Chapter 26
Brandon just abouthad his hands free. That bastard had tied them with rope and then wrapped them with duct tape. It had been just over twenty minutes since he had become conscious and in that time his mind had thought of nothing but Leah and getting to her.
He was appalled at himself that he let a guy like Will Huntington get the jump on him. He was a cop for fucks sake. And in letting Will get the better of him, he put Leah in danger. If Will was willing to tie up a cop and steal his gun, there’s no telling what else he was willing to do.
And that scared him.
He was still struggling with the rope and tape when he heard someone enter his house. His body tensed thinking that it was Will again.
And then he heard Logan shout his name. “Brandon!”
He started screaming through the gag, hoping it was enough for Logan to hear him.
“Holy fuck,” Logan said when he saw him and immediately ran to him and ripped the tape and gag from his mouth.
“Who did this?” he asked.
“Will Huntington,” he said, shaking his arm when it was finally loose. “He took my gun, too.”
“Fuck me!” Logan swore. “The girls are all together at the studio right?”
“I hope so,” he said. “Can you try calling there and making sure. I need to get my other gun and my phone.”
He ran to his room where he kept his lockbox and retrieved his extra weapon along with his phone.
“Umm, Bran,” Logan said when he came back out of his room. “You’re not gonna like this but Leah left the studio about an hour ago.”
“What!” he shouted. “Where did she go?”
“Carly said, her note said, she was coming to bring you lunch.”
His stomach turned. If she came here, Will was sure to have gotten to her.
“I have to find her,” he said, panicked.
“We will,” Logan assured him, arms on his shoulders. “But Bran, you need to step back and start thinking like the cop you are and not the boyfriend.”
He swallowed. “I don’t know if I can separate the two.”
“Leah needs you too.”
He knew his brother was right. But knowing he was right and figuring out how to separate the two were completely different things. But he was going to try his damndest.
“Let’s go.” Logan followed him outside. “We’ll take your car,” he said and jumped in the driver”s side. Logan handed him his keys once he was in and Brandon took off.
“What’s the plan?” Logan asked as he sped down the road.
“I’m going to the studio, I want everyone else safe.”
“I’m gonna call Tony.” Logan began to dial his phone. “I think it might be good to have an extra person around to help out.”
“Good idea.” Logan had a short conversation with Tony and when he hung up Brandon dialed Tim on his own phone.
“Tim,” he said when he picked up. “Meet me at the studio ASAP.” That was all he said before hanging up.
Pulling into the studio, the car was barely in park before he jumped out and ran inside, Logan hot on his heels.
“Bran,” Carly said as soon as he was in the door. “I am so sorry. I had no idea she would leave.”
Both she and Melanie wore matching looks of despair. “I have to think positive,” he told them, “and hope that maybe she is just out shopping, or I don’t know, taking a walk.”
“We’ve called her hundreds of times,” Melanie said.
He had also been calling her, with no luck.
Tim walked in. “What’s wrong?”
“Leah is missing,” Logan filled him in.
“Shit,” Tim swore. “For how long?”
“Just about an hour,” Brandon answered.
“Well, that’s not that long. Are you sure she isn’t just somewhere that she can’t be reached?”
Brandon shook his head. “Somehow Will Huntington got into my house and knocked me out. I was tied up for the last hour or so. And she left here about the same time,” he passed Tim the note Leah had written, “so I know he has her.”
“Okay,” Tim said in his ‘ready to work’ voice.
“I didn’t see her car outside,” Brandon said to Carly and Mel. “Did you all ride together or did she drive separately today.”
“We all rode together but in her car,” Mel answered. “Mine was still here from yesterday.”
“So that means she was in her car and since it’s not at my house, Will must have gotten to her in the car.”
“I’ll put a BOLO out on the car,” Tim said and walked away.
“I’m gonna go into town and start questioning people to see if anyone saw her or her car.”
“I’ll do that,” a voice said and he turned to find Tony and Ray. “You need to be running point on this,” Ray said. “So I can do the leg work.”
“And I can stay with Logan and the girls,” Tony added.
He could sense that Carly wanted to protest, but he didn’t have time to worry about her and what did or didn’t irritate her.
“Okay,” he said. “Make sure you all stay together.” He pulled Logan and Tony aside before they left. “Check every inch of the house before you lock yourselves in there. He got in my house somehow and the only way I can think of is that he got in while we were there and doors were open and unlocked.”
They both nodded and left. Along with Ray.
“Alert is out,” Tim said. “What now?”
“Now we split up and go looking for ourselves. You go east and I will go west. If you see anything suspicious at all, you call me.”
He took Logan’s car and headed west. He went slow, looking at every home and business for Leah’s car or anything else that seemed odd. After he made it to the end of town on Main Street, he started going up the side streets beginning with the north side of town.
His phone rang and he picked it up. “Graham,” he said.
“It’s Ray.” Brandon held his breath and hoped that Ray had a lead. “I was just at the deli and the girl behind the counter said that Leah came in around noon to pick up lunch.”
“That jibes with the time Carly said, too.”
