Chapter 44
Caleb arrived home in the early morning hours. Ranger barked an excited hello from inside the house.
He parked his truck beside Mia’s car and frowned. Why hadn’t she picked it up?
He pulled out his phone and dialed her number. It rang. No answer.
No matter. He’d ask when he got to the farm. His guys would be there later to start repairs on the damage.
First things first. A shower, then coffee and something to eat.
Still, as he headed inside, he glanced back once more at Mia’s car. Unease stirred, the kind he’d learned not to ignore.
Before he could get to the farm, Caleb stopped by the Brotherhood campus. Chase called a quick meeting to go over new cases and get updates.
It was early enough that Melissa wasn’t there yet. Neither was Jeannie nor Ava. Voices carried from the conference room down the hall.
Inside, Titus, Finn, Dex and Ryker sat around the large conference table. Caleb greeted Ryker, whom he hadn’t seen in a while, and asked about the new baby he and Dani had. They talked for a few minutes, easy and familiar, before Chase stepped in from his office.
More voices approached from the hall as Zach and Will joined them.
“I guess we’re only missing Nate and Ford,” said Chase, taking his seat at the head of the table.
He ran through updates quickly, assigning priorities and timelines.
“Caleb,” he said, glancing up, “how did your security detail work out?”
Caleb gave him a rundown. Easy job. Bodyguard work for a prominent businessman in Florida, only in town for a couple of days.
Chase nodded. “Good. We have a couple of weeklong jobs coming up.”
He looked around the table. “Will and Dex, you’re up next. I promised Elena Morales that someone would check up on a client of hers. Ryker, why don’t you take that one? Touch base with Elena this week.”
Ryker nodded.
Caleb listened, contributed where needed, but his thoughts kept drifting back to a car sitting where it shouldn’t be.
And a phone that hadn’t been answered.
The meeting finished early, and Caleb was glad. He was anxious to get to the Whitmore farm, check on his team and Mia.
Caleb didn’t waste another minute. He was out the door and in his truck before the thought fully formed.
It didn’t take long to reach the farm. His guys were already there, tools out, voices carrying as they started the repairs on the damage.
And Mia’s van sat parked near the barn.
Caleb exhaled. Good. She must be here. He’d talk to her and maybe drive her back to his place to get her car.
He pulled on the kitchen barn door.
Locked.
He knocked once. Then again.
No answer.
Okay then, she was still at the farmhouse. He crossed the yard and knocked on the door, waiting until her father shouted, “Come in.”
They talked for a few minutes about the repairs. The kitchen felt too quiet. No clatter of pans. No Mia.
Finally Caleb asked, “Is Mia around?”
Her father cocked his head. “I thought she was with you. She left last night. Said she was going to pick up her car.”
Caleb’s pulse picked up. “How was she getting there?”
“I believe Roy was giving her a ride.”
Something cold stabbed straight through his heart.
He hesitated, caught in a quandary. He didn’t want to panic Hal, but something was off. Horribly off.
“Do you have Roy’s phone number and address?” he asked, keeping his voice even. “She’s not at my place. Maybe she stayed with a girlfriend?”
“Yes, I’ve got it.” Hal frowned, confusion settling in. “I’m surprised she didn’t tell me.”
Caleb nodded, even as every instinct he had screamed that this was no misunderstanding.
Something was wrong.
He thanked Hal and promised to let him know what he learned.
Outside, he dialed Roy’s number.
Straight to voicemail.
He left a brief message. Then muttered, “Screw this,” and headed for his truck.
Roy’s apartment wasn’t far. Downtown was just starting to wake up. A few shops had lights on. People were on the sidewalk with coffee cups in hand. Caleb found a parking space in front of the old hardware store Hal used to own and walked around back to the entrance to Roy’s apartment.
He knocked once. Again. Then harder.
No answer.
He scanned the lot. Roy’s truck wasn’t there.
Fear closed around his heart.
He went back to his truck and started calling everyone he knew Mia might have gone to see. One by one, the answers came back the same.
No.
No.
Haven’t seen her.
By the time he ended the last call, the truth had settled in his bones.
Something had happened to Mia.
Mia woke slowly, her body stiff. She squinted at her watch.
Was it 2 a.m. or 2 p.m.? Time had lost its meaning.
How long had she been asleep? Waking every hour barely counted as sleep at all. The cold was worse than the dark, seeping into her bones, stealing what little warmth she had.
It didn’t matter. She was still trapped in a metal box.
The silence pressed in. No voices. No music. Just her own breathing, too loud in the dark.
Her throat felt raw. Dry.
She swallowed and tasted metal.
Someone will come, she told herself. They had to.
She started building menus in her head, dish by dish, ingredient by ingredient. Anything to keep the bad thoughts at bay.
She pressed her nose to the old metal seam again and inhaled.
Fresh air.
She discovered that early on. Thin, faint, but there.
She shifted, her hand sliding across the floor.
Cold. Wet.
She froze, then pressed her palm down again. The concrete was slick along the edge, with a shallow puddle pooling where the metal met the ground.
For a second, her stomach roiled. It smelled faintly of rust and something old.
She dipped her fingers, hesitating, then brought them to her mouth.
The taste was metallic. Bitter. Wrong.
She swallowed anyway.
Her throat burned, then eased just a little. Not enough to feel better. Just enough to keep going.
Her hand followed the thin trail of water as it crept down the inside seam of the locker, dripping slowly and steady.
Mia shifted closer, cupping her hand beneath it.
She didn’t think about where it came from.
She waited, afraid to move in case it stopped.