Chapter 20
CHAPTER TWENTY
Chaos looked at his watch. Again. Too much time had passed for his comfort.
Too much time that Kara had been in the hands of a serial killer.
A full day and then some. And every single minute that went by was one more where she could be dead or dying.
Was she calling out for him? Had she lost hope that he was still looking for her?
The what-ifs were killing him, and Chaos was done standing around waiting for someone to come up with some kind of clue for them to follow.
Edge had called a few times to report that Jen still hadn’t spoken a word. She was almost comatose, and the doctors had decided to keep her for a few days after all. Thankfully, they were allowing him to stay as well.
Chaos hated that Jen was so traumatized, but he knew Edge would do whatever he could to reach her. To make sure she understood that nothing that happened was her fault. Finding Kara alive would go a long way toward helping her heal, and Chaos was determined to do just that.
But first, he needed. Fucking. Intel.
To everyone’s surprise, when Chaos called the police to report Kara missing, even if he wasn’t convinced they’d do anything, after taking his report and telling him they’d be in touch, a detective called back shortly after and said he’d talked to Beckett Blackwood of the Asheville PD, and as a result, they were extremely concerned about Kara’s well-being.
Because of the extraordinary circumstances, the department put out an APB for the PT Cruiser, and an MEP—Missing and Endangered Person alert.
It made Chaos feel better that police officers all over eastern and central Virginia were on alert for both the car and for anyone meeting Nolan or Kara’s description. He needed everyone to be looking for the PT Cruiser, and it seemed that, at least, was happening. Thank goodness.
Tex had also gone on social media and plastered pictures of Jen’s car and Kara on as many local groups as he could find. So not only were the cops keeping an eye out for Kara, presumably any locals scrolling on their socials would also be alerted.
Despite the additional awareness, Chaos was still antsy. Hated that he was here in a hangar at the base, safe, when Kara was most definitely not safe.
Buck’s phone rang, and everyone turned to him expectantly.
He’d been the liaison between what was happening here in Virginia and Tex.
The former SEAL had been working nonstop to find any scrap of information about Jen’s car.
He was also monitoring the comments on the dozens of social media posts he’d made.
Without having to be told, Buck put the call on speaker so everyone could hear whatever Tex wanted to tell them.
“They headed west,” the former SEAL said without beating around the bush.
Chaos scowled. Of course they did. It was almost a given that Nolan would go west, as they were in fucking Norfolk, almost as east as they could get in the state. But he did his best to rein in his impatience, waiting to hear what else Tex had discovered.
“After Colins left the area where he’d dumped Jennifer Williams, he stuck to back roads, avoiding the interstates and some of the more heavily traveled routes.
I only caught glimpses of the car as it passed the rare gas station with a functioning security system, but Kara is definitely in the vehicle with him.
She’s in the passenger seat, and in every snippet I found, she’s looking straight ahead. ”
Chaos let out a long breath. Just because she’d been alive earlier, didn’t mean she still was—but he refused to let his brain go there.
“I’ve lost him for now, but I’m still trying to find more cameras that capture the PT Cruiser.”
Chaos felt sick at hearing that.
“But I am calling with some good news. Casper, you there?”
“I’m here.”
“You talked to the colonel, right? You’ve got permission to fly?”
“Yes. But not until we have an idea of where to go. He doesn’t want us in the air until we have reliable intel.”
“I’ve got it. Been talking to the detective assigned to Kara’s case.
The tip line’s been hopping with people calling in sightings.
The posts on social media have worked better than I’d hoped.
It seems community groups that usually post about farm stands and missing pets are much more interesting when the citizens think there’s a serial killer with a kidnap victim possibly headed their way.
“Colins might think he was smart to stay off the interstate, but it made him stick out like a sore thumb. That Cruiser doesn’t blend well.
Someone saw the car driving erratically.
Someone else saw a man he swore looked like Nolan getting gas.
But what really got his attention was that there was a person in the passenger seat—with a blanket over their head.
At the time, he figured the person was just sleeping or something, but after he saw my post, he wondered if it could’ve been the missing woman. ”
Chaos ran a hand through his hair and turned his back on Buck and the phone.
