Chapter 41
Pierce
My eyes fly open, and I bolt upright.
I keep sleeping on the job, and it’s all that woman’s fault. She’s like a straight shot of serotonin.
I turn toward her side of the bed. Empty.
I grab my phone, ensuring no house alarms went off while I was out. No alarms, but the garage door opened and closed two minutes ago. Did someone leave? Megan?
I take the stairs two at a time, eager to make sure everyone is safe.
“Thea?” I call out ahead of me.
Her dad startles in his recliner, tossing the remote as he claps a hand to his chest.
“Sorry, I’m looking for Thea,” I say, lowering my voice and my intensity by eighty percent.
“Oh, she went out.”
The blood freezes in my veins. I must have heard him wrong. I clearly told her repeatedly to not go anywhere without me.
“Where did she go?”
“To get cinnamon rolls, I think.”
Her and carbs.
I drag a hand over my face. “Did she take a phone? A car?”
He doesn’t respond. I’ve lost him to news of the latest stem cell breakthrough. I tamp down my rising panic and stomp to the kitchen. Megan.
“Do you know where Thea went?” I ask by way of greeting.
“Oh!” she startles, flinging pancake mix out of the bowl.
I never knew I was so terrifying until I met this family.
“Sorry,” she says. “I’m a little jumpy from last night.”
I take a nonthreatening step back, hands half raised. “I’m sorry I startled you. I’m looking for Thea. She never told me she was going anywhere this morning, and something has come up that I need to talk to her about immediately.”
Megan presses a hand to her stomach. “About the intruder?”
That’s as good of an excuse as any. “Yes.”
“She didn’t mention going anywhere last night.”
“What did she say last night?” Did she tell her aunt something she didn’t tell me?
Megan looks at the living room door, ensuring it’s closed. “She told me about Mexico.”
I keep my expression blank. “Did she say anything else?”
“She asked about her dad’s retirement.”
“What about it?”
“Oh, it was a mess.” Megan glances out the window, sadness blanketing her features. “They claimed he stole a formula, so he was screwed over and received nothing.”
“What is this formula?” I ask, wondering if Megan knows more than Thea.
“No one ever said. Some medicine apparently. Last week Thea thought she found a way to get the retirement back, but then she insisted she needed to go on the vacation Scott had planned for her.”
So she never told her aunt she found the formula for Amnexia. She was trying to do it all on her own. “I figured it was for the best since she never takes time for herself. She’s her dad’s primary caretaker and has insisted on being so even when I’ve offered to move in instead.”
She’s stubborn about helping the people she loves.
“She didn’t say anything else?” I ask.
“Wait…” She exhales sharply and clutches a hand towel to her chest. “Do you think the drug has something to do with the intruder?”
I take a deep breath. “It’s very possible. I’m going to find her. You keep all the doors and windows locked.”
Megan’s hands tremble around the hand towel. “Please find her.”
“I’d like to see someone try to stop me.”
“Oh!” Megan presses the rag to her heart. “That was just like the hero in my book. Now go!” She shoos me out of the kitchen.
I head for the stairs to grab my keys. She couldn’t have gotten far, but something catches my eye. A faint glow emanates from the crack of a door I know for certain was locked last night.
I put my hand on my gun, moving silently down the hall.
I press open the door and discover a home lab. Thea’s dad must have come in here. The lights are off, but a laptop is open in the middle of the room.
Gavin Johnson’s profile on the company info page greets me.
That’s where she went. Last night she believed she took the drive to SciTech, now she’s going to get the retirement back for her dad.
Why didn’t she tell me?
My legs are ready to race after her, but my training kicks in. I restore the browser history. Things keep going south because I’ve been reactive. It’s time to get proactive. I can’t risk missing something important to get us all out of this mess. My gut is telling me there’s more here.
My heart thumps harder with each second spent not racing after her. Is this a terrible mistake? If she’s in trouble, the only thing that will keep her safe is the truth.
My pulse is so loud in my ears, so distracting, I almost miss the repeated domain.
Email.
I click on it. There are exactly eight emails in the inbox. I don’t have to open them to know what they say. I already do, because they are all from me. My last two emails to Mr. Smith requesting a change in the drop-off location sit unread at the top of the inbox.
Thea is Mr. Smith.