Chapter 9 #2
Emma’s pulse raced, and her stomach swirled with anxiety.
Would these guys really leave them alone if Jonathan gave them the drugs?
Or, did they prove themselves to be too much of a liability?
How long had Jonathan been working with these people?
Was he an asset to them? For her sake and Carly’s, she hoped so.
“So, you give them the bag, and they give us Carly. It’s that simple?” she asked.
“I hope to hell so.”
That wasn’t very reassuring.
“Then what?”
He turned his head and looked at her.
“I’d better find that first bag so I can deliver it to the person this bag was supposed to go to.”
“So, we’re robbing Peter to pay Paul.”
“You got it. I know you probably think I’m some sort of low-life piece of shit, but know that with everyone thinking I’m dead, I could have just run.
“Why didn’t you?”
“Fear they’d find me anyhow. The Garcias have a reach beyond your wildest imagination. If we can find the other bag, I can still get out of this mess.”
Me. I. His words struck her hard. He really didn’t give a crap about Carly or her.
He was trying to save his own ass and used his supposed concern for her and her friend to get her to help him.
Plus, he still needed her help to find the missing bag.
Low-life piece of shit was right. In any case, she needed to do all she could to save Carly.
The heavy rain hammered against the windshield to the point she could hardly see, keeping her speed at a snail’s pace. The storm kept the sky dark, making it feel like it was midnight, but the clock on the dashboard read four forty-six.
“Can’t you go any faster?”
“First, you told me to slow down; now you want me to go faster. Just shut up! I can’t see,” she snapped.
“We’re supposed to meet at five. So get us there.”
“I’m trying.”
“There’s the sign. Turn into that parking lot.”
“Where? I don’t see it.”
There was too much rain and darkness.
As if on cue, the rain lightened up, and she glimpsed the entrance. She hit the brakes but overshot the turn and had to back up a bit.
She pulled into the small parking lot, driving past a dark SUV facing toward the entrance. Since that was the only vehicle in the lot, she could only assume Carly was in there with her captors.
“Circle around and pull up behind them, but not too close. Stay a safe distance away,” Jonathan instructed.
“Safe distance?” she repeated.
“Yeah.”
She spun the truck around in the far corner of the lot, then drove toward them until Jonathan told her to stop a couple of car lengths from the SUV.
Jonathan swung open his door and reluctantly slid out of the truck with the duffel bag in his right hand and weapon in his left. Being right-handed, he should probably have the gun in his right hand.
He stayed behind the open door as if using it as a shield and extended his arm, showing the bag to the people in the SUV.
The driver and passenger doors of the SUV opened.
Emma sucked in a breath. Two men slid out of the vehicle.
They looked like the men from the boat. The man on the passenger side of the SUV opened the rear door on his side, and a third man exited the vehicle with Carly in his grip.
It was too dark and too far to clearly make out her expression, but Emma was sure it had to be fear, as it was for her.
“Here’s your bag. Now give us the girl,” Jonathan yelled.
“Drop the bag.”
“Not until you release her.”
The man holding Carly pulled her tighter to his side and instantaneously lifted his other arm and fired off a shot.
The passenger door window shattered. Jonathan tossed the bag back into the truck and fired back.
Carly crumbled to the ground. The Colombian next to Carly took a few steps toward them and fired off another round.
Jonathan fired. The man fell. Another shot sounded. Jonathan fell.
Emma hit the accelerator, practically pushing it through the floorboard. Bullets pinged off the truck. She hunkered down, but didn’t let up. The truck bounced as if she’d run over something—someone. Oh God.
Cap’s cell phone blared. He rolled over and snatched it off the nightstand. The time was six o’clock. Chief Mertz’s face flashed on the screen.
“Hello.”
“Chief here.”
“Yeah.”
“Sheriff’s Department got a call from some fishermen who heard gunfire at Lasalle Park. They said they saw a truck and an SUV fleeing the scene.”
“Okay,” Cap replied.
Gunfire was unusual in the parks, but why was the chief waking him up with this news, and why was he invested in this since it was the county’s jurisdiction?
Chief Mertz continued, “Curiosity got the best of me when Sergeant Anderson called to tell me about the radio chatter. I took a run out there. There are two dead Colombians, and a deceased woman meeting Carly Stimpson’s description. And you will not believe this.”
Cap sat up.
“What?”
“Jonathan Milbourne has been transported to the hospital with a serious gunshot wound.”
Cap sprang off the bed.
“He’s not dead?”
“Not yet.”
“Are you sure?”
“The man they transported to the hospital is definitely the man in the photo Emma showed me. The ER nurse confirmed it. And, his truck is no longer in the parking lot at Sawyer Park.”
“Son of a bitch.”
“You and Emma need to get to the station now. I don’t know who sped away in the truck and the SUV, but this isn’t good for Emma.”
“We’ll be right there.”
“Be careful.”
“We will.”
Cap yanked a pair of jeans from his dresser and a fresh black T-shirt, dressing as fast as he could. All the while thinking about how he was going to break this news to Emma. She thought her ex was dead; he wasn’t, but he may die now, and she’d have to relive that again.
His chest squeezed, from knowing he’d have to relay the news her friend was dead.
He headed down the short hallway and knocked on her door.
No answer.
He knocked again.
Nothing.
A chill crept up his spine.
He opened the door. The room was empty. No sign of her. Not even her handbag.
The bed was rumpled, and the quilt was shoved aside.
Wind whistled through the slightly cracked window. The screen hung loose.
His heart leaped into his throat. She was gone. Cold settled in his chest. Had someone taken her in the middle of the night?
Just to be sure, he ran to the bathroom. Empty. The kitchen. Empty. Livingroom. Empty. Garage. Empty.
Guilt slammed into him, sharp and immediate. He should have trusted the unease that had kept him awake most of the night. He’d promised her he’d keep her safe.
He went outside and studied the area near the bedroom window. The grass was flattened.
Son of a bitch.
Someone had taken her, and on his watch. How could he let this happen?
He yanked his phone from his pocket and called the chief.
“Chief Mertz.”
“Chief, it’s Cap. She’s gone.”
“What?”
“I just went to her room. She’s gone. Her purse and everything.”
“She snuck out. Was she playing us?” the chief asked.
“No. I think she was abducted. The window screen is ripped, and the window was cracked open. Dammit. I can’t believe I didn’t hear anything. What if she yelled for me?”
“Hold on. Before you go beating yourself up, let’s think about this. Maybe she wanted to go.”
“Or maybe they threatened her into leaving with them. Still, for me not to hear anything...”
“Cap, come to the station so we can figure this out.”
“I’m on my way.”
There was no way she was on the inside of this drug-dealing mess. No way in hell. Someone abducted her.
His chest tightened. Come hell or high water, he would find her and wreak havoc on whoever took her.