Chapter 38
Outside, Cormac checked his watch. Three minutes. Lark had been gone three minutes.
He glanced toward the restroom hallway. Still nothing. He wasn’t worried. Not yet.
A couple passed between him and the entrance, blocking his view for a moment. When they moved, the hallway was empty. His instincts prickled. He pushed away from the wall.
“Lark?” No answer. He walked toward the restroom entrance. The door stood slightly ajar. His pulse kicked.
He pushed it open to find the space empty. His gaze swept the room. Two purses sat abandoned near the sinks. Wren’s was one of them. Lark’s was the other.
Cormac’s blood went cold. “Overwatch.”
Flint answered immediately. “Hoot?”
“Lock down the house.” His voice had gone flat. “Lark’s gone.”
Silence. Then Flint’s voice sharpened. “Say again.”
“Lark and Wren. They’ve been taken.”
Cormac stepped into the hallway, eyes scanning every exit. Fuck. Someone had gotten close enough to Lark to learn her movements. Someone had known exactly where she would be. Someone had been watching. And he’d missed it.
His jaw clenched. “Halestorm. Cameras,” he barked. “Find me every person who entered this hallway in the last ten minutes.”
She didn’t hesitate. “Already on it.”
Cormac looked toward the ballroom. Calloway was nowhere in sight. Neither was Bradley. His stomach tightened.
For the first time that evening, the party no longer felt like an operation. It felt like a trap. And Lark was already inside it. The party was no longer a social event. It was now a crime scene.
He moved quickly, but not blindly. Panic could come later. Right now, he needed answers.
“Lock down every exit,” he ordered into his comm. “Nobody leaves until we know how they got out.”
Flint’s voice came through immediately. “Already happening.”
Hoot reached the restroom corridor again. Jeeves and Voodoo appeared from opposite ends of the hallway, both moving fast.
“Nothing on the front cameras,” Jeeves reported. “We’ve got eyes on the main entrance.”
“Rear exit?”
“Covered.”
Hoot looked toward the service corridor. “Then they didn’t leave through either.”
Haley’s voice crackled into his earpiece. “I’m watching the security videos.”
“Tell me you have them.”
“I have something better. I have a problem.”
Hoot’s jaw tightened. “Talk.”
“There are ninety-three cameras covering this property.”
“That’s a lot of cameras.”
“Exactly. Which makes the two-minute gap in the footage really interesting.”
Hoot stopped. “Two minutes?”
“Three minutes and seventeen seconds, actually. Cameras covering the east service hallway, loading entrance, and adjacent courtyard all went offline simultaneously.”
“Technical failure?”
“No.” Her answer came instantly. “Someone deliberately looped the feed.”
Hoot’s stomach dropped. “How?”
“I don’t know yet. Whoever did it knew exactly what they were doing.”
Flint joined them. “Can you recover the footage?”
“Working on it.”
Hoot glanced toward the ballroom. The party continued around them, unaware of the danger that had struck so close to their pretentious mingling. No one the wiser.
Hoot was though. Someone had planned this. And they’d planned it well.
“Where are Calloway and the Whitmore kid?” Flint asked.
Hoot scanned the crowd. Still not spotting either man. “They were in the ballroom.”
“Not anymore,” Jeeves said.
Hoot’s head snapped toward him. Jeeves held up his phone. “I got this footage. Both men left through the west side of the ballroom about four minutes ago.”
“Together?”
“No. Calloway went first. Bradley followed thirty seconds later.”
Hoot’s instincts screamed. “Where did they go?”
“That’s the problem.” Jeeves pointed toward the footage. “They disappeared behind a cluster of guests.”
Hoot stared at the screen. There. Calloway’s shoulder. Thirty seconds later, Bradley’s face. Then nothing. It was almost as if they’d vanished.
Haley suddenly spoke. “Wait.” Everyone went quiet. “I found something.” A new image appeared on Hoot’s phone. Calloway and Bradley weren't leaving the building. They were changing clothes.
Hoot stared. “Where the hell did they get those?”
“Service area,” Haley said. “Two staff members entered a maintenance room shortly before the cameras went down.”
“And came out?”
“Two minutes later.”
Hoot’s blood chilled. “They used staff uniforms.”
“Looks that way.”
Flint’s expression hardened. “So they had inside help.”
“Or they had someone on their payroll,” Hoot said.
Haley interrupted. “I’ve recovered part of the camera loop.”
The image flickered. A hallway appeared. Two men pushing a utility cart, neither matching the height and build of Calloway or Bradley. One of them wore a black service uniform. The other pushed from behind.
The cart was covered with a white linen cloth. Hoot stared at it. “Where’s that hallway lead?”
“Loading area at the back of the house. East side.”
His heart slammed against his ribs. “Can you enhance the image?”
“I already did.” The picture sharpened. For a fraction of a second, a hand appeared beneath the edge of the linen. A woman’s hand. A bracelet dangling from her wrist. Lark’s bracelet. Then one of the men noticed it and pushed it back down under the cloth.
Hoot’s entire body went rigid. “That’s her.”
Flint was already moving. “Everybody to the east side.”
They ran. By the time they reached it, the loading area was empty. A service door swung slowly in the wind. Beyond it, tire tracks disappeared into the wet pavement.
Jeeves crouched beside them. “Fresh.”
Hoot stared at the tracks. “How long?”
“Minutes.”
Flint looked toward the street. “Voodoo, take the south side. Eggs, north. Jeeves, with me.”
Hoot started after them. Flint grabbed his arm. “You stay.”
Hoot jerked free. “Like hell.”
“You’re closest to this. That’s exactly why you’re staying here.”
Hoot’s fists clenched. “She’s mine.”
Flint held his gaze. “And we're going to bring her home.”
The words cut through the rage enough for Hoot to think. He pulled out his phone. “Haley.”
“Already tracking.” A pause. Then—“I’ve got the vehicle.”
Hoot’s heart kicked. “What?”
“Black SUV. Temporary plates. It just hit the intersection three blocks east.”
“Send it.”
“I did.”
Hoot looked at Flint. “Spark. Stay here with Hoot.”
“Like hell—” he started, but the team was already moving. Leaving him behind. For the first time since he’d realized Lark was gone, Hoot allowed himself one thought. Hold on, sweetheart. His jaw tightened. I’m coming.