He wanted to rage. Scream. Throw something.
Instead, all he did was take a deep breath.
Just because the person in the passenger seat had a blanket over their head, didn’t mean she was dead.
It could mean that Nolan was trying to hide her.
But that didn’t keep the negative thoughts at bay.
He was well aware of the statistics, of how long it had been since Nolan had abducted Kara.
Knew the man had to be outraged she’d escaped him back in North Carolina, had likely been stewing and planning what he’d do to her the entire time he’d been in Norfolk.
“He’s gotten farther than I or the cops expected.
It looks like he’s headed into the mountains on the other side of I-81.
Best guess is that he’s got a hidey-hole somewhere.
If his plan was to dump Kara’s body, he’s already had more than enough opportunity and probably wouldn’t drive as far as he has to do it. ”
“Tex,” Casper warned.
“Fuck. Sorry. Chaos?”
“What?”
“Don’t lose hope. I’ve gotten more intel from civilians on this asswipe than I have on anyone I’ve looked for in a very long time.
We’re on his tail, and you and your team are going to find her.
Every mission you’ve been on has been building to this moment.
Get in those choppers and head out. I’ll be in touch with a narrowed-down search area. ”
His words made Chaos feel better. Not great, but better.
“Oh, and there are four SWAT team members from the Norfolk PD on their way to you. They should be there by the time you’ve got those choppers fired up and ready to go. Everyone’s been briefed on Colins, they know what they’re dealing with and are ready to act accordingly.”
Chaos could read through the lines. And he was glad the officers wouldn’t hesitate to use deadly force against Nolan.
“Chaos, your job is Kara. Nothing else. Understand? Let the SWAT guys do their job. You concentrate on your woman. She’s gonna need you to be one hundred percent focused on getting her out of there.”
That wasn’t something Tex needed to tell him. Did Chaos want to kill Nolan with his bare hands? Fuck yes. But Kara was infinitely more important. He’d let everyone else deal with the asshole who’d dared hurt Jen and kidnap Kara…again.
“Go,” Tex ordered. “I’ll be listening.”
Chaos had no doubt the computer genius would be able to bypass security protocols and tap into the radio frequency he and the other pilots used when flying. He didn’t care. All he cared about was finding Kara.
The next half hour was spent getting the two choppers out of the hangar and ready to fly.
Just as Tex had promised, four men dressed in SWAT gear arrived within fifteen minutes of the phone call.
They’d been updated with intel about Colins, knew that he was armed and extremely dangerous.
They also knew about his past criminal history, the fact that he was likely a prolific serial killer.
They were ready and willing to take the man out if he showed the least bit of resistance.
They were a pilot down, since Edge was at the hospital with Jen, but Chaos would’ve excused himself from flying even if his copilot was available.
He was in no condition to get behind the controls of a helicopter.
Besides, he needed to be ready to move at a moment’s notice.
He was in the back of Casper and Pyro’s chopper, along with two of the SWAT officers.
A moment of déjà vu had him feeling almost dizzy as the Night Stalkers took off, just as the last bit of light sky had fully disappeared. Chaos stared out the open door unseeingly.
This was how he’d met Kara. At night, searching the ground below for survivors of that flash flood. The hair on his arms rose as the helicopter headed west. They were going to find her; he knew it as surely as he knew his name. It was the condition she’d be in when they did that worried him.
The plan was to first search the area around the location where the car was last seen.
The tree cover and mountains would make the search more difficult, but the Night Stalker helicopters had the latest technology available.
It didn’t matter that it would be fully dark; in fact, that was when they did their best work.
With every mile that passed, tension rose within Chaos. Kara was out there somewhere, waiting on him to arrive. He wouldn’t let her down.
* * *
Kara felt as if she’d been standing against the wall for days.
But according to the sun falling, rising, then falling again, it had been less than a day and a half.
As Nolan had predicted, she’d peed her pants, and he’d taken great glee at witnessing it, telling her how disgusting she was.
How dirty and gross. He’d hurled so many insults at her, Kara had tuned him out long ago.