Chapter 24
Chapter
Twenty-Four
When Blaze woke up, his ribs hurt. His arm was curled around empty space where Stella should have been. The pillow next to him still had the dent from her head, but the sheets were cold. Gray light came through the curtains. And the bathroom light was on, shining through the cracked door.
He sat up too fast and a sharp pain shot through his ribs. He hissed through his teeth and waited for the wave of pain to pass. “Stella?”
Nothing.
He swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood. When he pushed open the bathroom door, he found it empty. Stella’s makeup case was open on the counter like she’d used it this morning.
Blaze stepped back into the bedroom and looked around, finding her purse and wig missing. He picked up his phone from the nightstand and called her. It rang four times and went to voicemail. Hi, this is Stella, leave a message. He hung up before the tone.
He got dressed slowly, his ribs hurting every time he moved his arms. He stopped at the dresser to catch his breath. His face in the mirror was worse than the night before. He called her again.
Four rings. Voicemail. Hi, this is Stella, leave a message.
“Stella. Call me back. Now.”
He hung up.
He crossed the hall to 218 and pounded the door with the side of his fist. Ryder opened the door in boxer briefs and a T-shirt with his hair flat on one side. His eyes were still half asleep. Blaze pushed past him into the room and shut the door.
“Stella’s gone. She’s not answering her phone.”
Ryder threw on his clothes and grabbed his phone and keys. “Let’s go.”
They took the stairs. Blaze first. The ribs ached on every step and he didn’t slow down. In the parking lot, he scanned the sidewalk. There was no sight of her.
“She probably went for coffee at the convenience store. I’ve been getting it, but… she let me sleep.”
They walked the two blocks to the store, and Blaze pushed the door open. It smelled of stale coffee, hot dog grease, and industrial cleaner. He inhaled, looking for her scent under it. Nothing.
The clerk behind the counter looked up. “Morning.”
“My girlfriend was supposed to stop in here this morning. Platinum blonde hair, leather jacket, about this tall.” He held his good hand up to his chin.
The clerk shook her head. “Haven’t seen her.”
Blaze stood at the counter and the air went out of his chest. The wolf surged so hard his vision went white at the edges.
“Thanks.”
He turned and walked out. Ryder followed. Blaze walked back toward the hotel. Slow this time. He was reading the sidewalk now. He stopped at the curb twelve feet from the front door of the hotel, sniffing for her scent.
Maple and brown sugar.
He crouched at the curb and put his good hand flat on the asphalt. The wolf clawed at the backs of his eyes. His mate had been here. She’d been on this exact piece of asphalt twenty minutes ago and now she was gone.
“She was here.”
Back in 219, Blaze locked the deadbolt and dialed Siren and Axel’s line.
“Talk to me,” Siren answered.
Blaze told her what he knew. Stella wasn’t answering her phone. He’d found her scent at the curb.
“This is the same pattern as the others.”
“You think she was kidnapped?” Blaze growled.
“What other conclusion is there to draw?” Siren shot back.
“I’m hacking into the traffic light camera at the intersection,” Axel said, the sound of tapping faint on the other end of the line.
“It’s possible the operation made Stella. Right now, you’re a fighter whose girlfriend disappeared. Holding your cover is the best option,” Siren said.
“I’m in the traffic camera now. Working on the timestamp,” Axel said.
The room went quiet. Ryder sat in the desk chair and stared at the carpet. Blaze sat on the edge of the bed and looked at his bruised hands.
“I have her.” Blaze closed his good eye. “I see her turn onto the sidewalk. A white van pulls up at the curb. Her hand comes up to swat his arm down. His hands go to her neck. She goes limp and they lift her in. Door slides shut. Van pulls away.”
Blaze didn’t speak. The wolf screamed at him to shift, but he held his form.
“Plates,” Siren said.
“No plates. They pulled them before the grab. They went east. I’m pulling the next camera now.”
The typing started again on Axel’s end. Blaze opened his good eye and stared at the wall above the dresser.
“Our cover is blown,” Blaze said. “Pierce is going to move. He has to. He doesn’t know what we know, but he knows we know something. He’ll cancel the sale. Or he’ll move it up. Or he’ll relocate the women and disappear. We have to assume everything we built is dust as of right now.”
“If they saw the contact, Nell’s a leak,” Siren said. “She’s in serious danger. Both of them are.”
Axel cut back in.
“I lost the van.”
Blaze didn’t speak.
“Two cameras east of the hotel and they turned south onto a stretch with no coverage.”
“Blaze, hold cover for the rest of the day. Act like a man whose girlfriend just disappeared. Get in the truck. Drive the streets. Talk to people. Look distraught. This is the best way to play dumb. Dom and Hunter will be in town in two hours. We’ll regroup when they arrive.”
The line went silent.
Blaze stood, crossed to the nightstand, and pulled the gun out of the drawer.