twenty-Nine
JAKE
It’s midnight by the time I get back to Boston after a nearly three hour flight, but I’m still wide awake, too excited about seeing Abbie to feel tired. Digging my phone out of my pocket as I make my way off the plane, I switch it out of airplane mode.
It starts going crazy.
Texts from Carter, Sophie, and Michael come flooding in, as well as over twenty missed calls. What the fuck is going on? I start scrolling through the texts.
Carter: Hey, Sophie is wondering if you’ve seen Abbie?
Carter: They were supposed to meet to go out tonight, but Abbie never showed. She texted to let Sophie know she was on her way, but that’s the last anyone has heard from her.
Carter: We can’t reach her. She’s not answering her phone.
Sophie: Jake! Please answer! Have you heard from Abbie? It’s been nearly an hour since she texted me. It should’ve only taken her fifteen minutes to reach me.
Mr. Wixx: Abbie’s missing—It’s been nearly two hours, so I’m going over to the apartment just so you and your security people know.
Sophie: Jake, seriously! Are you missing too?
Mr. Wixx: She wasn’t at the apartment. We are calling Peterson and the police.
Sophie: Jake! I’m freaking out! We can’t find Abbie anywhere!
No. No, no, no, no. This can’t be happening. Did that fucker make a move? Did he take her?
Heart in my throat, I dial up Sophie, and she answers immediately.
“Jake!” She exclaims, her voice cracking with fear. “Where have you been? We can’t find Abbie!”
“I’ve been on a flight to Boston,” I explain in a tight tone. “My phone was on airplane mode. What do you mean you can’t find Abbie?”
I hurry off the plane as fast as I can. Once I get through the runway, I break into a full-on sprint.
“We were supposed to meet tonight,” Sophie explains, nearly sobbing.
“She never showed up, and she won’t answer her phone.
We’ve been trying to get a hold of her for hours.
We reached out to let Peterson know, but he doesn’t have any updates for us yet.
Jake, I’m freaking out! I can’t shake this feeling that something bad has happened like that freak who’s been stalking her has done something… ”
My stomach drops, and I nearly trip over my feet as pure fear slams through me. I’m racing through baggage claim at this point.
“What about Lilah? Is she okay?”
“Yes!” Sophie quickly assures me. “She’s with her dad and Vivianne, and there are cops at the house. She’s safe.”
I let out a breath of relief at that, and focus back on Abbie.
“Let me call the security company monitoring the apartment,” I say as I rush out of the airport. “I’ll see if they have any footage of her.”
“Okay,” she whimpers. “Jake, I’m so scared…”
“Don’t worry,” I tell her, sounding far more calm and confident than I actually am. “I’m on my way. We’re going to find her, Sophie. We have to find her…I can’t live without her”
“I know you can’t,” she replies in a soft voice.
“I’ll talk to you soon.”
I catch the first cab that rolls up. I jump into the back seat, pick up my phone again, and immediately dial up the security company and ask them to bring up the security footage from the camera at the apartment door.
As the cab rolls down the highway, I listen to every word with bated breath.
My dread only intensifies when they say she left for her night out with Sophie, dressed up and smiling.
I’m still talking to them on the phone as we get back to my apartment.
“Thanks,” I call out to the driver, as I jump out and immediately race to my car.
I start the engine and roll right back onto the streets, this time in the direction of Ivy Glen.
When I’m a couple miles out of Boston, I dial Abbie’s number, praying she answers. Praying this is all a misunderstanding…
“You’ve reached Abbie Wixx. I can’t come to the phone right now…”
“Damn it!” I growl, hanging up on her voicemail.
I try again. And again, and again, and again.
Voicemail. Every fucking time.
Panic rising, I call Detective Peterson instead.
“This is Peterson,” he answers.
“Where is Abbie!”
There’s a pause, and then, “Jake? Is that you?”
“Yes!” I shout. “Where is she, Peterson? Have you found anything out? Is Stuart out of custody?”
“No, he’s still in jail on that warrant we found for him.
I’m sorry, Jake. He’s not our guy. As soon as I heard from Sophie, we sent out a BOLO so every LEO is on the lookout for her.
We’ve set up checkpoints coming in and out of Ivy Glen to try and catch anyone that might have taken her if they try to leave town.
I promise, Jake, that we’re doing everything we can to find her. ”
I grit my teeth, pushing down the anger rising up inside me. It’s not his fault—I was certain they’d gotten the guy too when they went after Stuart. Maybe it’s my fault, actually. I put all that focus on Stuart in the first place.
“If the fucker who’s been tormenting her has her, we don’t have time to waste…” A rational thought pops into my mind, breaking through the panic tornado. “Holy shit! I might know how to find her!”
I pull off to the side of the road and throw on my hazards.
“What?” Peterson snaps. “How?”
“I had her share her phone’s location with me when I was out of town last week,” I explain as I quickly pull up my maps app and search for Abbie’s name.
“I don’t think we put a time limit on it, so I still might have access…
got it!” Thank God! I study the location and realize it’s only thirty minutes away from the city.
I rattle off the address to Peterson, saving it for myself.
“Okay, I’ll get units out there right away…” His voice suddenly fades away and I can hear other people speaking in the background, but I can’t tell what they’re saying. However, when Peterson exclaims, “Are you shitting me?” I tense.
What now?
“Peterson?” I bark into the phone. “What the hell is going on?”
“Jake, I got bad news.” He releases a short breath, his voice tight and furious.
“I just got word that we’ve got a positive ID on the perp who vandalized your car.
The restaurant cameras caught him, but they’re old and grainy and it’s taken a little while to clean up the footage enough to see who it was. ”
That means they know who Abbie’s stalker is!
“Who is it?” I demand to know.
He pauses a moment and growls, “Dr. Paul Westbrook.”
Westbrook… Westbrook?
That smug motherfucker. I fucking knew there was something about him I didn’t like. My blood boils and I see red. I pull back onto the road and speed into the night.
“Fucking Westbrook!” I spew through gritted teeth, and I don’t care that the detective hears me.
How could I be so stupid? How could I not see that it was Westbrook? He obviously followed her from Harrisburg, and none of the shit that’s happened to us in Ivy Glen started until he arrived. I’m such a fucking idiot!
“Son of a bitch!” I shout, stomping my foot on the gas, making the car’s engine roar as I speed down the road.
“Jake, what are you doing?” Peterson asks, his tone heavy with suspicion.
“I’m going after her.”
“You can’t do that,” he insists. “You need to back off and let us handle this situation.”
“Like hell I’m backing off!” I shout. “I’m not going to just sit back while some psycho has her! I’m way closer to her and by the time you get there, it could be too late.”
“Jake, let the professionals handle this! We have trained negotiators. SWAT. People who know how to deescalate these kinds of situations so no one gets hurt!”
“You’re wasting time trying to talk me out of it.” I’m squeezing the steering wheel so hard, my knuckles are white. “I’m going, whether you like it or not, so I suggest you focus on getting to Abbie first if you don’t want me to tear Westbrook apart with my bare hands!”
Peterson releases a frustrated growl. “All right, fine! I’m not going to argue with you, but when you get there, you wait outside. No fucking way you’re going in on your own. You stay and wait for us to get there. You got me?”
I gnash my teeth in frustration, but I hiss, “Fine. I’ll wait outside.”
“Good. We’ll be there right away.”
I hang up without bothering to tell him goodbye as I push my speed to ninety-five down the freeway. I would’ve told Peterson anything he wanted to hear to get him off my back.
His commands don’t matter. Nothing matters but getting to Abbie as fast as I can.
I just pray I don’t get there too late.