“There was a customer there at the time who was also leaving, a Jean Devereux, and she said that she saw Leah get into her car and go right. That would make sense that she was at least on her way to your place.”
Hanging up with Ray, he kept his eyes peeled all the while his heart was beating out of his chest. Leah was his life now and somehow, he’d fucked up and let a crazy person get ahold of her. If anything happened to her, he wouldn’t be able to survive.
His phone rang again and this time it was Tim.
“I might have something. You know how Katie’s daughter Julie was going out of town for the week. Well, Katie said she went by yesterday to check on things and she had a distinct feeling that someone had been there. She said she couldn’t be sure, but that something just felt off.”
“What’s the address?” Brandon demanded and Tim rattled it off.
“I’m on my way there, too,” he said. “So don’t go all cowboy without me.”
Brandon turned his car in the direction of the address and sped all the way there. He stopped several yards from the drive and parked his car along the side of the road. If this was where Will had Leah, he did not want to make his presence known.
Tim pulled up behind him and got out. “What’s the plan?” he whispered.
He swallowed and took a deep breath. He needed to calm his nerves so that he could do his job. “We go together up to the side of the house. Maybe, just maybe we will see or hear something that will tip us off that they are, in fact, in there.”
Together they crept to the side of the house next to the garage. The garage was one that happened to have a window and inside he saw Leah’s car.
“Fuck,” he swore under his breath.
They kept moving, making it to the side of the house. When they turned the corner, what he saw in the sliding glass door made him so proud and at the same time made his heart stop.
Leah was standing over Will, gun pointed at him.
Not wanting to frighten her, he lightly knocked and said her name. She turned her head, expression going from fear and anger to relief. Backing toward the door but keeping the gun trained on Will, she worked on unlocking the door. When Brandon heard it click he slid it open, letting Tim move past him to deal with Will while he removed the gun from Leah’s bloody hands.
“Oh God, Brandon,” she said and loosened her grip on the gun allowing him to take it.
“It’s okay,” he said over and over, taking her into his arms. “It’s going to be okay.”
“I was so scared,” she said against his chest. “He was crazy.”
He pulled back and lifted her hands. “Oh baby, look at your hands. Let me get an ambulance here.” He made a fast phone call while he watched Tim cuff Will.
“I’m taking him in now, Chief,” Tim said. “Do you need anything else from me?”
“No,” he shook his head. “Can you let Ray and Logan know that we found her and that once she is treated for injuries, I will bring her by.”
“Will do,” he said and escorted Will Huntington out.
“Can we get out of here?” Leah asked. “At least outside?”
“Yeah,” he said and led her to the deck.
“What happened to your head?” she asked and touched the spot on his forehead where he was hit earlier.
“Nothing,” he said, more concerned for her than himself. “How are you?”
“Brandon?” she asked in a voice that he was starting to know as her ‘don’t mess with me’ voice.
He sighed. “He jumped me in my house.”
“What!” she shrieked.
Figuring she should know the rest he went on. “Then he tied me up and left me there. I’m assuming that is when you showed up with lunch and he grabbed you.”
“Probably,” she said. “I was just getting out of my car when he pushed me back in and held me at gunpoint.”
His body shuddered at the picture she painted. “Then he brought me here and tied me up. He was so angry, Brandon. Angry at my dad and uncle, and angry at me.”
“Why you?” he asked.
“He didn’t understand why I got to start over and be happy when he felt like his life was over.”
“And your hands?” he asked and lifted one to inspect it.
“They were tied behind my back and the whole time we talked, I worked them loose.”
“How did you end up with the gun?”
“When he was not paying attention, I leapt at him, landing on him and knocking him out. The gun was sitting on the table and I was able to get to it before he came to.”
He shook his head. “You are amazing. Weren’t you afraid?”
“I was. But I was more afraid of losing you or him hurting you.”
“You’re never gonna lose me,” he said and finally kissed her. “You and me...we are a forever kind of love.”
He heard the ambulance pull up and they walked out front to meet them. He didn’t want to leave her, but while the paramedics fixed her up, he met with the deputies who showed up to go over details of the story.
He kept his eyes trained on her the whole time he spoke with his deputies, and when he saw that she was finished being tended to, he left them to finish on their own.
“Are you ready to get out of here? I know a few people who are dying to see you and make sure themselves that you are okay.”
“Yes, please,” she said. The paramedics had bandaged her hand so he was careful when he reached for it.
He started the engine, but before he put the car in gear he turned to face her. “I’m so sorry this happened to you and that I wasn’t there to stop it.”
“Brandon, none of this was your fault,” she said. “Will was crazy and obsessed. Plus, and this is a biggie, aside from a few rope burns and bruises,” she touched his head, “we both survived. To me, today was a win.”
“I love you,” he held her face in his hands. “So fucking much. I was going crazy when I knew he had you.”
“Your love for me, and mine for you, are what got me through.”
He kissed her with all the pent up emotion that he had stamped down all day. She was his and he was hers and not even a crazy person it seemed, could do anything to change that.