Chapter 26
Hudson paced the home where Layton held the open house, agitation roiling through him. Her purse was on the kitchen island. Her car still parked on the street. But the brochures she’d had for the property were scattered across the kitchen floor. Her phone was tossed into the dining room, along with a shattered vase.
There’d been a struggle.
There was no blood, which gave him some shred of hope, but something had happened. Someone had taken her. They’d searched the entire home, and there wasn’t a sign of her. No sign of anyone. Layton was simply gone.
“How could this home not have security cameras?” Aaron asked in frustration, pacing the kitchen. He was scanning the room, as if to make sure they hadn’t somehow missed one. But no. The place had virtually no security at all, save for the lock on the front door—which had been left wide open.
Hudson swore. He’d wondered the same damn thing. When they found Layton—and he swore that they would—he was going to insist she have security at her future showings. Cameras. Surveillance. Her own personal bodyguard if needed. He’d been worried about her being vulnerable and alone, and his hunch had been right.
Someone had taken her.
Anguish filled his head, and he thought of some of the times he’d needed to protect someone smaller and weaker than him. He recalled a particularly nasty drunk of a foster father that would try to fight Hudson and the other boys and then get handsy with the teenage girl living there. Hudson had heard her struggling one night and punched that bastard right in the face, getting him off of her. Hudson had been shuffled out of there by morning, labeled as combative and a troublemaker. His case worker had told him he was lucky he hadn’t been arrested.
And the girl? Hudson had no idea where she’d ended up.
Hudson would always defend the defenseless, stand up for the weak. Just because he’d grown into a big, muscular guy didn’t mean others had that same advantage. He was protective of those he cared about, which until recently, generally included his teammates.
Except now, the woman he loved was in danger. The woman carrying his baby. And yes, he absolutely loved Layton. It killed him that he’d never said it, that he’d never told her. Layton might never know how deep his feelings for her ran. He hated even thinking about what was happening to her right now. Was she being assaulted? Raped? And what about the baby?
His stomach churned.
A car door slammed, and as Hudson looked outside, he saw both Wyatt and Austin rushing to the front door. Aaron must’ve called in the team. Hudson had been too upset to do much more than dial 911. Sirens wailed in the distance, and he knew in moments, the HPD would be here. They’d have to dust the entire place for fingerprints. Interview neighbors. Ask for witnesses. All Hudson could do was watch in horror as the beginning of an investigation started to search for the woman he loved.
“We should go to her office,” Aaron said, shooting him a look. “Maybe someone there knows something.”
He nodded, feeling numb.
“Even if they’re not involved, maybe they’d have an idea of someone who might be.”
“Shit. I hadn’t even considered one of her colleagues could be responsible.”
“We don’t know what we don’t know. I’d say anyone and everyone is a suspect until we determine otherwise. Colleagues. Prospective clients. Or it could damn well be just a stranger off the street. A crime of opportunity.”
Hudson clenched his fists. Layton wasn’t going to be a statistic. They’d find her come hell or high water. “You update Emersyn yet?” Hudson asked. She’d just gone through her own ordeal and would no doubt be beside herself with her sister now missing.
Footsteps thudded in the foyer as Wyatt and Austin made haste, rushing inside. “SITREP!” Wyatt said, already in full commando mode. They might not be on an official op, but this felt like the most important mission of Hudson’s life. There was no reason for Layton to simply vanish. None. He knew something horrible had happened, and it killed him that he’d been jogging on the beach with his SEAL team while she needed him.
He quickly brought the others up to speed, his voice strangled as he listed the items of Layton’s that had been left here.
“Sawyer’s on his way,” Wyatt said. “I’ll tell him to head straight to her office instead. Any chance she’d go to your house?” he asked Hudson.
He shook his head. “Doubtful. And without her car? Her purse, cell, and everything is here. I doubt she went anywhere of her own free will.”
“We should check anyway,” Aaron said with a frown. “Plus Emersyn’s apartment.”
“All evidence points to a kidnapping,” Hudson said, growing annoyed.
“Agreed,” Wyatt said. “But HPD is going to insist we search probable locations in case she escaped and somehow ended up back there. Of course Emersyn will know if she makes it back to her own home. Does this place have any security cameras?” he asked, his gaze sweeping the kitchen. “I didn’t notice any outside.”
“Negative,” Aaron said.
