Chapter 42
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
“Okay, what do we have?” asked Finn.
Colt had set up his laptop.
His fingers flew across the keyboard as he navigated through various camera feeds until he found the feed from around the park.
Legal? Nope.
Titus didn’t care. Emelia was missing, and he had to find her.
Finn, Chase, Ford, Zach and Titus watched the screen. They watched intently as Emelia and Stacy approached the dog park. Leo was lunging and pulling on his leash, eager to be let loose. Stacy seemed preoccupied as she alternated her gaze between her phone and the street.
“The bitch knows something,” growled Titus, clenching his hands.
They watched Stacy open the gate as Emelia released Leo, who joyfully ran after a couple of squirrels. She placed the leash on the fence and started to step inside.
A black van pulled up. A man, his cap pulled low, leaped out, opened the back door of the van, and grabbed Emelia’s arm. She looked startled and tried to fight back.
“Fight, baby. Fight,” Titus yelled in frustration, even though he knew it wouldn’t help and she couldn’t.
The men watched in horror as the man tossed Emelia headfirst into the van. That had to hurt. Titus cracked his knuckles. He was going to kill him.
Then the man pulled out a gun and motioned for Stacy to get into the back. After she got in, he pulled something from his pocket and leaned in, then closed the doors, sprinted to the driver’s side, and drove off.
“Sonofabitch,” Titus yelled. “He injected her with something.”
It took less than a minute.
No one was on the sidewalk at the time.
No one was in the dog park.
No cars drove by.
No one would have known what happened if it hadn’t been caught on camera. They vanished without a trace.
Titus wanted to hurl. He wanted to punch something, anything. Instead, he put his head in his hands and groaned.
“We’ll find her,” Chase said, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “Colt, follow the van.”
Colt pulled up more videos. The van headed out of town at a fast clip. In a wooded area not far from town, the men watched as the driver lost control and hit a tree. It spun around, hiding the back end in the woods, obscuring their view.
“Fuck,” Titus yelled. Was Emelia all right? His heart was racing so fast he could barely catch his breath. “Where did that happen?”
“On that stretch of road off Main Street just before you get to the wildlife refuge,” Colt replied, his face pale.
“Shit, we’ll never find them if they get into the refuge. What is it, two thousand acres?” asked Zach.
They watched the driver get out to inspect the damage. He then went around to the back where the women were held. But the women didn’t emerge.
“Oh God, is Emelia all right?” Titus couldn’t believe what had just happened. Was she hurt? Dead?
The man stood, staring into the woods. Where was Emelia? Why was the man just standing there?
“What’s around there?” asked Zach. He looked as devastated as Titus felt.
Colt pulled up a map, zooming in on the area. “Not much. It looks like a dirt road that’s parallel to it.” He narrowed his eyes and looked closer. “Dense woods. No houses anywhere near it.”
“This makes little sense,” Finn said. “How did he lose control? It isn’t raining. There was no oil slick on the road.” He glanced at the group. “I wonder if the women attacked him?”
“I want to hope so, but the way he threw Emelia into the van, she might not be in any condition to fight,” said Colt. “I’m on the fence about Stacy’s involvement. Don’t forget the guy had a gun.”
Titus blew a breath. This couldn’t be happening. He’d been in plenty of battles and never felt so lost or helpless. Was this what love did to you? Made you question your ability to keep someone safe? Made you worry about them all the time?
Damn. He’d take it. But when they got Emelia back, and they would, she was going to be taking a lot more self-defense and shooting lessons before he would feel comfortable about her being out and about.
“Let’s see what’s going on. I’ll call the police after we get more information and a license plate number,” Chase said as he checked his gun and then tucked it behind his back. The other men were armed, so it was one less thing they had to worry about.
The men filed out, got into two trucks, and sped to the accident scene. Titus clenched his hands, praying that Emelia was safe and alive but knowing this was just the beginning of his personal hell.
They arrived at the scene and jumped out of the trucks. Titus viewed the van smashed against a tree, with its back end stuck in bushes. The stench of burning rubber filled the air. The back doors were open, but there was no sign of the driver or the women. It was quiet—eerily so.
“What the hell is going on?” asked Zach, scanning the area.
The men searched the surrounding area, combing for clues. Titus stood motionless for a minute. He could smell a sweet fragrance from a bush. Birds were chirping. Something rustled in the bushes. The sky was blue with puffs of white clouds. So innocent and yet in stark contrast to his fear and the violence in front of him.
“Over here,” yelled Chase from behind a bush.
The men sprinted over. Chase held up a piece of fabric similar to the chef’s outfit Emelia was wearing. “Careful, the bush has thorns.” He looked down. “Blood. Whose blood, is the question?”
Titus’s stomach dropped. Emelia, hold steady, love. I’m coming. He hoped she knew he would never stop looking for her.
“They were here, and now they’ve disappeared.” Chase looked around and asked, “Where did they go?”
“I’ll check by the road,” said Finn as he pulled out his gun and walked down to the dirt road looking for clues. The road was hardly recognizable, resembling a mere path carved through the woods. Why was it here? For what purpose?
“This looks like an old firebreak. There are tire tracks here,” Finn said as he pointed at the road. “I bet the accident was a ruse to fool us.”
“Why?” Colt frowned. “Why go through the trouble?”
Chase shook his head. “Let’s follow the tracks.” He started down the road.
The men spread out. “Where does the firebreak lead to?” asked Finn.
Colt pulled up a map on his phone. His shoulders slumped. “Damn, about a half mile from here, it leads to another road deeper into the refuge.”
“Colt, see if you can get any information on that license plate,” said Chase. He pulled out his phone. “I’m calling the police.”
“Where the hell is this guy going? And in what vehicle?” Titus was confused. Who was helping him? He couldn’t do this alone, could he? Was the man crazy? Did he even have a plan? What did he want with the women? With Emelia? Was he the one behind the harassment?
So many questions but no answers.
“I need to call Tex,” said Chase. “He might be able to dig deeper to determine who is behind this.”
Chase looked at Titus and asked, “Did Emelia mention anything about previous owners to you? I know Colt checked the contractors and employees and didn’t find any major red flags, but there must be a connection somewhere.”
Titus shook his head. “Not that I remember.”
A snippet of a conversation popped into his head. What? Emelia was packing a box. She smiled at him and winked. He wanted to take her right … stop.
Titus mentally slapped himself. He needed to concentrate.
Rewind. She was packing a box and laughing. The dresser was moved away from the wall. There was a small door in the attic eave.
“Shit. I remember her packing a box to store in the eave behind the dresser. It was enclosed when they did the attic renovation. She mentioned that there were some old boxes at the back and when she had time, she would go through them.” Titus huffed. “I wonder if there’s something there that might throw some light on this.”
“Worth a look,” said Chase. “Let’s go back.”
They retraced their steps. When they reached their trucks, they heard the sirens in the distance.
“Finn, Zach and I will stay here and talk to the police,” said Colt. “You guys go on ahead. We’ll meet you back at command central as soon as we’re finished.”
Colt stared at his phone and shook his head. “The plates are stolen. I’ve got nothing on the van.”
Titus rubbed his hands over his face.
What a clusterfuck. They had nothing. It was as if the man and two women had just disappeared from the face of the earth. Why? And where could they have gone?