“Let’s check with the neighbors then,” Wyatt told them. “Someone’s gotta have a doorbell camera. Maybe they saw something. People would’ve been coming and going all morning during the open house, so I’m assuming if someone took her, they arrived at the end of it. The police are going to want to interview all those people, too.”
“Yeah. Too bad we don’t have a damn clue who they are,” Hudson said angrily.
Two police cars came pulling up, lights flashing and sirens wailing. Hudson’s stomach dropped. He didn’t doubt they’d eventually find Layton, because he’d never stop looking for her. But in what condition would she be?
***
Tony gripped Layton’s arm, shoving her toward the front door of the secluded property on the other side of the island. She was dazed from being knocked out earlier, her mind fuzzy. She must’ve told him the address of this place before he’d hit her over the head, but she was having a hard time even remembering exactly what she’d said. At some point during the hour-long drive, she’d awoken. Tony had bound her ankles and wrists, tying a gag over her mouth and putting her in the trunk of his vehicle.
Hadn’t any of the neighbors noticed? The home she’d shown was in a busy subdivision. Layton could hardly believe no one would’ve seen him dragging her out unconscious in broad daylight. Had he…carried her? Lied about what was going on?
She couldn’t make sense of any of it.
She sucked in a deep breath, hoping to clear her mind. At least he’d unbound her when they’d arrived. Of course, he’d also threatened to shoot her in the head.
“There’s a lockbox here,” he accused, his eyes bulging as he stared at the front door. He smelled more strongly of cigarette smoke, and she assumed he’d been smoking on the drive over. Weird that she hadn’t even noticed the scent on her clothes. Normally, she couldn’t stand the smell, but as she became more aware, she realized she needed to pay attention to everything.
“There is,” she agreed, trying to remain calm. “I was renting the property but have to move somewhere else because the owner wants to sell,” she lied. “I don’t have a key,” she said, realization dawning on her. “My purse and things were at the open house. Did you put them in your car?”
“No, I didn’t fucking bring them!” he roared.
She flinched at the sudden noise, and his grip on her arm tightened. “Never mind. We’ll go around back. It’s not the first home I’ve broken in to. If we tamper with the lockbox, it’ll be too obvious. You sure you don’t have a hidden key?”
She looked at him in surprise. “No,” she said, shaking her head. “I’m renting, but if the owners hid a key, I have no idea where it is.”
Frowning at that piece of information, he dragged her through the wooded area. Lush trees and vegetation grew around the home, the air fragrant with flowers, but it felt like anything other than a peaceful retreat at the moment. It was isolated. Quiet. And she was alone with a crazed man. “I need that damn thumb drive!” he suddenly yelled, growing frustrated again.
She shuddered, and he glared at her, shaking her slightly as they paused on the way behind the home. “You have no idea what’s on there. None! I was going to be rich after copying those files. We’re talking millions. Millions! My efforts to secure the data are useless unless I get that damn drive back!”
“But—”
“But what?” he sneered.
She shook her head. “If it was so important, why’d you stick it in my bag?”
“You barely gave me a moment alone in that home,” he spat out. “I was holding the damn drive and didn’t want you to see it. Before I got a chance to pocket it myself, you set your bag down, so I dropped it in. Then another group came through to see the home, and you were gone.”
Layton wracked her mind, trying to remember more about the Arlington property. There hadn’t been any additional protocols used as far as security when the home was listed. Had someone who lived there stolen classified information? What else could be worth millions that Tony Harris was willing to copy onto a flash drive?
“How’d you get into the computer anyway?” she asked.
He snickered. “Easy as pie. And since you’re never getting out of here alive, I’ll tell you what was on it. Our targets overseas. There are still terror cells operating in the Middle East, and their leaders want to know what intel we have on them. There’s a mole at NSA,” he chuckled. “And the idiot has no idea I’m on to him. I heard him talking about selling the classified information and was planning to break in. When the home suddenly went up for sale, it was too damn easy. You let me right in the front door.”
A sinister smile spread across Tony’s face as they reached the back of the secluded home in Oahu. “There aren’t alarms on this home, are there?”
“No,” she said, wishing more than anything that this home did have alarms. No one would know when they broke in the back, and she had nowhere to run. Tony was right beside her, and she didn’t doubt he’d shoot her before she reached the vegetation surrounding the home. Tony aimed his gun at the glass patio doors, shooting right through one. She screamed, and he chuckled. “Show me where the bag is, Ms. O’Connell. I’m done wasting time.”